Young Adult (YA)

Book Review – Point of Retreat (Slammed Book #2) by Colleen Hoover

April 17, 2012 by Aestas · 6 Comments

A follow-up novel to Slammed, by Colleen Hoover.

Hardships and heartache brought them together…now it will tear them apart.

Layken and Will have proved their love can get them through anything; until someone from Will’s past re-emerges, leaving Layken questioning the very foundation on which their relationship was built. Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge…how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop ‘carving pumpkins.’

Rating: 6 stars!

“My heart pounds against my chest. Not because I’m nervous. Not even because I want her worse that I’ve ever wanted her before. It’s pounding against my chest because I realize I’ve never been so sure about the rest of my life than I am in this moment. This girl is the rest of my life.”

WOW this was the perfect sequel to Slammed! 6 stars!! I LOVED IT!! An absolute MUST read! A butterflying amazing book!!!

This series is definitely going on my favorites pile. I finished reading it with my cheeks wet with happy tears. But boy is this book intense !! It had me laughing and crying, it made my heart race and I swear it stopped beating all together for several chapters. Just like with the first book, I love how absolutely none of the characters make stupid decisions or do stupid things. I love the love that Will and Lake share both for each other and for their brothers. I love how each and every one of the side characters and main characters were characters I’d want to read whole books about. I have come to love slam poetry (well, at least the ones from this book, I don’t really have any other experience with it). I loved that this book was from Will’s perspective. I love how the author integrated lyrics, and poetry throughout the story bringing deeper meaning to an already intensely emotional read. And I loved the HEA 🙂

This story is about realizing and holding on to love and about how love (both romantic love, friendship love, and family love) can be found in the most unlikely of places. It’s also centers on a lot of themes of responsibility and maturity. I love the unusual family unit that is built in this story. I’d love to read more about all the characters in this book…

Honestly, I think I’ll read anything Ms Hoover writes next. I love her writing style. Its simple, beautiful, powerful and keeps you riveted to the page.

Definitely be sure to read book 1, Slammed, first.

I can’t recommend these books highly enough. Anyone who loves to read absolutely MUST read them. Truly wonderful books <3

♥♥ READING ORDER + BOOK INFO ♥♥

These books should absolutely be read in order.
Each of the books in this series got a 6 star rating from me.

Book #1 — SLAMMED
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #2 — POINT OF RETREAT
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #3 — THIS GIRL
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book Review – Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie

April 17, 2012 by Aestas · 2 Comments

4 stars (actually somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars lol)

“One day, you and I are gonna’ wake up and be alright. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day. One day. I promise you.” – Callum

Callum and Harper grew up in the foster care system and meet in a social services office after suffering from turning 18 yrs old. They are instantly attracted to each other but develop a friendship instead of a romantic relationship because they are each too scared of losing the other. And Harper is haunted by a creepy psycho guy from her past who will stop at nothing to get to her. Pretty much everything goes wrong for them but they persevere through everything and never give up on each other or life.

Callum and Harper are adorable together. I loved watching their friendship develop. Callum is so wonderfully protective of her – right from pretty much the first moment he met her. I loved his always positive, can-do, nothing will bring us down, we’ll get through anything together attitude – it was totally endearing 🙂

“I loved her so much I could barely see straight. I wanted her so much I could barely breathe straight. I needed her so much I could barely think straight.” ~Callum

The book is written in alternating POVs (literally, like within one chapter, it’ll go from his to her POV several times) but its not in the least bit confusing and is actually quite nice because it really helps you get into each of their head.

I’ve read several books about kids in the foster system and its quite horrible but this book does a very good job at really showing just how damaged many kids who come out of that system can be and how flawed it is. Makes me want to take them all in even though I know I can’t. Its quite heartbreaking 🙁

The things that bugged me were that I felt it took C&H much too long to admit their love for each other. There were times when I really wanted to grab them and shake them and beg them to just admit their feelings out loud despite how cute their friendship was. They came so close sooooo many times lol but were always interrupted… and also, just on a personal level, I’m not super fond of psycho evil creepy bad guys having that much luck getting to one of the main characters.

But all in all it was a wonderful read and the HEA is very cute 🙂

Also, while this book isn’t what I’d call a YA book, there are no graphic sex scenes. Its more about their feelings for each other.

READING ORDER for the SLEEPLESS series.
These books can be read as stand-alones.

Book #1 – CALLUM & HARPER
Kindle | Paperback

Book # 2 – THOMAS & JANUARY
Kindle | Paperback

Book Review – The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer

April 16, 2012 by Aestas · 10 Comments

Twilight was THE series that got me back into reading. It was the first paranormal romance that I ever read and it instantly made me crave more. Intense, undeniable forever love, focus on the character’s journey rather than external drama, and a happy ending… all in the same book?? I knew I needed to find more books like this that left me with such a happy feeling and just made me want to read them over and over again.

I can’t say enough good about this series. It portrays the intensity of first love so beautifully, really making you feel with the characters.

Enter the Aestas Book Database