The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger

Title: The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend

Author: Kody Keplinger

Rating: 5/10

I guess i should probably give this book a higher rating considering how much i liked it..but for me it was one of those books where the things i liked..I LOVED..and the things i didn't like..ruined it for me..hence- the 5/10. First of all, i wanted to say the main reason i decided to read this was solely based on the title. IT'S AWESOME. I was just like OMG i am the duff! i'm not too sure what a duff is but i'm pretty sure i am one!

The DUFF is about Bianca Pipers, who finds Wesley Rush 'the most disgusting womanizing playboy to ever darken the doorstep of Hamilton High.' The story begins when Wesley calls Bianca 'the Duff' amongst her friends.Things hit off and to keep it simple.. Bianca's life becomes a mess xp

I loved Bianca's personality. Her slapstick humour and witty comebacks just made my day =) Also, i enjoyed her relationship with her friends, and how the author highlighted the thought that she was happy having amazing friends that were loyal and loved her- she didn't need to be the leader or the one that everyone crushes on in a group. It was an important message that YA books never show since the main characters are usually always the prettiest people on earth and have a long list of people falling in love with them ( ok not really a long list but like 2 or 3 ).


“For a girl with such a fat a**, I felt pretty invisible.”

“If Kate Winslet had been the Duff, Leonardo DiCaprio wouldn't have been after her in Titanic and that could have saved all of us a lot of tears.”

“Your sense of humor needs some work, then," Wesley suggested. "Most girls find my jokes charming."
"Those girls must have IQs low enough to trip over.”

“.. You didn't, like, stab the boy, did you? I mean, I totally disapprove of murdering hotties, but if you need help burying the body, you know I'll bring the shovel.”

Wesley Rush, was unfortunately one of the main things I didn't like about the book =( I felt like for someone like Bianca, who's all witty and not the type just to fall for someone just cus' their hot, it was unrealistic for her to use Wesley as a distraction or even spend that much time with him. I mean, i understand that she just wanted to get away from all the problems she was facing back home..but seriously. You've got some friends that you care about and trust.. why don't you just tell them what's going on or how you feel like a normal person and let them take care of you or do whatever they want to do..then as a last resort go to someone you supposingly hate and use them as a distraction -_- .



 Another thing that bothered me about Wesley was i felt like there wasn't alot of original, interesting stuff to like about him. I mean i know everyone doesn't have a deep troubled past that makes you feel bad for them but his reasons for being the way he was seemed too typical for me and not enough for me to think..hmm maybe he's not your typical player. You do start to like him near the end..but still.. i think he lacked something.

"Wesley Rush doesn’t chase girls, but I’m chasing you"

"We’re all f***ing Duffs."
"I’m not the Duff," Wesley said confidently.
"That’s because you don’t have friends."

It was an entertaining read =) although there were things i didn't like about it..i don't regret reading it =)

Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout ( Lux Series #1)

Title  - Obsidian (Lux Series)

Author - Jennifer Armentrout

Rating - 10/10

Obsidian. This is one of those books that you don't really expect to be exciting enough but then you read it and its a big slap in the face. I didn't expect much from a book based on aliens. I mean all my life i thought they were little green men with antennae and tentacles who have a sole purpose to take over the earth. But this book was nothing like that. Well until the 4th book anyway.

Obsidian was written in Katy Swartz's POV who is the main character, along with Daemon and Dee Black and a bunch of evil aliens called the Arum. The concept of the story, with the light and the dark aliens, how and why they came to earth, their sacrifices and everything else was perfectly fitted into the book.

Another thing l loved about the book was the humour. And Katy's addiction to books. And her hate towards Daemon in the beginning made for some laughable lines.

“Beautiful face. Beautiful body. Horrible attitude. It was the holy trinity of hot boys”

“I couldn’t figure out why he was here, talking to me, when the last time we’d spoken, he’d acted like I was the antichrist and practically had me pinned to a tree, talking about ways to get dirty”

“I’ve always found that the most beautiful people, truly beautiful inside and out, are the ones who are quietly unaware of their effect”

If I had to point out a flaw in these books it's that I noticed almost everything happened at night. Why can't dramatic things happen in the daytime?
That's not really a flaw but it bothered me when I was reading.
But the amazing writing and the plot-line and everything else made up for that.

