Foxes by Suki Fleet

Heart breakingly beautiful. I was torn to pieces reading this one, but I NEVER wanted to stop and though I wanted it to end - for Danny and Micky to find their own plan to a "Happily Ever After" - in a way I didn't want that at all. I could listen to Danny's thoughts forever. To the way he sees the world, his compassion and care for everyone around him, the deserving and ones you'd think aren't that much yet Danny would find it in his big heart to not only forgive but truly give a person the chance no one ever gave before.

I've already raved about Suki's writing but I don't think repeating that would do any harm ;) I LOVE her writing because it's so raw. Life is HARD in Suki's books. Sometimes I feel like the whole book will swallow me in despair and then she brings out these beautiful flawed humans, with a childish naive heart who makes you feel their goodness so deep inside. Life is not about what you have materially, it's about who YOU ARE to yourself but also towards others. I think there are many lessons to be learned about humanity and humility in her books.

"Safety and warmth. What else do people need? Maybe a little food, clean water. A friend? I don't know. You've got to accept what you've got sometimes, I think"

Dragons of Drupes by Anyta Sunday

Though this isn't my usual go-to (to say the least) I still enjoyed the ride. It's a Paranormal Young Adult Mystery all-in-one! The story is quite complicated, took me a while to get into it, but once I did, I was totally hooked by our 4 teenagers looking for a stolen gem in different countries and dimensions! Even when it was hard to keep up, it was still SO engaging! Also the dynamics between the 4 friends was interesting, kept evolving and strengthening. I feel like this one could EASILY be a series of these 4 solving cross-dimensional mysteries. Would be cool!

Drake lives in a very strange magical home with 4 other residents, all of them are 16 years old, running away from a horrible life circumstances. Why strange magical home you wonder? First because each floor opens up to a different city/country - Germany, England, New Zealand.. But also you can venture through it to different dimensions / a somewhat parallel universe. While Drake, Jack, Terry and Faye aren't really friends they find a way to manage a household together, and even solve mysteries. In this one they don't really have a choice. As their house is threatened, their only way out is helping a German detective find who stole the "Red Beryl" and retrieve it.

Innocence by Suki Fleet

It's hard for me to actually write it but it's my truth so I gotta - I didn't like this book AT ALL. It was all over the place with Christopher running around in circles, in his head but also in real life. It FELT like the YA I stay clear of and frankly I don't get what a 29 years old guy would find in someone 10 years younger. Their whole relationship was BEYOND strange. Not to mention with the book finished I still don't think I know anything about Malachi besides he's a mechanic who loves to play and sing music (there's also a dark secret, but it's a spoiler-free-zone here so I'll let you figure it out..).

This is Christopher Grey's story for sure. We follow him around as he tries to find a place in this world he can call his own. He have been living with his dad and younger brother on a boat all of his life. When he was 5 years old, the 3 years old Jay got burned by accident which consequent in their mother leaving for good. Doesn't sound like the exemplary mother, does she? and their father isn't that much better even if he have been taking care of them since then. it's not black and white I guess.. he is who he is, and he's doing what he thinks is the right thing even if his reasoning aren't the best.  Jay is the focus of Christopher's life, he would do right around anything for him, he is his number one priority even if the one thing he craves - finding their mother - is not something Christopher is mad about. He doesn't feel there's a point and also where to start?

Wild Summer (Love Story Universe, #1.5) [Crash & Summer] by Suki Fleet

I enjoyed this book though it felt very different from the previous one. For once I wished this story would have been a little bit MORE, mostly more of Christopher (Crash) and Summer as they first met. I wished they had more time together, it would have been easier for me to understand the hold they had on each other for the 4 years they were apart.

We've met Crash in the previous installment and when we start this one it's already about a year (I would guess) after Romeo and Julian found their place in Cornwall. Though Romeo chose to have a different life than Crash did when arriving at the same foster home, they become fast friends and now Crash is spending the time with both of them trying to deal with what seeing Summer again, 4 years after their downfall, have done to him.

