Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

I wasn´t really sure about this novel because there were plenty of good reviews and it was recommended to me by all kinds of different apps, such as iBooks, Amazon and even Barnes and Nobles. Yet when I finally started reading it, a lot of negative reviews started popping on the internet, which left me very confused, but it did make me curious to find out why everyone was having such mixed feelings. 
When I started reading the novel I quickly realized that I wasn´t very interested in the plot as I thought I would be, yet I did push myself to continue reading because I believed that I would eventually end up liking the characters, but in reality I didn´t and I started thinking that there were too many scenes that were forced. 
The novel narrates the days following a barbeque evening, where Clementine and Sam were invited by Oliver and Erika to their neighbor's, Vid and Tiffany, barbeque. Yet, something happens during the dinner and none of the people leave the place being the person they were before. 
In the beginning, I felt like the story was going to be more inclined towards the different couples that meet for dinner, yet the truth is that this story is much deeper than that. For instance, Clementine and Erika have been best friends since they were younger, but that only happened because Erika comes from a family that isn´t willing to take care of her, therefore, Clementine is forced to shelter her as a friend, even though most people would think that they are truly best friends, although neither of them actually like each other and they are simply bound together like most family relationships, where there is an unbreakable connection that makes them see each other every now and then as if they truly enjoyed each other´s company.
On the other hand, something that I truly enjoyed about the novel was seeing the relationships in the novel and the different characters that were introduced.
My favorite couple was Sam and Clementine because they shared a different connection than the other relationships, where they both came from completely different worlds, yet they understood each other so perfectly. What I liked the most about them was that they were the most realistic representation of a marriage in the novel, they exhibited the falling in and out of love and the way marriage works for most people. Also, this is going to sound really really weird, but I loved Sam´s character and the small things that he did. 
I found Oliver and Erika´s relationship much more mature, which made me realize that mature relationship where similar people are together are much less interesting than others. Oliver was depicted as the perfect husband, but I felt like he didn´t deserve Erika, who I disliked very much because I found her to be too selfish and she never thought about other people´s feelings as much as she did with hers. 
Lastly, Vid and Tiffany were never really the center of attention in the novel, although the roots of the story were literally planted in their yard because they were never really mentioned or when they were, their relationship was never exhibited as the others. 
One of my favorite things about the novel, aside from the characters, where the different themes that the author experienced throughout the novel. I loved that she was able to include so many different aspects of life such as marriage, work, children, death, accidents and of course, that certain feeling of anger that we all experience in our lives towards ourselves for not preventing certain things or for taking the decisions that we took, and those "what ifs...?" that follow us every day. 
In conclusion, there were many many things that I actually liked about this novel like the characters, the relationships, the different themes and the vague plot, and I would´ve loved to give it 5 stars, but truthfully, there were many characters that I disliked and also the way some of them were not even included as much as the other characters. Yet, I will say that I found Truly Madly Guilty to be insightful and inspiring to be read by someone that is still growing up because it made me realize that human emotions and relationships are much more complex that one expects. 

