Goodreads Challenge 2016 pt.1

July 25, 2016 marks the day I finished the last book of my Goodreads Challenge 2016. Yay me!

I know it’s too early to finish the challenge and I also wasn’t expecting I would finish my reading goal this early (was expecting for December). My reading goal may be not that high compared to other readers but I’m pretty much satisfied with it. I was expected not to read non-academic books because the past school year demanded my time and full attention as it was one of the crucial years of my course. Surprisingly, I still managed to read this many so congratulations to me again. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do this again next year.

Last year was the year I started reading the New Adult genre and loved it that’s why I promised my self to read more on this genre this year.

Here are the books and my corresponding short reviews for this year’s reads:

**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!**

1. Bully by Penelope Douglas

I loved this book. I loved this book because it gave me everything that I wanted. From the bestfriends-turned-lovers, love-hate relationships, and bad boys with a past, it satisfied me oh so well! If you love those kinds of plots merged into one, I definitely recommend reading this book. This book is the first book I read from the author and even brought me out of my reading slump! This book is one of this year’s favorite reads.

2. Beautiful Player by Christina Lauren

Reading the synopsis got me excited, another one of my favorite plots were falling for the brother’s best friend. This book started great then when I got to the middle my attention was slowly waning because of Hanna and Will (but mostly Hanna). I get it that Will’s a player and was initially scared of lifelong commitment but they frustrated me so much.

3. Beautiful Stranger by Christina Laure

This book started great, having someone uptight as Sara Dillon getting thrilled by Max Stella’s planned adventures was great. For me, it was an okay book. I enjoyed Max’s efforts  for Sara but that was the only thing I liked about this.

4. Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

Then again I’m a sucker for love-hate relationships and this is what got me to read the Beautiful Bastard. The first book I read from the author (or should I say co-authors) and the book I loved most among the series (as far as I read). I loved the chemistry between Chloe and Bennett. I craved the banter between the two, they’re just such smart characters. I love it!

5 – 7. Mark of Athena, House of Hades, and Blood of Olympus  by Rick Riordan

After waiting for the whole series to finish before picking up Mark of Athena (stopped with  Son of Neptune in 2011), I can say that I’m sad and happy at the same time when I finished this series. Percy Jackson is close to my heart because the first series was the series that pushed me to read more books and inspired the love of reading the Greek mythology. I loved every struggled that they encounter whether it involved the physical battles or emotional battles that they surpassed. Rick Riordan did a great job (as always) of mixing the modern life to Greek stories! I loved reading how each of the characters developed their love stories (thank you Aphrodite!). This series is just indescribable!

8. Getting Lucky Number Seven by Cindi Madsen

The reason I picked this book was because I love bestfriends-to-lovers relationships. The book was okay, I enjoyed reading it because it was a light read after reading a dramatic book. I mentally laughed at Lyla’s nerdy jokes because I am a bit of a nerd too. Nice read!

9.  More Than Forever by Jay McLean

I loved Cameron and Lucy’s relationship. This is the relationship I wanted to have when I started reading teen fiction stories and would have swooned by everything Cameron did for his heart; Lucy.This story frustrated me so much. Lucy has the absolute perfect boyfriend and relationship but pushing Cameron away when she needed him the most frustrated me. I mean I understand why she did that but… I have no words.

10. Three Hard Lessons by Nikki Sloane

Reading the first few chapters of this book made me laugh. I loved Payton’s humor and wit! The first few chapters of this book was already sizzling hot. The connection between Dominic and Payton was just that amazing and I wanted to read more.

I loved Dominic–I think after finishing this book I forgot Logan. Logan is awesome but reading Dominic? Yes please.

 

11. More Than Her and More Than Him by Jay McLean

 

 

I loved how everything went with this book especially how Logan and Amanda conquered every monster they had. I loved Logan more than Jake because he wants to be a doctor (biased!) and you could see more of that passion here. Amanda is a lucky girl for having Logan in her life. I want to have someone like him, hopefully.

 

 

It Ends With Us

Title: It Ends With Us

Author: Colleen Hoover

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Format: Paperback

 

 

 

What is it about?

It Ends With Us is about Lily Bloom and how she gets to protect her heart from someone that might completely destroy her. (Because sometimes the one who loves you is the one who hurts you the most.)

 

What did I like/love about this book?

 

This book is one of my anticipated reads for this year and IT NEVER DISAPPOINTED ME.

What I loved about this book is solely Lily. I think this is the first time that I loved the female lead so much than her significant other. I love her for being so brave about everything she went through and making the best decision for her and others; minimizing the anticipated damages the future might bring. She is the character that made me want to protect her even if it would cost my life. Thank you for being brave and bold, Lily!

 

Experience with this book? 

 

Months before the book’s release the author was giving away ARCs for lucky people to read. I joined most of those giveaways in the hopes of getting one but unfortunately I am not one of those lucky people. I waited for the release date but didn’t get it until the day of my birthday which is still okay!