This Is Not a Love Story (Love Story Universe, #1) [Romeo & Julian] by Suki Fleet

The tears haven't even dried yet but I feel somehow I have to write my feelings now before my mundane life snatches the storm of emotions I have right now. This book was so heart breakingly beautiful. It was a HORRIBLE ride of cold, wet and heartless London with kids who should have had a home and yet they don't. On their own, trying to live with barely hope they can survive the next night. This is not a love story, yet it is. Romeo and Julian means the WORLD to one another, but the world needs to give them a break so they can actually build a life together. One that promises more than hungry, sick, penniless roaming the streets.

The whole story is told from Romeo Danilov's POV. He is 15 years old, living on the street after being left by his mother. He has nothing and no one until Julian Lavelle jumps to his rescue from tugs who enjoyed tormenting a mute who can't even scream for help. From that moment Romeo and Julian become almost inseparable. Yet there is very little they can actually DO to survive which is why Julian keeps selling his body to buy them food and a little shelter from the cold. They have a friend in the owner of a cafe - Cassey. She helps as best as she can, but she too has her limits. They also have Gem - Julian's friend but she too has her own problems to deal with. They can barely make it, truly, but together they find little glimpses of light mostly in each other.

The Glass House by Suki Fleet

This one was extremely RAW and heart breaking and yet it had so much hope beneath and above each line. Sasha had a pretty awful life and he might be getting a sort of a break the past 9 months living with his sister Corrine, but it's not that simple for neither of them to connect and understand what each need in general and especially from one another. The sunshine in this book was without a doubt Thomas. One not very bright day he appeared on Sasha's side and it seemed he is going to stay even if Sasha has no idea why.

This short book is all about friendship and love, compassion, understanding. The very basics every one of us needs to survive. Without Thomas, Sasha felt he had nothing at all. He could forget himself sculpting beautiful statues made of broken glass but once his work is done he has nothing in his life but emptiness and pain. He might be 17 years old but he felt 100. Weary of life and disappointments, feeling there is no hope for anything better for him not now and not in the future.

rock by Anyta Sunday

OUTSTANDING. This book took me on such a heart breaking ride I was SO not expecting. It's a story about two boys and their journey to friendship, acceptance and love and while we start with two teenagers we have the privilege of seeing them grow into men who are brave enough to follow their hearts.

There's a sentence I snatched from this book which for me sums up so much of it - "Broken home, broken rules". It's such an innocent sentence yet it somehow enables Cooper and Jace and us as well, to accept what happened between them. Though I know a lot of people won't like this turf, I URGE you to give it the right chance because as the many tears I've shed in this book clearly showed - IT'S SO WORTH IT!

A Date for Hannah (LIFE - Love Is For Everyone, #1) [Hannah & Liam] by Callie Henry (Katy Regnery)

I LOVED this one, it was sweet and simply PRECIOUS. I'll admit I was a bit worried I won't connect with this one. I haven't been a teen for a while now... and I feel quite disconnected from a lot of things that happened "back then", and yet I could more than connect with Hannah and her struggles. As an "adult romance" reading I didn't mind one bit that this was quite innocent. I actually found it refreshing. This book is a YA intended to ALL readers, YA included. I wished I read this kind of a book back then though I feel I was a bit TOO cynic to enjoy it. Hannah has NOTHING on me on how isolated I was. Yet hope can be packaged in all kinds of different packages, sometimes you need to find the one best suited for you and most of the times, it's not the one you expect.

The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen

Sarina is a MUST read for me, and there's a good reason for that. When I heard she is releasing a Young Adult novel I was intrigued and maybe a tiny bit worried. Worried is a strong word. Let's just stay with intrigued :) Generally speaking I don't like and therefor don't read YA but with Sarina I knew the only real option is READ IT and of course I wasn't disappointed. I was FLOORED! I started this book nearing midnight, thinking I"ll just read a bit before I fall to sleep and found myself reading until the birds started chirping outside and light streamed through the window into my room. yeah, I had one of THOSE days today where I could barely hold myself upright but it was SO worth it.

