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 

Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard 

This is the third time that I have the first novel of the series. I read it for the first time a couple of weeks after it came out and I completely fell in love with it, I was charmed by the different abilities of the characters and by the simple, yet different welcoming that the author offered us from the very beginning. The relationship that I have with this book made me go above and beyond that, I completely fell in love with the way the three main characters worked and progressed throughout the novel. A year afterward, Glass Sword came out and I read the first book once again before reading the new installment and once again I was completely lost in this dystopian, yet fantastical world. So, two years forward, I have decided that since the series ended, it was time for me to take the time once again and re-enter the world that became so dear to me. Now that I read it years later, I did notice different aspects of it that have made me simply enjoy more the story. 
Red Queen happens in a country that we come to know as Nortia, its society is divided in two: Silvers and Reds, these being the color of the people´s blood. Yet, Silvers have different abilities, some families are able to control fire, enter people´s minds or even control metal. Our main character, Mare, is a Red and as a consequence, her family is extremely poor, which is the common life for Reds. All of Mare´s brothers have been sent to war as a consequence of them not being able to find a job and Mare is sure that her fate is the same since she wasn´t able to get a job and cooperates to her household by stealing from other people, specially Silvers. By her desperate attempt to save not only herself but her best friend, she makes the choice to connect with people that are working in the underground market and she soon realizes that there is a whole new world out there that is trying to make a change for the society. Yet, Mare moves on with her life and her life completely changes when she meets a young man that she was about to steal from. After somehow getting a job at the palace, Mare´s life changes when she realizes that she is completely different from what she was thinking. She has the complete power to control lighting.
First, I want to talk about Aveyard´s incredible way of narrating and writing a novel. The first thing that has caught my attention every single time that I have read this novel is the intricate way in which she describes and exhibits, not only Nortia but the society that they live in. She is able to take this complex bubble, which holds a whole world, and presents it in a way that every single detail seems fascinating, and I truly believe that it has nothing to do with the story being super creative, which it is, but it has to do completely with the fact that her writing is just so incredible because the words that she uses makes it seem as if it was real. 
Also, I loved the perfect mix she was able to get between romance and action, meaning that it wasn´t just too full of action or dramatic scenes like most dystopian novels do, but it had several romantic scenes that made me swoon over the two princes that I absolutely love at the moment. Something that I want to point out is that since she was able to reach a balance between the different type of scenes, we did get only a few scenes for each prince, but those were just so memorable and showcased them greatly that I believe that any more scenes would have been too much. Also, Aveyard did a great job giving the stepbrothers a distinction because every word and movement that was narrated matched the character, which I thought would be very hard to achieve in a novel that is so complex as this one.
Red Queen is pretty fast paced and I really enjoyed that because I don´t like following the same problem over and over again, so Aveyard was always able to keep my mind going and wandering around the different problems and important scenes that were happening throughout the novel. 
I think the only thing that I felt a little disappointed with was that it followed the typical dystopian pattern. In the sense that it first introduced everything and then, problems and more problems happened and several of them were pretty easy to predict beforehand and the surprise factor was not always present, but I do understand that dystopian novels are harder to write and therefore, the similar pattern is usually the easiest way to get the novel done. 
On the other hand, I want to discuss the characters. I am not going to talk a lot about them since I preferred to discover different aspects of their personalities as the story went on since they all have only small scenes throughout the novel that truly make them shine. But I would like to mention that I absolutely adored the different powers that each house had and the way those powers changed their personalities and the way they acted regarding their surroundings. 
I think I didn´t hate Mare, I just disliked her because she is like other dystopian female leads. She acts without thinking about things and later blaming herself and she is too headstrong, which causes her to get into trouble and get emotionally hurt. Yet, I highly enjoyed her personal comments because they were usually funny and it felt nice to be able to laugh after going through so much with the characters and the atmosphere.
Lastly, I want to mention how I found it so detailed the ways that the characters were planned because every single detail about each one of them was so intricate that it truly enhanced the reading experience for me. 
Overall, Red Queen is a super creative, fun and swoony first installment to a series that will take you to another world, which you will find fascinating and inspiring after following characters that are sometimes heartwarming and other times heartwrenching, all while delivering to give you laughs and tears. 

