Review: ALIENATED by Melissa Landers

Title: Alienated 

Author: Melissa Landers

Publication date: February 4, 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Source: an e-galley provided by the publisher for an honest review

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. 

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

Review:

First line: Winning.

Warning: If you decide to read this book (which I force recommend you do), you may be surprised at the amount of smiling you will do while reading. 

At least, that's how it was for me. I kept going back and forth about if I should read this and then the publisher gave me a Netgalley link, so I thought, why not? It wasn't a life-changing, realistic book. It was a cute, smiling, wonderful book that kickstarted my reading again. I am still in awe of how Melissa Landers did it. It went from careful, I may have to start saying "whatever" to I can't stop reading in an impressive transition. 

First thing you need to know: Cara is competitive. We're told that right from the beginning, from the very first line actually. Because of that, she snags the valedictorian slot in her school and then is surprised with a prestigious scholarship. The catch is that it involves a student exchange with a L'eihr, a.k.a. an alien. Her parents and principal are all gung-ho about it, but she has doubts, especially since her jerky boyfriend is anti-alien. Nevertheless, she agrees.

When we were first introduced to Cara and her social life, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Oh no, not another controlling, jerky boyfriend, who she'll be conflicted in whether or not she should break up with him or not, but we all know that she should...that kind of feeling. Thankfully, Landers knew what she was doing and fixed that problem very quickly. I won't even touch on that pesky best friend business she had going on though. 

Another plus in Landers' favor? Providing pronunciation for the aliens' names! Hurray! She does it in a smooth way that made me sigh with relief because I can barely pronounce normal English words, don't make me try to pronounce names that are spelled weird. Not only that, but she also makes us feel the differences between aliens and humans. They aren't just people who were born on a different planet, they had a completely different culture, attitude, upbringing, and complexities. They felt foreign and I always looked forward to learning more. 

But let's be honest. The building romance and feels between Aelyx and Cara was like a flutter-fest for me. My heart fluttered, my hands fluttered, and I wouldn't doubt that my eyelashes fluttered because I was a fluttering mess. I don't do well in embarrassing situations, even fictional ones, but Landers pulled this off excellently. There were awkward scenes that made me adore the story more. Then not-so-awkward ones that got me fluttering again. Things did get heated, but not too far, and once again, Landers pulled it off well. Standing ovation for her, yes?

While she was still toying my emotions, Landers then decided to heat up the other side of my brain: anger. I was angry. Not at the writing or the story, but the characters. Then it wasn't even the characters themselves, but how realistic they are to our society. Aliens and other scary things are happening. So of course, humans will start to overreact and become hurtful and violent. They turn on their neighbor, they become insistent that they are right and they basically make everything 100x worse. Cara's situation goes from being a great experience for her and Earth to needing guards and being shunned from everyone. It was awful because I could see that happening. Hey, it probably has happened many times throughout history. Something scary happens and we all panic and create hurtful groups like Alienated's HALO. But let's not forget the other side, shall we? The aliens weren't completely blameless either. Aelyx and the other two exchange students, especially the girl, decided to do something that they thought was in the best interest of their planet, but ultimately, they were teenagers thinking that they knew best (of course, adults have many of those moments as well). This story was all kinds of laughs, smiles, flirting, blushing, and fluff. But then Landers sticks in this aspect that actually added depth into the silliness, making me appreciate the novel so much more. 

Since this book was such a win for me, I hate to touch on anything negative because I felt like the positives blew everything out of the water. Alas, I have to. That ending. There was one part with her parents that felt wrong to me, but I reminded myself that this was a fun book, I shouldn't focus on it. Then we get to the actual ending and hello, sinking feeling. I really can't say much (since it is the ending), but I dread the direction it seems to be taking. I'll be one of the first to request the sequel, but I hate the implication that started forming in the last few pages. 

Me.

Verdict: DISNEY-HYPERION FOR THE WIN! 

The Blogging Age

A while back, an author called for the teenage bloggers on Twitter to speak up because she wondered if there was any. Do they exist? Are they good? It started a rain of questions for me, but not if they exist. I know they do. I'm one of them and I know quite a few others. Fast forward a couple weeks and there I am, researching BEA. For those of you who don't know, BEA is an event in NYC, which has many perks, but one of which is many bloggers go and meet authors and snag a boatload of ARCs.