I read the first chapter of the book and instantly fell in love with Ryle. I’m that reader who is easily pleased if the guy is swoon worthy! And then he is a Neurosurgeon, like wow! I am currently taking the basics of Neurology and I find it difficult, knowing someone as passionate as him about his field made me love him more.

Then Atlas came back and Lily was seeing the similarities of the past to her future. At this moment, I was confused if I should like/love Ryle or Atlas more. I believe that an ex-couple’s history may spark again and seeing them interact felt like Lily should be with Atlas than Ryle more.

I watched Train to Busan last night. I know that this is irrelevant but after watching that then reading It Ends With Us, I felt like I died a thousand deaths. In two days, I felt like my life is super depressing because of those two. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this book so much. After reaching the last page, I stared at the ceiling wanting my feelings gone. This book emotionally wrecked me. Completely. I felt like my life ended after the book’s last period. Save me.

I didn’t grow up in a family like Lily’s or Atlas’ but I remember my self waking up in the middle of the night when I was little, hearing my Mom and Dad fighting. Reading this in Lily’s journal made me so emotional, how scary it is to see your beloved parents fight and don’t know what to do.  Then reading what Lily saw while her parents were fighting was just too traumatizing.

This book is just an explosion of emotions but I still HIGHLY recommend this to everyone so that they could feel what I feel too. I like feeling hurt by books, it makes me change of how I view and understand people and I love that.

 

I’m looking forward to another of Colleen Hoover’s works again next year (if there is any.) but right now I need a new light and fast read to cure my broken heart. Thank you Colleen for this story. (I salute you and your Mom so much. Thank you!)

Too Late

Title: Too Late

Author: Colleen Hoover

Genre: Romance (based on Wattpad genre)

Format: Wattpad story

What is it about?

Too Late is the story of how people find love (or even how some people view love). You find love in places or times you would never expect.

What did I like/love about this book?

I started reading Colleen Hoover’s stories last year and every story that I encounter from her is new.

What I love about this book is that it’s new and refreshing. You get to see another great story unfold before your eyes.

Experience with this book?

I wasn’t aware that CoHo posted a story on Wattpad before. If I didn’t see her Facebook post on the 1st of April that she updated her story, I wouldn’t be able to discover this story.

Again, every book that I encounter from CoHo is new to me. New to me in terms that I haven’t read any similar plots or themes like that and reading the plot of this story shocked me.

First, it is a book that is intended for mature audiences only. That factor got me intrigued, why would it only be intended for mature audiences? Is it that sensitive?

When I read it… yes, it’s that sensitive! Haha.

If you want bits of the story, here it goes:

The story revolves around Sloan and her boyfriend, Asa. One day she sits next to this guy named Carter and slowly her world changes.

I want to continue talking about this book but I’m afraid that  I might spoil everyone. Better check it out!

The experience that I had with this was mostly shocking. I didn’t know what to expect because every encounter with Asa is just that intense and I didn’t want Sloan or Carter to get hurt. The love/hate feeling I had for Asa was just confusing me which made me want to stop reading it completely but like the story’s quote…

Too Late is Cocaine. Haha!

 

If you’re interested on reading it on Wattpad, click here to check it out. CoHo just finished writing the story today and I hope you enjoy reading this like I did!

Matchmaker

Title: Matchmaker

Author: Aggressively (Faye Aden)

Genre: Teen Fiction

Format: Wattpad story

 

 

 

What is it about?

Matchmaker is the third book of the author’s series (I have no idea what the series is called but if it were up to me, I’ll spontaneously call it ER-series. HAHA!).  This story is about Skyler who is unexpectedly stuck with the baseball team after some events in which she finds herself falling in love with the team’s sexy and flirtatious captain, Tyler.

 

What did I like/love about this book?

I love the author’s way of writing this story. (Well, I love how she wrote the whole series!) I love it’s characters, I love the plot, I love everything!

Basically, this became one of my favorite Wattpad stories.

 

Experience with this book?

I read the first two books of this series way way back and I remember loving them both. I just didn’t pick this story soon because it was still on going and I wanted it to be finished before I start marathon reading the story.

I may have forgotten some of the characters and their respective stories because I have not read them for a very long time but thankfully Skylar helped me remember them by their descriptions.

I missed the feeling of reading Teen Fiction stories as I have been reading New Adult books lately. I’m glad that I read this story for going back to reading the genre again.

The story hooks me so much because I just love this kind of stories–the ones where the lead falls for someone who can be attainable but they can’t.

I find my self smiling for Tyler’s gestures. Isn’t he cutest?

I also have that shocking moment when my heart just died for that character (nobody dies in this story, I was just too attached on that character that I felt like my heart died with him) but it’s all good because he’s has his own story! *happy dancing*

I also wished I could have my own Tyler someday. Being a hopeless romantic sucks.

The first book is called Troublemaker and the second book is called Heart breaker. Basically this series is like Anna and the French Kiss series in which you get to read the other couples from books too. YAY!

I hope you would read this story and love it like I do! It is really awesome. You should check it out on Wattpad!