4 1/2 out of 5 Stars 

Love, Sua

Second Chance Summer, Morgan Matson

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

I believe that Morgan Matson is one of my favorite authors, in fact, I was so excited for her new book Save the Date, which came out this year and hopefully I will get to post its review ASAP. This is the last book that I needed to read to complete my collection of her books before Save the Date. I have reviewed all of her other titles and I absolutely love them and fangirl every time that one of her other characters are mentioned in one of the novels, like in this one, although I will address that later. 
What I absolutely love about Morgan Matson is that she is always able to balance family relationships, friendship, romance and personal reflection for the main character perfectly, which creates the most enjoyable novels and stories with unforgettable characters and this time, it wasn´t different. 
Second Chance Summer narrated the story of Taylor, a teenager from Connecticut, who lives with her mother, father and her two siblings, Warren and Gelsey. It has been years since she has visited Lake Phoenix, in fact, the family hasn´t gone for such a long time that they have rented their home until now. 
Taylor´s family decides it is important to spend time with each other after they realize that her father is ill and he asks for another summer at Lake Phoenix, where they were once the happiest. But when the family arrives at their home, Taylor starts to get memories of the life she left behind her. For instance, she remembers how she fell in love with Henry and how close she was with Lucy, her best friend, but she also remembers how bad everything ended and how coward she was. 
Once the Edwards family gets settled in their home at Lake Phoenix, Taylor suddenly realizes that too many things have changed. For once, Henry is now her next door neighbor and they will have to meet even when they don´t want to. On the other hand, when Taylor finally gets a job at the beach snack bar, she realizes that Lucy, her former best friend, works there too, which puts them in an awkward situation since they will have to eventually talk to each other. 
Now, Taylor has to make the most of her summer with her father while accepting her mistakes and moving on from them and cherishing her memories with friends and family. 
I want to start this review by mentioning that I have always spoken about how much I love Matson, in fact, I even mentioned it at the beginning of this review, but I would like to say that this is probably my least favorite novel from her, not because I didn´t like the characters or the way the story was balanced, in fact, I absolutely loved those points about this story, but what I didn´t really like was how after finishing the novel, I was craving more for character and story development, including Henry´s character and story. I liked how some stories had an ending and how the story actually showed development, especially in the relationships. I absolutely loved how each relationship in the story evolved as the pages passed by, I specifically loved Taylor and Lucy, Taylor and her father and Warren and Wendy. But after ending the story, I didn´t feel satisfied with the story as I was with her past novels. I believe that maybe I had too many expectations for the author since I have read more of her newer novels and just like every other author, she probably evolved and learned how to communicate her stories better. 
Now, going back to the relationships in the story, I absolutely adored how natural they were. I liked how Matson was able to craft a story where the characters weren´t forced to be in a certain place to meet, the characters were actually crafted to interact with each other and move from there. For example, Lucy and Taylor work together, which makes them notice each other and realize that there are many things that could change between them. The relationships were my favorite thing in this novel. 
On the other hand, I liked the characters. I enjoyed Henry, although not as much as I enjoyed other Matson´s male characters, like Roger, Clark, and Frank. I just wanted more from him. Besides, he smells like bread and frosting, I want a boyfriend that smells like a cupcake too! As mentioned before , what the story was lacking in my point of view was progression for each story, it just seemed like we only saw how the characters were guided to the beginning of very large paths, like their relationships, and I didn´t really like that. 
But I did enjoy reading about the Edwards family because they just seemed very normal and each of the members were different and brought something new to the story. Also, it was interesting to read the story from a character that didn´t consider herself special at all within her family because it definitely brought a new point of view. 
In addition, I just want to mention the dog because it was so cute and refreshing to read about. 
Something that I really liked was the way that the summer was portrayed because everyone created their summer lives in a small bubble where they knew that there was nothing outside of that since they were all holding onto something that was so precious that was going to be taken from them, but never returned, which was their father. I think that story itself was very emotional because the presence of her father always brought a certain bittersweetness to the stories, but it actually led to the beginning of so many things. Yet, at the same time, I didn´t like how these gave the freedom to the characters to do whatever they wanted because it created so many stories that at some point, the reader had so many things to focus on when there were really important things happening in another side of the novel. In addition, I felt like at the end of the novel, I didn´t really know Taylor because there was nothing that was said about her other side of life in Connecticut, which I think would have helped us understand our narrator better. 
However, I really liked the writing because Matson gave us the perfect combination of past and present in their Lake Phoenix bubble, which helped us understand what really happened and how the characters developed in order to get to that point. 
Lastly, I really liked the character development from Taylor because she grew up in the short time that we got to know her, she realized what she was lacking and she changed it. This was something that I really liked about the main character. 
Overall, Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson is a refreshing summer romance novel, where you will be able to immerse yourself in a story surrender by the beach with childhood friends while shedding a couple of tears while understanding that the line that separated a human being from life and death is very, very thin. 

