Saturday, May 18, 2013

If I Fall by Anna Cruise


If I Fall

Title: If I Fall
Author: Anna Cruise
Pages: 322
Publication Date: April 6, 2013
Publisher: Mission Bay Publishing

The Basic Summary: After her parents' divorce, Megan's life completely falls apart. With no one there to help her pick up the pieces, Megan is left to put herself back together. Enter Aidan. He's the perfect boyfriend, he makes her laugh, he makes her feel beautiful, and most importantly, he's the only one that's there for Megan. As time goes on, Megan learns that Aidan isn't what he seems, and as she falls deeper into his lifestyle, she loses herself a little bit more. Can she save herself before she falls in too deep?

My Review: *frustrated sigh* If the author had handled this book differently, it could have been an amazing book, but she didn't, so it wasn't. I've dealt with divorce, so I know how horrible it feels when it happens. It feels like your entire world is falling out from under you, and everything you thought you knew about your life is wrong. Basically, you feel lost. Because of that, it was easy for Aidan to take advantage of Megan. That part I understand, what I don't understand, however, is how easily everyone in her life gave up on Megan.

After the divorce, Megan's mother falls into deep depression and alcoholism. What bothers me about her mother is that NO ONE in Megan's life really bothered to check on her mother or Megan for a few weeks. Her aunt came in once, made Megan's mother get dressed, figured they were fine, and took off. After that, it was a while before anyone checked again. Her Aunt Sara eventually came back, sent Megan's mother to get some help, and moved in with Megan, after Megan got into trouble with her father. Another thing that bothered me about the situation with Megan and her mother was that Megan didn't care about her mother. When she did bring her mother up, it was usually to bring attention to how fat her mother was. The way Megan talked about her mother was awful.

At the beginning of the book, Megan's friends were there to support her through the divorce, but once she started liking Aidan, they gave up on her. They were incredibly judgemental, an dthey didn't really listen to her or care about what she wanted. When Megan finally stopped hanging out with them and started hanging around Aidan and his friends, instead of trying to get Megan back and talk to her about it, her friends started calling her stupid and a slut. Great friends, huh? When my parents got divorced, I pretty much fell apart, and for a while, all I could do was cry. I'm sure I wasn't fun to be around, but my friends never abandoned me. In fact, they went out of their way to make sure that I knew that I was loved. At the beginning of the book, Cruise kept talking about how Megan and her friends were so close, and how they'd known each other for years, but that's not how they acted. If you've been best friends with someone since childhood, and you're very close, they don't abandon you when things get tough the way Megan's friends did. They just don't. I didn't believe in the bonds of their friendship because they weren't really there. We were told that they were there, but we never saw them for ourselves.

What bothered me a lot about Megan was  how quickly she changed. I understand that she was lost, but seriously? One hour she's a good girl hanging out with her friends and just talking, and literally an hour later, she's drinking, lying to the police, and practically having sex in a car with a guy she doesn't know. I don't care who you are, or what happened. No one completely changes in an hour. From there, Megan just gets worse. After the car hookup, Megan goes out with Aidan (the random guy) again the next weekend, they go to a party, get drunk, and he rapes her. The rape itself pissed me the fuck off because the author didn't treat it like rape. Megan said No and Aidan covered her mouth and continued to have sex with her. Afterwards Aidan apologizes for taking her virginity, and she forgives him. She didn't tell him he raped her, she didn't get mad that he took something she didn't want to give. She just went "Well.. He did say sorry." and went home with  Aidan and smoked weed and slept with him again. Megan's transformation from a good girl into a delinquent wasn't at all believable. Cruise rushed it too much, and the entire thing just felt forced. Even more annoying was how Megan transformed from a bad girl to a good girl in a span of minutes at the end of the book, and how everyone acted like her having sex WITHOUT PROTECTION, drinking, breaking things, lying, sneaking out, skipping school, not doing homework, failing her classes, and doing drugs just never happened. Sure she was grounded by her aunt, but her aunt didn't address any of the things that Meg did. It was just "You lied to me and went to a party with your boyfriend, so you're grounded now." After a conversation with Case during her grounding, Megan decided that Case was right and she needed to stop doing all of the bad things she was doing, so she just quit. No, just no. Megan didn't decide for HERSELF that what she was doing was wrong. Case told her, and she basically went "Case said it's wrong, so it must be!" and then changed herself. Megan never actually thought for herself throughout the entire book. She just did everything everyone told her, but Cruise wants us to believe that Meg is a strong character? No.