I found something strange. On the registering prices, it says that you have to be 18 years or older to sign up. Most things require that to be the minimum age limit, but I was still surprised considering that a large portion of BEA was young adult fiction. Fiction that has protagonists usually at ages 15-18 years old. Fiction that is usually geared towards readers the same age as said protagonists. Fiction that is placed in the TEEN section of libraries and stores. Do they not realize that readers make up bloggers so therefore, there are teen bloggers out there who might want to attend BEA? I think I might have accepted that disgruntling fact if not for this next part.

"Anyone under the age of 18 (minors and infants) will only be permitted to register to attend if accompanied by a registered industry professional and will have to pay the industry professional rate to receive a badge."

Industry professionals are consultants, manufacturers, book packagers, wholesalers, and venture capital/investment bankers. The BEA 4-day pass, early bird registration, is $349, almost triple the amount of what a regular blogger would pay at $119. Does anyone know an industry professional? I sure don't. I doubt that if I did, they would go and/or let me register with them since it's likely that they won't be a family member. So not only am I dependent on someone else, but I am also restricted to who I sign up with (that means I cannot register with my 23 year old blogging sister) and I have to pay a ridiculous price for someone I am not. I'd have to pay the industry professional price because I'm forced to register with an industry professional, but I'm a blogger.

I'm just a 17 year old girl so I doubted that no one really cared what I thought, but I like to know the whys of everything. Why can't I do this? Why did this happen? Why did you say that? WHY? So true to my nature, I emailed BEA and asked why. 

The kind lady told me that it doesn't matter if I'm a few months away from my 18th birthday or a few years, it's about liability since I'm a minor. I quickly waved that off and said I absolutely understood. Like I said, most things operate for people 18 years old or older. I made my questioning more specific: why am I restricted to registering with an industry professional adult instead of, say, another blogger? 

She told me she'd have to talk to her manager/supervisor.

During that time, I tried to deal with my annoyance towards BEA and the frustration that started bubbling up inside a few weeks prior. YA books center around teenagers and are geared toward teenage readers, yet adult bloggers are the ones that have the head-start because they're over 18. This coming summer, I will be 18 and and in a few years, I'll be one of those adult bloggers and YA-reading adults. I love all those adult bloggers (remember, one of them is my sister) in their twenties to thirties (or to whatever age, I don't judge). But sometimes in this community, I feel as if the preference and "fun stuff" is geared towards the adults. BEA and ARCs are just two things that I think adult bloggers have in their favor. A lot of blogging duties or perks also rely on money and while I save, I don't have much money as a teenager and that's not because I spend. It's because I'm not allowed to have a job because I'm in school and am involved with extracurriculars. Of course, most twenty to thirty-somethings do have jobs so they do have a wallet to dip into to make their blog more successful. All the more power to them...which is kind of the point. 

I'll interrupt my musings to let you know that the BEA lady emailed me back and told me that I can register by myself and pay the blogger fee with a link she provided me and that I wouldn't have a problem getting in underage there because they would give me permission. Victory! Right? Well, I showered her with thanks, but still wondered at the numerous teenage bloggers who won't have the same outcome or won't know to email. And what about my whys? She answered why I have to be 18, but not why the rule was to register with an industry professional.

So here's what this whole post boils down to: why do the preferences seem to be given to adult bloggers in YA rather than actual teenage bloggers? Note the key word: seem. This is purely my pondering and my question. It seems like the most "successful" blogs are the YA ones run by adult bloggers because, yes, they tend to have more mature and better writing, more resources, and I bet publishing contacts like to connect with people their own age more (although I've talked with amazing publicists myself). However, I know there are teenagers running a more "successful" blogs than other blogs run by adults, but it's not the "most successful" if that makes sense. Why does BEA have a rule about who a minor can register with? Why do teenage bloggers have to pay a higher price just because that's who they're forced to register with? Why does it seem like there aren't nearly enough teenage bloggers out there blogging about YA books?

