Saturday, February 1, 2020

#gretchensbooks2020 - January



New year, new book list! JK...same book list..but the good news is my TBR list is under 300 books this year! Hoping to be under 200 by next year, however that means I need to read them faster than I add them, which is quite the feat. I did much better at reflecting on the book as I finished it this month, which is why this post is actually done in a timely manner. Also, I’ve been sharing them on Facebook which seems to be more helpful for others!


1. After by Anna Todd (3.5/5 ★)
  

“There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there’s everything AFTER... Life will never be the same. #Hessa

Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She’s got direction, ambition, and a mother who’s intent on keeping her that way.

But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin. With his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, and tattoos, Hardin is cute and different from what she’s used to.

But he’s also rude—to the point of cruelty, even. For all his attitude, Tessa should hate Hardin. And she does—until she finds herself alone with him in his room. Something about his dark mood grabs her, and when they kiss it ignites within her a passion she’s never known before.

He'll call her beautiful, then insist he isn’t the one for her and disappear again and again. Despite the reckless way he treats her, Tessa is compelled to dig deeper and find the real Hardin beneath all his lies. He pushes her away again and again, yet every time she pushes back, he only pulls her in deeper.

Tessa already has the perfect boyfriend. So why is she trying so hard to overcome her own hurt pride and Hardin's prejudice about nice girls like her?

Unless...could this be love?”

Frequent phrases uttered while reading “After”: “OMG, You moron.” “You stupid, stupid girl.” “&@$?!%#.” And a plethora of other colorful choice words.

I reserved this whole series from the library after one of my favorite bookstagrammers Leslie Ann (@lalalifebookclub) posted about it as an “amazing train wreck that was so awful it was good.” Obviously I couldn’t pass up that description. Choosing an almost 600 page book to kick of my 2020 reading was especially ambitious because it is due back to the library on Jan 2, and I can’t renew it because of other holds placed on it by more folks who want to read this awfully written and annoyingly engaging series. Also, there is a show on Netflix about it that I can’t watch until I read the series. It is exactly as Leslie Ann had explained it. Trash. It reads like a bad Fifty Shades fanfic. But, like Fifty Shades, a trash Twilight fanfic, it is trash that I will wholeheartedly consume the rest of the series of just as quick as my eyes can scan the pages. The main character is terrible. She has some serious character flaws that I hope she irons out by the end of this series. And the main male is an absolute jerk, go figure. Yet here I am, readily refusing to read anything else until I finish the series...


2. Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich (3/5 ★)
"Larry Virgil skipped out on his latest court date after he was arrested for hijacking an eighteen-wheeler full of premium bourbon. Fortunately for bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, Larry is just stupid enough to attempt almost the exact same crime again. Only this time he flees the scene, leaving behind a freezer truck loaded with Bogart ice cream and a dead body—frozen solid and covered in chocolate and chopped pecans. 
  
As fate would have it, Stephanie’s mentor and occasional employer, Ranger, needs her to go undercover at the Bogart factory to find out who’s putting their employees on ice and sabotaging the business. It’s going to be hard for Stephanie to keep her hands off all that ice cream, and even harder for her to keep her hands off Ranger. It’s also going to be hard to explain to Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, why she is spending late nights with Ranger, late nights with Lula and Randy Briggs—who are naked and afraid—and late nights keeping tabs on Grandma Mazur and her new fella. Stephanie Plum has a lot on her plate, but for a girl who claims to have “virtually no marketable skills,” these are the kinds of sweet assignments she does best.
Events take a dark turn when headless bodies start appearing across town. At first, it’s just corpses from a funeral home and the morgue that have had the heads removed. But when a homeless man is murdered and dumped behind a church Stephanie knows that she’s the only one with a prayer of catching this killer.

If all that’s not enough, Diesel’s back in town. The 6-foot-tall, blonde-haired hunk is a man who accepts no limits—that includes locked doors, closed windows and underwear. Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli isn’t pleased at this unexpected arrival nor is Ranger, the high-powered security consultant who has his own plans for Stephanie.

As usual Jersey’s favorite bounty hunter is stuck in the middle with more questions than answers. What’s the deal with Grandma Mazur’s latest online paramour? Who is behind the startling epidemic of mutilated corpses? And is the enigmatic Diesel’s sudden appearance a coincidence or the cause of recent deadly events?" 


Nothing new to say about his one that hasn’t been said about the rest. The plot line is nothing special - the same as all the rest, just new characters. I don’t know why I enjoy these so much, they’re just easy, low stress reads (yes, there are high stress reads!!). I do have to say, that a lot of her character descriptions are the same, or very similar from book to book. Which I guess I understand - I mean how many ways can you describe the same characters? But it does get old.


3. Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich (3/5 ★) 

Trouble comes in bunches for Stephanie Plum. First, professional grave robber and semi-professional loon, Simon Diggery, won’t let her take him in until she agrees to care for his boa constrictor, Ethel. Stephanie’s main qualification for babysitting an extremely large snake is that she owns a stun gun—whether that’s for use on the wandering serpent or the petrified neighbors remains to be seen.

