ARC Review: The Distance Between Us

NOTE: This ARC will come out early July.

So this was an ARC that I had been seeing on my Recommended lists on Goodreads, so when I saw it at TAB I decided to grab it.

It's about a poor girl named Caymen who's grown up surrounded by arrogant, rich people buying frivolous things at her mom's doll shop. And that observation is only confirmed when rich teenager Xander Spence walks in.

I really liked this book. Like, it was pretty freaking awesome. Here is my list why:

The romance was SMOKING! Xander and Caymen were so cute together and I was just rooting for them to get together and I was just overcome with emotions.

This book is hilarious. Kasie West did a great job writing such hilarious, dry-witted characters. I loved the dialogue, it was one of the best I've read in a while.

Here is the first one that clues you into the sarcastic tone of the book.

"'Can I help you, sir?' ... 'Yes, I need a doll.' 'Sorry, we're all out.'"

Multiple laughs for this awesome book

Great message. Normally, I'm not a fan of the whole different-social-class-oh-mummy-won't-approve kind of stories. But this one wasn't really like that, it was more about how that shouldn't matter and I think West did a great job of telling that story. And I liked the fact that the ending was ambiguous but at the same time uplifting.

So 55 Creepy porcelain dolls out of 56.

Buh-bai!

Owyn

Amazon Publishing Fanfiction (AKA: Stupidity or Genius?)

Hey everyone!

I decided to talk today about the news that Amazon has decided to publish fanfiction along with their other books.

This is just not okay on multiple levels.

ONE: I am not paying to write fanfiction, nor will I get paid to write fanfiction. For several reasons. For me, and other people, writing fanfics is practice for writing a book. And then, the copyright-oh-the-author-could-potentially-sue-my-ass. Amazon apparently has the rights to such TV shows as "Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and The Vampire Diaries". I don't want to write for those bullshit TV shows anyway.

TWO: Fanfiction is supposed to be fun. Like I said, it's practice. You're not trying to be like Cassandra Clare or EL James, most of the time. Personally, I don't want people to judge me based on my fanfiction. Usually, I just publish the first draft because I gave myself a deadline and it ends up being full of grammatical mistakes that I fix when I notice them. AND THAT'S OKAY! Especially on chill places like Tumblr or fanfiction.net.

THREE: Amazon made a bad decision anyway for trying to monopolize this market. You are not taking the fun out of my fanfiction, you cantankerous horse. A POX ON ALL YOUR HOUSES/SUBCOMPANIES (except for Goodreads).

But that's my opinion. Tell me yours in the comments!

ADIOS!

Owyn

FANFICTION

Greetings and Salutations!

I wrote a blog post over at the bookstore's blog about Fanfiction! Please check it out :D

http://boulderbookstore.blogspot.com/2013/06/fanfiction-what-does-it-mean-for-society.html

Thank you muchly!

Owyn

ARC Review: Fangirl

NOTE: This is an ARC that comes out September 10th.

At the bookstore, Jorden at Shipping and Receiving was reading an ARC of it and she recommended it to me and let me read it.

I liked it! It was a part of that "new adult" genre about a girl named Cath who is alone for the first time and how she's coped with all the bad things in her life with the Simon Snow series and writing one of the most popular pieces of fanfiction the fandom has ever seen.

Here are the reasons why I liked it:

Rowell did a great job of embracing the fandom life. As a fangirl, I can honestly say that Rowell captured the lifestyle perfectly.

I liked Simon Snow better than Harry Potter. I hope I'm not wrong about this, but Simon Snow was a parody of Harry Potter. Rowell included little tidbits from the chapters of the series along with some from the chapters of Cath's fanfic. It was some real John Green shit right there.

The voice was fantastic. Cath's voice was really genuine and real. She was also funny, sarcastic and kind of sad. It was really well done, and I enjoyed reading it immensely.

The romance was awesome. Nick needs to jump of a literary cliff and Levi is just so drool-worthy that I ship him with Cath just as much as Cath ships Baz and Simon.

... In our hearts

But yes, when this comes out, you should definitely check it out!

Buh-Bai!

Owyn

(P.S. I edited this a bit because I was sick when I wrote it yesterday and now my head is clear so yay!)

Series Review: Jamieson Brothers

NOTE: This is about two companion novels written by Angie Stanton.

Okay, so these two books Rock and a Hard Place and Snapshot are centered around two brothers in a rock band called Jamieson that is run by their parents along with their other performer brother.

So, for this review, I'm just going to compare them against each other.

Similarities:

•  Lots of drama
• A hot male lead
• A girl with daddy issues
• A girl with tons of baggage (I say these in the nicest way)
• Conflict with Jamieson family against the relationship with the brothers.