4 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

The Royal We, Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

I have been in love with this book for so many years that it simply feels natural for me to talk about it. My love for this novel is so deep that I can still remember the time that I first saw it at the Grove's Barnes and Nobles in California. Honestly, this book is much more than you think, when I was first reading it, I thought that this would be a simple romance novel, yet as I continued I discovered that this novel talked about so much more, which I will be talking about later on in this review. Also, I have been so obsessed with this novel that I have tried so hard to find similar novels, which have led me to novels like Romancing the Throne by Nadine Jolie Courtney and The Heir and the Spare by Emily Albright, which have only made me realize that this novel is such a precious gem.
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan tells the story of Rebecca Porter or simply "Bex," who is just starting the school year at Oxford, yes, England, after she decided to take a year abroad from Cornell, where her twin sister, Lacy is still at. On her first day, she meets a rather handsome young man that goes by the name of Nicholas, simply known as Nick or AKA Steve as his friends call him when they are in public. Both bond over a conversation about monarchs with syphilis before Bex realizes that Nick is the future heir of the country. In the place where she is staying, she meets the people that will end up becoming her best friends. There's Cilla, Gaz, Joss, and Clive, who also happen to be Nick's best friends. On the other hand, it is almost inevitable for Bex and Nick to fall in love with each other, I mean, they binge-watch a series together almost every night, yet their love is simply not meant to be because Nick's already dating India and of course, Bex has been snogging Clive, literally Nick's best friend. The group goes through so many adventures and creates so many memories that as the story goes, you will feel like you are part of the group as well. 
I want to start by talking about the characters because I simply loved them so much! I love how Bex is someone that really doesn't care about gossip or royalty because it creates funnier scenes, like the syphilis scene. Although I did hate whenever she was being impulsive. I loved Nick because he portrayed vulnerability in certain scenes, while he was also seen as a prize by girls and simply as a friend by the other main characters. I really liked how the authors really emphasized on Nick's background and lifestyle, even though he was seen as a normal person by the group of friends because they gave us so much more of the character, which made me love him even more! As much as I love Bex and Nick, my favorite characters were Cilla and Gaz because they were SO funny that I cried due to the laughter. I loved Cilla's stories and Gaz' comments. 
On the other hand, I absolutely loved how this is basically royalty. I loved how they truly portray the lifestyles and the people, like Nick's family, including his father and his brother, Freddie, who I also love very much! I adored how the authors touched a lot on the things that you would expect in a royal family, like the pressure and the useless things that people can do for show or drama. 
I truly think that this book has made me become obsessed with the royals as much as they are! (FYI: the authors run a site called Go Fug Yourself, which I am obsessed with now as well). In the beginning, I truly didn't care at all about royals, yet now I am simply fascinated by their lifestyle. 
Also, I believe that Nick, Bex, and Freddie being inspired by William, Kate, and Harry is just a plus!
Something that I was not expecting from this novel was the many topics that it covers. I loved how they really emphasize on family, enemies, dreams, friends, love, jealousy, expectations and the unexpected. Although the novel is really long, you will feel like the novel is so short because of the so many different stories that are included. 
From the first page all the way to the last one, I was hooked, so much that I became obsessed with the audiobook and I still listen to it all the time, although I will admit that I only replay the scenes that I like, like the karaoke scene and the one that they talk about seeing Cats! If you're going to read the novel, be on the lookout for those!
Lastly, I want to congratulate the authors because they did an exceptional job with this novel. They were able to take such a complex world and narrate it in an incredible and not only heart-warming, but inspiring because this novel really made me want to try the unexpected and new things, just like Bex did when she moved to the other side of the world, to be something that her sister wasn't and to find herself in the world. Also, this novel has really made me wish that college is as fun as they describe it here, although I believe that it depends on the friendships that accompany me. 
I truly recommend The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan because it is witty, smart, fun and includes charming characters that will enter your heart from the very first time that they appear on paper! 

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua 

Practice Makes Perfect, Julie James

Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

Just as expected, I loved this book. It is a romantic comedy novel and it was written by Julie James, the author of The Thing About Love, which I LOVED! I aspire to become an attorney, so when I read the synopsis for this novel, I knew that I had to read this novel, and I liked it!
Payton is a successful attorney, in fact, she is extremely good at her job, but so is JD, the one person that she hates the most. They are always competing day to day in simple tasks like who gets there first in the morning, but they will soon face the biggest competition that they could ever expect. They both want to become a partner at the law firm that they have been working on for years. Truly, there is no difference between who has worked harder, both have worked until late and both have succeeded in trials, but regardless, they still have to prove who will be better. And of course, when both Payton and JD are presented with the opportunities to sabotage the other, they will take, leading us to hilarious scenes that will make you have a good and hearty laugh. 
I know that the summary that I am providing this time is really short, but this novel doesn´t really have much to say about. I mean, its plot is very limited and the book itself is pretty short. Yet, that doesn´t make it bad, if anything, it actually made it better because it was a quick read, simple, easy to comprehend, very thorough and it was charming in its own way without dragging the plot too much. 
I do want to point out that I had very high expectations for this novel because I have read The Thing About Love by the same author, Julie James, and I loved it! So much that I have already read it several times. And I will say that this novel didn´t disappoint. This book will have a lower review, but that´s just a matter of me not staying with the novel so much because this novel delivered every aspect that it was wanting to portray and show. 
Regarding the characters, I really liked them, but they didn´t really feel special like the others. I liked that they were pretty human-like. The characters truly brought a different aspect of life that at this age, I think is very important, but people don´t seem to mind, which is the whole topic of college and money. I really liked that the characters came from different financial backgrounds and brought different mindsets. 
Another thing that I thought was very interesting was the way their relationship was. I think that the characters don´t really mind the other character like some characters do in some novels, which lead us to characters that connected after a while and not right away in the assignment as the others. 
The only thing that I disliked was the way the scenes felt and the nature of the things that were happening. I thought that some parts were very forced.
On the other hand, my favorite part of the novel was how funny it was! I am still laughing about some of the scenes while I am writing this review. I honestly laughed so much that I still remember them and I even laugh in the middle of the night. So, truly brace yourself because you are going to be dying of laughter with this one!
I also loved that she displayed the hardships of being a certain gender because even today, I know that being a female that aspires to become an attorney is seen as different since it is still a career that is considered for men. S, it was interesting to see something so close to me represented in this novel, which was shocking given the fact that this novel was published in 2009, almost ten years ago! It was truly interesting to see how little the field has changed in all these years.
Lastly, regarding the writing. I just absolutely love James´ writing because she has this amazing way of combining hilarious, dramatic, melancholic and even powerful scenes to create a true masterpiece.
I apologize that this review is so short, but I truly recommend Practice Makes Perfect because it is a short novel that will make you laugh and cry, both at the same time! I´m warning you! You will have to pick up this novel when you have a free schedule because you are not going to be able to put down this novel!