Aidan was a douche. There's no nice way to say it. He introduced Megan to alcohol, drugs, and unprotected sex, but Cruise never really tried to make him sound like a bad guy. He was constantly guilting Megan into doing things, and towards the end of the book, he even cheated on her. At the end when Megan tried to leave him, he turned all psycho-boyfriend and told her that "We're not over until I say we're over." This pissed me off too because instead of Megan telling someone about this, she pretty much just went "Eh. I'll try again later." If a guy you're dating tells you that he's refusing to let you leave him, that's a huge issue. That's not something that you just ignore.

The only person I liked was Case, because he was the only person who was actually consistently there for Megan through it all even though she didn't realize it until the end. The one thing I don't like about the relationship between Case and Megan, is how sudden it all was. For 90% of the book, Megan kept insisting that she was in love with Aidan, but at the end, she suddenly realizes she has deep feelings for Case, and that he has deep feelings for her, and they get together. The problem with this is that we didn't see them develop deep feelings for each other at all. Once again, we were just told that they care for each other. We never actually got to see them grow to care for each other.

Basically, Cruise created a plethora of issues for Megan to deal with in this book, but Megan didn't actually deal with them. Megan fucked around for 4/5 of the book, and for the last 1/5th, everything somehow resolved itself with little to no impact on Megan. It just wasn't realistic. If you do drugs, have sex MULTIPLE TIMES without ANY protection, drink, fail your classes, and lie to the people who trust you, there are going to be REAL consequences. Was she grounded? Yes. But considering all of the dangerous things Megan was doing, that consequence is compeltely unrealistic. If you have sex without condoms or birth control repeatedly, you're going to get pregnant. Megan and Aidan had sex without condoms for MONTHS, and nothing happened to her. No STDs, no pregnancy, nothing. She did a multitude of drugs, drank a ton of alcohol, made it sound like she was addicted (she was constantly talking about how she needed *insert substance here* to cope), but she was able to quit all of it cold turkey and never thought about it again. She ditched her classes, failed tests, failed to turn in homework, but somehow none of this was ever brought up again, and it sounds as if there were no consequences for her failing her sophomore year of high school. It just wasn't realistic.

My Overall Opinion: I didn't like this book. I don't think the author handled ANY of the issues she brought up in a good way, and the fact that Megan faced no consequences for all of the things she did that year just makes no sense. If you have unprotected sex, drink, do drugs, and fail school there are going to be consequences. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone because it's just not a good book. In fact, it's awful.

The Heiresses by Allison Rushby

The HeiressesTitle: The Heiresses
Author: Allison Rushby
Pages: 352
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin


**ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
**This review has spoilers, I've marked them so that you can skip over them if you don't want to know**


The Basic Summary: It's 1926, and for three lucky girls, their entire lives are about to change. Mix estranged triplets, and devious half-brother, a fortune, and the excitement of a new city, and you're sure to be in for a wild ride. Join these three sisters as they work to adjust to their new environment, and fight to earn back  a fortune that's rightfully theirs. Just so you all know, that's a lie. But you'll see what I mean later.

My Review: This book was horrid. Everything was just sooooo boring. Ms Rushby could have cut out 100 pages from the book and you wouldn't have missed a thing. I'm not sure if it's just because this was an ARC, or not, but there were some spelling issues, and there were quite a few phrases in the book that made no fucking sense because some words were missing.

The beginning of the book started off well enough I guess. It was mainly the girls finding out that they're triplets and them being sent off to London to go live with their aunt and try to reclaim the fortune that's rightfully theirs from their douchey half-brother, Charles.

