The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Mara Dyer is a teenage girl who is in an accident with her friends and when she wakes up in the hospital 3 days later, her family tells her that she is the sole survivor. Mara has no recollection of the accident and feels increasingly guilty about it. Her family is worried about her psychological state and they move to Florida to escape from the bad memories.

But Mara's problems aren't over. She starts hallucinating on a regular basis and soon, she can't tell tell if her visions are fake or real. During that time, Mara meets and falls in love with Noah Shaw. But things aren't simple between them. Noah has a secret too and as their worlds collide, they are both swept up in a whirlwind of events that they never could've foreseen.



If you like dark and creepy books, you need to get this right now. Holy cow is this book creepy! It is not the type of story that I'll normally pick up but I'm really glad that I did!

Mara's visions made me feel like I was in a horror movie. There were twists and turns around every corner. The book was dark but had quite a few funny moments. The events were vivid and literally had me on the edge of my seat. There was never a dull moment.

I felt so bad for Mara and everything that she had to deal with. This girl seriously needed a hug. Her mother was willing to have her committed! And death followed her everywhere she went! But at the end, when we found out Noah's secret, I was flabbergasted! I didn't see that coming at all!

So even though this book wasn't my normal cup of tea, it is definitely a 5/5 star book! I heard that the sequel is actually creepier and more disturbing than this but I'll have to see for myself! If you haven't read it, check it out! I can't recommend it enough!

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?

-Chelsea

Matched

This is not a story that I would typically pick up but on a recent haul (I bought so many books!) at Barnes and Noble, I saw Matched on a display and I just couldn't walk away from it. I am often intrigued by book covers and the picture of a girl in a lavish green dress trapped in a bubble caught my attention right away. So I picked it up, read the synopsis and decided to take a chance. And I am so glad that I did!

The story is set in a dystopian society where everything is decided for you: how you dress, where you work, who you marry, etc. Cassia is a young girl who has just come of age to be matched but when she does, two boys come up on the screen, Ky and Xander. They are both friends of hers but there is a bigger problem. Ky cannot be matched at all and even though Cassia knows this, she cannot seem to stay away from him.

Cassia gets to know Ky better. She finds out who he truly is and he shows her parts of the world that she could only dream about. But then Cassia finally sees flaws in Society's systems and begins to question everything around her. The world around her starts to crumble and she knows that in order to have a chance at happiness, she has to fight back.

I give this book 5/5 stars! It was amazing and I did not want to put it down! Unfortunately, there are other things that have to get done but as soon as I was done with everything else, I could not wait to put my nose back in this book! I really felt like I related to Cassia. I was always the good girl that did as she was told and never questioned things until her eyes were opened.

I absolutely loved all of the characters, their background stories and their complex personalities. I hate it when characters are one-dimensional and I didn't find that to be the case with this book. I have a long list of books to read (from that haul) but now I am absolutely dying to read the sequel, Crossed!

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

-Chelsea

Beautiful Disaster

I hadn't heard of this book until I found a review of it online at About That Story. The synopsis and the 4/5 star review intrigued me and I immediately put it on hold at the library.

The story follows Abby and Travis' very complicated and unlikely relationship. Abby is a goody two-shoes with a dark past which she is constantly trying to leave behind. She and her friend America (I could not get over the name while I was reading this) moved far away from their old lives to Eastern University, where America quickly begins a relationship with Shepley. Shepley's roommate and cousin is Travis "Mad Dog" Maddox, who participates in underground fighting and is known for having constant one night stands and treating girls like dirt.

Enter Abby Abernathy, who Travis can't seem to resist. Abby knows that they are all wrong for each other but agrees to place a bet with him. If Travis wins, Abby has to live with him for a month and if Abby wins, he has to stay abstinent for a month. Either way, the loser is going to have a tough time. When Abby loses the bet, she and Travis start a very tumultuous relationship and realize that even though they drive each other crazy, they can't seem to stay away from each other.

I'm going to give this book a 3/5 star rating. When I first started it, I could not put it down but about halfway through it, it just started to get monotonous and old. The concept was good, I just think that it was taken a bit too far. Travis is a bad boy with a good heart but a terrible temper. And although I am a sucker for a bad boy gone good, the way that he tried to possess Abby as if she was a piece of property really bothered me. I mean, I love it when guys are a little jealous because it shows that they actually care about losing their girlfriends. But insecurity is a big turn off. A guy couldn't look at Abby without Travis kicking their ass and he had some serious issues that he really needed to work on. And no matter how bad he acted or how mad he was, in the end, Abby just kept coming back.