Many of the blogs I read are by twenty-something bloggers who are witty, personable, insightful, and friendly. I like their writing, style, and content. So I know that sometimes, age doesn't factor in with how much someone likes a blog. I guess I wonder why it's this great thing to find another YA blogger under the age of 18 (yes, 18 is still a teen, but considered an adult in most areas and out of high school) when most YA books are centered around under-18 year olds. I do know teenage bloggers and that's great, but why is adults blogging about YA the norm?

Can anyone answer my never-ending whys? I want to hear what YOU think about all of this in the comments below!

Edit: Your comments are awesome, but I realized I caused some confusion. I am now ALLOWED to attend BEA and while I made a big deal out of this, I still might not be able to go because of MY side of things now. Fingers crossed, but it's a very low percentage. But thank you and keep commenting your thoughts! If anyone is possibly interested in rooming together, contact me!

Top Ten Tuesday - Worst Worlds/Characters

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This is the week where dystopian and fantasy books come in handy. Hurray! The lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish gave us the option of picking the worst worlds to live in or the characters you'd NEVER want to be or switch places with. I decided to do five of each, so in no particular order:

Worlds:

Panem from The Hunger Games

This will probably be a popular pick this week considering it hosts an annual event in which 24 kids die to the death until one is left. It's a horribly realistic, dystopian society and run by a manipulative "leader" with mindless subjects. So if you're not mindless, you're overworked and suppressed. No thank you.

Luna & New Beijing from Cinder
I couldn't pick between the two considering they seem equally bad. In Luna, you have a dictator of a queen and these mind-controlling abilities. If you have a "shell" for a child, they're killed. But then in New Beijing, you feel helpless because the previously mentioned Lunar queen is trying to take over your world. 

Middluns & Monsea from Graceling

I think the Middluns sounded worse through Katsa's eyes and Monsea is horrible for Bitterblue. But basically, the Seven Kingdoms are bad for girls in general. What makes it worse is Katsa's uncle, the king and tyrant of Middluns.

Reverie & Death Shop from Under the Never Sky

Aria is from Reverie, which keeps their citizens blind and dependent on them. But then the Death Shop hosts cannibals and questionable woods. Of course, it doesn't matter for either of them because everyone has to escape to the Still Blue (hence the title of the third book). 

Dystopian Chicago from Divergent

There is no way I could survive in this city. I could never be ALL one type of personality and of course, I'd have the luck of being in the faction of selflessness. I can be pretty generous and selfless, but don't force me to be that way. 

People: 

Annie Cresta from Mockingjay

I think most people would consider another character in this series, like Katniss, but really, Annie has it rough. We're told she went insane when her partner was graphically murdered in the Games and then...well, Mockingjay was not kind to her.

Tarver Merendsen from These Broken Stars
I can't even say anything because it's spoilery, but I pity the man.

Mia Hall from If I Stay

The whole book is about her deciding if she should live or succumb to death as she's in a coma after HER WHOLE FAMILY DIED. Whole. Family. I can't even comprehend the grief.

Nikki Beckett from Everbound
I usually don't sympathize with girls in love triangles, but I can't help it. Things happen in the first book that I probably shouldn't reveal, but the second book is where I sympathized with her the most. 

Sybella d'Albret from Dark Triumph

Who would I NOT want to switch places with in a million years? Sybella is an understatement. Cringe-worthy happenings in her life. She does have Beast as a love interest, granted, but I'd rather live alone forever than have her past. 

What worlds would you never want to live in? Who would you never switch places with?

Rewind & Review: January 13 - January 26

Hosted by Shae Has Left the Room

Two weeks already? Well, it's been a great two weeks for me so I hope it has been for you as well. My mailman is finally doing an acceptable job again and I think I unnerve my UPS man by already greeting him at the driveway (and sadly, most of the time, the packages aren't for me). Mostly, I've been getting into e-books more thanks to Edelweiss and NetGalley and thankfully, really enjoying them. I hope this reading streak will continue.

Books I Was Given:

• Just One Day by Gayle Forman (from a Twitter giveaway) 
• Just One Year by Gayle Forman (from a Twitter giveaway)
• This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales (thanks to ARCycling!) 