4 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

Changes in Latitudes, Jen Malone

Changes in Latitudes by Jen Malone

I have read all of the three published novels by Jen Malone and I love her writing because it is sweet, adventurous and at the same time, very deep. Also, I love summer romances because they are the sweetest readings you can find! So, when I heard that Jen Malone was going to release a new YA summer novel, I was super excited and eager to read this new story, and I´ve got to say that although I fairly enjoyed this reading, it is my least favorite from the author.
Changes in Latitudes tells the story of Cassie, who is dragged to a ship during summer by her mother and her younger brother, Drew, to bond with the family all the way from Oregon to Mexico. But she is so pissed at her family because she had already made plans with her best friends to tour the country visiting universities, besides, she has been mad at her mother ever since the divorce, which left her father all the way in Hong Kong. So, when her mother makes her get on the boat, she is ready to ignore everyone and live her days in the small room she has, which has a refrigerator underneath her bed. But that is until she meets Jonah, a charming and funny 18-year old that is ready to make Cassie blush. After a fateful meeting with Jonah, she returns to her ship, to find that Jonah will be joining them during her whole trip. In the beginning, they are glad to be around each other because they are the only teenagers on the trip, but suddenly, the friendship they share starts turning into something else. 
Jonah and Cassie will be running around cities and islands riding roller coasters, watching birds, eating the most delicious food and most importantly, falling in love with each other. 
Cassie will get the chance to discover herself in the ocean with her loved ones.
One thing that I really liked about the story was that it was unique, you don´t really read summer romances that take place on a boat. So, I definitely give credit for that because it gets tiring to read a novel with similar settings. I enjoyed the story in general, but I did think that it was a bit slow, I remember that Jonah doesn't even appear for the first 100 pages of the novel, which for me is a lot of time, so it is a novel that goes by slowly.
I loved the adventures that it included because they were sweet and funny, but I think that during the novel there wasn´t a lot of them like I expected because I love reading about adventures and funny moments. 
And although the novel didn´t really meet all of my expectations, I will admit that the story is really fun to read and there were moments that I was about to laugh out loud and the small moments that the characters shared made me smile like a crazy girl during class.
On the other hand, I really liked the characters. 
Jonah Abrahamson is definitely a character that I would categorize as swoony, he is a gigantic flirt and he is funny and sweet. So, yes, he is like the perfect boyfriend you can imagine. Also, he is so philosophical about everything that you will end up learning and discover new things about our daily lives. At first, I didn´t really love him, I mean, I just liked him because he was funny and stuff, but after reading the novel and keeping up with Jonah, I started to get used to him and finding him more normal and natural, kind of like in real life. There are many people that at first, you are not so sure about, but you kind of start getting used to them and how they act that some of the little things they do start to feel part of them and somehow part of you, so I really liked how Malone portrayed him since he felt very human-like, which was a very different aspect in a summery YA novel.
I liked Cassie because she is the type of person that keeps all of her emotions bottled up inside and I believe that most of us are like that too, so Cassie was a character that most of us could relate to, at least a little bit, and I think that´s a very good point because many of us will start liking the story more once we start identifying ourselves with a character. But at the same time, I found her a little bit annoying because she was too negative about everything, which made her a very immature character in my opinion. I mean, I can totally understand why she feels like that, but she had to realize that people around her were making an effort and I didn´t see that in her, so, I was a bit annoyed with her throughout the novel.
As I said before, I love Jen Malone´s reading in this novel too because she gets to mix dramatic moments with adventures and sweet characters that create a very comfortable atmosphere for readers. 
I apologize for not having a lot to say about this novel, but I honestly believe that this is a very quick reading and that there are many sub-plots that I don´t want to give you spoilers! 
But in general, Changes in Latitudes is a fun, flirty, dramatic and adventurous reading that will fill your heart with philosophical whispers.

