published: 2019
pages: 296
read: 8/25-27/2019
book: 53 in 2019
Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he's defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.
As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can't turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn't go as planned. Esme's lessons in love seem to be working...but only on herself. She's hopelessly smitten with a man who's convinced he can never return her affection.
With Esme's time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he's been wrong all along. And there's more than one way to love.
As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can't turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn't go as planned. Esme's lessons in love seem to be working...but only on herself. She's hopelessly smitten with a man who's convinced he can never return her affection.
With Esme's time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he's been wrong all along. And there's more than one way to love.
MY THOUGHTS
is this like a thing?
are all books now a part of a series that can be read without reading any other in the series and they're all about love but take the destructive path just to end up in, hmmm, what do you know...LOVE!?
*breathes out* rant over.
okay so, i read this because of course i read the first one without knowing that it was going to be part of a series. and because i cant just not care, i had to read this one.
i was going to skip it but i said to myself "shut up, suck it up and read it."
and guys, i mean.
pre authors note: meh. it was like whatever. definitely okay NOT reading this book
after authors note: well, i love her note but still the same.
see here's the thing:
i LOVE love stories. i can read them forever.
and i know that they are usually more likely than not the same damn thing. and i'm okay with that.
100%.
but there is something about stories that start as a plain ol' love story that then introduces all these characters that are okay just doing their one thing in that story only to then get a notice that a character from that one story is now going to get their own story.
AND ITS THE SAME DAMN STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...das a lot of story.
...das a lot of story.
so, this story.
it didn't do anything for me.
it was the same damn thing as the first one. with the same damn plot.
the one good thing about this story was Esme's story line.
....and even then....
here's my thing:
as part of Esme's struggle, Hoang does right by her. she's trying her best to exist BUT its things that are out of My's control that are stopping her from being who she wants to be. the short of it, the universe is conspiring against her.
and that's about it on the good.
now for the bad (?) maybe not bad but more like "it doesn't make sense."
-the entire beginning, My kept going on about how it was a bad idea and how she didn't want to leave her daughter but then she realizes that she needs to do this in order to improve all their lives.
i know this is a story (so maybe i should just let it go?) but did they not think about how this could possibly be dangerous? (I'm imagining Hoang cut this short for our benefit...lol) she's leaving her country to who knows where and her mom is all team for it! what if it hadn't turned out this way for her (and at this point im basically turning a love story into a horror one.)
-My came off as a very shy, humble woman. how the fuck did she just flip a switch and turn on all this sexuality. especially since she was burned before. there was no build up, it just happened. how!? she went from A to Z without even seeing the rest of the letters of the alphabet (for lack of a better paraphrase).
-My is very..., not sheltered but it doesn't seem like outside of work she does much. so when she gets to Khai's and she takes off on the bike.....how the fuck did she know to use the motorcycle? i can drive a car. i have no idea how to drive a moped. let alone a motorcycle.
-that bike. (sorry if its a spoiler)
a) the accident was 10 years ago. ergo, its been sitting in the garage for 10 years
b) Khai has NEVER ridden it since
c) everyone just drives off with it...WHAT ABOUT GAS!? i googled it. its bad to drive on gas that's been sitting for 6 months. so 10 YEARS!!!!!! and it evaporates. so what is it living on? a prayer? (Khai being Khai i can imagine him just adding gas to it every so often just to keep going. but Khai being Khai and numbers being numbers.....i can't picture him justifying wasting money (even though money is of no object to him) that's just going to waste over and over again. (again, something else that isn't explained.)
oh! and what are the chances of finding a person with only THEIR NAME AND SCHOOL info!?
of the thousands there were......really!?
oh! and what are the chances of finding a person with only THEIR NAME AND SCHOOL info!?
of the thousands there were......really!?
i know there's more to it than this but i cant remember....but those were some major ones.
it wasn't a bad book i just personally do not see the need to write the same book over and over no matter the character. its the same as Jasmine Guillory in my opinion. same shit different book.
and i should note that even though i feel that for me the book was of no need (FOR ME), it still made me tear up in the end. LOL.
so yea.
FOR ME there was no need for this one, there's going to be another one and I'm placing my bet that a) i am going to read it and b) its probably going to be about Quan. or maybe Khai & My's wedding. or fuck it, maybe the love story between Esme's parents.
i don't know.
we'll see.
anyway...
jump over for spoilers
i don't know.
we'll see.
anyway...
jump over for spoilers
thanks for reading!
