Wicked Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

 

Published: September 1, 2015

Publisher: Delacorte Books

Acquired: Hardcover

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My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

I would like to thank Dianne over at Pinoy Book Tours for the opportunity to read this phenomenal debut novel.

Where do I even start? This book is just so good that I don't know where to start.

All her life, Madeline has been living inside her house, quarantined from the world. She has only seen three people in her life; her mother, her nurse, and on occasion, her architecture teacher, Mr. Waterman. She only goes out through the books that she reads.

Her new neighbors changed her life. She watched them from her window, curious of these new people in her life. The moment I read this line on the blurb on the dust jacket:

He’s tall, lean and wearing all black

I was hooked! I knew I would love everything in this book. What starts as an innocent friendship turns into an all-consuming romance. Madeline falls in love with Olly even if she knows that doing so could change her life forever.

In my head I know I've been in love before, but it doesn't feel like it. Being in love with you is better than the first time. It feels like the first time and the last time and the only time all at once.

Madeline's mother, Pauline, is a doctor. Her relationship with Madeline is something you only see in a Hallmark Channel movie. It's picturesque and ideal. Even my mom and I don't have that kind of relationship. But I guess, it comes with the territory. Madeline is everything her mother has left now. For any mother, losing your child is very painful and they'll just do anything and I mean, ANYTHING just so they can protect them that they sacrifice their happiness and sometimes, their child's happiness in the process.

prom·ise (ˈpräməs) n. pl. - es. 1. The lie you want to keep. [2015, Whittier]

Olly is the ultimate dreamboat. *insert heart eyes emoji* His love for Madeline is above and beyond. It's the kind of love I can never explain because I never experienced it. All I know is that his love for Madeline is the kind of love that all of us has to have. (P.S Where can I get my own Olly?) Madeline and Olly went on an adventure. Madeline took the risk. She got out of the confines of her house. I never felt so happy for Madeline. I never felt so happy. PERIOD. They went on a journey to discover Hawaii and to discover their love and just how far it can go.

The only thing I know for sure is that this, being here with Olly, being able to love him and be loved by him, is everything.

Nicola Yoon definitely hit the right marks with her debut novel. Her characters are just so easy to love. Their story is just so easy to love. This book is so easy to love because love is everything. The illustrations in this book is just so adorable. (P.S Nicola's husband, David, illustrated them. How cool is that?!)

Spoiler alert: Love is worth everything. Everything.

I recommend you to have this book on your ever growing TBR list. You will not regret it.

Nicola Yoon grew up in Jamaica (the island) and Brooklyn (part of Long Island). She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and daughter, both of whom she loves beyond all reason. Everything, Everything is her first novel.

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Wicked Review: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

 

Published: June 26, 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Acquired: Paperback

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Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As de facto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: A love this devastating has no happy ending.

I found out about Forbidden through some of my friends over at Facebook. Some two years ago, there was this Forbidden Support Group on Facebook and I joined it. I bought an ebook copy of the book and I was utterly devastated. I bought the book last year and I reread it last month and I'm still devastated.

 I love books that are challenging to read. This one was challenging because it talks about the taboo: incest. I was raised to believe that brother and sister are not allowed to love each other more than the sibling kind of love. But things change. I learned how to see things differently. I learned how to open my mind and welcome whatever the world of literature throws at me.

Lochan (I still have no idea how to pronounce his name) loves his siblings so much. They are the only ones who see the real him. To them, he's not the socially anxious teenager. He's the hero. He's the protector. He's the the big brother. He can be a normal person in front of them. Social anxiety is more than just being shy and the way Lochan's point of view was written, I felt everything. He had the worst time being around his peers. He was so smart that he could be on top of the world but he can't. His day to day struggle in school was painful. Every conversation with his teachers about encouraging him to speak up in class is almost painful to read.

He draws his strength from Maya. Now, Maya is a whole other character. Where Lochan is dark, Maya is bright. I understand why Maya and Lochan has chemistry. Neither can live without the other. Maya is unlike any sixteen year old I have encountered. She manages to be a pretty normal teenager while playing "Mom" to her younger siblings. If she were a real person, I would love for her to be my best friend.

You've always been my best friend, my soul mate, and now I've fallen in love with you too. Why is that such a crime? 