3 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua 

The Summer I Turned Pretty, Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

I´ve read just too many summer beach romances in my life that I always feel like I have read everything that I need to read in that category, but once again, I was swept off my feet by a gorgeous teenager. I have read To All the Boys I´ve Loved Before by the same author and I absolutely loved Peter! So, I was a little bit excited to start reading this series, but at the same time, I felt a little nervous because I tend to enjoy summer books, but never really love them as others.
The Summer I Turned Pretty tells the story of Belly, a soon-to-be sixteen-year-old that has been visiting Cousins every year of her life during summer. Her family always goes and stays with Sussanah, her mother´s best friend´s family, and they are like a big family. Belly is sure that this summer is probably going to be the same, but when she gets there, she realizes that there may be something different this time.
Belly has always had a crush on Conrad, one of Sussanah´s sons, and when she sees him again, she tries to convince herself that her feelings for him are over, but that may not be the case.
On the other hand, Belly and Jeremiah, Conrad´s brother, may have left some things unclear last year.
When summer starts with people mentioning that she is different now and with guys actually checking her out, she realizes that this summer is going to be completely different to others.
Eventually, she meets Cam, a very good-looking guy that seems to be Belly´s age, they eventually end up spending a lot of time together.  
Who is going to steal Belly´s heart this summer? Is this going to be the summer that changes everything for her? Will there even be more summers after this one?
I think what I liked the most about this novel was the way its story. Okay, the plot is not that interesting and the things that happen aren´t that story-changing, but what I really liked was the story about their beach house, Conrad, Jeremiah, Steven, and Susannah, I just fell in love with the way Mr. Fisher always visits during summer and barbecues, I guess I just loved the way this novel gave us a look at what having traditions like this feels like. I think that almost everybody wants to be able to just leave the life that they are living for a couple of months and go to a small bubble with the people that you love being with and The Summer I Turned Pretty did that.
On the other hand, I really liked the characters and their relationships. I just loved the way Steven, Conrad, Jeremiah, and Belly had a unique bond that made them friends and almost siblings. I adored the way they had things that only they understood because that made them part of something that they were very emotionally attached to. I liked Steven, although he wasn´t part of the story a lot because he was just like the typical older brother that every sister should have and it was adorable to see how he protected her and how the other guys just automatically did the same when he left. 
Furthermore, I believe that having a love triangle with two brothers was just so dramatic and intense, which I absolutely loved! I fell in love with Jeremiah almost immediately and although I liked him so much, I did believe that Jeremiah and Belly weren´t that compatible, so I actually found myself rooting for Belly and Conrad, so yes, I absolutely hated Cam and although I do love his name, I thought that he was a character that wasn´t that useful, he appeared through most of the novel, but he didn´t really impact Belly in any way and he seemed to be almost like her second plate, something that she only wanted when Conrad wasn´t talking to her. 
On the other hand, I didn´t really like how Belly is always focusing on Conrad, I mean, yes, I adored them, but she was always talking about him that it got a little bit stressful. I wanted more of the story, I expected more character development from other characters as well, such as Jeremiah, who is a love interest in this novel. 
Similarly, The Summer I Turned Pretty did have a pretty interesting story that kept me reading until the end, but nothing very essential seemed to happen, almost as if we were actually living that summer with her completely instead of only getting the juicy parts of it. I believe that the only story that I did like was the drama about Taylor, the girl that used to be Belly´s best friend. I liked how the author built an anticipation that made the readers eager to find out what Taylor, a 14-year-old had done, and honestly, I did enjoy the outcome of that. 
Similarly, I really liked how the story had chapters from different time periods from Belly´s point of view because we are able to follow Belly´s family and friends throughout the summers and understand how summers always tend to be for these families. 
Overall, The Summer I Turned Pretty is a very enjoyable summer tale of growing up and trying to continue traditions and a story that you will not want to see the end.