#bookslesreads on IG
|
published: 2017
pages: 386
read / heard: 8/7-14/2019
book: 52 in 2019
A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.
Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother's sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she'd never return.
MY THOUGHTS
motherfu....!!!!!!!
i had started a review and it was already long and i had made all these damn points about why the story was good and it freaking got deleted and now my heart is broken and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and so I'm not going to dive into all that again because, well, ugh.
anyway, its a good read.
i went into it knowing the spoilers of the story as far as who dies and who did it but i didn't really know the why so i was really interested in finding that out. ....and woah!
first off, this is not like the girl on the train.
if you are going into it thinking that its going to be similar, put the book down, walk away and come back once you have forgotten TGOTT even exists. give this its own chance because it deserves it.
and once you do come back, come back with a notepad because there are about 14 (that i kept count of) characters that you're going to need to keep track of. im telling you this because this is how i have learned to keep track of different people in any of the stories i read....and then once i learn more about them, i go back and make notes because well, it never hurts to have info to look back on.
once you get the hang of them, you don't really need that list much anymore but i did find that it helped me out a lot more than if i wouldn't have done it in the first place.
anyway......because I'm heartbroken, ill just jump over to spoilers.
(i honestly had written a pretty dope detailed review. probably one of my best😢ðŸ˜)
....bit of a tip: if you can, listen to this while you read along. i think that's why i ended up liking the book so much. it was nice to have a voice to the characters and it forced me to slow down a bit and take more information in than if i had just read it on my own.
oh! also, book 50 was a joke so not posting that (i got it from Net Galley trying to up my score even though i don't mess with that site anyway) and book 51 will go up sometime in November. i somehow lucked out and scored an ARC of Lance Rubin's new book, crying laughing so I'm waiting for that to be released.
jump over for spoilers!
thanks for reading!
#bookslesreads on IG
|
published: 2018
pages: 384
heard: 7/30/2019
book: 49 in 2019
Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.
So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Millie and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.
But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever
MY THOUGHTS
So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Millie and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.
But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever
MY THOUGHTS
i wouldn't necessarily say that im very interested in back tracking all of their books especially given that i was bit of a fan of their last book that happened to be my first CL read. ....its just that it was available for listen like RIGHT away through my library app and i was looking for something so i was like....why not?
* deep breath *
you wanna know what i loved about this book?
all of the dudes.
and how they were all friends.
i loved their friendships. i loved the idea of a group of guys just being as close as they were. i loved any scene that involved the 4 of them.
i however, did not care for Millie.
its not that i didn't care for her. its just that she proved to be a dick to me for all that she did that i don't care for her at all.
if actions speak louder than words, this bitch be yellin'.
it all started with the need of a date for idk what and it just ballooned into what it turned into.
i personally am a HUGE believer that if you start off with lies, YOU CANNOT get mad when a person opens up and causes you pain because YOU STARTED IT and well, can you guess what Millie did? lie, lie, L I E.
fuck it, ill say it. fuck Millie.
this isn't a one star read because it had its good parts but its definitely a never read again type of deal because i just couldn't handle how whiny she was.
its been 3 months and i still fell this way about it.
its been 3 months and i still fell this way about it.
Millie doing what she did killed it for me.
eh, oh well.
it was a free listen so I'm not mad. it was a good way to pass the day at work quick.
READ this review to get a more in depth overlook of the book and to see why i didn't care for Mills. (no spoilers on my end cause its all on that link above. well not all but like the bigger parts).
thanks for reading!
#bookslesreads on IG
|
pages: 325
read: 7/19-26/2019
book: 48 in 2019
SYNOPSIS
Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met.
After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap. But the apartments in her budget have her wondering if astonishingly colored mold on the walls counts as art.
Desperation makes her open minded, so she answers an ad for a flatshare. Leon, a night shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll only ever be there when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet.
Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes – first about what day is garbage day, and politely establishing what leftovers are up for grabs, and the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Even though they are opposites, they soon become friends. And then maybe more.
But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea…especially if you've never met.
MY THOUGHTS
ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ¥°ðŸ¥°ðŸ¥°ðŸ¥°ðŸ¥°I wasn't expecting that.
This was a bit of a slow-ish read for me.
It was good but it wasn't "drop everything and read me RIGHT NOW!" good.
.....and then it was.
It took me a bit to get into.
It wasn't until page 170 that I got super into it and then couldn't read enough!
So, so good.
It gets so gooood!!!!
Maybe I wasn't into it because I wasn't putting in the time but once I got over that slump I couldn't read fast enough and I absolutely loved the crap out of this book.