4 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

The Thing About Love, Julie James

The Thing About Love by Julie James

I don´t know why, but I have always found the FBI world so fascinating! I believe that it all started when I read Beautiful Redemption from the Maddox Brothers by Jamie McGuire.But besides my weird fascination with the FBI, I have always wanted to read more romantic comedy novels, so after reading Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren and The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, I started looking for them as a crazy lady and of course, after digging the internet for weeks and months, I came across with Julie James, the greatest writer of attorney/FBI romantic novels.
The Thing About Love tells the story of FBI agent Jessica Harlow, who moves to Chicago, her hometown, looking for a fresh start after a divorce from a famous Hollywood producer in Los Angeles. On the other hand, we have John Shepherd, who decides to start working in Chicago, his hometown, before going to the privileged Hostage Rescue Team after he was cheated by his girlfriend.
Agent Harlow and agent Shepherd are introduced in a meeting with their supervisor, where he tells them that they will be working in an undercover assignment to trap a Florida politician. But there is so much more to their relationship. They already met in the Academy, where they started hating each other. Yet, regardless of what happened in the past, the two agents must work together to bring the politician down and get their assignment done.
Okay, so I want to start talking about the plot. The story of characters falling in love after they have hated each other for many many years has been used a lot! In fact, I literally stumbled upon this novel after reading one that has the exact same development, yet this novel brings me such joy as it is being told. I loved how the one thing that makes it different, literally takes the story to a whole new level, that being that they are both FBI agents. I admired the way James was able to find a balance between relationship progress, action/FBI scenes and of course, hilarious moments. The Thing About Love narrates so many different stories as it goes on that it is really easy to be hooked. I mean, the backstories of the characters are great and the way their relationship started in the Academy is entertaining as well. On the other hand, the current story regarding the politician project is even more exciting because they will take you throughout the action-packed investigation, all while including their hilarious bickering in almost every scene. A promise that I can make is that you will find this novel super interesting and it will keep you entertained for hours.
Another thing that I absolutely loved about this novel is the characters because of course Jessica and John were incredible and love both very much, but the surrounding characters are also great and they create even funnier scenes, like how they are always fighting over their law schools. As I said, I really liked the way John and Jessica were created, meaning that I loved their backstories and the way that they acted because they were so logical and perceptive, like I want for characters. 
Also, I loved their relationship and the way that James exhibited a relationship with people that wanted more for the other than for themselves and the way that she truly showed the ways that people lie and sacrifice things for the other person really made this relationship much stronger and even a little more realistic. It was very entertaining to see how their bickering turned into interest and then into the eventual relationship that they have. 
A bonus point for this novel was the way that they talk about genders in their work field because I believe that it is something that is relevant that would happen in real life and seeing it portrayed in the novel made it much more realistic and created more well-rounded characters. Also, it was very funny the way they mocked FBI novels because they were literally in one. 
Julie James truly took all the funny scenes and the action scenes and turned them into so much more and into things that really had a purpose for the story development. 
I 100% recommend The Thing About love by Julie James because it is funny, action-packed, realistic, romantic and it truly takes the reader to a crazy FBI journey. 