The Accidentals isn't truly a love story though there IS a bit of romance mixed in it. A very sweet and tender one. This book is YA and intended for young readers in that there is few little sexual content. I actually really liked it and how sexuality was discussed in the book. It felt very genuine and heart felt. I think any young reader can and will enjoy this one, even if at times it deals with difficult situations. I know I'm going to cherish this one for a long time.

Man Hands (Man Hands #1) by Sarina Bowen & Tanya Eby

Whenever there's a new book by Sarina I get overly excited. It doesn't matter what the book is about, mostly because I don't read any snippets or the synopsis before I start the book - why bother? With this one it was the same even if it's co-written (with an author I haven't read before) but as I started reading this book I've realized it's A LOT different than what I'm used to reading by her. 

You know the phrase - "It's not you, it's me"? It's exactly how I would describe my feelings towards this book. This is not what I expected and mostly it's a genre I very rarely enjoy. If I had to describe this book in less than a sentence I'd call it - 'Young Adult with mature content'. I have very little to no patience for "kids" in my books, it doesn't matter if they are the MCs or if they're literal kids who take a lot of page space. I want mature characters or at the least what we call now "New Adult". I just find I can't relate to younger characters. Their life choices and the way they react to everything around them is truly exhausting to me. 

Finding Home by Garrett Leigh

Math was never my strong side so when I put on the equation - a new book by Garrett vs. a Young Adult novel I did and didn't know what to expect. Thing is, I LOVE Garrett's books, I enjoy the misery she puts me and mostly her characters (!) through, I love the feel of the story, the uniqueness of the characters, the emotional ride that is SO worth it even when my heart is breaking. Yet I dislike Young Adult novels.. I just don't have the patience for it. Not for their issues which seem too far away for me, and not for their interests which seem even MORE distant from the place I am in today and that without mentioning how miserable I was at these ages, which means I have NO desire to revisit these times in someone else's head. Nope! 

That being said, it's no wonder really I LOVED LOVED LOVED this story. For me, the fact that Charlie and Leo were teens is such a non significant detail. It was about love and trust. It was about life disappointing you for too many times for you to expect something wonderful that you couldn't even imagine would happen to you. It's about finding a home in the most unexpected place, it's about finding love when you thought you don't have anything more to give or to feel. I really don't think it matters what genres you read, and if you've ever read a YA or MM novel before you SHOULD give this one a go. It's beautiful and it's different than the usual YA with the issues it deals with that make it not about age but about experience and the MM part is there naturally but there is very little sexual interaction which makes it appropriate for younger reader or ones who feel uncomfortable with (gay) sex. 

The Wedding Date (Four Weddings and a Fiasco Universe) by Katy Regnery

This short novella is based on a character from "Four Weddings and a Fiasco" series by Lucy Kevin (aka Bella Andre). I haven't read this series (or anything else by this author) but I WAS into reading more by Katy and so I added this one to my list. 

I gotta say it's not what I expected mostly because this one is sort of Young Adult novella in the way the characters were acting. I mean, he's 19 and she's 20 so basically this SHOULD have been more of a New Adult, but both characters FELT very young. They were SWEET, so so sweet, and endearing, and really deserving each other and to be happy but it also made the story a little bit, well, sappy. 

Sing to Me by Jeffrey Rivera

I guess my rating makes it clear I didn't like this book and yet I think it's extremely important to say what my main problem was - this is a Young Adult Romance novel. There are very few of those I can tolerate. If you are into this genre, you might really enjoy this book but I personally just don't have the tolerance for "kids" (even though  the MC in this one are round 19-20 years old). I"m usually more careful with the books I chose but with this one, there weren't enough Tags on the GoodReads page and also not many reviews which is how I totally missed it being YA.