4 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You, Vicki Grant

36 Questions That Changes My Mind About You by Vicki Grant

Who could have thought that a psychology experiment could actually make people fall in love with each other?
I am not sure if it is because of the colors of the cover, but everyone just generally seems intrigued by this novel, I now that I was, but I mean, who would have thought that all of my teachers would be really interested in the book? And may I mention that all of them are male teachers? Also, they all thought that it was super interesting, so in a sense, it receives kudos for looking so intriguing and making me look so cool for two days. But they are all correct, 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant is a very interesting novel. I believe that what makes everyone be interested in this book is the cover. It doesn´t have the most complicated design, but the colors it has, in this case, bright green and dark pink, is very pleasing to the eye and it is very easy to lay your eyes on it.
Vicki Grant tells us the story of Hildy and Paul in an unforgettable adventure created by a psychological test.
Hildy is a high school student that signs up for a psychological test because she is greatly interested in the area of study, but when she gets there, she realizes that maybe the test is not for her once the instructor tells her that the test can spark a little romance for both subjects that are testing. But later, she impulsively decides to take place in the study, which is when she meets Paul.
Paul seems to be the exact opposite of Hildy and of course, the beginning of their relationship is rather bad, their conversation and answers are small and they are not enjoying each other´s company, which makes their idea of finding love by answering 36 questions almost impossible to think about.
After Hildy and Paul have a disagreement, Hildy explodes and leaves, yet after a couple of hours, Paul is able to find her Facebook and they are able to talk again, but only because Paul really wants to receive his payment by answering questions, even after Hildy threw a fish at him.
Their conversations suddenly start changing and they start becoming more friendly with each other once their layers start fading away with their laughter.
Interestingly, their conversations seem to always come back, even after all of their disagreements, almost as if it was meant for them to meet and talk to each other.
My favorite thing about this novel is the plot and the way the story progressed.
I thought the plot of this novel was very creative. I mean, a story was created based on a psychological study. It was interesting to see how science inspired a story, which makes me believe that eventually, novels such as this one will take over the YA world.
Similarly, I really enjoyed the story because although other sides of the characters were not really shown to the readers, we saw small glimpses of them, such as Hildy´s family and all the drama that was surrounding her. Also, reading a little bit about Paul´s family made him much more human. And although I would have loved a more complete story for both characters, I was pretty satisfied with what I got since the novel is written creatively and different from traditional novels.
Honestly, I really liked the family drama since it made the story much more fun and interesting than I expected from small dialogues.
However, my favorite part of this novel was the story itself. I really enjoyed interesting characters and the ways the story progressed. The way the characters fell in love was beautiful and everything that they did together was just ADORABLE! Also, the way the story actually pushes the two characters to be together was very interesting and fun to read, and at the same time, it sounded very normal, it didn´t sound like something out of a book or a movie, on the contrary, it seemed more as if Hildy and Paul were actually meant to be together.
In addition, I liked the characters, although I didn´t love them. I mean, Paul is cute and interesting, but there was nothing that caught my attention and made me obsess myself with him. On the other side, Hildy was pretty interesting, but I did find her to be a little too plain and a little too predictable and common. But a character that I really liked was Max, Hildy´s friend because he is super funny and made everything in the story better, although again, there is nothing much about him either.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the writing and the drawings. I found it very interesting that the novel was mainly written by dialogues because I am one of those readers that just understand what is happening through dialogues and being able to do that with this book felt different and refreshing. It was interesting to see how readers get to know the characters and the story by reading their dialogues. This story made me want to read more stories with more dialogues and I hope that this novel helps to have more novels published through dialogues.
In addition, I really liked the drawings because they made the story very special and they made me laugh A LOT, but I did want more of them. I enjoyed that we were able to see Paul´s drawings because I think that they made the novel way more special. Although I would have wanted more of them throughout the story, I think that made me treasure them more.
Overall, 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant is a short, creative, refreshing and fun novel with good dialogues and funny drawings, along with characters that are just charming! You will want to finish Paul and Hildy´s story in a sitting, and the best thing is that you actually can since it isn´t a long novel! 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You will open new doors for new novels. 