Thalia: Thalia is the oldest of the sisters, and she's just.. A piece of work. The only person Thalia cares about is Thalia, and she doesn't care who she has to step on to get what she wants - this includes betraying the people who trust her in order to get the inheritance that she believes is rightfully hers. Notice how I said hers and not hers and her sisters. Throughout the entire book, Thalia is a scheming, manipulative, bratty, arrogant skag, and she finds nothing wrong with her behavior. **spoiler**She drinks, she does drugs, and at one point she was even hooking up with Vincent (the guy that Ro was in love with). Why would she betray Ro like that? She was "helping" her by proving a point. I know what ya'll are thinking because I thought the same thing. What a Skag. Early on in the story Thalia mysteriously comes into a large amount of sums. How large? Large enough that she could buy a car, new clothes, a dog, drugs, and whatever else she felt like. We later find out that she went to Charles, tricked him into giving her the money by leading him to believe that she and she sisters were going to go to the country side. The money Charles gave her was supposed to be for ALL of the sisters. Do you know how much she spent on the sisters? Enough to buy them each a dress. That's it. Like I said, she's a skag.**spoiler** At the end there's a traumatic not really traumatic. It was a faux-traumatic event that was meant to make you suddenly sympathize with Thalia. event and Thalia does a complete character 180 and all of a sudden we're supposed to like her. No. Fuck no. I refuse to believe that Thalia suddenly started caring about the sisters that she was trying to hurt earlier on in the book. **spoiler**Thalia threw a dinner party and invited her sisters with the intention of making them see that they didn't belong in the society they now lived in. While she just wanted to embarass Ro, she really set out to destroy Clio because Edwin (the guy that Thalia liked) liked Clio instead. This pissed me off because:
1) Clio was my favorite sister
2) Clio was always incredibly nice to Thalia even though Thalia was a raging skag
3) Clio was having a hard enough time adjusting without Thalia trying to destroy her already damaged self-esteem**spoiler**

Eratos (Ro): Ro is the middle triplet. Ro is also the book smart one. Of the three, she's the most sensible one, and she's incredibly science-minded (is that even a real phrase? I just made it up. Whatever, i'm sleep deprived. Don't judge) For her entire life, Ro has wanted a sibling, so when she finds out she has not one, but two siblings? She's ecstatic. When Ro finally meets her sisters, she finds that they're not exactly what she thought, and while she's still excited to have sisters, she's just.. Less excited. Of the three sisters, I liked Ro the second best.

Clio: Clio is the youngest of the sisters, and she's also the sweetest one of the three. When the three sisters finally meet, Clio knows right away that there's something wrong. How? She looks nothing like her 2 sisters. Even knowing that there's something different about her, Clio still makes a point of trying to get to know her sisters. I liked Clio the best because she always puts others first. She's always willing to see the best in people (even when they don't really deserve it. See Thalia), and she goes out of her way to make people feel welcome around her. With all of the craziness going on with Ro and Thalia, it was nice to have one character that had a solid understanding of who she was, and nicer still to see that the privileges that she suddenly had didn't change her as a person. **spoiler**I was really happy to see her get her happy ending. She really deserved it.**spoiler**

Hestia: Hestia is seriously the most irresponsible person in the book. I get it. She's never had to watch over anyone before, but that doesn't excuse her negligence in terms of neglecting her nieces. Hestia has the guardians of each girl send the girls off to live with her, but after the first day, she pretty much forgets that they exist. During the rare occasions that she does remember that she's supposed to be caring for her nieces, she's giving them shoddy advice. **spoiler**At one point, Thalia actually has to go into REHAB because of her drug problem, and Hestia had no fucking idea until one of her friends told her.**spoiler**

The story: Meh. That's really all I have to say about it. The story itself was mostly about Thalia being a skag **spoiler**All she did was drink, do drugs, throw parties, and betray the trust of her sisters.**spoiler** Not what you were expecting, right? That's how I felt. Towards the end the story starts focusing more on what the book was ACTUALLY supposed to be about, but up until then? Nope. Mainly just Thalia and her exploits. The story was just soo boring. At first it was interesting to see them adjust to their new environment, but there are only so many parties and stupid acts of drunken debauchery that a girl can take before she just wants to scream. 100 pages could have been cut out of this book and you wouldn't have missed a thing. In fact, I wish 100 pages had been cut out. I would have rather read a 200 page story about 3 (Okay, 2. Thalia didn't really help) girls trying to get back a fortune that's rightfully theirs, than a 300 page story about the stupid actions of one greedy sister with a little bit of fortune stealing-backing I KNOW IT'S NOT A REAL WORD. LEAVE ME ALONE! thrown in to keep things interesting. Normally I can get through a 300 page book in under 2 days. In fact, I did. I read another book while I was reading this one and it only took me ONE DAY to finish it. This book just dragged on and on and on and on and on and.. okay. I'm sure you all get it. Maybe I'm just being too nitpicky. Either way, I didn't really like this book.