I do wonder what happen with JW & Prior. It's not really addressed past what happens in that one scene buuuuuuuut whatever. Its fine.
I love the relationship between Leon and Tiffy and how it evolved. Their first meeting was lol and ahhh!!!!!
I love that Tiff had such an amazing support system in the form of Rachael, Mo & Gerty.
I love that Tiff is this vibrant colorful human who looks at life with all this color given what shes been through.
I love what the author did with this story and with the subjects she focuses the story on. I was not expecting Tiffy's thing (don't want to spoil here) to happen at all so it took me for a loop. I thought it'd be just a break up and that's it.
I loved this story and I'm so glad I didn't give up (I wasn't ever...but you know.) Definitely purchasing this book when I come across it.
The one thing I didn't like was that Tiffy's name is Tiffany and instead of going with tiff, she went with tiffy. that irked me for some reason.
That and Leon constantly saying Am instead of I'm (is it a British (or English) thing?). I know, pretty dumb lol but I think that speaks volumes for how good the book is if that's all that bugged me. 😂
Overall, super glad I read this.
Cant wait to own a copy and hopefully re-read in the future soon.
jump over for spoilers.
thanks for reading!
#bookslesreads on IG
|
published: 2017
pages: 65
heard: 7/12/2019
book: 47 in 2019
I am not Death. I am not my Job.
SYNOPSIS
A father and a son are seeing each other for the first time in years. The father has a story to share before it’s too late. He tells his son about a courageous little girl lying in a hospital bed a few miles away. She’s a smart kid—smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it.
As he talks about this plucky little girl, the father also reveals more about himself: his triumphs in business, his failures as a parent, his past regrets, his hopes for the future.
Now, on a cold winter’s night, the father has been given an unexpected chance to do something remarkable that could change the destiny of a little girl he hardly knows. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he must find out what his own life has actually been worth, and only his son can reveal that answer.
As he talks about this plucky little girl, the father also reveals more about himself: his triumphs in business, his failures as a parent, his past regrets, his hopes for the future.
Now, on a cold winter’s night, the father has been given an unexpected chance to do something remarkable that could change the destiny of a little girl he hardly knows. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he must find out what his own life has actually been worth, and only his son can reveal that answer.
MY THOUGHTS
i saw this as an audiobook that was only 47 minutes long and i thought "no way" but as a matter of fact, yes way.
quick little novella about a father making life decisions that i gues led to THE ultimate life decision.
i for some reason have a lot of Mr. Backman's books but have yet to read them. 100% it was the covers that called me to them. I am not sure what i am waiting on (sooo many books!) but if what i just heard is any indication, i cannot wait to dive in.
but yes, good quick listen.
and i thought it was a very interesting read.
i guess maybe to show you in a way that having "everything" really doesnt mean anything. material things, possessions, wealth, power....that does not compare to the love you sacrifice to get you there.
....im sure there's another message in there that i missed since i heard this as i was working.
either way, good story.
thanks for reading!
#bookslesreads on IG
|
pages: 449
read: 6/28 to 7/6/2019
book: 46 in 2019
I don't think you'll ever understand how much I loved you both.
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack.
But then Kate dies. And their story should end there.
Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind.
Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do to save the people he loves.
MY THOUGHTS
of course, i moved on to the next read without first writing my thoughts on this one so this one will be another short one.
ahm, this one was an okay read for me.
i would have been perfectly fine never having read this book.
its not that it was bad because its not at all but it just wasn't my thing.
obviously, this story is about a lot more like the emotions and sacrifices and everything that goes into the decisions that were made but it still didn't do anything for me.
there's also homeboy ignoring his friends, family, changing a timeline to where he dates another friend, to another timeline where the friendship ends to another timeline where all these actions lead to the death of someone else, to all. of. these. other. time.lines. that i didn't care for. how many times did Kate have to die in order for jack to finally be happy? life isn't always getting the happy ending that you "deserve". bit of a spoiler BUT maybe i would have liked it more if Kate never made it and idk, Jack realized that life is life and no matter what you try to do, it's life....i don't know.
according to good reads, it wasn't until i was 70% into the book that Jack finally said something that seemed like it was the right thing to say.
and this book is full of some beautiful quotable moments but even then, even now almost 4 months later....meh. it still doesn't resonate to me.
if anything, i just went into goodreads and changed it from 3 stars to 2. because its true; for me it was just okay.
i don't remember their being an explanation as to why jack kept going back. maybe it just kept happening because the whole point of it was for them to eventually end up together no matter what it took to get there. or maybe....i don't even know.
anyway, yea.
thanks for reading!
published: 2019
pages: 400
read: 6/25-27/2019
book: 45 in 2019
its ridiculously long...so read it here if ya want.