If you're looking for a book which will make your heart melt and crumble but at the same time seek vengeance on anyone this is the book you want. It's sappy and frustrating and suspense-filled and action-y and has everything a book needs.
It will also leave you craving for the second book but you're in luck because the first 4 books in the 5 book series are out!

Prodigy by Marie Lu (Legend #2)

Title: Prodigy

Author: Marie Lu

Rating: 9/10

Can we all just appreciate my technology impaired brain that i've finally discovered how to put GIFs on the blog. YIPEEEE

so ya.. due to my excitement this review is likely to get a little over the top with GIFS. Anyway, back to the review..

Prodigy was definitely one of the best sequels to a book i've ever read :D In my opinion it made me mentally forgive the author for all the doubts and things i didn't like in Legend. It definitely exceeded all expectations i had for this book and for the rest of the Legend series :D

The first thing i loved in this book was the plot. Although i really enjoyed Legend i could kind of predict what was gonna happen throughout the book, but Prodigy defnitely threw me off guard in many scenes and i felt like the story was alot more complicated and unpredictable :D

Kaede was probably my favourite person in this book.. simply because she was soo unpredictable and i was constantly trying to figure out what she was thinking and if they could trust her. My liking for Day and June kept switching throughout the book. Sometimes i really liked Day and wanted to punch June and then sometimes it was the opposite. June's inability to express her feelings annoyed the hell out of me. I mean i understand some people find it hard to say how they feel but at some scenes i felt like grabbing June and screaming 'SERIOUSLY DUDE. The guy is pouring his heart out to you. Say something remotely normal back!'


And she even recognized her awkwardness!
“Idiotic reply, June. Why don't you punch him in the face while you're at it. I turn even more flustered when I remember that I have actually pistol-whipped him in the face before. Romantic” 

Aside from that..June was still the same awesome June from the first book. I loved the slow change towards her view of the Republic and how it wasn't just a 'oh-ya-don't-worry-i-hate-the-Republic-yes-lets-kill-everyone ' immediate change.  Day was little more vulnerable which was understandable after everything that happened at the end of Legend, but sometimes his anger towards the Republic was soo strong it clouded his judgement and made me appreciate June for being there to try and put some sense into him (regardless if it worked -_- ).
“The Republic's most wanted criminal is just a boy, sitting before me, suddenly vulnerable, laying all his weaknesses out for me to see.” 

 The whole love square ( I'd say it's more of a triangle but everyone's calling it a square so whatever ;P ) was interesting but it also made me realise the one thing i didn't like about this book- Tess. Ughhh Tess Tess Tess. She was soo annoying! I really didn't like her and thought most of the things she said and did in this book were really uncharacteristic of her. In Legend she seemed like a sweet girl but in Prodigy i pretty much wanted to slap her across the face every moment she was in.

Prodigy was an incredible sequel that definitely raises my hopes and dreams and excitement for the finale - Champion. The romance was really cute and realistic and the action was intense and awesome and really made me feel like i was watching a fast-paced thriller. It also left me with alot to think about.

“All it takes is one generation to brainwash a population and convince them that reality doesn't exist” 

As for the ending.. i will explain my reactions in the wonderful form of GIFs.

Legend by Marie Lu (Legend #1)

Title: Legend

Author: Marie Lu

Rating: 9/10

LEGEND! EEEEP! the truth is i read this last year waaay before we created this blog and i've wanted to review it for a while but now that i've read the second book to this series and remember the characters and all the amazing legend-ary(mwahah see what i did there?) awesomeness in this book, i feel now is the right time ^_^

So since trying to explain the plot to Legend is a little difficult.. I'm gonna be a bit lazy and just let you read the book's synopsis:
"What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. "

The story is told from two POV's- Day and June, and the chapters alternate between them. The thing i liked about this was that you felt like you had a better angle of what was going on in each scene..and it was interesting to know what was going on in both of their lives before they met each other. At times it got a bit confusing since the two main characters were soo similar, in terms of the way they thought about situations, that sometimes I had to go back to the first page of each chapter to re-check who's POV it was. Having said that, they're personalities were different... and i loved both of them! June probably a little more than Day.. i mean who doesn't like a badass awesome female heroine who can fight like Jackie Chan XD I loved her character development throughout the story and that by the end of the book she became slightly softer and..more..gentle?ya maybe gentle is a good word for it. Day kind of reminded me of Flynn Rider from Disney's 'Tangled'..in a really strange twisted way :P the whole wanted-by-everyone-but-isn't-really-a-bad-guy thing probably made me think of him while reading it.