I was going to originally give it one star, but I've decided to bump it up to two because I loved Clio and Ro so much.

My Overall Opinion: I just couldn't get past Thalia. She was just such an obnoxious character, it annoyed me that the book mainly revolved around her and her antics. Aside from Thalia, the book itself wasn't that good. If the summary says that the book is about 3 sisters attempting to take back their fortune, that's what I expect the book to be about. If the summary had said that this book was about 1 sister betraying the people depending on her, I wouldn't have touched this book with a ten foot pole. If Thalia sounds like your kind of  character, go ahead and read the book. But if you're like me and you expect the book to be about what the summary says the book is about, this book is not for you.

A Million Dirty Secrets by C.L. Parker


A Million Dirty Secrets: Million Dollar Duet

TitleA Million Dirty Secrets
Author: C.L. Parker
Pages: 368
Publication Date:August 27, 2013
Publisher: Bantam

**ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

The Basic Summary: In order to save her mother's life, Delanie Talbot sells herself into sexual slavery. Enter her owner for the next 2 year, Noah Crawford. What follows is a journey of self-discovery for both Lanie and Noah, and the chance of unexpected love.

My Review: Reading this book was like watching a horrific train wreck happen. You're sitting there, jaw dropped in a horrible sort of fascination, and you know that you should look away, but you can't. So instead, you watch the train wreck happen because you can't not look. The first page of this book was filled with slut-shaming, which is when I knew that I should really put down this book and walk away. Some of you may not know this, but in addition to my shallow cover hoarding, I also lack self-control and a sense of self-preservation. I know something is bad, and I know that I should stop, but I can't help myself. One part of me is sitting there going "Hah, Ade you are such a wuss. Yea you wuss! You're going to put down this book aren't you? Why? Because YOU CAN'T TAKE IT!" Another part of me is like "Bring it, bitch! I am going to kick your ass!" and the last part of me is like "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING!? STOP IT!" I rarely listen to the 3rd part of me. What was the point of that? To let you know what goes on in my head when I don't DNF a book that I really should DNF.

Let's start with Lanie. Lanie is an idiot. There's no getting around it. She's just stupid. We're supposed to believe that she's a mature 24 year old, but she's not. The book immediately starts off with Lanie slut-shaming other women, and just gets worse from there. She uses phrases like "moo juice" "coco yumminess" "eager beaver" and "googly moogly" on a regular basis. She even refers to her vagina as "Double Agent Coochie" and to Noah's penis as "Wonder Peen." How many 24 year olds do you know that act like that? Personally, I know none. Lanie selling her body was supposed to make us feel sympathetic towards her, but it didn't really work out that way. At first it was *a little* sad, but the sympathy quickly ran out becuase she acts like an idiot. I know we were supposed to like her, but between the slut-shaming, the weird thoughts she had regarding Noel and sex, and all of the phrases she used, she was just incredibly unlikeable.

Noah was.. he was a misogynistic douche schnozzle. He thinks with his penis, and that's about it. Occasionally he'll remember that there's another head that he can think with, but any thoughts that came from the brain in his other head were quickly brushed aside by the head in his pants. If I'm being completely honest,Noah's character was.. bland. His only defining characteristic was that he was  jerk. Oh, and can I just say that it's annoying that he somehow had the time to gain the skill level of a concert pianist? From what Noah said in the book, he was too busy drinking and fucking up when he was young to do anything else. There was no mention of him playing piano, or any other instrument, until Lanie discovered he had a music room and he proceeded to woo her with his piano skills. At least FSoG provided a bit of a back story regarding the piano. This book just threw it in there with no warning.

The sex scenes were awful. There's no nice way to say it. They were weird and awkward, and half of the "sexy" things they did weren't actually sexy. It got to the point where I just started skimming the sex scenes because they were so bad.

