Saturday, July 13, 2013

Books I Read But Never Reviewed

I was going to write another mini review pile-up, but ultimately decided to do this instead. Thanks to my good friend Gillian, who had this awesome post first, this is basically a quick summary of how I felt towards several books that I never got around to reviewing.

Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Publication date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Travel, romance, obedient girl turned rebel, finding yourself...it's all there. Thankfully, I thought that Gayle Forman did a great job at making it her own though so it didn't feel like you were reading the same story once again. Allyson was a little hard to stomach in the beginning because I sometimes have a Low MC Tolerance syndrome where I get really picky about my heroines. However, she grew quickly and became a lovable character. The plot picked up and all the elements were in place. There's also a cliffhanger that made me have another syndrome called Cliffhanger syndrome where I needed the sequel before the last chapter ended, thank you very much. 

Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough
Publication date: November 8, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Press

First of all, I think the cover is so cute, which made me first drawn into it. That's especially a good thing since "cute" is the theme throughout the story. Unfortunately, you should take the title seriously and don't expect a lot of magic in the book. Hopefully there will be more in the sequel (which is coming out this year, yipee!), but there's a lot of introduction to the Delaney and her backstory and all these family and friend elements. Overall, it was an enjoyable and cute read. Bonus: Delaney does grow as a character, which is a good thing because I can't stand it when authors leave me unsatisfied like that. 

Five Summers by Una LaMarche
Publication date: May 16, 2013
Publisher: Razorbill

I had every intention to reviewing this book, but after I devoured it in about a day or two, I basically had too many thoughts and emotions on it that I kept putting it off. I loved all the different stories of the different girls and while its theme is friendship and secrets, I actually would have liked more friendship. LaMarche took a different route than the normal, but she executed it well. There were things that did annoy me, but I was hooked nonetheless. I liked (most of) the characters, their (somewhat predictable) personalities and varied backstories, and the loyalty mixed with camp and secrets sprinkled on top recipe. 

The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise
Publication date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

A smart girl develops an app that helps girls get boyfriends. I thought this would be a fluffy story, but it turned out to be more technical than I thought...and I liked it! Audrey is a geek, thanks to her father, and gives more information on how computers and apps work. For me, she did it without being an information dumper and kept it interesting. Also, the characters are great and I really enjoyed the plot. Thanks to authors being nice and their books sounding great, I picked this one up from the library and loved reading it. 

Publication date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen

I had such high hopes for this one and it was good, but not great as I was expecting it to be. Molli from Once Upon a Prologue said something a while ago that accurately states my feelings on this one: whelmed. I'm not overwhelmed by it nor am I underwhelmed. Can I just be whelmed? I couldn't write a good review on this one because I didn't have much to say on it, unfortunately. 

Publication date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Tor Teen

Technically, I did write a review for this one. I wrote it and it was only mediocre because I felt the same way about the book. I liked the book, but when I tried to have a certain feeling for it, I couldn't pinpoint it. I know it was positive (mostly), but it left me feeling slightly better than whelmed.

For bloggers, what are some book you never got around to reviewing? For readers, what are some books that made you feeling whelmed?

Note: I'll be taking my Exam II today for science, which means that I will hopefully be more involved in the blogging world. Finally commenting, blogging, and reading. The whole sh-bang! I also applaud all of you who have a full-time job (which absolutely includes staying home with kids) and have had a blog for a looong time.

13 comments:

  1. I read but never reviewed Just One Day too, and now I really need the sequel! Now I really want to read The Boyfriend App! I love how you said that Audrey's a geek and gives us information on how computers and apps work, but it isn't a boring info dump! :) Great mini reviews and best wishes for your science Exam II! May the odds be ever in your favor! ;)

    Alice @ Alice in Readerland

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    1. Why thank you so much, Alice! And ditto on that sequel

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  2. Oh, I like this idea! I read a lot of books that I don't bother reviewing, but would still like to let people know about. May I borrow this in the future?

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  3. Yes to desperately wanting the sequel to Just One Day. The only book that made me have worse cliffhanger syndrome was Sarah Rees Brennan's Unspoken. I've been wanting to read The Boyfriend App and Don't Expect Magic. So many books, so little time....

    I like that word whelmed. Books that have recently whelmed me: Being Friends with Boys and This is What Happy Looks Like.

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  4. Welcome back, Sunny! Good luck on your exams! I have that feeling about books a lot-too many emotions to wrestle together and try to put in a review. I am really looking forward to reading the Boyfriend App!

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  5. I adore these mini reviews Sunny! I can't wait to read Five Summers and Don't Expect Magic especially as you seemed to love them both! And yes I need more Willem right away, there's only like a few months to go! :)

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  6. You have no idea how much I love the idea of whelmed being a word. I have started mentally describing books as pokeable thanks to you, and now I'm probably going to introduce whelmed.

    And I'm glad you liked Just One Day. So many bloggers have praised that one and I like the idea of a finding yourself book that the author makes her own. Leila Sales also does a good job of writing self-discovery tales hat are more "Here is an interesting even that sparked my coming-of-age story" rather than "Here is my coming-of-age story," which is my favorite aspect of her novels.

    And I'm sure you did marvelously on your exam! You seem to have been working diligently, so it has to have paid off. Welcome back to the blogging community! :D

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  7. I enjoyed Just One Day but I did have some issues with it that I hope will be resolved when I read Just One Year. I had trouble liking Willem.

    I have Don't Expect Magic, just haven't got around to it. It's hard to write a review for books that we don't hate but we don't really love either, because it's hard to write something you just have lukewarm feelings on. I just feel like I'd bore someone with my thoughts on a sort of boring read, lol! I like this approach, just give a few short sentences on what did and didn't work for you. I'll have to keep that in mind for my less than stellar reads. :)

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  8. I've only read one of these (but have copies of a couple others) and I was just whelmed by it. My review for The Nightmare Affair should be up this week...if I find the time. It'll only be a mini review because of said whelmed-ness. :) I've been doing more mini reviews for books that were just so-so. Also, the whelmed topic always makes me think of that scene in 10 Things I Hate About You. :D I should watch that again soon. ;)

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  9. Okay I LOVE this concept. I think this needs to be a meme, because I want to do it too. I've only read JUST ONE DAY and I'm DYING for book 2 to come out in the fall. Thankfully these twofers take less than a year to release.

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  10. I felt the same way about The Nightmare Affair. I liked it overall, and thought it was pretty entertaining at times, but it wasn't nearly as great as I was hoping it would be. I don't think I'll be picking up the sequel, at any rate. And Just One Day! I didn't review that book either, but I also really liked it. I agree about Allyson. It took me a little while to warm to her, but I really appreciated her by the end. :)

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  11. I still need to read Just One Day and The Boyfriend App! It's kinda nice to read a book and not review it, huh? It's been a long time since that has happened for me. Sometimes I miss that but I'm starting to not stress so much on my reviews which helps. Thank you for giving me a little insight on your thoughts for these!

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