Chuyển đến nội dung chính

The Secret

Reviews | April 2019

April started off as a really good reading month, but ended up not being so great towards the end because that's when I went into a reading slump that I couldn't really get out of it. I spent this month trying to catch up to my Goodreads goal so I read a lot of shorter books. It would've worked out if I kept it up but unfortunately, life had other plans. But, reviews! Reviews Bossman by Vi Keeland I don't know what it was about this book that didn't do it for me. I really thought this was going to be another one of those steamy books I love, but for the most part, it was okay. I think the past vs. present story line wasn't something I really enjoyed. While I get that the author was trying to show the tragic past of the male protagonist, I felt like it was dragged on too long. It could've been told as a prologue and then I would've felt more attachment seeing his side of the story as well. I found this to be a little predictable and overall meh in the sex...

Review: Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle

Title: Famous in Love
Author: Rebecca Serle
Publisher: Poppy
Release date: October 1st 2014
Pages: 336
Genre: Young Adult contemporary
Source: BEA 2014
When seventeen-year-old Paige Townsen gets plucked from obscurity to star in the movie adaptation of a blockbuster book series, her life changes practically overnight. Within a month, Paige has traded the quiet streets of her hometown for a bustling movie set on the shores of Maui, and she is spending quality time with her costar Rainer Devon, one of People's Sexiest Men Alive. But when troubled star Jordan Wilder lands the role of the other point in the movie's famous love triangle, Paige's crazy new life begins to resemble her character's.
My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Famous in Love didn't really sound like my kind of read, but since I loved Rebecca Serle's previous two books, When You Were Mine and The Edge of Falling, I thought I'd give this one a try. And although the whole fame-thing isn't my favorite thing to read about, it can work when it's well done (i.e. Open Road Summer), so I thought I might enjoy Famous in Love, too. Sadly, though, this one did not work for me. The story is cliched and underdeveloped, making this a very disappointing read for me.

The main problem I had with this story is the romance. In short, there's a love triangle with lots of insta-love - such a great combination. If it had been well-done, Paige living out the same love triangle as her character could have been kind of entertaining. But it's not. Rainer and Jordan have an interesting background, but that's about all they have going for themselves. When Paige arrives on set, she and Rainer are immediately together, just because. They have no chemistry, he has no personality, and we never learn what she sees in him (other than the fact that he's famous). Jordan is a slightly more interesting character, but things between him and Paige also happen instantaneously, with no build-up or chemistry. So no, I did not enjoy the romance. And considering it's the main storyline, that kind of ruined the book for me.

The fame-and-glamour aspect could have been interesting, but I found it to be kind of underwhelming. It's not horrible - but it's not really anything new. It didn't make me feel the glamour of this world, so it didn't work as any kind of guilty-pleasure entertainment, either.

What's going on at home is what had the most potential, in my opinion. I love the set-up with the big, working-class family, and I thought Paige's sister was a very intriguing character. The set up with Paige's two best friends and their drama is interesting, too. But since most of the book is set away from home, these storylines are never fully explored, unfortunately.

And then there's the ending. I can't really talk about this without spoiling anything, but... what? I was really confused as to what this decision was supposed to mean; it really didn't make sense to me. Is there supposed to be a sequel or something? I just didn't get what the point of that was, at all.

This book really just wasn't for me. With underdeveloped characters and lackluster romance, I really couldn't find anything to love about Famous in Love. It might be better suited for the younger set of YA readers, but I wouldn't particularly recommend it.

Nhận xét

Popular Posts

Review | Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Title: Forbidden  by Tabitha Suzuma Series: N/A Genre: YA - Contemporary Publication: June 28, 2011 by Simon Pulse Format: Hardcover Source: Purchased Rating:  ★★★ Synopsis:  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 h...

Review | Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist

Title: Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist Series: N/A Genre: Contemporary Publication:  January 3, 2017 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Format: Audiobook Source: Library Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis:   On his first day at a new school, blind sixteen-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria, and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right? As Will starts to find his footing, he develops a crush on a sweet but shy girl named Cecily. And despite his fear that having a girlfriend will make him inherently dependent on someone sighted, the two of them grow closer and closer. Then an unprecedented opportunity arises: an experimental surgery that could give Will eyesight for the first time in his life. But learning to see is more difficult than Will ever imagined, and he soon discovers that the sighted world has been keeping secrets. It turns out Cecily doesn’t meet traditi...

Love of Reading November BOTM \\ The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

NOTE  →   I recently joined a Goodreads group in which a new book is chosen every month. I thought it would be a fun idea (for myself) to answer the discussion questions, instead of writing a review, on the book we read each month here on my blog. That way I can share my thoughts on it, but also discuss it with others across a few platforms without having to write two things. These posts may contain spoilers. Proceed with caution.  Synopsis: A vivid and mesmerizing novel about the extraordinary woman who married and worked with one of the greatest scientists in history. What secrets may have lurked in the shadows of Albert Einstein’s fame? His first wife, Mileva “Mitza” Marić, was more than the devoted mother of their three children—she was also a brilliant physicist in her own right, and her contributions to the special theory of relativity have been hotly debated for more than a century. In 1896, the extraordinarily gifted Mileva is the only woman studying physics at a...

Free $100