There are times when Heather, Aly & I finish a book, but don’t have time to write a full comprehensive review… or even a shorter “flashbulb” review. BUT we still want to share our thoughts with you on what we’ve been reading. That’s why every Saturday we’ll be featuring 3 “snippet” reviews — short, sweet, to-the-point reviews that we’ll try to keep to 2-5 sentences. So we hope you enjoy these!!
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan Title: The Spring Before I Met You Series: Lynburn Legacy (Book #0.25) Published: September 11, 2012 Format: ebook (short story) Website: www.sarahreesbrennan.com Source: FREE My rating: Blurb: This story introduces us to one of the main characters of Unspoken, Jared Lynburn… Read more…
Taking place the spring before he meets Kami, SRB gives us a unique view of Jared through the eyes of his high school guidance counselor. As I stated in my Unspoken review (found HERE), Jared’s character is a conflicting one with contrasting extremes — extremely sympathetic and yet highly disturbing. This little revelation into Jared’s character was pretty heartbreaking and sheds more light on what his life was like before Kami was physically in it… and also gives a glimpse into what his abysmal home life was like. Just a really good, meaty chunk of back story.
Author: Dan Wells Title: Partials Series: Partials Sequence (Book #1) Published: February 28, 2012 Format: 480 pages; paperback; ebook Website: www.thedanwells.com Source: purchased My rating: Blurb: The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials–engineered organic beings identical to humans–has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out. Read more…
I’m not usually much of a sci-fi chick. I mean don’t get me wrong, I love a good Star Wars movie (meaning any of the original 3…and only the original 3) and I like to read about a certain group of Luxen and I may even indulge in a certain trek Across the Universe (great read by the way) but typically sci-fi is not my style. HOWEVER, I do believe I have found a type of science fiction that IS my style–biochemical/mega virus sci-fi! Dun-dun-dun! Partials has all of that and more. It wasn’t over the top or super complicated or technical which I liked but it gave enough information to be believable. It made sense and I liked that. Tons and tons of awesome world building and back story. Really incredible characters. An intriguing, though definitely B-Plot, love interest…or is it??? Mystery, political drama, and all sorts of super epic awesome. For serious, I loved this book, and I bet you will too!
Author: Jessica Park Title: Flat-Out Love Published: April 11, 2011 Format: 389 pages; paperback; ebook Website: www.jessicapark.me Source: purchased My rating: Blurb: Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance. Read more…
This book was just what I needed. Perfect length. It was a great mix of heavy and light-heartedness. I had kind of guessed the big twist but I still enjoyed it, start to finish. Recommended!
Important Characters:
Julie – Newly collegiate. It was fun to see her figure out what she wants in life and in love. Not the strongest protagonist I’ve ever read, but I liked her.
Matt – Quirky and likable. He irritated me a lot, but I suppose that’s what middle siblings are for. 
Finn – Definitely attractive. Knows the right things to say all the time. He and his flat counterpart are central to the story, and he’s absolutely someone that would be fun to know in real life.
Celeste – Beautifully innocent. She’s my favorite character, and she’s the one who undergoes the most pivotal change. I was so proud of her in certain parts of the story, and she just rocks. While she’s fragile, she proves her strength.
Happy Reading!
I absolutely LOVED Matty!! He was the perfect boyfriend for me – and I loved all the Facebook stuff and all the rest. Don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it to get the twist here!! It was an amazing contemporary story, with characters that came to life and I was so very invested in it:))
Matty was… awesome.
And yes, I loved all the characters and the quirkiness. Just a lovely story.
I thoroughly enjoyed FLAT-OUT LOVE and loved Matt too. Like you said, it was exactly what I needed/wanted at the time. I also guessed the twist, but it didn’t ruin the story one bit for me.
I know this was Aly’s review, but yes, I also guessed the twist early on, but yes, it didn’t take away any enjoyment. And Matt… I love him… and his nerdy t-shirts.
I didn’t love Matt, and that’s one reason why I gave Flat Out Love 4 stars instead of 5. To me the author described him as too nerdy for me to swoon for him at the end. Liked the snippets!
LOL… no nerd love, huh? I guess, yeah, I’m kinda into nerds. Cool nerds. Was that an oxymoron?