The dialogue is minimal here even if it's 400+ pages. It's 400+ pages of beautiful writing. Since incest is such a sensitive topic, a lot of people tend to veer away from this topic. (Save except for George RR Martin. Okay I had to put that out there.) The mere thought of a sexual relationship with your sibling is enough to churn your insides. But with Maya and Lochan, it's different. I threw my moral compass a long time ago and I wanted them to work. I wanted them to end up together. Come to think of it, we all came from incest. I mean, in the Bible, how else would the population grow if the only people were Adam and Eve and their children? Right? Just think about it. But anyways, there love for each other is so, so rich and so pure. Their love is the kind of love you're supposed to fight for with all your heart, come hell or high water. But it's also the kind of love that will destroy you. It's beautiful and dangerous at the same time.

At the end of the day it's about how much you can bear, how much you can endure. Being together, we harm nobody; being apart, we extinguish ourselves.

I clung on to the idea that they will get their happily ever after. But I knew the ending. I knew that Lochan died in order to save Maya. In the end, Lochan still thought of his siblings. He sacrificed himself in order for his loved ones to live a normal, happy life.

If I die too, his ultimate sacrifice would have been in vain.

 I am happy; happy that I have encountered a book this poignant and so beautiful. I am devastated because the ending wasn't a happy ending. This story will move you. It will rock your world. I promise.

Tabitha Suzuma was born in London, the eldest of five children. She attended a French school in the UK and grew up bilingual. However, she hated school and would sit at the back of the class and write stories, which she got away with because her teachers thought she was taking notes. Aged fourteen, Tabitha left school against her parents' wishes. She continued her education through distance learning and went on to study French Literature at King's College London.

After graduating, Tabitha trained as a primary school teacher and whilst teaching full-time, wrote her first novel.

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{Blog Tour: Review} Lost and Found by Elle Casey

Welcome to Day 2 of the Lost and Found Blog Tour! Today, I'll share with you my review on this phenomenally crazy and hilarious book. (Superlatives everywhere, I know!) Thanks to Giselle at Xpresso Book Tours and of course to Elle Casey.

Lost and Found by Elle Casey

(Love in New York #1)

Publication Date: December 25, 2014

Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

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Sometimes engagement rings can get lost and then found. Sometimes people can too. All it takes is a heavy-duty dose of karma and the magic of Manhattan to make it all come together.

Leah is a financially destitute new age hippy. James is a wealthy surgeon with a trust fund. She’s awkward, he’s poised. She’s completely crazy, he’s way too sane. People might say they have nothing in common, but they’d be wrong. They both live in Manhattan, they both have no idea how to change a baby diaper, and they’re both lost … until they find one another.

I lost count how many times this book left me giggling while reading in a public place. It's that funny. So, okay. Leah is super crazy. She works in a shop that sells all these hippy oils and fragrances. She hasn't paid rent in a long time and her landlord offers to sleep with him and her debt would be paid of. She's friends with a homeless man named Mac. She meets James, the handsome doctor.

Leah believes in karma and the effect it does to people. The minute she bumped into James, she felt that from then on, it won't be a really good day. A series of mishaps later and she found herself as the owner of a five hundred grand Cartier engagement ring. She found crazy ways to give it back to the owner. It involved her dressing up as a fake rapper to giving it back to the charity just so her life can be normal again. James, on the other hand, played along with her. He didn't want that ring back because it was a sign of everything that went wrong with his life lately: his girlfriend (who is such a total bitch) slept with his brother, his lovely niece is suddenly without loving parents. Both of them have dealt with something horrible and lost some in the process and in the end they found each other.

The ring was what connected them together. The ring brought them all sorts of misfortunes but it was what ultimately led to their happy ending. I definitely recommend this book for those who are looking for something lighthearted to read after reading heavy plots. This one is for you.

Get a chance to win an ebook of Cabin Fever (Love in New York #2)!

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Elle Casey is a prolific, NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband, three kids, and several furry friends. She writes in several genres and publishes an average of one full-length novel per month.

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Wicked Review: Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

Published: May 13, 2014

Publisher: Dial Press

Acquired: Paperback

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Lottie just knows that her boyfriend is going to propose, but then his big question involves a trip abroad — not a trip down the aisle. Completely crushed, Lottie reconnects with an old flame, and they decide to take drastic action. No dates, no moving in together, they’ll just get married . . . right now. Her sister, Fliss, thinks Lottie is making a terrible mistake, and will do anything to stop her. But Lottie is determined to say “I do,” for better, or for worse.