My Overall Opinion: I honestly thought this book was horrible, but maybe that's just me. The characters weren't likeable, the story sucked, and the sex scenes read like they were written by a honry 15 year old boy. I personally think that the book was just bad all around, but y'all can read it and find out for yourselves.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Sweet Peril by Wendy Higgins

Sweet Peril (The Sweet Trilogy, #2)



Title: Sweet Peril (The Sweet Trilogy, #2)
Author: Wendy Higgins
Pages: 371
Publication Date: April 30th, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen

The Basic Summary: Anna White used to be your typical good girl. Now? Not so much. After finding out that her father, Belial, is a demon, everything she thought she knew about herself and the world has changed. In order to keep herself safe, Anna must carry out her father's work - mainly tempting others into sin by getting them to drink. Anna, however, is different from the other Nephilim. How? She's prophesied to be the girl saves the world, and defeats the demons. Join Anna, Belial, and old and new friends as they continue on their quest to save the world.


My Review: I can't tell if the writing got worse, or if I've just gotten more critical of the books I read. Either way, this book was just kind of.. Average. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything that would stick out in my mind. I'm writing this review a day after I finished reading this book, and I'm already starting to forget what happened. There were a few spots that had some very unexciting action, but mainly this book was about Anna and Kaidan denying their love for each other until they finally suck it the hell up and work things out. I honestly don't have much to say about this one because it was boring. I was so disappointed after reading this because it just didn't live up to the amazingness that was Sweet Evil. The entire book basically went:

Anna parties with people
Anna feels guilty about partying with people
Belial sends Anna and Kope to go recruit Nephs for their cause
Anna pines after Kaidan
Kaidan tells Anna to screw off
Anna does something that Kaidan finds offensive. Awkwardness follows.
Anna continues to pine after Kaidan
Anna visits Kaidan
Anna and Kaidan pine after each other not so secretly
*spoilery stuff that I won't share. Read the book ;D*
Kope and Kaidan go on a mission
*lots and lots of drama. This scene actually made me sad. When it happened, I was just like "NO BABY COME BACK! LET ME LOVE YOU!"
HAPPILY EVER AFTER! Sort of.

So basically it's kind of like Sweet Evil but watered down and not as exciting. I think that I built this book up in my head, and by the time I finally got the book, I had it on such a high pedestal that there was no possible way that this book wouldn't disappoint me. While I think this book was boring, I do take full responsibility for my part in the disappointment. Either way, read it and tell me what y'all think about it.

My Overall Opinion: I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it either. It was just a meh for me. Even then, I'd still recommend the book to anyone who asks for an angel story that doesn't read like a bad Stephenie Meyer novel *AHEM* FALLEN was that mean? That was mean. At least the concept of the book is original, and the writing is eloquent enough that it can keep you interested.



Saturday, May 4, 2013

Sorry ):

Sorry about the lack of reviews. My laptop charger is being... difficult, so until I get a new one that doesn't hate me, no posts D:

Thursday, May 2, 2013

The Diviners by Libba Bray


The Diviners (The Diviners, #1)
Title: The Diviners
Author: Libba Bray
Pages: 578
Publication Date: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books

The Basic Summary: The year is 1926 and Evie O'Neill is dying to escape her boring life in Zenith, Ohio. After an itsy bitsy psychic reading incident, she finally gets her wish. When Evie is sent to go live with her uncle in the New York City, and she knows that everything is about to change, and she's thrilled. Well... up until the murders start. Follow Evie, Uncle Will, and Jericho as they work to catch the murderer before it's too late. Dun dun DUUUUUUN I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself!

My Review: Oh god. I hated this book so much. I tried so hard to love this book, but I just couldn't force myself to do it. It wasn't that the writing was bad, because it wasn't. In fact, it was amazing. I love the world the Libbra Bray created, and I think that she's incredibly talented, but this book just did not do it for me. My main issue with this book revolves around Evie (this in itself was problematic because, well, Evie is the main character, meaning that there is no way to escape her stupidity). I kept hoping that at some point Evie would mature and stop being such a selfish cow, but that never really happened. It's like she didn't understand that her selfish actions could hurt other people, so when she would go out and do stupid reckless shit, or lie to people, she was only thinking about how it could help her. It's like she had a death wish throughout the entire book, and every time someone told her not to do something because it would put her and her whichever one of her poor friends that she tricked into following her in danger, she'd do it anyway. I understand being a reckless teen. Really, I do. I've done some incredibly stupid things like jumping out of a moving car that I regret sort of a lot, but nothing I've done is anywhere near as stupid as the things Evie would do. Unlike most people, Evie didn't learn from her mistakes. She would do something incredibly stupid, get reprimanded, and then go out and do another stupid thing just for kicks. She had no boundaries, no common sense, and no sense of self preservation. Basically, she was just incredibly stupid. I honestly think that if the main character had been Theta, Jericho, Uncle Will, or basically anyone other than Evie, I would have adored this book. But it wasn't, and I didn't. I honestly wish that I  hadn't spent my money on this book, and I really don't want to read the next one in the series. I love Libba Bray, and I normally love her books, but this one did not do it for me. Just goes to show that it only takes one thing to ruin what could be a great book.