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

The Hating Game, Sally Thorne

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Once I was obsessed with Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren, I started looking for other books that were similar to that one and I found out that there was a whole world out there of romantic comedy books that I still had to discover, and once I did, I was charmed and completely fell in love with them.
The Hating Game tells the story of Lucy and Josh, both are executive assistants to co-CEOs and we could say that they are complete opposites. They were working for different publishing houses before both companies decided to merge. Lucy is always full of life, she does everything to really create good relationships with people and she is always called nice, she also very much enjoys wearing bright colors and is often very bold with her color choices for clothing. On the other hand, Josh is extremely good with numbers, which makes others see him as brutal when it comes to the reports that he often receives and sends back because of the many mistakes that other workers make, he can be described as cold and lonely, always believing that relationships with others aren´t as important as one´s job. As you can clearly notice, their personalities are bound to clash. It is clear that Lucy and Josh absolutely hate each other, yet everything in their lives seems to circle around the other. For instance, they are always so anxious to make the other suffer without making the other co-workers notice, they are always planning to get in the plans of the other and they are always looking for ways to make the other stress, which is why when the announcement regarding the new position as CEO is made, Josh and Lucy are more than ready to compete against each other. Yet, both seem to know so much about the other that it may seem like they have spent a lifetime together, although they do utilize that information to make fun of the other.
I just loved everything about this book! I fell in love with the plot, the scenes, the words and the characters!
I want to start by talking about the book overall. I loved how funny it is! Everytime that I read it (which I have done about four times now), I laugh so much that my family thinks that I am crazy since they were quite used to me crying all the time while reading. The way the scenes are constructed are brilliant, they are so easy to imagine and be part of and you are able to feel all of those crazy emotions, like the shame, the warmth, and the laugh.
I mean, the plot is one of those that most of us have either seen or read already several times because it follows the usual romantic comedy storyline, yet the way everything is narrated is so fun that I didn´t even mind the fact that I knew how things were going to be, I was so trapped in this story that I was simply lost in this world.
Regarding the characters, I was simply charmed by both. They were so good at their jobs, yet they were so childish, and from time to time they were so cruel to each other, yet they were so humane and they had such a heartwarming relationships with themselves that it really made them seem real and overall well-rounded characters with whom who could cry and laugh. I loved reading about their struggles, especially with family, and the way they reacted to those problems. I believe that by having such traits, the characters really reminded me that even people in real life have personal struggles that they hide and that those could be potentially limiting them in some sort of way.
One of the things that I liked the most about this novel is the way the relationship progressed as a whole. It was interesting to understand how their feelings started changing with each other and how even though we don´t get to read both points of view, we can start noticing their changes in character, which made their relationship more significant and in this case, Josh´s actions and words much more special. Also, I loved how slowly things changed, in the sense that they didn´t just become friendly with each other from night to day. 
Lastly, I absolutely loved the details! The small things were what really made this novel outshine others because it truly demonstrated how much the author cared and how much thought she put into the story. For instance, I absolutely loved the shirt´s pattern and I still think about it almost every day. 
I can truly recommend this novel because it will bring you a lot of laughter, yet it will also bring you a little bit of warmth in your heart. Sally Thorne truly takes the rom-com genre and takes it to the next level in this hit-novel.

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

The Light We Lost, Jill Santopolo

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

I recall that when I first saw this book at my bookstore, I fell in love with the cover. Although I love books, I am a terrible bookworm and I admit that I tend to judge books by their covers. The Light We Lost was a story that I knew from the beginning that I had to read because it was going to be emotional and very fun and intriguing at the same time, and I was right.

As soon as I started reading, I was hooked and I was unable to stop reading. The way the memories were narrated and the way the narrator was recalling everything that she was feeling and seeing was empowering and it really dragged the reader for the journey that she was about to tell to the world.

The Light We Lost tells the story Gabe and Lucy, two college students from Columbia University that meet in a class on September 11, 2001. We all know that our world drastically took a turn that day, but for Gabe and Lucy, 9/11 not only signifies a day where the world surrounding them changed, it was the day they fell in love and understood and maybe the love of your life is not meant to be with you.

After our main characters meet for the first time in class, they spend the day together and they even kiss, but everything goes downhill when Gabe receives a phone call from his ex-girlfriend and before Gabe and Lucy can understand and figure out that what they have or what they would have had was special, Gabe and his ex are back together and our two main characters are forced to say goodbye to each other and not meet again until their graduation day, where they simply congratulate each other and Gabe refers to Lucy as a simple “friend.”

Years pass and our characters meet again a year after their encounter at the graduation. Their relationship is fast and surprisingly steady and before they can understand what they are doing, they decide to move in together. That choice may seem very immature and maybe even a little too fast, but Gabe and Lucy are certain that no other feeling could replace what they feel for each other and it seems to be proven true as the novel goes on.