4 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

Eight Days on Planet Earth, Cat Jordan

Eight Days on Planet Earth by Cat Jordan

Imagine that you go out of your house once and you find a very skinny and pale-looking girl, she is beautiful , but she just doesn't look normal. Once you approach her, she starts telling you that she is an alien and that she is collecting data to send it back to her planet. This sounds extremely unrealistic, but that is exactly what happened to Matthew Matty Jones.
Matthew is a very average teenager, he has a close friend, Brian, who is always smoking weed and getting high, and he usually hangs out with Brian's older sister, Sam, whom Matty really likes; he lives in a very small town, where there is not much to see and he lives an ordinary life with his parents. Well, that is until Matthew's life changes completely.
DJ, Matthew's father has always loved stars and consequently, Matty used to love them too, but he simply grew out of it. But once his father leaves him and his mother, Matthew is in charge of taking care of her mother, who was left heartbroken after her husband left. While he is trying to make sure her mother is okay, he sees something new near his house.
There's a girl. Very skinny. Very pale. With very white hair. And very beautiful.
Matthew gets closer to her and realizes that she is different, and well, she says that she is different too. Priya, the girl, says that she comes from another planet and that she has come to the Earth to collect data to send back to her planet, where everyone is just like us but with different ways of doing things. For example, they can all share information through their heads. Priya says that her spaceship is coming to get her and that she is going home soon, she says she is sure that the spaceship is coming for her because that's what her calculations showed her. Yet, the days keep passing and Priya continues to be there, exactly where Matty says goodbye to her. 
After a couple of days, Matthew decides to show her around and help her with her investigation. That´s why he ends up showing her his extremely boring town. Later, he decides to go to the lake with Brian, where Priya is in an accident because she doesn't remember how to swim, that´s where Sam tells Matty that there seems to be something wrong with her and that he should be careful with her. This only makes Matty realize that there are many things wrong with Priya and that he should be more careful. This makes him start feeling uneasy with her. Is Sam correct? Is there really something wrong with Priya? Is she even from another planet? If so, why did her ride put her exactly in his yard? 
When I first read that a normal teenager met an alien outside of his house, I thought this was going to be really great story. I mean, I thought that this was probably going to be a little but like Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout, which I REALLY enjoyed reading and made me fall in love with aliens, so I thought I would really enjoy this novel. But honestly, this is just completely different from Daemon. 
I really tried to like this novel a lot, but I found it to be too peculiar for my taste. I mean, I am always open to different plots because after reading the same type of stories, as a reader, I get tired of some plots, and yes, Eight Days on Planet Earth by Cat Jordan is definitely something new and refreshing, but I found out too weird for me. 
I did like the pace of the novel, it was slow, but at the same time quick. By this mean that although there are only eight days (which is the number of chapters), the days pass fairly quickly because so many things happen in such a short time for both characters that sometimes, it is even hard to remember that all of that happened in a single day. But the novel is a fairly quick reading because it only focuses on two things in Matty´s life: Priya and his father. So, overall, it is a reading that you will be able to finish in a sitting.
On the other hand, I did enjoy Matthew´s character a lot because he was a funny narrator and seeing the story from his perspective was very interesting, but I didn't like Priya. I found her a little annoying and the ending just really frustrated me. I just didn't like her attitude at all and at times, I found myself cringing. 
Sam is a character that I was hoping to get to know better because I was expecting to get some drama from her relationship with Matthew, but there wasn't´ anything that kept me going because she only appears in like two chapters, which is exactly what happened with Brian, her brother, too. Although I didn't really like Brian, I was expecting to get to know him better because Priya was just too boring for me, but he just disappears on the second chapter with his family. 
I really wanted to read some character development from everyone, but I didn't really notice any changes from Matthew or Priya, and like I mentioned, Sam and Brian weren't even part of the story. 
In addition, I didn´t really like the story itself because I found it to be too boring because nothing really happened, the whole story just revolved around Priya and although I really like novels focused on the romantic relationship, I found it annoying to notice that Matthew was not caring enough for his mothers although he actually took the time to talk about her. Similarly, I found the story to be weird, as mentioned before. I just didn't really feel the whole dating an alien and eating pizza with a random girl that just didn't look normal and the whole idea of knowing someone that considers herself to be an alien and actually having someone, like Matthew, believing in that without any real proof. For example, Daemon actually shows Kat his powers and how she shines like a Christmas tree, but Matthew was just a naive teenager that believed everything that the beautiful girl told him. 
As much as I disliked this novel, there were some things that I liked as well, such as the way the chapters were organized, which is by days. It was a simple, but at the same time, really effective because it was creative and really enjoyed reading it like that. 
On the other hand, I really liked the writing, in fact, I found it beautiful because Jordan was able to write a story that was fun, romantic and at the same time, realistic in the sense of Matty´s point of view. 
In addition, I really enjoyed the ending because it was realistic and very touching. I think I enjoyed it because it was very different from the whole story since the story was very optimistic while the ending was sad and realistic. 
Overall, Eight Days on Planet Earth is a quick sci-fi book with a funny narrator and the main character that you won´t forget. You will also get to know Earth like never before. 
I would like to thank Edelweiss and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this novel.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

