Book Review - Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis:  On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

My Thoughts: Okay so I guess I'm in the minority here because I just didn't get the hype. It was just okay for me. I was actually loving the beginning but as the story moved on into the making of the games and all the game talk I got quickly bored because while I love playing games I am not that big of a gamer. I guess that was where it lost me but I really didn't have a care for any of the characters either so it could have been a bit of both.

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 #Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group #GabrielleZevin #Tomorrow,andTomorrow,andTomorrow

 

Book Review - Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Edward comes an emotionally layered and engrossing story of a family that asks: Can love make a broken person whole?

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it’s a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three younger sisters: Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book and imagines a future different from the expected path of wife and mother; Cecelia, the family’s artist; and Emeline, who patiently takes care of all of them. Happily, the Padavanos fold Julia’s new boyfriend into their loving, chaotic household.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable loyalty to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

Vibrating with tenderness, Hello Beautiful is a gorgeous, profoundly moving portrait of what’s possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.

My Thoughts: This was a very emotional story. I was sad and angry so much while reading it. I held a deep anger towards William's parents for basically denying him the love, comfort, and joy he so desperately deserved. I understand they were hurting but they still had an obligation to him and because of what they lacked in giving him he grew up alone and unloved and it caused so many mental issues for him.

He finally found his love in basketball and met Julia whom I developed a strong disliking to very quick because she always had to have things her way with him with her family/sisters. She was just a bossy person and drove me nuts.

It's not a book for everybody and not everybody will enjoy it. I myself had to read it between other books because I couldn't bear the emotions or sports talk for long periods but I still am happy that I read it and think it was beautifully written.



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#dialpress #annnapolitano #randomhouse 

Book Review - The Hacienda by Isabel Canas

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis: In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

My Thoughts: While I'm not a big historical reader this was written in such a way that I was interested in it especially when being mingled with the horror/gothic genre. It was creepy, gory at times and danced around the notion of a forbidden romance and add to that a priest/witch and I was all in!

I feel like I missed out by not having access to the audio book to read along with so I can almost guarantee this will be a re-read as soon as the audio comes in at my library. It was creepy enough just reading it but I just feel the audio would make it more so!

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Book Review - Love On The Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis:  Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project--a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia--Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.

Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school--archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

Now, her equipment is missing, the staff is ignoring her, and Bee finds her floundering career in somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it's her occipital cortex playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas...devouring her with those eyes. And the possibilities have all her neurons firing. But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?

My Thoughts: I feel so bad because Ali seems like such a lovely person but sadly this really did nothing for me. I actually didn't find myself liking either of the main characters and if I had seen a reference to Marie Curie or the cats anal glands one more time I may have just thrown the book across the room.

Levi and Bee just came off as a bit to childish to be as smart a scientist as they supposedly were. I just couldn't understand how Levi could act so childish towards Bee one minute but then turn around and be all "manly like" barking out orders to his team and all tough guy like with other folks. And then Bee's whining constantly about "Oh you don't like me. You think I'm Ugly." It's even mentioned a couple times how Levi was kinda tired of hearing that especially after he said it aint so! Even if it was so put your big girl bloomers on and get over it.

With that being said there were things I liked about the book other than the beautiful cover and the fact that Bee had purple hair! How cool! I liked the message added into the story about standardized testing, I enjoyed the love of the kitties, and I adored Bee's assistant! It was a "cute" love story, I just wished the characters could have been a bit more likable and acted a bit more grown up at least for their profession.

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Book Review - Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis: Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older black couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe.

Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another? 

My Thoughts: I really had great expectations that this would be a five star read for me but found it to be a bit of a let down. I was so hyped to read it.

It wasn't a bad storyline it just was far to wordy in places like when Amanda went grocery shopping did we really need to know every single item she purchased and several other places that were just way over explained.

I can't help feeling the ending left a good bit to be desired and left me with more questions than conclusions.

I still can't wait to get to see this play out on the screen with Denzel Washington though because I think it is better suited to be a movie.

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