Review: Roomies by Christina Lauren

Release date: December 5th 2017
Publisher: Gallery Books
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:

From subway to Broadway to happily ever after. Modern love in all its thrill, hilarity, and uncertainty has never been so compulsively readable as in New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren’s (Beautiful Bastard, Dating You / Hating You) new romance.

Marriages of convenience are so…inconvenient. 

Rescued by Calvin McLoughlin from a would-be subway attacker, Holland Bakker pays the brilliant musician back by pulling some of her errand-girl strings and getting him an audition with a bigtime musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until he admits his student visa has expired and he’s in the country illegally.

Holland impulsively offers to wed the Irishman to keep him in New York, her growing infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves from awkward roommates to besotted lovers, Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway. In the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting, what will it take for Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?

*Publisher approved request via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I really liked this story. It was funny and cute in some areas and kind of real and sad in other aspects. I've never been into Broadway musicals, but I do love music and I find that including it and the arts in books make it more interesting for me. 

Holland is a girl I could relate to. For the most part, she just couldn't seem to figure out what she really wants and didn't have the confidence to express herself clearly. Her character is very genuine though, and truly cares about her uncles and doing what she can to support them the way they have supported her, which is why I can understand her decision to marry Calvin to help their Broadway project. 

Calvin, I honestly took a while to warm up to him, much less trust him, because he never seems to be all the way honest with Holland. And even though she wasn't totally truthful with him either, I feel like his reactions to certain things that happened throughout the story were unjustified and unfair. However, I do like how their feelings blossomed the more they spent time together, and I thought that Calvin's heart was in fact in the right place at the end of the day.

The immigration subject of the story was very real and a route that many people take to seek a better life in the country, or to stay with someone they deeply loved. Regardless, I like that the author wrote around this topic and delivered it in such a realistic and humorous way. This is my first time reading anything by Christina Lauren and I must admit I feel like I've been missing out. The writing was quick and fluid, and there's never a dull moment. Really nice story and I do recommend!

About the Author
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates/brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. Their books have been translated into 31+ languages. (Some of these books have kissing. Some of these books have A LOT of kissing.)

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Review: Seeking Sarah by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

Release date: August 15th 2017
Publisher: Gallery Books
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:

From the national bestselling and award-winning ReShonda Tate Billingsley comes this gripping and emotional exploration of the complex bond between mother and daughter.

From the time Brooke Green was seven years old, she has lived with the pain of losing her mother. Her father has done the best job he could in raising her, but a piece of her always felt empty. On the day of her father’s funeral, her grandmother breaks the shocking news: her mother, Sarah, is very much alive. She abandoned her family because she claimed she wasn’t fit for motherhood. 

After doing some research, Brooke discovers her mother is living in Atlanta, enjoying a great career…and a brand new family. Stunned, Brooke doesn’t know if she wants answers or revenge against the mother who abandoned her. When she meets Sarah’s husband, Anthony, Brooke sees the perfect way to make her mother pay. But her plan for revenge just may leave everyone in danger, and end up costing Brooke more than she ever bargained for.

*Received a physical copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I discovered Seeking Sarah on Netgalley and became intrigued after reading the blurb. I wanted to understand what could have possibly compelled a mother to leave her child behind, and I was curious about Brooke's character and the ways abandonment had affected her. 

The story started out quite interesting. Although Brooke had a lot going for her--a doting man and a promising career--she had a hole in her heart. One that could never be filled, no matter how she had the love of her father, grandmother, and cousin. She was also welcomed by her boyfriend's family and treated as if she was a part of them. But then things started to unravel a tad after Trent proposed. Brooke knew he was perfect for her and that they both loved each other, yet she just couldn't shake the emptiness in her heart and the feeling of uncertainty. 

A lot of the emotions Brooke displayed stemmed from loss; losing her mother at a young age, and then losing her first fiance. Her pain was understandable and undoubtedly relatable. I couldn't imagine going through something like that and still managed to keep going. However, my connection to her character started to dwindle after the passing of her father. Following the big reveal that he and Brooke's grandmother had lied about her mother's death and had faked the memorial service, Brooke became pretty much out of control. She did things that had me shaking my head and wondering how she could all of a sudden throw away her morals and partake in such appalling acts. 