What a strange plot line this was. Again, nothing special, but just stranger than normal. Like zombies? What?? Unfortunately Stephanie Plum still hasn’t gotten any smarter. As humorous as these books can be, especially the audio versions, her serious lack of intelligence drives me nuts. 





4. After We Collided by Anna Todd (3/5 ★) 

"Tessa has everything to lose. Hardin has nothing to lose...except her. AFTER WE COLLIDED...Life will never be the same. #HESSA 

After a tumultuous beginning to their relationship, Tessa and Hardin were on the path to making things work. Tessa knew Hardin could be cruel, but when a bombshell revelation is dropped about the origins of their relationship—and Hardin’s mysterious past—Tessa is beside herself. 

Hardin will always be...Hardin. But is he really the deep, thoughtful guy Tessa fell madly in love with despite his angry exterior—or has he been a stranger all along? She wishes she could walk away. It’s just not that easy. Not with the memory of passionate nights spent in his arms. His electric touch. His hungry kisses. 

Still, Tessa’s not sure she can endure one more broken promise. She put so much on hold for Hardin—school, friends, her mom, a relationship with a guy who really loved her, and now possibly even a promising new career. She needs to move forward with her life. 

Hardin knows he made a mistake, possibly the biggest one of his life. He’s not going down without a fight. But can he change? Will he change...for love?"

674 pages of pure garbage that I couldn’t put down. The writing? Terrible. The plot line? Repetitive. The over abundance of cringey sex scenes? Unnecessary. Mostly it was 123 chapters of me wondering if Tessa, the male dependent moron, was ever going to grow a brain while knowing she clearly doesn’t since there are two more books following this one. It was page after page of them breaking up and getting back together and breaking up and getting back together. Also, DUDE IS A👏🏼BU👏🏼SIVE👏🏼. (Not a spoiler, you’ll figure that out in chapter 1 of “After”). But why is this being glorified??? I’m infuriated with these characters and these books are absolute crap. But also I can’t put them down.. 😩

Also, I found that the Netflix movie is solely based on the first book, so I’m about to watch that. I’m told it’s different than the book. According to Todd’s Instagram, the script has been written and “After We Collided” will also be getting a movie on Netflix..


5. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate (4/5 ★) 

"Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty. 

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption. 

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong."

This was such a beautifully sad, yet sweet, story. I listened to it on audiobook, so I liked that they use different narrators for the two different time periods. I love a story that goes between two perspectives, and this one was especially fun, because though you knew the stories were connected, you spent the whole story figuring out exactly how. Also, since it is based on a true story, I am now curious to learn more about the reality behind it. The only thing I didn’t like about this was the barely there love story involving the main character - it was really forced, pointless, and predictable.

6. The Heiresses by Sara Shepard (3/5 ★) 

"The only thing more flawless than a Saybrook’s solitaire is the family behind the diamond empire. Beauties, entrepreneurs, debutantes, and mavens, the Saybrooks are the epitome of high society. Anyone would kill to be one of them. But be careful what you wish for, because if you were a Saybrook, you’d be haunted by secrets and plagued by a dark streak of luck.

Tragedy strikes the prominent family yet again on a beautiful morning in May when thirty-four-year-old Poppy, the most remarkable Saybrook of them all, flings herself from the window of her office. Everyone is shocked that someone so perfect would end her own life—until her cousins receive an ominous warning: One heiress down, four to go.

Was it suicide . . . or murder? And who will be next: Aster, the beautiful but reckless girl who’s never worked a day in her life—and who’s covering up her father’s darkest secret? Her older sister, Corrine, whose meticulously planned future is about to come crashing down around her? Perhaps it will be Natasha, the black sheep of the family who suddenly disinherited herself five years ago. Or maybe the perpetually single Rowan, who had the most to gain from her cousin’s death.

A gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller about heiresses who must uncover a dark truth about their family before they lose the only thing money can’t buy: their lives."

This one another I chose to read due to the author. Shepard wrote the Pretty Little Liars series which I loved way back when. “The Heiresses” was most definitely a juvenile read, and while I would recommend it to upper middle school/high school readers, it’s definitely not a mystery for grown adults. That being said, I did not predict the ending at all!!


7. The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen (3/5 ★)

"Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when Emma was twelve. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges.

Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family that she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.
When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is also divided into two people. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.

Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well.
For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her—Emma or Saylor—will win out?"

I’ve been reading Sarah Dessen’s work since at least high school, but maybe as early as middle school. I’m not usually one for “sweet” stories, I much prefer suspense and mystery, but she is an exception. It was her typically happy ending love story. Nothing super special, but fun for YA readers.