Once and for All, Sarah Dessen

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen 

I have read three Sarah Dessen novels and I am not her biggest fan, although I am aware of the fact that many people adore her novels, I have never really liked them that much. I have read this one, The Lullaby and Along for the Ride. Along for the Ride is probably my favorite one out of those three and I will admit that it is a pretty good book, hopefully, I will be able to post a review of that one sometime soon. When I tell people that I am not Dessen´s biggest fan, people immediately ask me if I even like YA novels or summer romances, and I absolutely love those two, but it´s just that her stories have never really stayed with me and I had a similar experience with Once and for All because I was unsure that I was going to like it, but I adore weddings, so I thought that I needed to at least give it a try. I think weddings are special and that they are beautiful. In fact, I live them so much  that at some point when I was growing up I honestly thought about becoming a wedding planner but discovered that I am not that patient, therefore, not really qualified for that business, yet I still have the right to enjoy them, so after reading how many people were actually enjoying Once and for All and how it was set inside the world of wedding planning, I thought that I should give it a go. I mean, there wasn´t really anything to lose. 
Once and for All narrated the story of Louna, a teenager that lives only with her mother, Natalie, who owns a very successful wedding planning company with William, Natalie´s best friend and basically Louna´s father figure. Our main character has to be running around the town running errands and helping the family business as much as she can before she goes to college. Louna´s summer seems to be going exactly like she predicted, with horrible dates organized by Jilly, her best friend, who is trying to make her be back in the dating field after a past relationship. Well, that is until Ambrose starts working with Louna. Ambrose is exactly what Louna HATES. He is very unprofessional, flirts with all the girls, has a hard time focusing on a relationship and takes the poorest decisions (in Louna´s point of view). Louna continues trying to forget her first love and continue with her life, even when it seems impossible to find someone after Ethan. 
I want to start this review by talking about how my favorite character is William! I loved his personality and honestly, I would love to have someone like him by my side because he is funny and caring, which I think was something that Louna needed. Also, he probably made every scene better. 
I liked Ethan because he had a very "magical" story with him, plus he was adorable and just like the type of boyfriend you read about in every summer romance book. 
Surprisingly, Ambrose didn´t really catch my attention that much. I mean, yes, I like him because he is funny and he has different ideas that are very interesting, but I feel like he didn´t get enough recognition for his self, Louna always seemed to like his physical appearance more than himself. But I did enjoy reading about him.
On the other hand, Louna was a character that I found just okay. I really liked her point of view in true love and weddings because she saw so many people that fell apart because of a relationship, yet she held tight her dream of meeting the right person, and I would like to admit that this was probably the first time that someone actually put into words what I think about marriage. But I also found her a little bit annoying from time to time because she acted a little immature with certain people like Ambrose or Jilly, and she was so immature around those that cared about her. 
Jilly is a character that I liked, but she is just the most typical best friend you can think of in a YA novel, she is the opposite of our main character, she likes going out all the time, she sets Louna with weird guys and stuff, but the one thing that made her special and more likeable was the fact that she was always taking care of the family business and her siblings. I think that it showed how there are people that prefer to be more outgoing because they are tired of being stuck with their family all the time. 
Another character that I think is worth mentioning is Natalie, Louna´s mother because I liked her and she is not even one of the important characters, but I hated her character development. Sometimes she appeared and sometimes she didn´t, and her ending is something that I didn´t like at all because it made you feel like all those 300 pages were wasted.
I want to talk about Ethan´s story because I found the whole summer romance thing adorable because when you read it, it is described as your ideal summer romance, yes, one of those that lasts at least a week. Well, Ethan´s summer romance only lasted a night and guess what? They started dating! I mean, I loved the night they passed together and everything, but dating and kind of making all these promises seemed a little too fictional, even when I am one of those hopeless romantics at heart! I liked Ethan and everything, but it felt a little unreal, that´s all. 
Also, I felt like Ambrose wasn´t even one of the main characters because he never really had a story with Louna, I think they never really fell in love, they were trying to be friends while he kept flirting with the bridesmaids. In my opinion, the novel´s pace was just too slow for me.
I disliked all the sub-plots that were added to the story because it made the story SO messy because at some point we had so many things going on at the same time that it started to confuse me! I mean, I liked that there were many diverse stories in a novel, but in this novel, they were just added out of the blue that it confused me. 
I think the one good thing that I want to mention is that the whole wedding planning industry kept me reading because as I mentioned, I love weddings and I think that if this novel was centered in another business, I would´ve probably stopped reading it. 
But like I said, Dessen is just not usually my style, but if she is, you should enjoy this one too, I just happened to not find the right theme on this one. Yet, I will admit that it made me continue reading it, so even though it is confusing and messy, Dessen´s writing still has the factor that pulls you in and makes you read more. 

