Book Review: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

Hi everyone! 

I know that I've been gone for a bit, but I have several new book reviews coming because I've read FIVE books in my absence. 

First, let me talk about my July and August book club books. 

The first one was Pride and Prejudice, which I won't be reviewing because just about everyone knows the story. I wasn't a fan of having to read it. I prefer the movies with this one.

The second was  called My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier. I won't be doing a full review on this book. I didn't enjoy it at all. The narrator and main character was the whiniest, most naive man on the face of the earth. I couldn't stand it. I wanted to punch him in the throat the entire time I was reading. 

I won't be picking up any classics for a while. (Unless they're by Jules Verne.) 

The third book was the one we are about to discuss. 

Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell!!! 

Goodreads Summary:

For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home—all because her mother believes that monsters are hunting them. Now these delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. The only saving grace is her best friend, Olivia, who’s coming with them for the summer.

But when Gwen and Olivia are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and taken to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey, Gwen realizes her mom might have been sane all along.

The world Gwen finds herself in is called Neverland, yet it’s nothing like the stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through her fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and find a way home, she must choose between trusting the charming fairy-tale hero who says all the right things and the roguish young pirate who promises to keep her safe.

With time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen is forced to face the truths she’s been hiding from all along. But will she be able to save Neverland without losing herself?"

My Rating:

5/5

My Thoughts:

So obviously this is a Peter Pan retelling. 

It. Was. AMAZING! 

Roles are completely reversed in this book and I couldn't have loved it anymore that I did. It had everything you could possible want. All of my favorites from the movie were in this book and it was obvious who was portraying who, which I really liked. The only characters missing were Smee, John, and Michael.  

Even the crocodile had a counterpart!! 

Lastly, before we get to spoilers, the ending was great! I was definitely pleased with it. This is the first book that I've read in a long time that didn't leave me crying my eyes out. 

If you like retellings, and you like Peter Pan, you need to give this one a shot. I don't think anyone will be disappointed.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

5.....

4.....

3.....

2.....

1.....

Spoiler-y Discussion:

Lets talk about the portrayal of our favorites and some of the story line. 

Gwendolyn:

Wendy was Gwendolyn. She was great, though she made a couple of stupid choices in the book.

She finds herself in Neverland by kidnapping. Yeah. Kidnapping. By these giant faceless, hairy, creatures with wings and they sounded like rusty hinges when they spoke. (Definitely didn't speak English.) 

Hook saves her and Gwen thinks he's the villain because of the story of Peter Pan that we all know and love. She comes to her senses. Thankfully. 

Captain Hook:

Hook was still called Hook. Our hero....Yes, you heard me correctly....HERO. And a badass one at that. Hook saved Gwen from the creatures that took her from her world. He is a gruff guy and he's probably somewhere around 19 years old. He's been stuck in Neverland for a long time. (I won't spoil all of his story for you, because it's cool as all get out.) 

When Hook first arrived in Neverland, he was a lost boy. Hook left Peter when he started to remember who he was and where he came from. (See, Neverland makes you forget everything from before you got there.)

Peter comes on board Hook's ship and takes Gwen with him to his island. On the way out, Gwen sees hook breathing in this weird, floaty, gold stuff that just came out of a dying boy. The stuff was retrieved from the kid by a weird creature that had originally kidnapped Gwen. Gwen immediately thought Hook was the one that was evil and she went with Peter.

I LOVED Hook. Loved.

(How I think Hook looked in the book <3. I'd marry him right this second.)

Peter Pan:

Peter was, of course, Peter. He was our villain. I hated him. He was such a dick.

First, you should know that Peter is human. He was taken from earth by the queen of the Fae that lived on Neverland because she slept with the king of the Dark Fae and they split up and she couldn't bear to look at her real son. 

Then Peter locks up the queen when he's old enough to get some power, and never lets her out. 

 Second, He's stealing his lost boy's lives to live. Little bitty kids. It's terrible. 

Third, he had Gwen and her friend (we'll discuss her later) kidnapped because apparently, the queen of the Fae's REAL son had a daughter with a human woman. He wants to steal the child's soul so that he'll be just as powerful as the queen.(I'm not telling you which girl the child is)

(Basically how I pictured Peter)

Lost Boys:
All that you need to know:
1. They are blood thirsty little scaries.
2. They don't remember their mothers (=why they're blood thirsty little scaries)
3. They're basically being eaten by Peter Pan.

Gwen's Friend:

When the girls were kidnapped, Pan ended up with Gwen's friend. She was brainwashed by Pan and she only remembered who she really was a couple of times throughout the book. 

The final time was at the end. It was sad, and I don't want to give anything else about the ending away. 

Tinkerbell:

In the book, she was a b***h. Seriously the worst. She wanted Gwen dead for the duration of the story. 

Tick Tock Crocodile:

Our beloved croc was actually a super huge, bloodthirsty sea hag with three heads. So there's that.

Soooooo basically, the whole book is intense. 

HUGE ENDING SPOILER:

At the end, Hook is seriously injured saving Gwen from Pan. Then Pan is killed by Tinkerbell. Then Tinkerbell is killed by Hook because she was gonna kill Gwen. Then the queen busts up in there and tries to kill Hook, but the weird creature thing kills her. 

Gwen's friend was basically being murdered by Pan because he was stealing her soul the whole time she's been captive. At the end, Gwen gets ready to bring her back to their world, but she's literally falling to pieces and she can't make the trip. 

Gwen tells her that she loves her and that she won't ever forget her. She then leaves with Hook and they live happily ever after. 

Nailed it. *Mic Drop*

THE END!! 

I hope you enjoyed this brief discussion of Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell. I know I gave the ending away, but I tried my best not to give away too many details about all of the big things that occur mid-book. 

I really do recommend that you all pick this book up if it sounds like it might be your cup of tea. I loved it and I wish I had read it sooner! 

Happy Reading, and talk to you soon! 

XOXO,

Eden

Book Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Hey Readers!!!

Today I'm coming to you for a book review/book talk for To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han!

I'm really excited about this review and this series because I haven't read a contemporary in a LOOOONG time, so it was so nice to fall in love with one again.

So here we go!

Goodreads Summary:

"To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all."

My Rating:

5/5 Stars!!!!

Book Review:

I really enjoyed reading this book! Lara Jean is your typical, albeit immature, teenaged girl. She has all the drama every girl goes through, and it really brought me back to my teenage years when I had to deal with crushes and first love.

There were some things that I struggled with in the book. As I have already briefly mentioned, Lara Jean is really immature for a girl her age when it comes to boys. Most teenagers are when they are dealing with crushes, but this is on the ridiculous level. This is something that I really struggled with while reading this book, but I was able to look beyond it because I loved the humor and the story itself. 

I am so glad that this is part of a trilogy and not a stand alone, because the book ended way too soon for me and I am dying to see what happens for Lara Jean in the next books.

If you like contemporary, young adult, romances, I think that you will really enjoy this story. It is such a wonderful book. I definitely recommend it! 

Spoilers Ahead!!!!

Continue at your own risk!!!!!

Turn back!!!!!  You've been warned!!!!!!

Book Talk:

So here we are, in the spoiler-y section. If you've come this far, I assume you've read the book, because I'm probably going to ruin it for you if you haven't, which means you gots to go! 

Lara Jean:

First of all, lets talk about Lara Jean. She is your typical teenager when it comes to family struggles and falling in love at the drop of a hat. She has fallen in love 5 times in her short life time, and it is 100% relatable. I swear I fell in love that many times, if not more, in high school. I honestly wish I had though of writing letters to the guys I "loved" in order to get over them. It's kind of genius. 

Something that drove me a little crazy about our dear Lara Jean was that she was pretty immature around  and about guys. She said and did some things that were just unbelievably immature, but who doesn't as a teenager?! The immaturity that drove me crazy was the thoughts that went through her head about the boys. Things like "Boys backs feel so different from girls backs..." or something to that affect.... I mean....of course they do. We are made differently! 

I admired that Lara Jean cared so deeply for her Dad and her sisters, Margot and Kitty. I loved the family being involved in the story like they were. It was nice. 

I really thought that she would end up with Josh for a while at the beginning of the book. I'm glad she didn't, because her relationship with Margot would have been RUINED if she had. I'm glad she fell in love with Peter instead. I really like Peter! He's a nice guy and not the typical "jock" stereotype you find in YA novels, which is refreshing! I hope that she and Peter get together again in the second book! I'll probably lose my crap if they don't. 

Peter:

I love Peter!! I want him with Lara Jean! They are beyond cute together and I just can't even. He is more that your typical jock, which as I said above, is really refreshing because most YA contemporaries have the jock stereotype in full force. I liked the sweet gestures he made to Lara Jean, even though the relationship was all for show at first. It was precious. The notes in the locker, the comments about her being cute and the little kisses. Ugh! SO CUTE! I ship Peter and Lara Jean for sure! No doubt! I was so sad when Lara Jean asked him to leave her alone at the end. 