Differences:

I liked Marti and Adam's romance better than Peter and Libby's, so I kind of prefer Snapshot. But Peter and Libby were cute together in Snapshot and Rock and a Hard Place. But I felt Libby should've contacted Peter directly after Garrett did the thing (no spoilers) and I literally groaned out loud when Marti and Adam had sex without protection. 

But that being said, there is A LOT of drama in these books. Runaways, potential pregnancies, fires, sibling conflict, band conflict, people-sucking, family drama. A whole weird n-gon of dramatic proportions. And I think these books would be a cool potential teen soap. Get on it, ABC Family.

I rate Rock and a Hard Place 19/25 Guitars and Snapshot 22/25 Guitars.

Bye!!!

Owyn

ARC Review: This Song Will Save Your Life

NOTE: This is an ARC due to be published in September.

So this book I'm reviewing is called This Song Will Save Your Life and it was written by Leila Sales. It's about an unpopular girl named Elise who, after a failed attempt at popularity, decides to give up but stumbles across a warehouse club and meets two of her first genuine friends. This leads to her finding her true profession.

Okay, I thought the book was well-written and the story was interesting, but I have a couple of beefs to pick.

First off, Elise refers to cutting/suicide as attention seeking, and that just pisses me off. It's a real thing that people go through and it's awful that she wrote it off like that. And...

*SPOILERS* (if you want to see it you can highlight the lines between the spoilers)

She ended up doing it herself then calling her ex-friend to tell her about it.

*SPOILERS OVER*

Second, there's this other DJ Char who is a potential love interest but he was a dick and it was annoying that Elise wastes her time with him. And that she just disregards Pippa like that. No wonder Elise doesn't have any friends.

Third, Elise is kind of whiny. I'll admit it, she's gone through some tough stuff. But she kept going on about how she's unpopular at her high school and how all her attempts at popularity haven't worked and how it's totally world destroying.

So. Fucking. What.

I'm unpopular at my high school, and it doesn't really bother me. I have found my niches at the bookstore and the lovely people I talk to on Twitter and Tumblr. High School doesn't matter if you're an interesting person. I don't trust anyone who said they had a great time in high school, because that means they usually made it un-great time for someone else.

Elise realizes this and decides to try DJ-ing, which was fine. But then she keeps getting enamored with Char and UGH gag me. You don't let a douche get in the way of what you want.

I swear, I was like:

But with all that said, it wasn't a bad book. There were some good aspects, and Elise's voice was pretty well written. I just didn't particularly happen to enjoy it. But that doesn't mean one of you guys won't.

I'd say 50/99.

Bye you guys!

Owyn

ARC Review: Wild Cards

NOTE: This is an ARC that is due to come out on September 24th.

I'm going to just say this now. This book is by Simone Elkeles.

So it was freakin' AMAZING.

I am the man in blue

Here are the reasons I found it so and why you should read it.

*I'LL TRY NOT TO SPOIL*

#1: Derek and Ashtyn's chemistry was so amazing. Ashtyn was so sassy and Derek was so sarcastic and they were just AWW together, I can barely fathom my emotions about them into words.

#2: The football aspect was pretty cool. Personally, I'm not a football fan. But there were so many great feminine aspects that Elkeles explored, since Ashtyn is a kicker on her high school's football team. Boys are icky, but Derek...

#3: Derek is so swoon-worthy I could sob

(Well YOU could be too, but this is directed at Derek ;) )

He is just such a bad boy but so caring and he's so hot for a literary character. And romantic. And funny. And charming. And athletic. I'm swooning.

#4: When Elkeles does alternating POVs, then it's WELL-FREAKING-DONE. She captured two different voices so elegantly. It's a true talent. It brings me back to my favorite of hers, Rules of Attraction.

#5: That grandmother is fantastic. She's a bit of spoiler, so that's all I'm saying.

But yes, this was such a well-written book, and I hope you all read it when it comes out. And I already can't wait for the sequel.

(Sorry for not posting for a bit. I'm going on a posting spree today though!)

Sincerely,

Owyn :)

P.S.

Check out my blogs on the bookstore's blog!

Dear Author: Leigh Bardugo

Dear Leigh Bardugo,

Salutations! I'm Owyn, the teen you met at the lunch we just had. I finally was able to write this letter now so let me tell you (and my readers) what I thought of Storm and Bone and Siege and Storm.

IT WAS FREAKING AMAZING

Firstly, I loved all the characters (and if I didn't love them, I loved hating them). Alina was such a sassy female lead and Mal was such an amazing romantic interest and the Darkling is such a villain (I'll explain more on this in a bit) and I loved Nikolai he's amazing and I want him for Christmas.