MY THOUGHTS
This was my first book by CL. Since I have nothing to compare it to, I absolutely loved it.
Super cheesy.
Of course, YOU KNOW what's going to happen but it has these other things that happen in between and I think those things happening helped solidify my liking of this book.
It could've been easy to just have them fall in love and then have everyone be happily ever after.
But I like what they did with the story instead.
To be honest, I only bought the book because once it started coming around on ig, I fell in love with the cover. It was also a bonus that the synopsis was also good. So I was just praying that I would like it because I didn't want to lose money on a book I didn't like. I was worried because a lot of other bloggers ended up not being too crazy about it (but they've for the most part been long time readers so they know what to expect.).
I always think that much good luck for one person can be a bad thing. Eventually, its bound to run out or whatever....and what a day for it to happen! Imagine on your wedding night?
Of course there's more to that because well, I don't wanna spoil it here but....what a douche right?
Although, if I'm being 100% honest, i was sorta super glad that that happened to Ami.
It was sorta time for Olive to shine.
....even if it was at the cost of her sister.
(I'm sounding really evil here. Yikes!)
Reading about Olive & Ethan's relationship development was SUPER cheesy. They go from hating each other to falling in love.
And its cheesy in the best way possible.
It had me grinning from ear to ear and laughing out loud a lot.
I'm so happy everything happened the way it did for them to end up together.
I loved that they were just the same as they were opposites and that they knew when to be grown ups about their relationship when it needed it and that Olive, even after a her string of bad luck, was smart and strong enough to stand up for herself and her truth no matter the cost.
I'm happy it all worked out in the end.
I did want to know what ended up happening to their parents in the end.
...and also, that scene at the restaurant at the very end....kinda far fetched ESPECIALLY seeing as how the whole family is super tight knit buuuuuuuut its whatevers. I'm just going to assume that it happened while she was caught up in well, her situation.
It ended up being good enough for me.
They have another book coming out in October and I like that cover too so who knows, I might pre-order that one too.
Overall, it made me giddy to read this. It didn't leave anything open ended for me and I really did like the way the issues were introduced and resolved.
This was a super fun read for me.
Spoilers after the jump!
Super cheesy.
Of course, YOU KNOW what's going to happen but it has these other things that happen in between and I think those things happening helped solidify my liking of this book.
It could've been easy to just have them fall in love and then have everyone be happily ever after.
But I like what they did with the story instead.
To be honest, I only bought the book because once it started coming around on ig, I fell in love with the cover. It was also a bonus that the synopsis was also good. So I was just praying that I would like it because I didn't want to lose money on a book I didn't like. I was worried because a lot of other bloggers ended up not being too crazy about it (but they've for the most part been long time readers so they know what to expect.).
I always think that much good luck for one person can be a bad thing. Eventually, its bound to run out or whatever....and what a day for it to happen! Imagine on your wedding night?
Of course there's more to that because well, I don't wanna spoil it here but....what a douche right?
Although, if I'm being 100% honest, i was sorta super glad that that happened to Ami.
It was sorta time for Olive to shine.
....even if it was at the cost of her sister.
(I'm sounding really evil here. Yikes!)
Reading about Olive & Ethan's relationship development was SUPER cheesy. They go from hating each other to falling in love.
And its cheesy in the best way possible.
It had me grinning from ear to ear and laughing out loud a lot.
I'm so happy everything happened the way it did for them to end up together.
I loved that they were just the same as they were opposites and that they knew when to be grown ups about their relationship when it needed it and that Olive, even after a her string of bad luck, was smart and strong enough to stand up for herself and her truth no matter the cost.
I'm happy it all worked out in the end.
I did want to know what ended up happening to their parents in the end.
...and also, that scene at the restaurant at the very end....kinda far fetched ESPECIALLY seeing as how the whole family is super tight knit buuuuuuuut its whatevers. I'm just going to assume that it happened while she was caught up in well, her situation.
It ended up being good enough for me.
They have another book coming out in October and I like that cover too so who knows, I might pre-order that one too.
Overall, it made me giddy to read this. It didn't leave anything open ended for me and I really did like the way the issues were introduced and resolved.
This was a super fun read for me.
Spoilers after the jump!
thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons