Jen Ferguson - Those Pink Mountain Nights

 

Jen Ferguson - Those Pink Mountain Nights 

4⭐

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult, LGBTQIA+ 

Pages: 352

Format:  Paperback Proof 

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers / Heartdrum

Published On: 12th October 2023 (UK)

Big thank you to Harper360YA for sending me an ARC copy to read and review. 

Book Blurb: 

In her remarkable second novel following her acclaimed debut, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, which won the Governor General’s Award and received six starred reviews, Jen Ferguson writes about the hurt of a life stuck in past tense, the hum of connections that cannot be severed, and one week in a small snowy town that changes everything.

Over-achievement isn’t a bad word—for Berlin, it’s the goal. She’s securing excellent grades, planning her future, and working a part-time job at Pink Mountain Pizza, a legendary local business. Who says she needs a best friend by her side?

Dropping out of high school wasn’t smart—but it was necessary for Cameron. Since his cousin Kiki’s disappearance, it’s hard enough to find the funny side of life, especially when the whole town has forgotten Kiki. To them, she’s just another missing Native girl.

People at school label Jessie a tease, a rich girl—and honestly, she’s both. But Jessie knows she contains multitudes. Maybe her new job crafting pizzas will give her the high-energy outlet she desperately wants.

When the weekend at Pink Mountain Pizza takes unexpected turns, all three teens will have to acknowledge the various ways they’ve been hurt—and how much they need each other to hold it all together.

My Review:

I adored The Summer of Bitter and Sweet and it still is one of my favourite YA books to date. However, there was something about Those Pink Mountain Nights that I didn’t gel with. It might have been that I read it in the wrong mindset or at the wrong time, but I just couldn’t connect with the characters in this book as I did with those in TSOBAS. That said, I still think Ferguson is an amazing storyteller and writer, who wrote another moving book that covers so many important topics and issues that Native and Indigenous people in Canada face daily. Topics such as social injustice, grief, systematic racism, community, and belonging are explored beautifully and in-depth, and even though I didn’t connect with the characters in this book, I still think the story is very powerful.

The book follows Berlin, who is a hard worker and overachiever and who cares deeply about her friends and family. We also meet Cam, who is a high school dropout and who has a sweet spot for Berlin even though Berlin hates him. We get introduced to Jessie, who is a rich girl at school, but in real life, she feels misunderstood by her rich parents who just don’t get what they want. The unlikely trio all work in Pink Mountain pizzeria, a legendary local business…One weekend when the Pink Mountain Pizza is threatened by a chain pizza company, Berlin, Cam and Jessie realise that they might not be different from one another and that their friendship might help Pink Mountain and the whole community.

As I mentioned before, I didn’t connect with the characters, yet they were so well developed, each with their own set of issues, thoughts and personalities, which together make the trio very powerful allies. The book has multiple POVs from all of the main characters, and each POV have a very strong personality related to the person the chapter is about. The writing of this book is superb and the issues discussed with such a strong voice.

Overall: I enjoyed reading this book, and although I don’t love it as much as I did The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, I still think it is brilliantly written, with a set of strong and well-developed characters, as well as brilliant discussion on issues that Native and Indigenous communities in Canada face, especially issues of systematic racism, abuse, belonging, etc. Can’t wait to see what Jen Ferguson will write next!

About an Author:

Jen Ferguson - Métis (on her father's side) and Canadian settler (on her mother's side), an activist, a feminist, an auntie, and an accomplice armed with a PhD. She believes writing, teaching and beading are political acts. The Summer of Bitter and Sweet is her debut novel. 

https://www.jenfergusonwrites.com/about

Colleen Hoover - Losing Hope (Hopeless #2)

Colleen Hoover - Losing Hope (Hopeless #2) 

4⭐

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Young Adult

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK 

Date Published:  8th July 2013

 

Book Blurb: 

In the follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him…

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments—and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs.

My Review: 

I liked this book way more than I liked Hopeless. There was much less shock factor than in Hopeless, as in this book one of the twists can be seen from the very beginning of the story, which then in turn made the second twist less gruesome to me. I also just preferred the pace of this book more, as it read very easily and quickly, and I think that the letters were a perfect way to make the twists less shocking than they were in Hopeless. Oh, and I felt that Holder’s POV was much more genuine and we as readers get to know him better in this book than in Hopeless, as in Hopeless at times it felt like he was portrayed to be rather stalkerish and creepy. However, it is essentially the same story as Hopeless but from Holder’s POV, with less shock value.

I think that this book could have been incorporated into Hopeless, basically making Hopeless a dual POV. It would have worked so much better that way, as even though I enjoyed Losing Hope, most of it was just a repetition of Hopeless, with only a very few new chapters adding to the story and providing the story from Holder’s POV. However, I still think it is worth reading if you want to learn more about Holder and carry on with the rest of the Hopeless series (basically for the rest of the books to make sense).

What I liked in this book was the introduction of Daniel in the story. He seemed like a great side character and having him in Losing Hope put a solid foundation for Finding Cinderella, where we learn his story in more depth. I also liked the fact that we get to learn more about Holder’s sister and family, something that wasn’t covered much in Hopeless.

Overall: A great quick and easy read, with as always, beautiful writing by Colleen Hoover. Recommend if you want to carry on with the series or just want a quick, yet emotional read. This book was much better than the first in the series, but Losing Hope is essentially the same as Hopeless just from the hero’s POV, with more information and insights into the story. 

About the Author:

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two novels and novellas. Hoover’s novels fall into the New Adult and Young Adult contemporary romance categories, as well as psychological thrillers. 

Colleen Hoover is published by Montlake Romance, Grand Central Publishing and Atria Books. Colleen also has several indie titles, including Heart Bones.

In 2015, Colleen’s novel CONFESS won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance. That was followed up in 2016 with her latest title, It Ends With Us, also winning the Choice Award for Best Romance. In 2017, her title WITHOUT MERIT won best romance.

Colleen founded The Bookworm Box, a charity subscription service and bookstore, with her family in 2015. The Bookworm Box is a subscription service that provides readers with an exciting opportunity to receive signed novels in the mail each month from authors all over the world. All profits from the subscription service are donated to various charities each month. To date, The Bookworm Box has donated over $1,000,000 to help those in need.

https://www.colleenhoover.com/about-coho/

Colleen Hoover -Finding Cinderella (Hopeless #2.5)

Colleen Hoover -Finding Cinderella (Hopeless #2.5)

4⭐

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Young Adult, Novella, Short Story

Pages: 176

Format: Paperback 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK 

Date Published:  14th October 2013

 

Book Blurb: 

A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love has conditions: they agree it will last only one hour, and it will be only make-believe.

When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them seemed perfect only because they were pretending it was. Moments like that happen only in fairy tales.

One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in love-at-first-sight is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Unfortunately for Daniel, finding true love doesn"t guarantee a happily ever after... it only further threatens it.

Will an unbearable secret from the past jeopardize Daniel and Six's only chance at saving each other?

My Review: 

Finding Cinderella is a short novella about the two side characters of the Hopeless series, Six and Daniel. Basically, this short story is their Cinderella-inspired love at first sight story.

The novella was very short, quick and easy to read. It was quite entertaining, especially as both Six and Daniel have a great sense of humour and some funny situations made me laugh out loud. For me, it was more of a comfort read in between other books.

Although, this is Hoover we are talking about, so even if it is a novella, still expect the unexpected. Yes, there is quite an interesting and surprising twist at the end of the novella. However, since I read All Your Perfects before reading the Hopeless series, I saw this twist coming, but if you haven’t read All Your Perfects before, you might be in for a shock.

This story gives us a depth glimpse into both Six and Daniel, as well as their new relationship and newfound love. It is their love story, with all the good bits, the bad, the secrets and the shocking revelations.

Overall: Very cosy, quick and easy novella. Full of laugh-out-loud moments, some secrets, humour, and some shocking revelations all wrapped up in Hoover’s brilliant writing. I truly recommend this little novella if you love instant love and romance, because it is like a true-life Cinderella story set in high school with a Princess and Prince Charming being two weird, funny and at times odd, yet lovable young adults. 

About the Author:

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two novels and novellas. Hoover’s novels fall into the New Adult and Young Adult contemporary romance categories, as well as psychological thrillers. 

Colleen Hoover is published by Montlake Romance, Grand Central Publishing and Atria Books. Colleen also has several indie titles, including Heart Bones.

In 2015, Colleen’s novel CONFESS won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance. That was followed up in 2016 with her latest title, It Ends With Us, also winning the Choice Award for Best Romance. In 2017, her title WITHOUT MERIT won best romance.

Colleen founded The Bookworm Box, a charity subscription service and bookstore, with her family in 2015. The Bookworm Box is a subscription service that provides readers with an exciting opportunity to receive signed novels in the mail each month from authors all over the world. All profits from the subscription service are donated to various charities each month. To date, The Bookworm Box has donated over $1,000,000 to help those in need.

https://www.colleenhoover.com/about-coho/

Colleen Hoover - Finding Perfect (Hopeless #2.6)

Colleen Hoover - Finding Perfect (Hopeless #2.6)

5⭐

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Young Adult, Novella, Short Story

Pages: 128

Format: Paperback 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK 

Date Published:  30th November 2019

 

Book Blurb: 

Finding Perfect is a novella that brings back some of Colleen’s most beloved characters. Told from the point of view of Daniel from Finding Cinderella, readers will finally get the conclusion they’ve been hoping for.

For the best reading experience, make sure you’ve read all four books that come together to make up this heartwarming story: Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, and All Your Perfects.

My Review: 

Super short yet super cute and feel-good novella mainly about Daniel and Six, but features all the other characters from Hopeless and All Your Perfects. This novella for me seemed like a perfect way to summarise the series and link it all to All Your Perfects.

This short story is from Daniel’s POV and follows him and Six during their first Thanksgiving and Christmas after starting college. After spending Thanksgiving with Sky and Holder at home, Daniel and Six take a trip to meet someone they both wanted to meet for months, and alongside that, they meet Graham and Quinn, which are the two main characters in All Your Perfects.

Without spoiling the story, I just loved how Daniel’s and Six’s story was so beautifully connected to Graham’s and Quinn’s and how they are now wholesomely in each other’s lives. Also, we finally learn the connection between the Hopeless series and All Your Perfects, which in my mind was one of the most amazing connections ever, that made both stories just so heart-warming and adorable.

I also loved the writing, as even though the novella itself is super short, the number of things and information that was given to us in this story allowed readers to gain so much more depth from all the beloved characters throughout the series. It also talked about important subjects, had so many heart-warming and heart-breaking moments, etc. Honestly, I don’t know how someone can pack so much in such a short novella, but Hoover managed to do it beautifully.

Overall: Loved this short novella so much. I just wished it was longer! As I needed much more of both, Six and Daniel. I loved how this book and the Hopeless series tied up into All Your Perfects too. Honestly, such a cosy, beautiful and heart-warming novella and end to a series. Brilliant!

 

About the Author:

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two novels and novellas. Hoover’s novels fall into the New Adult and Young Adult contemporary romance categories, as well as psychological thrillers. 

Colleen Hoover is published by Montlake Romance, Grand Central Publishing and Atria Books. Colleen also has several indie titles, including Heart Bones.

In 2015, Colleen’s novel CONFESS won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance. That was followed up in 2016 with her latest title, It Ends With Us, also winning the Choice Award for Best Romance. In 2017, her title WITHOUT MERIT won best romance.

Colleen founded The Bookworm Box, a charity subscription service and bookstore, with her family in 2015. The Bookworm Box is a subscription service that provides readers with an exciting opportunity to receive signed novels in the mail each month from authors all over the world. All profits from the subscription service are donated to various charities each month. To date, The Bookworm Box has donated over $1,000,000 to help those in need.

https://www.colleenhoover.com/about-coho/

Colleen Hoover- Hopeless (Hopeless #1)

Colleen Hoover - Hopeless (Hopeless #1) 

3.5⭐

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Young Adult

Pages: 408

Format: Paperback 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK 

Date Published:  18th December 2012

 

Book Blurb: 

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.
 

My Review: 

I usually love CoHo books, especially the twists and how her stories are built and carefully crafted but Hopeless was just a bit too much for me. This book had too many subjects and traumas explored all in one, and it was too much…Besides the multitude of subjects explored in this book, it was way too long and quite slow, especially in the first half. I just felt it wanted to be everything, a romance, a YA book, a book about traumas, but ended up with too much to chew. However, I still very much enjoyed CoHo’s writing, as it is still brilliant how she managed to explore her characters and come up with these crazy yet unexpected twists.

The book follows Sky who on her first day in public school, after being home-schooled for all of her life, meets a mysterious, damaged but very attractive Holder. Holder is also straight away attracted to Sky since she reminds him of Hope. Holder and Sky both realise that they are not only attracted to each other but are also both equally damaged and complex. Thus, slowly throughout the book they are opening each other’s hearts, even if that might unlock secrets, horrible pain, devastating traumas and pasts that none of them wants to remember. Although they are both unlocking those hurtful memories, especially the ones about Sky and her past, their love and commitment to each other are stronger than anything.

I didn’t like that this book was so slow-paced. I am used to Hoover’s books being the all-quick pace and quicker romances. This, however, was a slow-burn romance and the plot also moved quite slowly, until the very last 100 pages where everything hit the fan.

As I mentioned before, this book was quite long and covered soo much. It talked about and explored different traumas that both Holder and Sky had throughout their childhood, it portrayed their romance and connection, and looked at the family’s relationships and traumas, too. For me (without spoiling this book) it just felt that CoHo wanted to pack too much into this book and failed to do it. Also, the twist that usually makes me so surprised and even more gripped to Hoover’s books, this time made me disgusted and so sad for the main characters. The twist and all the subjects explored in this book…it was rather hard to take it all at once.

I really liked both main characters, and I think Hoover did an excellent job portraying them both, including their flaws, traumas, damage, and then subsequently love and healing. I also really liked the side characters, as they also were very well-written and definitely add substance to the story line.

Overall: Again, excellent writing and excellent portrayal of a variety of damaged, young, loving and yet rather complex characters. However, this time the subjects explored in this book were a bit too much for me. I believe if Hoover chose to explore one of the subjects in this book or at least two, it would have made this book less traumatic, devastating and triggering to read. Additionally, the pacing of this book was quite slow, which I am not used to in Hoover’s writing, and which made this book quite repetitive and hard to read. I am still going to be reading the rest of the Hopeless series, as I want to see if the book from Holder's POV is a better and easier read. 

About the Author:

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two novels and novellas. Hoover’s novels fall into the New Adult and Young Adult contemporary romance categories, as well as psychological thrillers. 

Colleen Hoover is published by Montlake Romance, Grand Central Publishing and Atria Books. Colleen also has several indie titles, including Heart Bones.

In 2015, Colleen’s novel CONFESS won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance. That was followed up in 2016 with her latest title, It Ends With Us, also winning the Choice Award for Best Romance. In 2017, her title WITHOUT MERIT won best romance.

Colleen founded The Bookworm Box, a charity subscription service and bookstore, with her family in 2015. The Bookworm Box is a subscription service that provides readers with an exciting opportunity to receive signed novels in the mail each month from authors all over the world. All profits from the subscription service are donated to various charities each month. To date, The Bookworm Box has donated over $1,000,000 to help those in need.

https://www.colleenhoover.com/about-coho/

Tracy Badua - This Is Not A Personal Statement

Tracy Badua - This Is Not A Personal Statement 

4⭐

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction 

Pages: 360

Format: Paperback Proof 

Publisher:  Harper360YA, Harper360, Quil Tree Books  

Date Published: 16th February 2023

 

Huge thank you to Harper360YA, Harper360 for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. 

Book Blurb: 

From rising star Tracy Badua comes a poignant, propulsive standalone YA novel about a teen who, after getting rejected from her dream college, forges her own acceptance and commits to living a lie—perfect for fans of Mary H.K. Choi and Gloria Chao.

An incisive, relatable tale of acceptance, self-discovery, and the infinite possibilities that await when we embrace our imperfections.

As the youngest graduating senior at her hypercompetitive high school, Perla Perez is certain all the late nights, social isolation, and crushing stress will be worth it when she gets into the college of her (and her parents’) dreams: Delmont University.

Then Perla doesn’t get in, and her meticulously planned future shatters. In a panic, she forges her own acceptance letter, and next thing she knows, she’s heading to Delmont for real, acceptance or not. Perla’s plan? Gather on-the-ground intel to beef up her application and reapply spring semester before she’s caught.

But as her guilty conscience grows and campus security looms large, Perla starts to wonder if her plan will really succeed, and if this dream she’s worked for her entire life is something she even wants.

My Review: 

It was a very captivating and tense read, mainly because I wanted to know what happened at the end. It was also a very easy read, so I read this book in like a few hours.

This book follows Perla, who is a Filipino American whose parents are very strict about her getting the best grades at school, getting into the best university and being only on the path of becoming a doctor. No exceptions and no distractions. She is sure that the top University of Delmont is her next step. She is also 100% sure she will get in. However, Perla doesn’t get in and in the spur of the moment, she doesn’t want to disappoint her parents, she fakes her own admission letter into Delmont. No other Universities accepted her too, so Perla decides that she needs to fake her way into Delmont for just a few months until she can reapply for the next semester. All the lies, including forging papers, and scholarships, squatting in different and empty dorm rooms, living from a backpack, and enrolling into classes she is not supposed to be in, can be exposed just with one wrong move. However, Perla is determined not to fail and keep this a secret from everyone, including her parents, as she doesn’t want to disappoint them. She has her seven-step plan and she is determined to succeed this time, proving to her parents that she is perfect and that Delmont wants her.

I love the growth of Perla throughout this book. She comes to Delmont as a fake student with so many preconceptions and as she makes friends and navigates university life, she realises that there is so much more to life than good grades, money, good schools and strict parents. She also realises how much pressure her parents were putting her under, especially for her to be a perfect student, as well as she realised that all she was doing was to make her parents happy. I loved how she became a young adult just in a few months of living on her own. I also liked that she accepted what she did wrong and agreed to accept responsibility for her actions.

I didn’t like Perla’s parents, especially because both of them were more worried about the image that their family and Perla puts out of everyone else. They never considered Perla’s feelings and just cared about her success. I didn’t really agree with their perfectionism, although I get where they were coming from, for me, they just put too much pressure on such a young person for so many years, which had a definitely mostly negative effect on Perla.

Parts of this book, however, did feel very unrealistic. Like there is no way that someone can fake enrol into university and manage to stay out of everyone’s sight for a whole semester. At least that would definitely not be possible in any of the UK universities.

Overall: I really enjoyed this book and it was very captivating, yet also very easy to read. I loved the fact that parental, societal and traditional pressures were discussed in this book, as well as this book displayed how important is to follow your own dreams in order to be happy and not someone else’s dreams and expectations of you. A great debut and a book with a very important message! I really hope there will be a sequel to this as I would love to see what Perla does after the book ends. Truly recommend! 

About the Author:

Tracy Badua is a Filipino American author of books full of humor, magic, and young people with sunny hearts in a sometimes stormy world. By day, she is an attorney who works in national policy and programs, and by night, she squeezes in writing, family time, and bites of her secret candy stash. She lives in San Diego, California, with her family and photogenic Maltese.

https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/tracy-badua-202223436250