Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks

I'm not sure why I wanted to read this. Maybe, I was hoping that the previous book was just a big miss and he would be on track again. Boy, was I wrong. This book is a little better than, See Me, but not by much.

There are a few things that really bug me about this book. First, there is so much disconnect. He would add a snippet or story from the past, at the beginning of every chapter. Sometimes I had no idea why or what it meant. Some of them were important to the book but not most. At times, it felt to be just too much. Not to mention, this book is almost 500 pages long! That's way too long. Some of his best are a lot shorter than this. I don't know if he had to fill a quota or what but it made for a pretty boring read. I will say that I read it in one day. It's basically all I did though. I had to return it to the library soon and there were so many holds. I plowed through and I was disappointed. 

Second were the characters. I really had a VERY hard time liking Russ. He had no backbone, whatsoever. He was the "nice guy but too nice" but he accepted that. He let his wife just manipulate and rule his every move. The worst part is that he KNEW what she was doing and still said NOTHING. He never once, stood up for himself or his rights to his daughter. He does nothing to fight back and never tries to correct any of her misconceptions.  Then in the end, she still gets what she wanted. It made it a lot harder to like his character. 

I will say that the bond between he and his daughter was nice. I did like reading about that part. His sister was the only character that I really liked. I loved Margie but I feel like what happens is just so last minute. It didn't really make much sense to me and it was so predictable. I feel like he did it to her just for the sake of doing it. 

Another thing that annoyed me was the past girlfriend, Emily. She was a tad bit annoying and I really didn't like her. Their time together just didn't feel genuine and forced. I think that whole situation was just really too fast anyways. I'm sorry, I just didn't care for them as a couple. 

This book wasn't terrible, it wasn't as bad as the previous. I will admit that I did shed some tears around the end. I will say again, I think his wife was a lot more involved with his writing. The tone is completely different. I don't really want to read 3/4 of a 500 page book about a failing marriage. Then try to force a love story with the past girlfriend. I just couldn't get behind this book. It does not feel like a true "Sparks" book. I was a huge fan but now I will not pick up another of his books! He's either lost his touch or his wife took all the greatness, in my opinion.

The Thousandth Floor by @Katharine_McGee

 

 

 

Well... I really try not to read too much about a book anymore. Sometimes, I like to just go in blindly with no opinions. Now, I enjoyed this book but it wasn't the greatest thing either.

 

Have you ever watched Gossip Girl? It really reminded me of the show. The upper new Yorkers with their fancy cars and lives. This is set way into the future with flying cars and all that. The thing that really sticks out the most though, is the amount of drama. Just like Gossip Girl. I was really getting some nostalgia, maybe that's why I liked it.

 

I will say that a lot of this is pretty predictable but I didn't know who the beginning was about, until the very end. Ugh, I was so hoping it wasn't that one! I will say that it's a pretty quick read and the plot moves along pretty well. I'm definitely going to read the next book. I won't be counting down the days but I will keep it on my TBR list. I feel like the next book will have even more drama!

 

This is the type of book your read as a guilty pleasure or something that is just for amusement. When you feel bad about your life, read this. You will feel so much better. At least, it's not you!

Illuminae by @ Amie_Kaufman

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honestly, I probably wouldn't have ever read this, if it wasn't for my co-worker. She was using this book in a ton of her bookstagrams- hey becca!

 

I loved this. It was probably one of the most interesting formats, I've ever read. This book is told in a format of recovered hacked emails, videos and transcripts. It's actually, quite impressive. I wasn't sure how she was going to get me to connect but she did. There is so much going on visually too. You get so many cool pages in this book. There's black pages  where the text scrolls through or shoots out to make them look like stars. It's so different and I really liked it.

 

Now, onto the characters... I really loved Kady and Ezra. They were not only funny but smart and really love each other. Their hacked emails to each other where some of the best pages of this book. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely a lot of cheese in the romance area.

 

I might be in the minority here but I really did not like Aiden. Ugh, I don't trust any type of AI anyways. It naturally freaks me out. I don't think that what he did in the end really made up for all the horrible things that was done throughout the book. I just couldn't stand him! The lies and tricks! Ugh.

 

Anyways, this book does start off slow. You are trying to figure out what is going on and trying to connect to the characters through email. Slowly, things start to unravel but the great thing about this book is that things start to grow and build, until it just blows up in the end! I mean, it really does get fantastic by the end! The ending was just awesome! I'm glad that I waited so long to read it because the next book will be out soon!  

Empire of Storms by @Sarah_J_Maas

 

 

 

I could not wait to start this book and find out what was in store for Aelin and our group. I really became busy and was not able to write a review right away, which sucks. I'll be honest, things have become a bit fuzzy, since I've read a few other books between then and now.

 

This is by far, the best book of the series, in my opinion. It's still a monster of a book, especially for YA. The difference for the size, is that the plot is so much better. There is instant action and it doesn't stop, until the end. I did not feel the page numbers at all. I actually tore through this and didn't get bored at all. I LOVED how everything just started coming together in this book. We are finally getting somewhere!

 

I already love all the characters in this book but I really got to know them in this book. We get to know them all much better. One of the characters that I really loved in this book was Manon. We finally, FINALLY, get to see her away from the "pack." I was really hoping that she would cross Aelin and her gang and I got it. Manon's character is 100 times much more interesting in this book. I really can't wait to see what happens next. I think her and Aelin are just great together. I love the banter.

 

I really did like Elide and Lorcan's story but I felt that it was too predictable. So, it felt a little flat for me. I can't wait to see what becomes of Elide though. I feel like she's going to be pretty important later. There's some corny romance at times in this book. It is a YA, so I can look past it.

 

My favorite thing about this book was Aelin. Honestly, she's just so awesome. Things just kept going so horribly for them and I kept waiting and waiting for her to do something awesome. She actually does things that are unpredictable and selfless. Just when you think she's going to use her cunning brute force, she doesn't and it's beautiful. The end of this book will leave you so hungry for the next one. I cannot wait for the final book to come out. I can't wait to see how this all goes down!

 

This book has so much more sub plots, twists, turns and depth than the previous books. Sorry, this is so random. I don't think I'll be as busy now...hopefully. :)