The downhill began the moment Brooke made the decision to go to Atlanta. I thought she was going to take a few days to just meet her mother and feel out the situation, but then she went as far as to transfer and live there. I mean, Trent wasn't as supportive as a loving fiance ought to be, but regardless, they were in a relationship, and Brooke basically disregarded everyone and everything in her life for someone who had chosen not to be a part of it. I get the rush and excitement of finding out your mother is alive and wanting to go find her and reconnect. But I feel like Brooke needed to take some time to gather her thoughts and consider every possibility before doing anything. And she definitely should have taken a step back once she'd arrived in Atlanta and her fantasy reunion turned out to be just that, a fantasy. Instead, she transformed into a conniving villain from a Lifetime movie and made the situation even more difficult for herself. 

Brooke ended up losing so much more, and while it was sad, I stopped sympathizing with her because of the way she'd constantly bury herself in problem after problem, behaved like an immature twenty-year-old at times, and often dismissed people but then wanted them back as if their life should be placed on hold for her. I guess you could say this was all the effects of abandonment but wow, the whole thing was so dramatic. By the end of the story, I just wanted Brooke to get counseling and work on herself. Even after everything, she still deserved happiness.  

        

About the Author

ReShonda Tate Billingsley is a general assignment reporter for KRIV-TV, the Fox affiliate in Houston, Texas. She is the author of the nonfiction book Help! I've Turned Into My Mother! and three previous adult novels: My Brother's Keeper, for which she received the prestigious Gold Pen Award for Best New Author from the Black Writer's Alliance and the Nova Lee Nation Award from the Greater Dallas Writing Association; the national bestseller Let the Church Say Amen, chosen for Library Journal's Best of 2004 list for Christian fiction; and I Know I've Been Changed, a Main Selection of the Black Expressions Book Club. Her previous Christian teen novels are Nothing But Drama and Blessings in Disguise, both available from Pocket Books. She is also a contributor to the story anthology Have a Little Faith.

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Review: The s-word by Chelsea Pitcher

The s-word
by Chelsea Pitcher
Paperback, 304 pages
Released: May 7th 2013
Publisher: Gallery Books
Purchase: Amazon | BookDepository
*A copy was gifted by the author.

Synopsis via Goodreads:

First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.

But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie's looping scrawl.

Lizzie’s reputation is destroyed when she's caught in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into who, exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie's own anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

Debut author Chelsea Pitcher daringly depicts the harsh reality of modern high schools, where one bad decision can ruin a reputation, and one cruel word can ruin a life. Angie’s quest for the truth behind Lizzie’s suicide is addictive and thrilling, and her razor-sharp wit and fierce sleuthing skills makes her impossible not to root for—even when it becomes clear that both avenging Lizzie and avoiding self-destruction might not be possible.

I have mix feelings in regards to the story. There were aspects that stood out emotionally and realistically. Like the main topics: bullying and abuse. Then there was Angie and her mission to seek vengeance. I wasn't really understanding that concept but as the story went along I developed a interest. And even though I didn't exactly relate with her character, there were attributes I thought came out really well: feeling regret and the sense of hatred towards everyone as well as herself. I also liked that towards the end she started loving herself again and she grew to love someone else as well. 

Jesse's character was confusing to me as it was to Angie. I enjoyed having him in the story because he brought on some humor as well as serious discoveries. I liked how he and Angie were with each other and how natural and unforced their feelings were. 

Other things I thought were well delivered was the strong factor of the effects of bullying, and the main character wanting do something about it the more mature she got throughout the story. What happened to Lizzie was terrible. And no one should ever experience that. The fact that people tormented her after what happened prom night was like being violated all over again. Regardless if they found out what happened to her, I'm pretty sure they'd only keep hurting her because it was just how they were. Its sad that her best friend, Angie, wasn't brave enough to stand up for her and try to make it stop. But at least she tried after Lizzie died. 

We couldn't really get to know who Lizzie really was, based on her narration but it was great that the author revealed diary entries. I thought that was a good way of letting readers enter the mind of someone who obviously had a lot of pain to deal with. Lizzie's entries were like poetry; sorrowful and sweet moments that happened in her life. We also get to see, through subliminal writing just who her strong feelings were for, and who were the "monsters" in her dreams. One main one in particular was her dad, and I think the situation with him should have been handled way better, in terms of bringing it to light. 

There was also the element of surprise when I found out who really wrote the awful things after Lizzie's death. I didn't see that one coming so good job Chelsea, in keeping me interested. All in all, it was a good story, with the exception that some things seemed off and sometimes didn't make sense. Otherwise, I liked how emotional it was and the fact that the plot is based on an issue still going strong in society today.