Books [Read] By Les

1/29/2018

Replica // Lauren Oliver

published: 2016

pages: Lyra 236 // Gemma 284

ISBN: 978-0-06-239416-3

read: 1/14-19/2018

rating: liked it!

book: 3 of 12 (secretly aiming for 52 but happy with 30) of 2018

a strange and baffling truth: that the people we're supposed to know best can turn out to be strangers, and that near strangers can feel so much like home.

Gemma 275

SYNOPSIS

Lyra’s story begins in the Haven Institute, a building tucked away on a private island off the coast of Florida that from a distance looks serene and even beautiful. But up close the locked doors, military guards, and biohazard suits tell a different story. In truth, Haven is a clandestine research facility where thousands of replicas, or human models, are born, raised, and observed. When a surprise attack is launched on Haven, two of its young experimental subjects—Lyra, or 24, and the boy known only as 72—manage to escape.

Gemma has been in and out of hospitals for as long as she can remember. A lonely teen, her life is circumscribed by home, school, and her best friend, April. But after she is nearly abducted by a stranger claiming to know her, Gemma starts to investigate her family’s past and discovers her father’s mysterious connection to the secretive Haven research facility. Hungry for answers, she travels to Florida, only to stumble upon two replicas and a completely new set of questions.

While the stories of Lyra and Gemma mirror each other, each contains breathtaking revelations critically important to the other story. Replica is an ambitious, thought-provoking masterwork.

MY THOUGHTS

the cover(s)!!!

I'd seen this book and was thiiiis close to buying it but then i found out that there was going to be a second book so i decided to wait.

the second one finally came out and i found them both at the library so win, win!

(i think this is going to be a short one)

uhm, i liked the story.

i don't know why i didn't want to read it at first but once i got into it, i didn't want to put it down.

i like the way this is written!

i like that you get 2 sides to this story from 2 different characters.

i like that you have to flip the book (although sometimes annoying) to get the other side of the story.

and i know this sounds like a 'DOY, Les' moment..but it works out so well because you get to see the cause and effect. and at times it helped me better understand certain points that i probably would have missed had i not had the other point of view.

anyway, this story is well, about replicas.
Lyra is one of the thousands and well after basically a strike of luck because, wrong place, right time, she manages to get away unscathed.

Gemma is basically just rebelling against her parents and that leads her to Haven & to Lyra & 72.
(I'm really trying to be spoiler free about it but the synopsis kinda gives it away. -_-)
(but you basically find out one of the "twists" right away).

it's all about basically the government, well this group of scientist trying to do it themselves with government funding, trying to control shit and how they're creating humans for a sole purpose (won't tell ya why!) but then the truth of it all comes out and Gemma is left to deal with it alongside Lyra & 72.
and how it's up to them to fight the bad guys and figure it out themselves.

i feel like for as "strict" as her parents were, they didn't really do shit. and i also find it sooo nuts that her dad can be this all powerful mighty man with all this money but yet couldn't buy a doctor out to treat Gemma without opening their mouths about the truth.
but i mean, it worked.

i think the only thing that irked me is that for as "far fetched" as this story is with the whole government being the bad guy thing, it kinda bugged me that these kids were out here using the gps on their cellphones (hello, tracking), using their parents cards (hello, traces) and basically getting away with it all while leaving all of the trace in the world!
(i get it, its just a story but still.) but still aren't caught BY THE FUCKING BAD GUYS.
(these are some terrible bad guys. both literally and figuratively.)

i will say this, i have started the second book and.....
well, i mean, money IS money so i can see why...but i feel like they should have shoved a few extra chapters in there and called it a day....but we'll see how i really feel when I'm done with it all.

oh!, i should also note that Gemma does not shut the fuck up about her weight!!!
it was so annoying!!!
all. the. damn. time.
complaining about how she was chubby and she hated it and she UGH!
it was annoying.
(and now that i have finished the second book...wtf! how did they mix her up. so stupid!)

overall, it's a cool read it you want to read about unbelievable stuff (that tbh, might be true because the government is, well, we're fucked) that gets handled in the most unbelievable way (ugh! all the traces!).

i guess what I'm trying to say is that for as many "bombs" as there are, they're all handled kind of meh...with the exception of Jake and a few others. (waaah)
it wasn't a bad read at all.
it was just like, Harry Potter was more believable. and they had flying brooms.

iduno.

jump over for spoilers.

thanks for reading!