3 1/2 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 

The Chilbury Ladies´ Choir, Jennifer Ryan

The Chilbury Ladies´ Choir by Jennifer Ryan

Jennifer Ryan opens a portal to the past and guides you through the heartbreaking moments and shows you how people thrive to survive what we have created and decided to call "war."
This has been the first time that I have read a historical fiction novel because I have never really had the opportunity, I mean, I am barely 16-years old and I absolutely love young adult novels and contemporary novels that are romantic, but on the other hand, I absolutely love history! I have always believed that history is so interesting and powerful because we tend to learn from our mistake as a society and history probably provides all of these factors and it always shows us different lifestyles and I believe that a lot of people that enjoy literature, probably enjoys history because we can learn about it as a story. So, once I joined Blogging for Books and I read about the Chilbury Ladies´ Choir, I thought that I should give it a try, and honestly, I am so glad that I made that choice because I fell in love with every element in the story and I ended up adoring Ryan´s writing. 
The Chilbury Ladies´ Choir tells the story of a group of powerful women that live in the town of Chilbury in England during World War II. We get to meet every person that lives in the small town through different perspectives. We have the perspective of Mrs. Tilling, whose son will be leaving for war; Ms. Edwina Paltry, who writes to her sister describing her all the illicit jobs she has to get done for money; Kitty, a 13-years old girl that is trying to become her town´s hero during war while being desperately in love with Henry, who likes her older sister;  and Venetia, who writes to her best friend about her encounters with Mr. Slater, a handsome painter that doesn´t even bother with glancing at Venetia´s direction. 
Once everyone leaves for war, the town is left heartbroken and on top of that, the Chilbury Choir cannot continue because all the men left, but Ms. Prim decides to open a ladies choir in town to help everyone get through war and promises that the Chilbury Ladies´ Choir can place in competition, and just like that, the Chilbury Ladies´ Choir is formed and demonstrates that the women that were left behind can still do things by themselves. 
And while the war continues, these powerful women will discover themselves with every note they sing. 
I want to start this review by talking about the characters. I loved every single one of them because each one of them showed a different side to the war. Also, the characters were all from different age gaps, which made it easier for the readers to feel identified with. Personally, I loved Kitty because she is the youngest, but she is probably the one character that really tries to be part of everything, she has this amazing way of taking everything and everyone that surrounds her into her own world, and she wants to be a grown-up so much that it reminded me of myself because when I was 13 too, which was only like three years ago, I felt the same thing, so seeing how a character really wants to become a hero was inspiring at some point. 
Although I really liked the many characters the novel had, I did feel confused from time to time because there were too many and I really liked that there was a map at the beginning, but it had so many elements that it made me go back and forth because it was very detailed, which I liked a lot, but it was a bit confusing. Yet, I really appreciated how much effort the author put into this story because it really showed and made it like we were traveling back in time. 
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the plot and the story itself because it has a pull-factor that makes you keep reading since it is a pretty fast-paced reading. 
I really liked how Ryan portrayed feminism, which is something that is wildly talked about today because it demonstrated that WWII wasn´t mostly about fighting, it also included everyone that lived in the countries that were involved, and seeing the lives that continued while people came and went, made it more lively and real. 
Also, I absolutely loved how the author wrote about WWII because she takes into account the different experiences that different people have during the war, mothers have to let go of their children, lovers have to say goodbye to their loved one, children will have to continue living without a father and so forth, Ryan did a great job showing the heartbreaking moments of war, which I think is one of the biggest themes of this novel. Another thing that I found very interesting about her portrayal of war was the way the characters held onto small moments with those they love like in real life. Ryan also shows that the war not only ends things, it starts things, like the Chilbury Ladies´ Choir, which gives hope to people because, at the end of the day, the one thing that keeps going is the small things that give us hope. 
Before I end this review, I want to talk about how much I liked Jennifer Ryan´s writing because it is beautiful, it really touched me while portraying the story perfectly. I enjoyed the different point of views because as I mentioned before, it tells us the story of the village through different eyes. Also, I loved how the whole story is written through journals and letters, it reminded a little bit of Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern (review for that one coming soon!). And lastly, I loved how three-dimensional she made the characters, they seemed very real to me because they all had different things they were holding onto and different things that they hoped for while having several flaws, like real human beings.
The Chilbury Ladies´ Choir by Jennifer Ryan is a beautiful and inspiring historical fiction novel that will transport you to its small village during World War II to show you the beauty of life and holding onto the past while trying to grasp the future before it is too late. 
Also, I would like to thank Blogging for Books for giving me the opportunity to review this amazing novel!

4 1/2 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