Poor guy is too hung up on Gen. She's a psycho b***h. For real. So vindictive and mean! He needs to let that go ASAP. 

Josh:

So Josh was dating Margot for a long time. Something like three years?? Margot broke up with him before going away to Scotland for college and he got one of Lara Jean's letters. He kind of realized he might have feelings for her and it was super awkward and intense between him and Lara Jean for a while. 

Margot comes home for Christmas break and she finds out that Josh kissed Lara Jean and she loses it and is soooo angry with Lara Jean. She found out because Josh was arguing with Peter at Lara Jean and Margot's recital party and she overheard. Stupid Josh...and stupid Peter. 

I think Josh and Margot will work it out and get back together, and if not I think they'll at least be friends.  I hope so anyway! 

Josh is cool. I like Josh. 

Margot:

This girl stresses me out! She's a bit too uptight for my liking. I think thats because she had so much responsibility on her shoulders after their mother passed away. She was basically her sister's mother and she had to help take care of their dad as well. 

I still don't know why she broke up with Josh.....it's really not very clear. We only know that Josh thinks its because they had sex and Margot was scared off by getting close to him. Which makes sense, but I want to know for sure! 

Kitty:

OMG I love Kitty! She adds so much comic relief to  the story and thats always nice to have. She's so sweet  and innocent but also so grown up. I think its adorable that she has a crush on Josh, and Im pretty sure she gets a crush on Peter too. 

I like that she invited Peter to the recital party for Lara Jean behind her back to try to get them to fix their relationship. So cute!

We find out at the end of the book that Kitty is the one who sent Lara Jean's letter out and got this whole ball of poo rolling. She was so sorry about it and genuine. Lara Jean couldn't even stay mad at her cause it was so sweet! I like that we found out who was responsible at the end so that we weren't left wondering. 

I've covered all of the main characters! The only character I didn't discuss was Chris, and she's a supporting character and I don't have a lot to say about her honestly. She's a bad influence. 

In the next book I'm hoping for Peter and Lara Jean to get back together and for Margot and Josh to work things out. 

I want the girls' dad to find a girlfriend because its so sad that he's alone. 

I hope that you've enjoyed this review/discussion for this wonderful book! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!

I can't wait to pick up the next books in the series and I hope that you all do too! 

Happy Reading!!!!!

XOXO,

Eden

Book Talk: Rogue by Julie Kagawa

Happy January everybody! I hope everyone is having a super wonderful 2017 so far, filled with lots of travel, reading, and stitching. :)

 I finished Rogue, the second book in the Talon Saga, on 1/8/17. This is the first book that will qualify towards my 2017 Goodreads goal. :D

Goodreads Summary: 

"Deserter. Traitor. Rogue.

Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can’t forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he’d signed his own death warrant.

Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order’s headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember’s own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.

A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war? "

My Rating: 4/5 Stars!!! 

My Review:
     Once again, Julie Kagawa had me captivated! I want to reiterate what I said in my Talon Book Talk....I have NEVER seen dragons done the way Kagawa has done them. You have dragons that can shift into humans and it is set in present day. Sometimes you forget that the dragons aren't actually people! I love that about this series. 

    My one major complaint still remains: the love triangle. It is truly hard to read through. However, that isn't enough to make me hate the book, or even dislike it in the least. The way the romance is written is great, I just hate that the triangle exists. It feels forced and unnecessary to me in this series. 

    The action scenes are amazing! Especially towards the end of the book. This book kept me on my toes way more than the first book. The whole book left you wondering what would happen next! 

    After reading the second book in this series, I still highly recommend these books! You get some of everything with this series, you feel every emotion, and who doesn't want that?! 







SPOILER ALERT: Please stop reading if you have not read Talon or Rogue and you plan to do so!!







Seriously....You have been warned....









Book Talk Section:

    So first, lets talk about Garret in general.... This guy is amazing. He has risked everything for Ember, and has resigned himself to his fate at the beginning of the book, even though he deserves so much better than what he is getting, just because he is happy that he could save Ember's life at the end of book 1. 
   I definitely prefer Garret to Riley/Cobalt where the love triangle is concerned. In the last book I was conflicted, but I know 100% who I want her with now. I love him....I love him so much.....

   Now for Riley/Cobalt....I really admire how much he cares for all of the "Hatchlings" that he helps escape from Talon. 
    I also think he needs to lay off of Garret. I understand that Garret has killed dragons before and he has all of their blood on his hands, but he was only following orders. Cobalt followed Talon's orders the same way before he was aware of what Talon really is. 
     I liked Riley more in the first book. Now he is just way too jealous and, to be frank, an epic asshole. 