#lesreads on IG

house arrest // K.A Holt

published: 2015
pages: 149 (but 143 realistically)

ISBN: 978-1-4521-4084-1 (ebook)

read: 1/13/2018

rating: the feels! all of them!!!

book: 2 of 12 (secretly aiming for 52 but happy with 30) of 2018

SYNOPSIS

Timothy is a good kid who did a bad thing. Now he's under house arrest for a whole year. He has to check in weekly with a probation officer and a therapist, keep a journal, and stay out of trouble. But when he must take drastic measures to help his struggling family, staying out of trouble proves more difficult than Timothy ever thought it would be. Touching, funny, and always original, House Arrest is a novel in verse about a good boy's hard-won path to redemption.

MY THOUGHTS

this book!

all the feels!

i bought this book a while ago and only read it because i'm really trying to read 52 books this year so i really needed to get something before Sunday came around and the other book i got at the library sucked.

and i lucked out because this is a really short book.

anyway.

this book!

i think it helped that its not in your regular format.

Timothy is under house arrest and has to keep a journal to comply with his house arrest.

he has to write in it and his parole officer and therapist get to look into it.

so the whole book is just written in very short sentences.

kinda like this.

so it makes the book go fast.

its just his thoughts.

on certain things.

and then it's onto the next entry.

...so that helped me out.

this book makes you feel all sorts of things.

it mostly broke my heart a lot because he is dealing with heavy adult stuff.

the things that are troubling him shouldn't even be in his field of worries.

he's only 12 at the beginning of the book. he should be out having fun with his friends or doing dumb kid shit.

not worrying about how him and his mother are going to move forward

or how he can help with his brother.

or how they can survive without the help of his father (sorry bit of a spoiler but just a tiiiny one.)

and it shows you just how much more kids understand than we ever give them credit for.

i really liked this story given how short it was.

i think the only thing that maybe bugged me a little was the end.

like literally the very last line.

UGH.

WHY!!!?

i want to know what happens after.

and the more i think about it, maybe everything that happens when shit really hits the fan towards the end kinda bugs me because it was a little bit too far fetched (at least to me it was).

but overall, if you want a quick read, i definitely recommend this book.

and if by any chance you read the book (or the spoilers) and are looking for more info on what his little brother has, Kierra is pretty good at covering that topic since she herself is going through the same-ish thing with her daughter.

as always, jump on over for spoilers.

(ps: i have no idea why the heck the font is all over the place. ugh!)

thanks for reading!

#lesreads on IG

the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo // Taylor Jenkins Reid

published: June 2017
pages: 388

ISBN: 978-1-5011-3923-9

read: 1/5-8/2018

rating: 100000/10 stars

book: 1 of 12 (secretly aiming for 52 but happy with 30) of 2018

"If you are heartbroken right now, then i feel for you deeply. that i have the utmost respect for. that's the sort of thing that can split a person in two. "

Evelyn pg 142

SYNOPSIS

In this entrancing novel “that speaks to the Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in us all” (Kirkus Reviews), a legendary film actress reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jump start her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

MY THOUGHTS

this damn book.

2 things.

1) I've said it before, I'm saying it right now and i will continue to say it as long as it keeps being a true statement:

A BOOK will call you when it's ready to be read. maybe that's not how it is for you but its how it's been working for me. always has been probably always will be. and honestly, i love living by this.

I've been wanting to read this since its release date but for some reason, i wasn't ready.

it wasn't until I'd taken a month off of reading that i felt that i was ready. it wasn't until Diana posted about it that i felt i was ready to read it.

I'd read SO MANY good reviews about this book (mostly from all the bookstagramers i follow) and have yet to come across a bad one (I'll see on goodreads shortly). but this book! gah!

2) this is it for me.

and honestly, if i can find another book that can do for me what this one did, then even better for me.

THIS

IT.

i have NEVER had a book hangover like this. especially not while i was still reading it, racing to finish it and then trying my hardest to prolong it.

this story was on another level for me.

as i was reading it, i was trying to find the way to do this book justice.

i was falling in love with it like i never have before and i was trying to see the "plot twist" to better understand it.

and while you get the plot twist i believe the second husband in, that's not all.

that freaking ending.

JESUS!!!!

the whole premise of this story is for Evelyn to finally speak her truth.

everyone that has ever meant anything to her has passed away. after everything she went through to find her family, she is once again, standing alone.

so she hires Monique to be the writer of her story but no one can believe Evelyn picked a little nobody like Monique.

not even Monique.

its the story of her life told as it happened but instead of being told in chapters, it's told by the Husband timeline.

meaning what happened in her life while she was with each one.

and that storyline actually works very well.

i mean, it does make sense. but i guess what I'm trying to say is that this style of storytelling pays off pretty well. obviously things happened while she was with each one but i think what makes it work so well, is that everyone is judging her for "collecting" husbands yet, no one really knows the truth and no one knows until its too late.

it goes to show how easy it is to judge even when you don't know all the facts.

it was a whirlwind to watch it all unfold.