8. After We Fell by Anna Todd (3/5 ★) 

Tessa and Hardin’s love was complicated before. Now it’s more confusing than ever. AFTER WE FELL...Life will never be the same. #HESSA

It’s never been all rainbows and sunshine for Tessa and Hardin, but each new challenge they’ve faced has only made their passionate bond stronger and stronger. But when a revelation about the past shakes Hardin’s inpenetrable façade to the core—and then Tessa suffers a tragedy—will they stick together again, or be torn apart?
As the shocking truth about each of their families emerges, it’s clear the two lovers are not so different from each other. Tessa is no longer the sweet, simple, good girl she was when she met Hardin—any more than he is the cruel, moody boy she fell so hard for. Tessa understands all the troubling emotions brewing beneath Hardin’s exterior, and she knows she’s the only one who can calm him when he erupts. He needs her.

But the more layers of his past come to light, the darker he grows, and the harder he pushes Tessa—and everyone else in his life—away. Tessa’s not sure if she really can save him—not without sacrificing herself. She refuses to go down without a fight. But who is she fighting for—Hardin or herself?

First off, why was this book over 800 pages?? Second off, why am I still reading this terrible series? Someone described it as the “potato chip bag of a book series,” on goodreads, and that is so accurate. Once you start, you can’t stop no matter how much you intend to.

Just when I think Tessa is growing some cajones, she behaves like a complete moron again. “You’re borderline emotionally abusive,” she says. No honey, there is no borderline about it. I mean I know people who are abused don’t always  understand that they’re being abused, but my goodness!

This book was the actual worst. Until the last page where I was left with a cliffhanger so now I HAVE to continue. 

9. After Ever Happy by Anna Todd (3.5/5 ★)


Tessa and Hardin have defied all the odds, but will their fairy tale ending be turned on its head? AFTER EVER HAPPY...Life will never be the same. #HESSA

It’s never been all rainbows and sunshine for Tessa and Hardin, but each new challenge they’ve faced has only made their passionate bond stronger and stronger. But when a revelation about the past shakes Hardin’s inpenetrable façade to the core—and then Tessa suffers a tragedy—will they stick together again, or be torn apart?
As the shocking truth about each of their families emerges, it’s clear the two lovers are not so different from each other. Tessa is no longer the sweet, simple, good girl she was when she met Hardin—any more than he is the cruel, moody boy she fell so hard for. Tessa understands all the troubling emotions brewing beneath Hardin’s exterior, and she knows she’s the only one who can calm him when he erupts. He needs her.
But the more layers of his past come to light, the darker he grows, and the harder he pushes Tessa—and everyone else in his life—away. Tessa’s not sure if she really can save him—not without sacrificing herself. She refuses to go down without a fight. But who is she fighting for—Hardin or herself?




Yes, I’m still reading this series (1 book to go, and it’s the prequel). I really liked how this one began, and it actually generated emotion from me other than near-violent frustration! But then it went back to the same old, “I’ve made mistakes, but I’m not abusive,” gaslighting BS that the first three books had. I actually started to be okay with it again as the story approached the last hundred pages. And if the author would have ended the book about 17 pages sooner, I may even have even said I was satisfied with how the series ended. But alas, she totally ruined by stopping at page 500 instead of 483🤷🏼‍♀️


10. Before by Anna Todd (2.5/5)

BEFORE Hardin met Tessa he was a raging storm. DURING those first moments they met, he realized he needed to keep her for himself—his life depended on it. AFTER they got together, the world would never be the same.

Hardin and Tessa’s dramatic love affair became a vortex pulling in everyone around them. For the first time these others are given voice as they appear before, during, and after the events in original After novels. Alongside them, Hardin’s account of his first encounters with Tessa—which will change what you thought you knew about the brooding boy and the angel who loved him.

FINALLY I can read an actual book outside of this series because I am DONE. That is not to say I didn’t like this series, because I did, but I’m also very ashamed to say I liked it. I am NOT a love story kind of girl, which is what this series was. (Or at least I think that is what you would classify 3,000 pages of breaking up and getting back together and breaking up and getting back together as). “Before” was sort of a prequel, sort of an addendum, sort of an accompaniment to the first book of the series, “After.” It began with a quick blurb from some of the main character’s perspectives set prior to the first book. The majority of it was just “After,” from Hardin’s perspective, since the first book was only Tessa’s point of view. (The second, third, and forth books all switched between Tessa and Hardin, which I liked). It was kind of pointless, since I’d already read “After” from Tessa’s view, it was basically like re-reading the story over. I complete understand why the first book wasn’t dual-perspective, as it was pertinent to the plot line that the reader doesn’t know what Hardin is thinking, but I don’t think Todd needed to write a whole new book describing it. Then I ended with a few short blurbs from the perspective of a couple other characters. Honestly, it was an unnecessary addition to the series, but I would have felt like I left something unfinished if I hadn’t read it.



Reading Challenge: 10/100 books read in 2020

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(Summaries are from Amazon, but all reviews are my own!)