Not only Day and June, but i felt like every character in Legend was AMAAAAZING . Like literally, every single side character was so complex and clearly didn't just have a boring designated role given by the author which you can sometimes tell in some books.
*my thoughts when reading 'some books' :
' Ughhh he's gonna be the annoying guy that also likes her. uffff she's gonna end up being her best friend. I can feel it in my bones' *
I suprised myself by how sad i felt when June's brother died (i would usually say spoiler alert but it's in the synopsis so..yea ). You can tell an author is amazing when you cry for a character you're only introduced to for a very short time. I loved Kaede and Tess and just about everyone in the book =')

For me the best thing about this book was the action scenes! I'm not usually the type of reader thats big on action sequences in books since i sometimes find it hard to keep track of what's going on because of the way they're described.. but literally all the fight scenes and 'escape' moments were brilliant. Like brilliant enough for me to re-read  some of them because they're just exploding with pure awesomeness. Incase anyone is curious about my favourite moment in the entire book-it's when Day first sees June and her fight with Kaede.

The only thing that bothered me a teeny weeny bit about the book was the fact that i felt like you weren't told much about what was really going on with the whole plague issue. It was one of those books where your like hmm ok so that's the situation..but what are they actually doing it for, and where's the next book heading. Alot of people like to have that feeling of mystery and not have everything that's going to happen laid out for you right in the first book, and I'm also one of those people, but i just wish Marie Lu let us into her genius mind and gave a bit more information.

Aside from that, Legend was brilliant and definitely an amazing start to the trilogy. It's dangerously gripping, fast paced and.. as i can assure you now..has an epic sequel following it which will leave you panicking and in a scary hyperventilating zombie mood that will make you dream about the third book. No joke.

Here's some of my favourite quotes:

"I will hunt you down. I will scour the streets of Los Angeles for you. Search every street in the Republic if I have to. I will trick you and deceive you, lie, cheat and steal to find you, tempt you out of your hiding place, and chase you until you have nowhere else to run. I make you this promise: your life is mine.”

“My mother used to hope that I would rise up from my humble roots. Become someone sucessful, or even famous. I'm famous all right, but I don't think it's what she had in mind.”

"You sure you can make it by yourself?" she asks.
"I'll be fine." I smile. "If you see me floating unconscious out to sea,though-by all means,come and get me.”

I've also just discovered that Legend will be a movie! OMG ASDFJGFKLKLJGLSJ

Gone by Micheal Grant (Gone #1)

Title: Gone

Author: Micheal Grant

Rating: 9/10

Aaaaaah this book... soo many things to say...soo many feelings....lets just say it was an emotional rollercoaster ride ! First of all... if your looking for a short quick read that will leave you complete and satisfied this is definitely NOT what you want! Because Gone is one of those books that will leave you with many things unexplained ,make you daydream about all sorts of bizarre nightmarish situations in the middle of class, and definitely leave you pining for the next book! Which is tough because when you don't have all the free time in the world ...and theres SIX BOOKS in the series... well yea..you get the picture.

Gone is about a bunch of children in a town called Perdido Beach, living their normal everyday lives when suddenly- everyone 15 yrs old and above dissappears. No one knows why or how..all Sam Temple (the main character) knows is that he will be turning 15 very soon. I loved the concept of the story and how everything wasn't easily given in the first book- it left a mysterious and suspensful atmosphere throughout the book as you had no idea why everything was happening and were constantly trying to think of all sorts of reasons in your head. The whole setting and overall feel of the book reminded me of Hunger Games meets X-men meets Dan Brown meets Heroes ( the show). random i know ^.^