Although their relationship is great, our characters are still young and trying to discover themselves and as a consequence, Gabe decides that he really wants to start taking pictures. Pictures that evoke an emotional reaction, pictures that would make anyone change their perspectives over something, pictures that could change the world. Lucy is extremely happy for Gabe, who even gets his pictures at the New York Times, but his dreams don’t seem to stop there. He wants to change the world, not get his name famous, so he has to take the most important decision in his life. Gabe is asked to go to Middle East and take pictures of the war and he is forced to choose between his dreams or his true love, and as an aspiring photographer, he chooses his dreams and as a consequence, he asks Lucy instead to forget about her dreams and go with him, but Lucy being an aspiring TV producer is unable to let go of her aspirations and is forced to let Gabe go.

The novel continues more about the lives of the main characters, we learn how Gabe is doing through phone calls and we even meet Darren, Lucy’s husband, and as readers, we are able to understand the feelings that Lucy is feeling along the way.

As you can notice, The Light We Lost tells a very emotional story. It was interesting for me to read a book where characters are forced to choose between their dreams and love because that is something that is affecting a lot of people in real life today. Young people, especially women, don’t want to stay home, they want to work and hold very prestigious positions in their industries. I thought that by having characters forget about each other and choose their dreams was very realistic and this novel was able to portray the harsh reality and how people are still able to move forward, unlike some books or movies where characters are simply caught up in their broken love story.

On the other hand, I loved the plot! I loved how to it follows its main characters for a long time and how we are able to notice their developments and how they are feeling from time to time. I also loved how it told the story of a love that someone can’t forget and that holds their memories as if they were something sacred and extremely powerful, which they are.

As you can notice, I really liked the characters because they were very realistic, each of them went through the things that many of us go through in our lives and they were people that were really strong while trying to hold onto the reality where they were now living in and also, the way Lucy doubts and asks herself these series of questions that anyone asks to themselves in life was very empowering. I LOVED Gabe! Gabe is one of the characters that I am never going to get over because I found him to be very precious. He is a character that has a lot of scars and at the same time he was someone that didn’t like being associated with others and could totally understand that. In addition, I found him to be adorable with the way he was never able to forget about his love for Lucy and it was interesting to see how he moves on, but goes back to the same place, like Lucy. Now, I just had to mention that I absolutely hated Darren! And that had nothing to do with my love for Gabe. Darren was just too annoying and he was sexist. All of the small comments he makes and the way he acts as if he was the big person in the relationship was absolutely disgusting for me! I can understand that Gabe left Lucy and that he was selfish, but I believe that every human being in selfish in a way and there was absolutely no reason for Lucy to be spending her life with Darren, who was only holding her down.

With The Light We Lost, I absolutely fell in love with Santopolo’s writing. She has a way of writing this love story like no one else. It was absolutely beautiful and I truly believe that one of the main reasons why this novel was so special was because of the beautiful and empowering writing.

This novel includes a lot of drama and it will take you on a rollercoaster of drama and emotions. And The Light We Lost will make you cry a lot. Honestly, I started crying since the beginning because it was very emotional and I couldn’t take it anymore.

The Light We Lost is a novel that will have you hooked since the beginning and it will make you feel all sort of emotions and it will inspire you to get out there and find someone that is special just like Gabe or Lucy. You will be charmed by the characters and the writing and you will feel the desire for more inspiring and empowering stories of love like this one.