Books for Review:

• The Last Best Kiss by Claire LaZebnik (HarperTeen via Edelweiss)
• The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes (HarperTeen via Edelweiss)
• Alienated by Melissa Landers (Disney-Hyperion via NetGalley)
• Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern (HarperTeen via Edelweiss)
• Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt (Bloomsbury via NetGalley)

Obviously, I got into a contemporary and e-galley kick.

Number of Books I've Completed: 6

Books I'm Reading:

• Just One Year by Gayle Forman
• Manor of Secrets by Katherine Longshore

Previous Blog Posts:

• Top Ten Tuesday - 2014 Debuts
• 10 Steps of Fangirling
• Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill 
• Top Ten Tuesday - Things on My Reading Wishlist
• This vs. That: Reading Preferences

Bookish (and not-so-bookish) Happenings:

• Proud moment: Winning my basketball game on the 24th, 49-24! 
• Celebrated my dad's birthday yesterday. He's the best example of what a man should be.
• Met a super nice senior publicist last Saturday at an author event. She gave me her card and offered to answer questions as well as information for internships. A phone call (oh help me, I sound awful on the phone) is to take place this coming week! 
• For the past MONTH, I've been off of desserts, sweets, and overly sugared things (like Cinnamon Toast Crunch), which is huge for a sweet-a-holic like myself. My goal was to my dad's birthday. Now considering to start up again until the end of basketball or just limit myself to once a week. 
• Hi, new followers *waves*

Upcoming Blog Posts:* 

• Top Ten Tuesday - Worst Worlds/Characters
• Followers: The Shameful Truth
• Review: Alienated by Melissa Landers
• The Blogging Age discussion
• Connecting with Characters discussion
• Review: Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt 

*Subject to change

Reward yourself with a great book, we've reached the end of January. Happy reading!

To buy any of the books mentioned in this post, click this button: 

This vs That: Book Preferences

Ice cream or cake? Beaches or mountains? Carpet or hardwood? Morning or night? Ellen or Oprah? Tied, mountains, hardwood, night, and Ellen. We all have preferences and are asked many this or that questions. In a small way, they define us. So what about the common book preferences?

Paperback vs Hardcover

Some people prefer paperback because it's smaller, they don't have to deal with the annoying jackets, and they're cheaper. Hardcover comes out sooner though and I think a series in hardcover looks nicer on a bookshelf. 

My pick: Paperback. I don't have to take the jacket off and can still have my pretty cover when reading. 

Ebook vs Physical

Probably the most debated preference in the blogging world from what I've seen. Convenient, can tote around more books, less clutter...the list goes on with the bonuses to reading an ebook. With a physical copy, you get to feel the book in your hands, admire the cover, and have your book senses tingling. 

My pick: Physical. I tend to enjoy a book more when it's a physical copy.

Series vs Standalone

"Ugh, commitment," people say when asked about series. There seems to be more series than standalone books nowadays and many people groan at the thought of having to read three or so books to finish a character's journey. Or it's the problem of having to wait until the next book comes out. But then you finish a standalone and you crave more of the great characters you experienced and dangflabbit, you want more. 

My pick: Tied. 

Faces on covers vs Not

This could be better phrased as: do you want floating heads, weird poses, and odd facial expressions or symbols, buildings, and possibly another body part on your cover? 

My pick: Depends. To be on the safe side, a cool symbol (but I always like a WELL-DONE character visual).

Nice guy vs Bad guy

This usually relates to a love triangle in which a character has to pick between the nice, "safe" guy or the mysterious, "bad" guy. Usually the bad guy is misunderstood and wins, but sometimes the nice guy wins like in Phantom of the Opera. (If you were spoiled by this, it's not my fault. It's like being mad that someone told you Mr. Darcy and Lizzie Bennett get together.) Or you could just have a preference in what your love interest is like. Do you want your protagonist to meet a super nice guy or a possibly dangerous one? 

My pick: “I wouldn't want to marry anybody who was wicked, but I think I'd like it if he could be wicked and wouldn't.” Or just a nice guy. Less baggage, ya know? 