First things first, this book is quite hilarious and crazy. Like, really crazy. Lottie thought that Richard, her boyfriend, would propose to her. She even bought a ring! It was all cringe worthy, though. The way Lottie thought about Richard's "hints" was enough to keep me laughing. I don't think I will ever live that down. It's like a scene from Disaster Dates only ten times worse!

Fliss, Lottie's sister, has always been there for her. She listens to every whim; the crazy, crazier and the craziest. Even if Fliss has enough on her plate already. She's a career woman going through a bad divorce. She keeps a dossier on her ex-husband Daniel even if her lawyer tells her not to. She hated the divorce. On top of that, Lottie decides to marry Ben, Lottie's gap year boyfriend.

Ben and Lottie made a pact, that if neither of them were married by the time they are thirty, they will marry each other. I was shaking my head and smiling at the same time because I knew from the start that this thing wouldn't last and it would end in a disaster.

Lottie, so caught up with lust (not love) for Ben, agreed to marry Ben in the registry office and go straight to there honeymoon in Ikonos, where they met. Fliss and Lorcan, Ben's best friend, team up to stop them from consummating their marriage.

The lengths Fliss went though just to stop Lottie and Ben from shagging (I like the British term better!) was insane. You would think that Fliss was mean. I mean, imagine your sister or your brother, bribing a hotel manager to ruin your wedding night, where you and your spouse should spend some quality time together? That hurts! And pretty annoying as well! But in Fliss' defense, she did it because she doesn't want her sister to end up like her, regretting major life decisions such as marriage. Lottie and Ben have nothing in common really. Literally nothing. They were a disaster! Ben wasn't a dream boat. He was a wackjob!

What I love the most in this book? Lorcan and Fliss. They have lots in common. For one, they are both divorced. Two, the people they love are crazy. Three, they have chemistry. I love it! I love them! I love Lorcan more! (Okay now I'm rambling. But I really love Lorcan. I love his name too! Ahhhhh!)

All in all, Wedding Night was such a delightful read. Sophie Kinsella does not disappoint!

Madeleine Wickham (born 12 December 1969) is a bestselling British author under her pseudonym, Sophie Kinsella. Educated at New College, Oxford, she worked as a financial journalist before turning to fiction. She is best known for writing a popular series of chick-lit novels. The Shopaholic novels series focuses on the misadventures of Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist who cannot manage her own finances. The books follows her life from when her credit card debt first become overwhelming ("The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic") to the latest book on being married and having a child ("Shopaholic & Baby"). Throughout the entire series, her obsession with shopping and the complications that imparts on her life are central themes.

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Wicked Photo Diary: August 2015

Hello, everyone! Wicked Photo Diary is a monthly feature where I share what has happened in my life through my Instagram photos. Think of it as an organize photo dump...only wicked!

Another month has gone and we're slowly inching towards the end of this year...I spoke too soon! But it's been a great couple of months. Here's what happened!

August 1, 2015

Gloomy skies make way for much needed rain because it felt like summer all over again.

August 3, 2015

I don't like planning what to read for the month but I decided to give it try.

August 13, 2015

In the four years I stayed in my uni, this is the first time I ever borrowed something from the library. I paid a week's worth of overdue fine for this but it was worth it! Check out my review here.

August 19, 2015

Much needed me time in my favorite, mainstream coffee shop!

August 20, 2015

 Guess who paid me a visit? Gayle, my college bff!

 I got this from National Bookstore for only P75!!!

August 22, 2015

I do love the city but I love the countryside more!

August 23, 2015

I participated in the first ever book tag on Instagram! Black covers rule!

August 24, 2015

Because I need it. And you need it

August 28, 2015

I read this two years ago on my iPad. I don't know what possessed me to buy this book and read it again.

August 30, 2015

 

Bookhaul after 123456789 years! So excited to read all of them. Have you read some of them? Be sure to catch the Powerbooks Sale until September 13! Manila International Book Fair is just around the corner and I am this close to losing it because duh, more books, more discounts too!

What Else Happened?

I joined two book tours over at Xpresso Book Tours! Check 'em out here!

Belong To Me by Laura Howard (Review)

Alexa Crushed by T. R Cupak (Excerpt)