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

I carried this 500-pages book for a week, which is the time that it took me to finish it, and people laughed a lot because of the title, I think that it was funnier since I am Asian, so this book is definitely an eye-catcher and the story it tells is eye-opening because it gives you an insight of a private world that you know for sure that you will never be part of.
I came across this book by accident like I did with Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren, and I think that it helped me enjoy the story even more since I didn´t really have high expectations for the story.
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan tells the story of Rachel Chu and Nicholas Young, the couple lives in New York and they are both professors at NYU. Nick invites Rachel to go to Singapore to attend his best friend´s wedding, and after thinking about it for a while, Rachel accepts and they are soon off to Singapore. As soon as they get there, Rachel realizes that Nick´s world isn´t like the one she knew of, his life is full of expensive things and exclusive treatment, and his family and friends are made out money. His grandmother lives in a house that is more of a palace rather than a humble home, as he mentions it; they have spectacular celebrations that look more like high-society gatherings; they have servants that want to prepare them showers and at least wash their hair; among other amenities that Rachel never thought about. While Rachel is discovering a side of the world that she never knew of Nick, she also finds out that Nick is the most wanted bachelor in the whole country, especially in the high-class society, and girls(including Nick´s family) are willing to do anything to get rid of Rachel because they believe that Nick deserves to get married to a girl from a wealthy family.
Like I said before, I didn´t think that I would like this story as much as I did, I mean, I am Asian and I grew up knowing that there are very wealthy families in those countries, so it is a world that I knew of, but didn´t really think about until I came across with this novel that opened the door for me to visit one of the most extravagant and luxurious societies in the world and I found the journey very fun and I just loved it, which has made me buy the two books that follow this novel.
I loved everything about this story, I loved the characters, the plot, the relationships and the writing.
There are many characters and it can get confusing from time to time, but the many characters create a very complete story and fill the scene entirely making it a very realistic story.
I really liked Rachel because she has a very normal and natural reaction to the environment and she is a very approachable character, she is like the ordinary woman and many could identify with her. Also, what made me really like Rachel is that she wasn´t annoying and she really tried to accept the life that she faced, she tried to make the best out of everything because she truly loves Nick.
On the other hand, Nick is the ideal man that every girl wants. He is smart, good-looking, funny and caring. when I started reading this novel, I wasn´t really looking forward to Nick because I thought that the story would make me focus more on the main characters, but honestly, there were so many sides to the story that it was hard to concentrate on them and it made me like Nick much more because the little bits that we got were the most special.
I liked Peik Lin because she is like the fairy godmother of this story, she buys Rachel a new closet and helps her throughout the journey, she is the best friend that everyone deserves to have. 
As much as I liked Peik Lin, I found a certain charm in Colin, Nick´s best friend, because they shared a lifetime together, they have a different friendship that stood out and I loved reading about their friendship. Also, who wouldn´t love Colin?
My favorite part of each character was that they all react and treat wealth differently and the way they treat it shows their personality a lot.
Although the story wouldn´t be the same without the characters, I just loved the plot because it has the ideal amount of romance, drama, gossip, and laughter. So, the plot really is something else because it is just AMAZING and you won´t be able to put the book down. 
Now, the relationships that each couple has was very fun to read about because they all have different relationships with each other, and therefore, bring different topics to the story that make it stand out from other books. 
There were three couples that I really liked: Nick and Rachel, Astrid and Michael, and Alistair and Kitty. 
I liked Nick and Rachel´s relationship because it is the ideal cute relationship that everyone dreams of, it is sweet and heart-warming. While Astrid and Michael´s relationship is the relationship that needs work, their story is like the typical contemporary novel that I read a lot about, their relationship gave the sense of stories like After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid and The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close. On the other hand, I only liked Alistair and Kitty´s relationship because it was super fun to read about them, Kitty wears a freaking see-through dress to meet the whole family! I think that I just laughed too much in that scene. 
I think that the one thing that I loved about the most of Kwan´s writing was the way he mixes Cantonese with English to write the character´s expressions, which makes them super special and unique, making you enter completely into the story and feel comfortable with the characters. Also, the small comments he added for the definitions of words were funny and seemed like he was introducing us the story directly, which created a closer author-reader relationship.
I think that the only thing that I didn´t like about this book was that the pages were too thin in my paperback edition, but that is totally okay because the story it delivered was amazing!
Overall, Crazy Rich Asians is a funny and dramatic reading that will guide you through a luxurious world that you would´ve never thought of, you will experience characters that seem to have come out from movies, and you won´t be able to put it down because you will not want to leave this world that seems to be very far from our reality. 
Also, I cannot wait for the movie! I am really excited!