I think what made the storytelling remind me of Dan Brown was the way each character was slowly introduced.. showing their thoughts, their situations, their first impressions of the people we'd already met..and then them gradually fixing into the whole puzzle of awesomeness *_* Some of my favourites were Lana- because of how strong and independant she was with everything the situation brought her. Albert always made me smile with his cuteness and just the idea of a kid taking care of Mc Donalds and selling waffle burgers amused me =) Oh and last but definitely not least- SAM TEMPLE. I must say he's probably one my favourite main characters ever created, and although alot of reviews on this book thought he was a little too perfect for a 14 yr old..i think in order for him to be the true leader and be able to deal with and think clearly throughout the story- Sam needed to be strong, mature and intelligent. I don't think it was too unrealsitic because not all 14 yr olds are immature and stupid and you do sometimes meet people that are really mature for their age- and think of the bigger picture before anyone else. In my opinion, Sam Temple was one of those kids =)

“But if all they did was kill time, time would end up killing them.”
“It's vital to keep a sense of humour when the world seems to have suddenly become a very strange place.”

I loved how all the characters organised themselves and gave each other little roles =) 'Mother Mary' especially impressed me and made me think about those times when you feel ill and you try and diagnose yourself using google and end up thinking you have all sorts of diseases and conditions. All together the way all the children handled the situation was really impressive and although really..really...REALLLY ANNOYING at times..very realistic.

“Ninth graders with machine guns: its hard to make that a happy story.”

I'd definitely recommend it to anyone that wants something a little different from the usual YA... and ofcourse..has time to appreciate and enjoy each book..because each one's GINORMOUS.. like 355 pages ginormous. But.. if your like me ..

      

you'll survive ;)

Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover (Hopeless #2.5)

Title: Finding Cinderella

Author: Colleen Hoover

Rating: 10/10

Considering this book is a short novella and less than 100 pages..i didn't really expect to find it THAT AWESOME..but with Colleen Hoover.. you should never expect her books to be any less than perfect  ^_^
It could be read as a stand alone without reading Hopeless and Finding Hope..but i think to really appreciate the awesomeness of the story and the characters and how well everyone's story connects up with each other..you should definitely read them first ;)

The book is in Daniel's POV, who's pretty straightforward and blunt with everything he says.. and his wit and random nicknames for everyone make you fall in love with him instantly. He's really different from Holder but still just as awesome =D ..which i love because normally in books where the sequels or prequels are about a completely different person or couple you mentally end up liking one of them more..but with this book i was able to love and appreciate Daniel and Six just as much as Holder and Sky's relationship =) and ofcourse the adorable Daniel and Holder bromance ;)

“You're my best friend and I love you. I'm not ashamed to admit that I love a guy. I love you, Holder. Daniel Weasley loves Dean Holder. Always and forever."

"She fist bumped me, I say, pointing at Six. It's not my fault. She hates purses and she fist bumped me, then made me push her on the damn merry-go-round..."

One of my favorite aspects of this book is the way they resolve their problems. Every time a big dramatic thing happens in most of the books i read... the people involved always take ages to clear things up cause they just wanna be all 'leave-me-alone-ish' and 'let-me-cry-and-blablabla'  and it really annoys me because in my opinion when you have a serious problem with someone you care about you always wanna fix it straight away instead of dragging the fight out for days. I loved how Daniel and Six were really mature and awesome and just did the normal thing you would do in real life =)

I thought the length of the book would be an issue and i'd feel really disconnected and  unsatisfied..but it definitely didn't feel like a novella! Everything was paced perfectly and nothing was rushed or sped up. I loved how all together the read was short but special and definitely left you with plenty to love and remember =) Oh..and it also left me with an intense urge to read the entire Hopless series all over again ^-^

If i went on about all the things i love about this book i probably won't be able to stop.. so yea...just read it ;) it's epic.

The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker (The Other Life #1)

Alright so here's my first ever review..hope you like it !

Title: The Other Life

Author: Susanne Winnacker

My rating: 8/10

At first i picked this book up from my college library simply because the cover looked soo pretty and cute ..and then when i read the back with a quotation saying hunger games fans will 'eat this up' ..i had to read it.

I thought the beginning started off pretty slow..and i just wanted the story to hurry up a little and for Sherry to meet Joshua. But once they met..everything started to make sense and become awesome!