P.S.: I would recommend reading the first two books so that you won’t get confused with everything. 🙂

Click here to view it on Wattpad!

Beautiful Disaster

 

Title: Beautiful Disaster

Author: Jamie McGuire

Genre: New Adult

Format: Paperback

 

 

What is it about?

Beautiful Disaster is about the good girl Abby and bad boy Travis. Travis is a chick magnet that Abby wants to avoid. He is intrigued by Abby and challenges her into a bet that if he wins, she would stay at his apartment. Travis didn’t know that this would change his life forever.

Because when a Maddox falls in love, he falls in love forever.

 

What did I like/love about this book?

I love a lot of things about this book but I love Travis the most. I really love fictional boys like Travis. I love how he treasures Abby so much that he goes crazy at the thought of her leaving him. Huhu, I want that.

All those trouble he went for so that Abby could achieve whatever she needed to achieve. It seems that after meeting Abby, his world started to revolve around her.

 

Experience with this book?

A friend of mine recommended this to me and I immediately bought it but didn’t get to read it as soon as I bought it. A friend from bookstagram pushed me to read it and was glad I followed her advise.

For me, I never found any dull moments in this book. There are those books that I could read one chapter and stop anytime because I needed to sleep or study but this book is not one of them. I finished reading this during midnight and regret nothing.

I smile every time I read Travis’ gestures. I loved how he changed drastically for Abby. All for Abby!

I recommend this book to anyone who’s a fan of reading bad boys and/or playboys falling in love with someone unexpectedly. I would love to reread this book again sometime in the future.

 

 

Between The Lines

 

Title: Between the Lines

Author: Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Genre: Fiction

Format: Paperback

 

 

What is it about?

Have you ever wanted the fictional boyfriends in books to be real? In this story, Oliver becomes more than just fiction to Delilah, a bit of a loner who loves to spend her time reading books. (sounds like me but why aren’t characters coming to life yet?)

 

What did I like/love about this book?

Ever since I had my fair share of fictional boyfriends, I always thought of the “What if they came to life?” concept and this book also the companion novel named Off The Page had that concept. Isn’t that exciting to read? I also love the illustrations within the book. When I bought this, I thought that it was only filled with words but there were illustrations that make it seem that you are Delilah and not just any reader.

 

 Experience with this book?

 

I was used to reading books without pictures when I was influenced to read leisure books but I really did appreciate the illustrations that helped me visualize the fictional world of Oliver (a part of me wanted to visit that personally). I enjoyed reading this book because it was a fun and light read. Thank you for the authors for publishing this story!

Legend

Title: Legend

Author: Marie Lu

Genre: Dystopian

Format: Paperback

 

 

 

 

 

What is it about?

It’s about Day and June who came from different sides of their futuristic world but suddenly meets because June wants to kill Day for doing something that changes her entire life’s beliefs.

 

What did I like/love about this book?

I loved the pacing of this book, it suited the whole plot very well. It is not the type of book that excites you in chapter 1 then the excitement returns in chapter 4. Every chapter of this book persuaded me to keep going, to learn to love Day instantly, and to turn the page until I realized that it was already done. This can’t be happening, this doesn’t end here, I NEED TO READ THE NEXT BOOK IMMEDIATELY LIKE RIGHT THIS SECOND.

 

 Experience with this book?

A friend recommended this to me as I was looking for a new good read. I have read a few dystopians before I did like them but the books didn’t really reach my top faves. I also had an experience of buying the whole trilogy of one dystopian series but ended up not liking the story. Thus, I felt like I wasted my money. This time I only bought the first book to “test” if there was a reason to continue reading the series.

This time, I regretted my decision of not buying the whole trilogy. I remember reading the first book after reviewing for my Physiology exam, I was shocked that it ended there. I didn’t have the next book and my mind wanted to know more of the story. I can’t keep my calm.

The next day even though I had a major test to study for, I went to the bookstore to buy the second and third book of the series, Prodigy and Champion. I regret nothing.

 

This series is one of the best series I have read and loved. I do hope you decide to read it too and share feels with me!

Hopeless

Title: Hopeless

Author: Colleen Hoover

Genre: Fiction / New Adult

Format: Paperback

 

 

 

What is it about?

Hopeless is about Sky and Dean who discover secrets and truths about their pasts that challenges their love for each other. (I want to say more about this book but I’m afraid of spoiling you. Haha!)

 

What did I like/love about this book?

I love everything about this book but if I had to really explain why I do love it, I would say it’s because of the plot twist. Why the plot twist? Then again, I might spoil you! You have to read the book and fall in love with Dean Holder!

 

Experience with this book?

I decided to just read one chapter or two from the book, testing if it’s good. The next thing I know, it’s already 2 or 3 A.M. and I’m crying. I finished the book. I did not expect to finish the book in one sitting and cry afterwards. The book touched me deeply that I wanted to be fictional and enter the story so that I could hug Sky and Dean. While reading this book, I thought “I don’t need sleep, I need to know what happens next!”. I couldn’t put it down, it’s that beautiful!