but nothing could have prepared me for that ending. for the reason why Monique was the one chosen to write this book.

and in all honesty, even as we pass the reason why earlier in the book, i did not see it coming.

but that ending!!!
what a way to tie it all together.

i kept thinking that all that hype was just going to let me down once i found out but OMG!

i re-read that part several times because i just couldn't believe it.

and like always, before i was even half way through, i jumped to the end of the book and knew what happened but not why.

its safe to say that for me, that twist did not disappoint.

i think another thing that i love about this book is the overall feel of it.

i don't want to say too much to risk spoiling it here but all of the emotions.

they all spoke to me. in one way or another. not necessarily everything that she went through but that love that she was aching for. that shit killed.

i definitely 100% recommend this book and i will 1000% be buying this book and most likely re-reading before the end of the year.

while i was definitely in the moment for this entire book, there were parts that i kind of still went over my head so i definitely want to re-read those parts and this book. especially because i want to see how my perspective shifts with time.

but this book! ahh!!!

i will love you forever.

i'll leave you with some fave quotes (beware, A LOT) and then as always, i'll jump over to spoilers!

"so do yourself a favor and learn how to grab life by the balls, dear. Don't be so tied up trying to do the right thing when the smart thing is so painfully clear." - Evelyn pg 30

"when you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is "you're safe with me" -- that's intimacy." - Evelyn pg 113

"what's that saying? behind every gorgeous woman, there's a man sick of screwing her? well, it works both ways. no one mentions that part." - Evelyn pg 117

"......don't ignore half of me just so you can fit me into a box, Monique. don't do that."

- Evelyn pg 124

".....and if you don't even realize that there's a formula to be working with, how the hell are you supposed to find the answer?" - Evelyn pg 126

Its always been fascinating to me how things can be simultaneously true and false, how people can be good and bad all in one, how someone can love you in a way that is beautifully selfless while serving themselves ruthlessly.

-pg 252

"***** might have left me in a huff, but it was death by a thousand cuts. i hurt *** with these tiny scratches, day after day. and then i got surprised when it left a wound too big to heal. "

- Evelyn pg 272

".... always made sure that the bad was outweighed by so much good. i....well, i didn't do that. i made it 50/50. which is about the cruelest thing you can do to someone you love, give them just enough good to make them stick around through a hell of a lot of bad."

- Evelyn pg 273

i tried blanking out what i could so that i wouldn't give away some of the spoilers.

and honestly, there are so many pages that if i could, i'd quote it entirely.

I'm telling you, this is my forever book.

i loved it hard.

now, jump on over for spoilers.

but just in case, you don't want that, I'll tell you this, pay attention to the very beginning of the book. it's all laid out for you.

the deeper you get into the book the more details you get about her life (obvs) but it's all there....i just wanted to know and didn't pay attention like i should have properly....but its there...but it's still worth the read.

thanks for reading!

#lesreads on IG

2017 reads!

before i jump into 2018's reads.....i wanted to do a recap on last years reads!

2017 was an okay reading year.

i started good but i ended it hating the idea of reading.

i don't know what happened.

if I'm being honest, i think it was the goodreads challenge. i was over it and i started a lot of books that i didn't finish cause i just didn't care about them. i still have 1 to finish from 2017. one from 2016 AND ONE FROM 2015!!!! (and that's just a picture book, so that should tell you how i feel about that one).

my goal this year is to a) finish those 3 books.

b) read at least 12 (that's my current goal! on goodreads). i KNOW i can surpass that and I'm hoping to make it to 30 (to celebrate my 30th) but secretly I'm aiming for 52!!!!

i already finished 2 books but ya just never know. you know?

the last couple of years, i did a recap on each book and how i felt but i thought this year, i'd change it up and just label them how they worked for me.

from fave to least liked....

you can see my previous years posts if you want more ideas (2016, 2015) on what to read. and if you just want a general list of all the books I've read since I've started blogging, ya can check em out HERE! (at the very bottom is a list of books that i just didn't click with as well.)

2017 MOST FAVE!

this has to go to:

The Hike by Drew Magary.

this book was a trip and a half and i still want to re-read it so i might just do that this year. i haven't read anything like that since and honestly, I'm not sure that i will since its not my usual genre.

def pick it up if you want a good read.

2017'S FAVES!

THE LIGHT WE LOST

Jill Santopolo

this was also another fave.

i would also say that its my #1 because its different from The Hike.

I'm a hopeless romantic so this book ticked every box that my heart could ever desire.

i would definitely recommend this book to any lover out there.

added bonus! i won a copy of this book autographed by the author!!! i mean, COME ON!

TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN

John Green

another fave. haha. apparently, i have one for each genre.

but for YA i guess, this would be it.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

i still hate that people hate on this book because its not TFIOS.