Music vs No music

After a comment I got on one of my past posts, I realized we may have different reading habits as well. Some people may need to read alone while others have to be in a certain spot. But what about music? Music can enhance the mood and connection to the book if you have the right playlist going, but others could be hindered by extra noise and words going on around them. 

My pick: Music. I felt pumped with music going on as I reread The Hunger Games.

Male vs Female

I wouldn't be surprised if most people said the latter when it came to not only the protagonists, but also the authors. I know that for some, it really doesn't matter to them and they don't pay attention. But others when I say that, I mean me might not read a book when they see that a guy is the main character. They might also hesitate when they see the author is a guy and not John Green.

My pick: Girl power! I connect better. 

There are probably a whole lot more that I didn't mention. Just like people have genre preferences, there are many book and reading preferences for people to have. Is it weird that I'm always wondering what people prefer in the categories above? It's cool for me to see who's the same and who's different from me.

So...what are your book preferences?

Top Ten Tuesday - Things On My Reading Wishlist

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

The first thing I thought of when I saw this topic was the amazing RBWL that my sister, along with others, started, which is Reader/Blogger Wishlist. It was a time where readers and bloggers shouted out on Twitter what they wanted authors to write about. So if you haven't checked it out, here's their Tumblr page.

Retellings

This is probably what I wish for most. I'm listing this first because I might reference back up to it multiple times throughout this list. Below are retellings I would die with happiness from if someone wrote them: 

• Anastasia. Or any of the Romanovs, I won't be picky. The animated Anastasia has always been my favorite and it includes lost identities and such. 
• Aladdin. STREET RAT! Maybe even with Aladdin being a girl?
• Mulan. I was tempted to put this as my only item on this entire TTT list because I want this so bad. A war and a gender-bending plot. She could even be in a historical setting in one of the wars where boys enlisted underaged, but SHE enlisted. 
• Retellings from different perspectives. I love me some Darcy and Elizabeth, but maybe instead of doing another retelling from Elizabeth's POV, it could be from Mary. Or Jane. Or Darcy himself. I love to look at someone else's perspective in a commonly known story or fairytale. 

Gender-bending and gender-flipping

I touched on this in the retellings, but I want more girls disguised as boys especially. Then there's gender-flipping where someone can retell a story (say, Beauty and the Beast, something I've been thinking about) and the genders are flipped. Beast is a girl or Cinderella is a boy or Anne Elliot is a boy! 

Villains

Back to the different perspective plot, I want more villains. Maybe an anti-hero of sorts? I've always been fascinated with villains in stories and I want to know their perspective. I'd be fine with an original villain, just make me feel.

Identity

Right now, I can think of two ways that I really want this to go: a girl being in a set of multiples (quints, quadruples, triplets, etc.) and trying to go through life with that OR a girl who's rescued after a long kidnapping and has to deal with that, but not TOO depressing. It's a depressing issue, I get that, but I don't want to be bogged down too much. I just want there to be a real identity problem going on (I'm also hinting back to Anastasia).

Big, crazy family

Italians, anyone? Doesn't even have to be Italians, but I want to read about a big family. It could be a book with familial storylines from the siblings or how the family has an event together.

  Bonus: Siblings. I want more sibling relationships explored. Anna and Elsa from Frozen, anyone?

Superheros

I immediately pictured a YA Sky High.

Bonus: And please, for the love of cupcakes, can we have more fantasy that doesn't involve the protagonist being The Chosen One? Can she NOT have the ultimate saving power?

Military

I love WWII, but maybe more military stories involving other wars, like the Civil War. Or stories involving letters between a soldier and a girl back home. Sweethearts being split up by a war. Anything along those lines will be good with me.

Diversity

I think this will be a popular topic today. I'd love more interracial couples or non-stereotypical Asian Americans. While I'm talking about diversity, what about a more diverse historical setting? 1950s, anyone? A Grease-like situation?

Adoption and fostering

I know quite a few people that are foster parents and I'd love to see more good examples of the fostering world incorporated into YA fiction. Additionally, what about someone being adopted? Yes?