Things i loved:
1) The background story. Although at first it seemed a little typical dystopianish and depressing...i thought the idea of a virus mutating humans pretty different. Somehow the author made the whole story feel like there was always something to look forward to ..and that everything wasn't all dull and gloomy.
2) I loved the little family all the characters had become and how Sherry's relationships with her actual family weren't just ignored- which tends to happen a lot usually in other books when things get dangerous.
3)The little flashbacks of Sherry's 'other life' gave a real insight and comparison with her current situation. Although i have to admit, the whole time i was thinking there was some secret meaning and importance to each flashback but it never really came up ;)

Things i didn't like:
1) The book was too short! Not size wise, but in terms of how much happened...the way some places were stretched out and others were rushed and then the ending just came really randomly bothered me a little. I think book could have been wrapped up a little better.
2)Being a sucker for cute, swoon-worthy dialogues i thought there could have been a little more conversation between Sherry and Joshua and bit more of a natural build up in there relationship. At some places it seemed a little unnatural that Joshua, someone who's usually quite closed off and cautious, would just share his thoughts with Sherry.

All together- i thought this was an interesting, cute, quick and enjoyable read. It's not the best book i've ever read..but still pretty good.

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins (Hex Hall #1)

Title: Hex Hall

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Rating: 10/10

OMG this book was amazing!!! At first i thought oh dear...a book with witches and werewolves and all the supernatural creatures you've ever heard of..hope this isn't a Harry Potter rip off...but it definitely seperated itself as an awesome fantabulous book !

One of my favourite things about this book was Sophie- the main character. I love how she wasn't the typical heroine you read about in most of the books these days that are all selfless and constantly trying to save everyone even though they're weak and useless and fall in love with the guy no matter how much of a poophead they are. Her sarcasm and witty remarks made even the most intense, serious moments of the book hilarious and entertaining to read.


“But this room looked like it had been decorated by the unholy lovechild of Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake.”

“He raised an eyebrow, which made me totally jealous. I've never been able to do that. I always just end up raising both of them and looking surprised or scared instead of sardonic.”
So if you wanna have a quick, hilarious and imaginative read- this is what your looking for! Only thing i can warn you about is the TERRIBLE, TRAUMATIC, DESIRE  you'll get for the second book. So make sure you can grab it straight after reading this one. Or you'll be sucked into a deep vortex of endless doom, tears and hopelessness.

"She sounded so bright and businesslike that I wondered if I had hallucinated the part where she basically told us we were all going to die.”

And lets not forget some of the awesome characters i LOOOOOVED in this book that were never 'suddenly' ignored and forgotten about conveniently ( which annoyingly happens in many books -__- ) Jenna- the vampire with a pink obsession, and last but not least Archer Cross "resident bad boy and total heartthrob".

Hopeless - Colleen Hoover (Hopeless #1)

Title - Hopeless

Author - Colleen Hoover

Rating - 10/10

10 stars isn't enough stars to rate this...this...heavenly gift to humanity.  This is by far one of the BEST BOOKS EVER WRITTEN BY A HUMAN BEING!!!  Unless it was written by a kangaroo...that would make it so much better!

This story starts off in a way that makes a person want to stay up all night reading even though they might have to go do things and study the next morning. In school! Yes! It was so good I hadn't slept at all and was fine the whole day after. Book-adrenaline kept me awake.

Starting with Sky, the main character, who's POV the book is in, she is hilarious! The book isn't only interesting but her brain and the thoughts in it were really funny. So funny I ended up laughing like a lunatic at 3 in the morning.

Hopeless was a mixture of funny, happy, sad, cute, heart-stopping, soul-melting scenes and it is, was and always will be thanks to the author and her brain who made up Holder, Six, Leslie, Sky and her mother/adopted mother . Back to Holder- who is so indescribable, I won't even try to describe or talk about him. In a nutshell, he is everything everyone deserves.

There wasn't anything in particular I didn't like about the book, but I thought that some parts weren't really necessary. Though that may just be me and my innocent mind.

If you're thinking of reading this book then I only have one thing to say to you. Stop thinking and read the book! It's worth all your time and money and breaths. Unless you're on your death bed. Then you may want to do something else. Like socialise. Or write up a will. Or plan your funeral. Carve your gravestone.

It's up to you. :)

Hello World!

Hellooooo!
This is a blog created by two crazy book lovers that wanted to rave and tell the world about the tonnes of books they read constantly =) We're new to the blogger world..but book reviews will be up very soon !