Secondly, the dialogue is FANTASTIC. I loved how Alina was so sassy with everyone, but I especially loved when she talked to Mal, the Darkling, Nikolai and Genya (first book, second book I refuse to acknowledge her literary existence). I saved a morsel, but I'm sure you're familiar with it:

"'Do I get to wear a fancy hat?' 'The fanciest,' I said. 'And possibly a cape.'" Mal to Alina. (There are so much more but then this blog post would go on FOREVER)

Thirdly, while I loved Mal and Alina together, I couldn't help but picture her with Nikolai because I love him to death and she had such a good rapport and I don't know who I want her to end up with.

But yes, I can't wait for the third book and the movie. I'm still fangirling from meeting you.

 I will see you at your event tonight! Go Fierce Reads!

Sincerely,

Owyn Cooper

Dear Author: Emmy Laybourne

Dear Emmy Laybourne,

Hello there! My name's Owyn, I get to meet you this Friday. In order to fully prepare myself for this, I decided to read your books Monument 14 and Monument 14: Sky on Fire.

The first thing I have to say is:

HOLY CRAP YOUR BOOK IS INTENSE

Like I'm still in awe of the first one and I've already finished the second one.

I don't even know how to put these emotions into words so I have this gif:

And I loved the way your book showed the different ways people can react to things. Like Josie and Niko took charge, Alex took solace in numbers, and Jake took drugs. Bad Jake. No. It kind of raised the question, What would I do in this situation? And I can honestly answer: I have no freaking clue.

In regards to your second book, I cried when Baptiste found his mom. I was choking up and tears were flowing but they were happy tears so thank you.

I found the reactions to the stuff that went down in the books so raw. And real. So I saved a couple (from the second book):

"I patted his back. I didn't know what to do. I'm not good when people cry. I do not know what to say and I just stand there flapping my arms like a stupid magpie." --  Alex (whom I adore).

"And then they kissed. Okay, that was new information." That's basically my reaction whenever people I know kiss and I didn't even know they talked.

"'What about any of this is fair, Dean?'" Astrid has a point but DAMMIT JUST LOVE HIM.

"Was it wrong to feel a heart-spike of happiness in the middle of the Apocalypse?" --Dean.

"What do we know? We're just stupid kids." --Alex.

"We might live. We might die. But it seemed like we'd never stop walking."--Alex.

"'Niko said you were coming in a Kia minivan.' Max said. 'A Kia?! No way honey, I only drive subarus...'" Max to Mrs. Wooly. This is such a Boulder-thing to say. Loved it.

"The sky had holes in it." -- Alex. This is such a terrifying visual but I thought it was awesome.

But yes, these books were amazing in that kind of way that terrifies you because holy crap that could actually potentially happen. I'm just upset I have to wait for the next book. (And if there isn't a next book I will throw a tantrum. Fair warning.)

Sincerely,

Owyn Cooper

Dear Author: Anna Banks *Of Poseidon*

Dear Anna Banks,

Salutations! My name is Owyn, and I'm going to be at your Fierce Reads event at the Boulder Book Store. In order to prepare for such awesomeness, I read your book Of Poseidon.

Here is the review: 97 Aquariums out of 97.

Your book is pretty freaking fantastic.

And now, I shall list unto you the reasons I think so.

Firstly, GALEN IS SO ATTRACTIVE WTF. I mean, I know he's like part fish but I haven't felt this way since Augustus Waters. He's dreamy, and protective, and strong, and hot and I already need to calm down but I can't because he is:

I like the fact you had two different point of views. Those are like my literary weakness. And when you switched, the comparisons were different. Like Galen always compared whatever-it-was to something marine-like. Like how he called Emma "angelfish". But then Emma has these comparisons like (not exact quote) "she bounced around like she was mattress shopping" THAT IS SUCH A GOOD COMPARISON!

And then the dialogue was hilarious. I LOL'd. Here are some of my favorite little nuggets of funny:

"'There's nothing wrong with your daughter, Mrs. McIntosh. I said we're not sleeping together. I didn't say I didn't want to.'" Bonus awkward points since Galen said that to Emma's mom.

"'Dr. Milligan, you know as far as these things go, I'm pretty ignorant. For my sake, could you just give us the idiot version?'" -- Galen

*Emma just ran into Galen* "'Uh, we didn't get your name. Did you get his name, Emma?'" (Chloe) asks...
'I tried, Chloe. But he wouldn't tell me, so I tackled him, ' I say, rolling my eyes."

"'Galen?'
'Hmm?'
'You can put me down now.'
'I'm not ready yet.' He tightens his hold.
'You don't have to hold-'
'Emma? Can you hear me?'
'Uh, yes, I can hear you fine. I just can't see-'
'That's a relief. Because for a minute there, I thought maybe you couldn't hear me when I said I'm not ready yet.'" Emma and Sassy Galen.

I just have one problem: you used the word "mate" frequently in the verbular sense.

That word is like my "moist" it just makes me very uncomfortable when it's used as a verb. But I still love the book!

I am very excited to meet you and I can't wait to read Of Triton.

Sincerely,

Owyn Cooper