As far as Abby goes, she keeps pushing Travis away from the beginning, claiming that she wants to escape her past and blah blah blah. But even though we find out what was so bad about her life, she never fully explained to Travis why she kept pushing him away. She explained to us readers but never gave Travis the answers he deserved. She just kept him guessing and nothing he ever did or said seemed to be good enough. I may not have liked everything he did or said but at least he was man enough to apologize. She could've at least thrown the poor guy a bone.

I loved America and Shepley, who were big supporting characters in the story and I feel that the characters were well-written and complex. I did feel that the ending was a big rushed but generally speaking, it was a pretty good read.

Oh and Travis called Abby "Pigeon" and the entire time, all I could think about was how Tramp called Lady that same name in Lady and the Tramp.

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? Do you have any recommendations?

-Chelsea

Wedding Magic

Late into last night, I was glued to Patricia Coughlin's story, Wedding Magic. Recently, I've been having a lot of bad luck finding books that I've liked. So you can imagine my happiness when I delved into Coughlin's story and fell head-over-heels for the story!

The story follows Sophie Bennett who, along with her two stepsisters, runs a successful wedding planning business. Sophie is the miracle worker of the group, always getting the most outrageous demands for her brides and making it look easy. But when Shelby Archer hires her company, her skills are put to the test. Shelby is getting married in less than two months, wants a hemp dress, a completely green wedding and most importantly, to be married at the "Princess House."

Sophie is then told to get the owner of the "Princess House", Owen Winters, to agree to hosting the wedding. But Owen is less than receptive to the idea. He hates weddings, thinks love doesn't exist and wants nothing more than to be left alone. But Owen changes his mind when Sophie acknowledges the supernatural force that's been living in his house. Over time, they find out that the ghost is Ivy Halliday, the woman who used to own this house, who was supposed to be married in the house and who would do anything to stop this wedding.

And boy does she try. But while Sophie and Owen are trying to find some way to make this work, their connection to each other is undeniable and they both have to acknowledge their feelings for one another, no matter how much they try to hide them.

I really loved this story. I'm a sucker for a good paranormal romance. I had never heard of this book and I just happened to stumble across it in the library. But I adored Sophie and Owen. Their characters were real and relatable, both experiencing some sort of pain and trauma in their past, which makes them afraid for their futures. They are both stubborn and won't admit just how strong their feelings are. And of course, Ivy's character was very entertaining. I found myself tearing through the pages, just to see what she would do next to stop the wedding. But she ended up being a much more complicated and layered character than just the ghost who haunts the house.

I highly recommend this story, especially if you like reading about the supernatural.

Onto the next book! Do you have any recommendations?

-Chelsea

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas

On a recent trip to the library, I was looking for a short, easy read. I found a book that was just over 200 pages which was called, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson. My husband is a huge James Patterson fan and I had only read one of his books before, so I checked it out, only to be thoroughly disappointed.

Now don't get me wrong, the book did serve it's purpose. It gave me something to read when I was bored but for me, that was all that it was. I had very high expectations for it because of the author's reputation. This is not to say that the book is bad or that you shouldn't read it, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Basically the story is that a woman, Katie, is in love with a man named Matt and he suddenly breaks up with her. As a way of explanation, he mysteriously sends her his wife's diary that she wrote for her son. Katie is obviously confused by this but is intrigued, so she ends up reading it and understanding why Matt broke up with her. It's a sweet idea but in my opinion, it wasn't executed very well. I didn't find myself connecting with the characters emotionally and I let the book sit there for days without touching it. I'm normally the type of person that can't put a book down, so that explains a lot about how I really felt about it.

From a grammatical standpoint, I found that the dialogue didn't flow as well as it should have and it felt forced. Also, I thought that the ending was very rushed and predictable. So if you're looking for a novel to make your heart pound and keep you up at night waiting for more, I don't recommend it. But if you're looking for something light to read on a plane, a long car ride or something else of the sort, it's probably perfect.

Before I read it last week, I didn't even know that there was a movie. Now that I know that, I might actually check it out and see if I like the movie better. We'll see!

Don't let my opinion influence you if you have not read it yet! Check it out if you're interested and form your own opinion! If you have read the book, tell me your opinion about it in the comments or you could tell me about some books that you recommend!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

Chelsea