DUH PEOPLE!!!!

this is in my opinion, better.

seriously, read this book.

DENTON LITTLE'S DEATH DATE

Lance Rubin

i originally read this in 2015 but i had to re-read it again because 1) its highlarious! and the first time i ate it up in one entire day and 2) because the sequel came out in 2017. it was good but the first will always be my fave. I'm bummed that they are now forever cemented in the book world and there will never be more (never say never) but I'm so glad to have had them in my life for as long as i did.

ill miss this gang.

(T.H.U.G) THE HATE U GIVE

Angie Thomas

i didn't LOVE this book but i definitely think this is an AMAZING read.

and i feel like it deserves to be up here more than in the liked section because this is an important book.

i think everyone needs to read this book to see what it's like when you're not the one being affected.

and i know that there's social media for all this injustice to show up on (because the news are just something else...) but for some of us that don't look at that (because i don't have the heart. there is just TOO much hate in the world for me to handle) this book shows you what it's like.

it shows me in a way that i don't need to see (because again, I'm not strong enough) but that i am able to understand by reading.

i think everyone needs to read this book at least once.

(i do see sometimes...I'm just not strong enough to stand to see it continuously because its so fucking unfair. i shouldn't have more rights because of my color just like i shouldn't have less because i am a woman. fucking wake up world! )

2017'S LIKED!

ARE YOU SLEEPING by Kathleen Barber.

had me thinking for a quick second that i was guilty. really liked this book because it had me emotionally everywhere but it wasn't too heavy!

THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgensten

this book was so beautiful but soooooooo sloooooooooowwww!!!

a lot was happening while not a lot was happening. i definitely want to re-read this book but at least I'll know the pace of it so it might go better the second time around.

ALWAYS & FOREVER, LARA JEAN by Jenny Han

i remember being really happy (and crying at the end) to have read this book.

it didn't really stick to me cause i cant really remember much, but it was a good read. i think ill miss her little sister Kitty the most.

THE FOXE & THE HOUND by R. S. Grey

loved this read! third of hers i read and by far, my fave. looking forward to reading her other books!

EVELYN, AFTER by Victoria Helen Stone

I'm so glad i do spoilers cause i didn't remember much, but apparently i liked it.

TELL THE WOLVES IM HOME by Carol Rifka Brunt

i remember the story and i remember liking it.

i guess it was good.

EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste NG

loved it.

THE SILENT CORNER by Dean Koontz

LOVE this man.

liked this story. cant wait to dive into the next one in the series!

HER EVERY FEAR by Peter Swanson

gah! this book! so good. i loved it. it had me so invested!

good for a mystery murder quick read.

I CAN'T MAKE THIS UP by Kevin Hart

pretty funny but overall good read with insight into his fight to get to where he is at.

...and then he went and fucked shit up in 2017.

MY FAVORITE HUSBAND by Pam McCutcheon

this got a lot of bad reviews on goodreads :( but i liked it. it wasn't anything serious. just a quick funny read.

THE GIRL BEFORE by JP Delaney

i liked this book. but i would like to eventually (not anytime soon) re-read. there are some parts that kinda just flew over me.

DENTON LITTLE's STILL NOT DEAD by Lance Rubin

good end to this story. ill forever love this little family!

THE JOY OF LEAVING YOUR SH*T ALL OVER THE PLACE by Jennifer McCartney

i believe this is a good read to start your year with when all you want is to purge everything. especially if you read that damn Marie Kondo book.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS by B.A Paris

i liked this book. it might have been "far fetched" but lets face it, this world, it can be possible. but anyway, quick read. that ending! UGH!!!

karma is real dudes.

watch out.

2017'S MEH READS!

SIMON VS THE HOMOSAPIEN AGENDA by Becky Albertalli

i just didn't care for this one.

finding out who blue was AND THEN still having more of the story left kinda killed it for me.

SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin

meh. wasn't a fave. had funny moments but I'm okay with it.

WALK THROUGH FIRE by Kristen Ashley

i just wanted to know why she left homeboy and when i found out, i wanted to slap her and the only reason i finished this book (besides it being an audio book) was the fact that there was only like 20 minutes left anyway.

this book is 600 pages long.

TOOO FREAKING LONG!

STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John St John Mandel

this was a huge hit with eeeeeveryone but me.

whatever this style is, post some shit or whatever, it just didn't work for me.

luckily i jumped, cheated and read the end so i know what happens.

but i just did not care for this book.

NEXT YEAR FOR SURE by Zoey Leigh Peterson

all i can think about is how Karma works. Suck it dude. that's what you get.

F MY LIFE by Various

just stick to the webiste.

some of these should have NEVER been approved to be online. let alone on the book.