My Overall Opinion: If I completely forget about Evie and all of her stupidity, this book is amazing. The world building was amazing, and Bray used slang that was relevant at the time, which in turn made the book even more amazing. Unfortunately, Evie was in the book, and she ruined it for me. If you're able to look past a character doing incredibly stupid things throughout the entire story, then read this book. I really wanted to love it, but I just couldn't get past how obnoxious Evie was.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Unleashed by Nancy Holder

Unleashed (Wolf Springs Chronicles, #1)
Title: Unleashed
Author: Nancy Holder
Pages: 382
Publication Date: November 22, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Books

The Basic Summary: After the death of Katelyn McBride's mother, Katelyn goes to live with her Grandfather in Arkansas where she quickly realizes that something is amiss in the small town of Wolf Springs. As Katelyn tries to adjust to a new life in a strange place, she must also discover the secrets that the town is hiding.

My Review: Have any of you ever had that moment where you start a book with hope that it might be a good book, only to have those hopes bludgeoned over the head with a two by four? Yes? Then you probably know how I feel. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but I was expecting something entertaining, and this book failed to deliver. I'm sure you can all guess what the book is about just from looking at the cover (isn't the cover gorgeous?). If not, then I'll help you out and tell you. It's about werewolves, and this is one of the major things that pissed me the heck off. Any person with a brain in their head would know what the secret of Wolf Springs is. Seriously. It's even in the name of the town. Did Katelyn know this though? Nope. When she saw and heard werewolves, she just kinda went "Eh. Big dogs!" or she'd assume that the howling was from a group camping in the woods trying to release their inner wolves yes, it was as stupid as it sounds. No one is that stupid. I don't care who you are, where you're from, or what you do. It is not possible to be as stupid as Holder made Katelyn. We start the novel off with Katelyn watching her mother die. Sad, right? Yea, no. Holder does this thing where instead of showing you and letting you  come to your own conclusions, she just kind of.. tells you. I didn't feel particularly sad about her mother dying because the scene wasn't written in a way that would make the reader feel any kind of sympathy. After her mother dies, Katelyn goes off to live with her Grandfather, and things just go downhill from there. While in Wolf Springs, Katelyn makes a new friend named Cordelia who happens to have a crazy family. I know what you're thinking, they can't be that bad, right? Wrong. The first thing one of Cordelia's sisters said to Katelyn? "It looks like a stranger." The first thing the other sister said? "Smells like a stranger," all of this while circling around Katelyn like predators. Any normal person would have hightailed it out of there, but since Katelyn is an idiot, she just kind of stayed. Cordelia's dad is crazy as well, but he's more of a sneak-up-behind-you-and-stab-you-in-the-back crazy than a run-towards-you-with-an-ax-screaming-like-a-banshee crazy like Cordelia's sisters. They're all crazy, just different brands. I think my biggest issue with this book was that you never really saw Katelyn grow as a person. We get told that she's grown, but you never really witness it. Katelyn says stupid things, lies, and makes incredibly stupid mistakes throughout the book, but she doesn't ever learn any lessons. Everyone just forgives her for her screw-up and she moves on to something new. Basically, nothing in this book was believable. If I read a book, I want to be able to see character development. I want to see the character realize that his/her actions are stupid, and I want to see that character evolve. I don't want to read a bok about a character that refuses to take responsibility for their actions, and I don't want to be told that the character has grown as a person when it's clear that the character has not grown.

My Overall Opinion: I know it doesn't seem like it in this review, but I hated this book with  fiery burning passion. If you're looking for a good book, I'd suggest looking elsewhere. If you're looking for fluff that you don't have to think about, this book is perfect for you.