Winding Road by Cecilia Ryan

I wanted and mostly expected to love this story as much as I loved the previous novellas I"ve read by Cecilia. This one was different and dare I say "strange"? Ashleigh "Ash", The main character and our sole POV was a guy round 20 years old who behaved like he was maybe 15 if not less (if we ignore the sexual situations..). There is a reference to him being stupid, so I'm not sure if it was the intention of the author but he truly sounded a bit, well, trying to be politically correct here so let's say "slow". He was a sweet guy, I'll give him that but he was also clueless about life (asked his best friend what languages do people speak in Europe besides English?!) also very naive from the crush he has on a local musician- Indigo. A lot of people had some kind of obsessive interest in a rock star back in the day, right? it ended when they grew up.. With Indigo it's different. Or, should I say the same.. meaning he is crushing on a guy he knows through his lyrics. 

Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #3) by Laini Taylor

I really intended on reading this book - front to cover, even though the previous installment prepared me that this one is heavier on the Fantasy side than I would prefer. I'm not even sure if that's the problem really I just couldn't find my interest in the plot. I felt lost. Everything moves SO damn slowly I just wanted for something to HAPPEN and nothing actually did. I should say that maybe 18% into a book isn't a lot, yet considering the length of this novel, I'd say more than 100 pages into a book something SHOULD happen. 

Night of Cake & Puppets (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2.5) by Laini Taylor

This one is a short sweet romance novella of Zuzana and Mik's first date, mentioned briefly in the previous installment. The idea behind their first date and how Zuzana had orchestrated it was very special and so like her. I really enjoyed her character as a side character in the previous installments of the series so it was nice being inside her head but also interesting getting for the first time Mik's POV and finding out how actually alike they are in the special way they see things. 

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2) by Laini Taylor

I'm a bit confused and quite disappointed with this installment and the fault is all MINE. 
When I was looking for the right "tags" for this series I categorized it "Paranormal Romance" because that's the general concept for me - "another world" or "creatures" and a love story. But I added "Urban Fantasy" because the series centers around Karou. Then I rightly added "Young Adult" since she isn't even 18.. (Though very mature for her age) But I guess I was all wrong.. This is neither of those genres. It's simply a "Fantasy" series. The funny thing is, when I look NOW at the books' GoodRead page I see most people categorized it as "Fantasy"! Stupid me!

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1) by Laini Taylor

This has been one of the best Paranormal Romance I've ever read. I wasn't expecting to be pulled into the story so fast and enjoying every minute of it, never getting lost in the intricate world of "Angels vs. Demons" Laini created. Yeah, I was waiting for things to be unraveled, but I didn't have the general feel we have through most Paranormal novels - when the world is too difficult or there are too many details or characters you are not sure who is who and what everything means. Also my biggest fear of this being too childish evaporated SO quickly. I LOVED Karou. Nothing about her felt childishly annoying. On the contrary she kept surprising me with how mature she can be even if she does enjoy being silly at times (we all do :)). Akiva was a sweet heart as well but I need more page time with him to get to know him a little better.

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1) by Katie McGarry

When I started reading the book I was horrified to realize this is NOT a New Adult series as I remembered (and cataloged) it's a Young Adult! Yet since most of the time the plot evolved around the two main characters who went through enough in their short lives to mature them. 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

NOT what I expected. While the story COULD have been EPIC it was somehow dull due the WAY too philosophical view both main characters had it also felt ABSOLUTELY pointless. 

Hazel and Augustus meet in a therapy group. Hazel is struggling with cancer, she knows she isn't going to make it but the treatment she is getting now somehow prolongs the ending giving her a bit more time (while don't really knowing what "a bit" means). She is sick, has to have oxygen tank with her at all times and she is quite detached from the lives around her (almost) except for her parents. Meeting Augustus and becoming fast friends is NOT what she was expecting. Yet it happens nevertheless.