    Ember......ugh. This girl still drives me insane with her naivety, but not nearly as bad as she ticked me off in book 1. She isn't whiney anymore, which is a huge saving grace, but she does have her flaws. 
    For example, she still insists that Dante didn't report her to Lilith in the first book when she was getting ready to run away. She thinks Talon is only using him and he is just following along like a little puppy. NOOOO!!!! EMBER WTF?!! We all know that Dante is lost to the dark side and he is completely cray and refuses to see the truth. Talon may have taught him that, but after he was trained, he still had the choice to leave. He should have trusted Ember in the first place. 
    Next thing....Freaking pick a guy girl! Riley and Garret both love her. Those words actually came out of sweet Garret's mouth. He actually said it. Riley has said the same, but not in so many words. I have a HUGE problem with her not having a clue who she's going to be with. 
    I do like that she is ready and willing to help her friends no matter what the situation or consequences. I also am sooooo happy that she has finally seen Dante for what he is at the end. 

    Dante.....you stupid ignorant dude. Why won't you give your sister the benefit of the doubt?!?! He's known her his whole life and he won't even hear her out?! And then, he sends a Viper after Ember?! (In Dante's defense, Talon itself gave the orders to Faith to kill Ember if she didn't go back willingly, and Dante ordered her to not harm Ember no matter what). 
    I do believe that Dante doesn't know the harm that Talon is willing to inflict to get their way. He could feel differently if he did. 
    The Epilogue was like what!!? Dante SMILED like a maniac when he saw the clones in the Talon basement. CLONES..... After movies like " The Clone Wars" is there ANY doubt what a huge number of clones is actually meant for?! The answer is NO! There is only one thing that Talon could be planning to do with them.....It is an ARMY! A DRAGON ARMY!!! And Dante just smiles evilly.....Um...ok Dante.......

    So now for thoughts about other random characters:

     I suspected Ava/Mist as soon as Kagawa described her looks... The hair color gave away her real identity to me. Ava=Mist. Mist works for Dante.....Obviously, the whole "save the innocent hatchlings" plan was not going to go well. 

    Since I realized who Ava/Mist was, I suspected Faith immediately and was basically mentally screaming at Garret and Ember to throw her out a window and be done with it. Hate. Her. 

    The epic battle between Faith and Ember had me biting my nails. When Ember let Faith go I was like Noooooooo! She's coming back, she's coming back! And then.....Faith came back and Garret did his thing to save Ember, yet again. Go Garret! 

    The end......you guys the end tore my heart out and stomped on it with its big giant feet.....I've said this in other reviews, but I really, actually, literally cried. I love Garret and I was so mad that Ember just let him walk away like that. When he tells her all she has to do to make him stay is to tell him to, and she doesn't say anything, I was so angry at her! Heck, I am STILL angry with her. She better redeem herself and choose him in the next book. I want her with Garret!!! GARRET!!!! And he left! *Sobs uncontrollably* 

   

Some things about the writing that irritated me....

    Several sentences seemed to be repeated a few times in the same-ish situations. So I was kinda "eh" about that. 

    Once again, I hate that Dragon-Ember and Human-Ember are referred to as separate individuals. NO! Ember is a dragon and a human! She has both! BOTH. Drives me insane. 

    If this love triangle isn't resolved ASAP in book 3 I will literally scream. I'm not joking around here guys. If there is one single thing I would change about this book, the love triangle would be it....it is SO forced and unnecessary. I don't normally feel this way about the love triangle thing, but I am not having it in this case. It got old, reeeeeal fast y'all. 

    A few things I want for the rest of the series:

      I would really like for Dante to come around and help Ember and the team. 

      I also would like to see Garret's old St. George partner come back into the story. In a good way though, not as an enemy, because G-man needs all the help he can get from how the ending of the book sounds. 

     Obviously, I want the love triangle to be resolved. (Go Team Garret!!)

    I also want to know why the heck Ember and Dante are so important to Talon. 

    No major deaths please!!!!!! 

                     

    Alrighty guys!! I hope that you all enjoyed my Review/Discussion for Rogue by Julie Kagawa! I am looking forward to reading Soldier and discussing that with you. 

    Let me know if you have any thoughts on this book in the comments. Don't forget to check out my Talon Review from December and discuss that with me as well! 

See y'all later! 

XOXO,
Eden