Snow's granddaughter

Not specifically this girl from The Hunger Games, but something like this. Instead of the rebel in a dystopian society being the main character, let it be someone from the other side. It was great to see a glimpse of President Snow's granddaughter in Catching Fire.

College not involving sex

I'll be leaving home, at a university, in the fall and I'd love to read about someone like me. Does all college experiences have to be stereotypically about partying and sex? I don't read those kind and they aren't like me. 

Slow-burning love

TENSION and FEELS. I instantly thought of Anne and Gil from Anne of Green Gables. Or maybe a hate relationship turning into friends and THEN love. If I find a book that has people not liking each other, they immediately transition into being in love. Why can't they slowly become friends first? 

Spies

More Ally Carter-esque books, yes? 

What do you want to read more of?

Review: ALL OUR YESTERDAYS by Cristin Terrill

Title: All Our Yesterdays

Author: Cristin Terrill

Publication date: September 3, 2013

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

"You have to kill him." Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside. 

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was. 

Review: 

First line: I stare at the drain in the center of the concrete floor.

I think Cristin Terrill smirked for days after finishing this book (well, after she collapsed from relief and exhaustion as well) and maniacally laughed as she saw readers' and bloggers' responses to All Our Yesterdays. I really do. Because here's the thing about this work of art: it grabs your eyeballs, dictates your sleep, grips your heart, spins you around, and then lets you deal with the aftermath. I felt Terrill's smirk just radiating off the very last acknowledgement page. She's good, folks. Better than good. 

This is a really hard book to review. At least, it was for me. You have so many twists and spoilers lurking everywhere that I just want to point at each aspect and say that was good and that and that and that. 

The characters:

We have Em, who we first meet in a prison (dungeon?) cell. Like most everyone, I adored Em. She was rough, but passionate. Willing to save Marina (the other girl who we'll get to) and Finn and take down the crazy Doctor. She's tortured daily, physically and emotionally. People always love a strong girl and there have been many discussions on what defines a character as strong. Physical strength? Emotional toughness? Mental stamina? Well, Em was all of that. She endured torture and escaped after finding a note, she constantly examined things throughout, and considering the hard spot she was put in, she knew to keep her emotions on a tight reign. She kicked butt and I loved it. 

Then there's Marina. Rich, soft Marina. I did like her and continued to throughout the book. She's in love with her best friend James, but has everything else a teenager could want. Of course, that all comes crashing down when an incident happens and she realizes that nothing will ever be the same. I actually felt like Em in the story because I desperately wanted to protect her, but at the same time, wanted to open her eyes to the painful truth.

I wish I could talk about every single character because I liked them all. From Em to the helpful soldier, Terrill didn't waste a single line in the whole novel. If any of you read my 2013 End of Year Book Survey, you'll see that along with All Our Yesterdays appearing multiple times, one of the characters named Finn appeared as well in the fictional boyfriend question. Finn. Witty, sarcastic, loyal, charming, strong, and THERE. I don't know how else to describe it, but he's there for Em and has that thing about him that I love in fictional males. 

The time travel: 

Time travel is a tricky thing, I can't even imagine writing about it. How about if I just said that, yes, Terrill did an excellent job with it and explaining it and making me envision Em and Marina's whole world? 

The twists: 

Well, obviously, I can't say anything about this point. Almost the whole book is made up of twists and spoilers. Some I guessed, some I flipped out over. It enthralled me. Each new chapter seemed to build my impatience to see what would happen, but at the same time, I wanted the story to go on forever. I heard something about one of the twists, but fortunately, it was miscommunication of sorts because I wasn't spoiled. Even if I was, Terrill made up for it with all the other surprises. 

All I really wanted to do for this review was put a big stamp in the middle of the page that said: EXCELLENT. Truly, it was one of the best standalones books I've ever read. I messaged Lauren from Love is not a triangle constantly through my process (thanks, Lauren!). The ending was exactly what I wanted so, yes, the glaring negative that I find is that there is now a sequel coming out. I will be definitely clamoring to get it, but considering that I thought a standalone would be perfect, it's disappointing. Also, I get anxiety just reading the synopsis. 

Verdict: AMAZING, SPECTACULAR, WONDERFUL, um, all the positive emotions?