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua 

In Twenty Years, Allison Winn Scotch

In Twenty Years by Allison Winn Scotch

Six students from Penn lived together in a small apartment almost twenty years ago, and before they left, they all made a promise to stay friends and to meet again in twenty years. So, when five of them gets a package from Bea, a friend that has passed away and that was always so happy to keep the group together, saying that she has purchased the apartment and that she wants them to gather for her 40th, the five of them decide to visit, even when their own lives are falling apart.
Catherine, the CEO of a domestic empire, who is struggling to keep her company; Owen, a stay at home dad, who is married to Catherine after they were the cutest couple in college; Colin, a plastic surgeon that is trying to keep Bea´s secret; Annie, a stay at home mom that tries to show an ideal life in social media to cover her loneliness; Lindy, a famous rock star who is struggling to find herself and the music she loves; and Bea, the brightest and the most passionate person anyone has ever met.
They all gather these fourth of July trying to celebrate Bea, one of their best friends, some of them may not be in the best terms with each other, but one thing is clear: Bea is the missing link that they all need, what they need in order to become a family again because that´s how family works, when one person starts disliking someone, there will always be someone else that will bring them back together. And Bea is exactly what they need and they are what Bea needs.
This is the type of novel that you would expect to read when you love novels that narrate stories about a group of people in college, in my case, I have only read one in Spanish, which I absolutely loved, and I am not saying that the characters are similar or the plot, but it follows a group of people that were once inseparable in college, where many dreams start and many ends. It was interesting to read a story that narrated the beginnings and the endings of relationships.
I really liked the different characters because they brought different aspects of adult life, for example, we could see how sometimes your dreams don´t work out and you find an alternative like Owen, or how sometimes those dreams change like Annie´s, or how those you dream of when you are younger can actually come true like Lindy´s. Also, seeing how characters with different traits and dreams could be connected by a friendship that was shared years before, was beautiful because it showed that people change and that is almost inevitable, but small moments and things that become meaningful to us will always stay like that because they will be saved in a special place inside us that may change the way the moment was truly.
I enjoyed the way the characters were created because you were able to see the good and bad sides of each character, they felt very human-like since some of them struggled with things that others didn´t and they all had their different points of view.
I liked how every character was struggling on their own and was afraid to show others about it because it happens in real life too, people are always afraid to show others what they are struggling with because we have evolved into a society that is supposed to not show others what makes us seem weak. Also, this side of the characters really adds to the story itself and the experience because every character has a secret of their own that you start discovering while reading the novel.
On the other hand, I loved the different themes and topics In Twenty Years included, it shows how we tend to act around others and how we change throughout the time and how our lives only change because we decide to make that turn.
I enjoyed learning about their journey from college till their forties because it is a part of life that no one really talks about, especially at my age because we are so eager to go to college that we don´t usually think about what happens next, so reading about it kind of gave me an idea of what could happen and it definitely made me start thinking about my own future because not everything may work out for me. 
Another theme that I liked reading about was how sometimes life is so easy but we decide to take the difficult route to the things that we want or the route that consumes too much time that sometimes makes us wonder and formulate all these what-ifs. 
Moving on, I loved the writing because it was so beautiful and it taught me a lot of meaningful things that really added a nice touch to the novel that already taught you a lot about friendships, dreams and growing up.
I liked how each chapter was about a different character, although the characters didn´t really narrate the novel, they still got their minds read by a third point of view. 
As much as I liked the novel, there were several things that I didn´t enjoy too. I didn´t really like the pace of the novel because it was too slow for me. I mean, there were too many times that scenes were lived again by a different character and it was kind of tiring at some point, but nothing too extreme. Also, I feel like there were many characters that I didn´t get to know too well, like Colin, who was a character that I really wanted to read about since he was the closest to Bea.
On the brighter side, I liked the way that Bea was still present in the story because her being there was like the linking part of the group and it was beautiful to see how a person´s heart can still be there if there are people that want her to be there. 
In general, this was a very pleasant reading, you will be crying and laughing with the characters because they are full of life and they have different personalities and comments that will keep you going for a long time! 

4 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

Dating You/Hating You, Christina Lauren

Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren

Okay, so I loved this book so much that I want to marry it. It met all the high expectations that I had for it when I first discovered it at Barnes and Noble abandoned on one of the tables and I thought that we were destined to meet. Now, I believe that we were destined to meet each other and for me to fall in love with it.
Carter and Evie meet at an awkward Halloween party at their best friend´s house, and they were basically paired by the couple and they immediately like each other because they seem to have a clear understanding. Well, that´s until they both realize that they are both agents in competing agencies, the problem doesn´t really matter at that point because they adults and they are allowed to like whoever they want. The real problem starts when their agencies merge into one and Carter is now working at Evie´s agency, and their boss makes them compete for the SAME job because apparently there´s only one available. So, after being all flirty and heart-eyes with each other, their relationship turns into a war, where they attack one another trying to follow their passions and the only thing they have left. Carter and Evie start to develop a hot love and hate relationship, which could end with their careers. 
As I mentioned before, I LOVED this book because the story was great, the characters were fun and I absolutely loved Carter and the writing was amazing! 
Dating You/Hating You has a good title because it immediately makes you curious about the type of story it will tell. I mean, even my US History teacher liked the title! But, the title shows only a part of the story because the whole novel talks about many different topics that are not always found in contemporary novels. 
I really enjoyed the insight they gave us to Hollywood because we are very used to reading about famous or rising actors and actresses, or famous singers, but we never really get to read about stories involving people that love Hollywood, but are not dealing personally with the audience, like in this case, the agents that support talents. 
Hollywood is such a big media platform today because I think that pretty much everyone knows what it is since we have had the tendency of wanting to recreate what we are shown as right or correct by the media, and seeing how bad it may be on the inside, was different. I mean, I am aware of the fact that the media is probably horrible because it is managed by people that are eager to be famous and become richer, but seeing it portrayed in a book, where everything is supposed to be fictional was very disappointing since it made me realize how bad we were acting as a society. So, I found it very interesting to read about a story where main characters loved Hollywood, but they also had to deal with its bad sides, like sexism, which is something that Evie, our main character goes through and no one really seems to talk about. I do believe that it is something that happens a lot today, but no one has the courage to talk about it and confront it. 
Also, I thought that putting the main characters was agents was super creative and fun because as I mentioned, it is something that is not mentioned a lot, but it also fits very well the romantic comedy setting that I believe the story wanted to create. 
Adding on to the romantic comedy theme, I loved the part where Carter and Evie start getting competitive because it was so much fun! I thought it was very creative because the things they did to get the other one to be angry were things that were pretty simple but clever, and the best part was that it showed how much they cared about each other because they somehow managed to remember everything they did and what they liked and disliked. This novel has scenes that are just so funny that I was about to laugh very very loud in front of everyone in class. So, if you do read this, please read it in a place where you don't have high expectations like at work.
I loved the relationship that they shared because it was fun to read about, they had their funny moments, but also their sad and real-life moments. I believe that the part that I liked about the most was the way they appreciated their small moments and they cherished them. Also, the way they started falling in love and dealing with it was something that I enjoyed since they fell in love very quickly but softly like it wasn't rushed or forced at all, so I really liked that.
I really liked their first encounter because it seemed like something that would happen only in YA novels, so it was fun to get a little bit of that in a contemporary novel.
Now, I have so many things to talk about the characters because of Carter. 
Carter, Carter, Carter...
I LOVE HIM! 
I think I fell in love with him ever since he was described at the beginning because Evie describes him as the ideal person that every girl would see themselves with. He´s very attractive, but not in the Hollywood style, but more in the type of guy that you would dream about. Also, he has these amazing green eyes that would take your breath away and even though, I have not met him in real life, I was breathless every time he appeared because his green eyes were just SO beautiful. I couldn't stop thinking about him because I became too obsessed with him, a little bit in the sense of Peter Kavinsky, but unlike with Peter, I was never mad at Carter, which made it even worse. 
But aside from Carter being super hot and adorable, I think that the part that I liked the most about him was the way he started growing up on his own throughout the novel, I am aware that he is older and that he is over 25 years old, but I think he grew up in the sense that he realized that there are better ways to live a life and there are many things that may be affecting someone, even though you don't realize it, so I liked reading about someone that is older but learns something new.
On the other hand, I loved Evie too. She is very professional, but she is also really funny and she will keep you laughing the whole time because she has the best comments for everything. 
It was interesting to see a woman that is over her thirties desperately holding on for her dreams because at my age, you are too stuck with the idea of going to college and getting a career that it seems hard to imagine where you are really going to be later in life and what you will want next, so reading about Evie being older and chasing after something she is passionate about was very new, yet inspiring.
The other characters that surround Carter and Evie were fun, it was nice to read about Steph and MC because they had a very different reality compared to our main characters, they were already settled and they had a kid, reading about different stories at the same time was very fun and refreshing.
As I mentioned before, I really liked the writing of this novel, it includes text messages, which I absolutely loved, and it includes both points of view and the thing that I liked about that was that it gave each character a different personality because whenever you were reading, you could always know who you were reading, sometimes they mentioned some characters in a different way, but mostly it was the comments they made, for example, Evie made me laugh the whole time!
Even though the novel is not that long and it stands by itself, the authors did a great job opening a door to their story and giving us a very good insight because I felt like a read a complete story and that I traveled to a different world. 
I had the amazing idea of reading this novel in my second week of school and it was absolute torture because I kept thinking about Carter as I mentioned, and I just couldn't put it down, I was so eager to finish this book that I think I only lasted like 3 days with it, so I think that it is a pretty fast reading, but please clear your schedule because you will be eating those pages. 
In general, Dating You /Hating You is a fun, flirty, sexy and sweet reading, you will want to devour it if you love a good romantic comedy movie and you will want to read this novel over and over again, just keep in mind that it includes scenes that are meant for an older audience. 

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua