bookreviews – Page 29 – Sincerely Karen Jo

bookreview

bookishboyfriends

aboutthebook2

Bookish Boyfriend Series #1

Published May 1, 2018 by Amulet Paperbacks

Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Paperback 400 Pages

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Amazon – Barnes and Noble

reviewrating

4hearts

3.75- Lighthearted, Oddly Charming and Adorably Cute YA Teen Romance

reviewthoughts

Bookish Boyfriend by Tiffany Schmidt is a delightful summer read. It’s weirdly fascinating, adorably cute and entertaining.

Had quite a strange but fun date with this book. The premise was unique, quirky and intriguing. The plot was a bit slow at times, but for the most part, the pacing was great that I didn’t feel bored. I also thought the characters were well-developed, interesting, and had such fascinating personalities. Some of them were definitely odd, but in a good way. The only thing that really bothered and annoyed me was the first half of the novel. I don’t want to get into specifics, but there were weird moments that just made me cringe like hearing fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. So not enjoyable…. Some parts were overly silly and I think they were meant to be funny, but it just didn’t work for me. Thank goodness the second half was amazingly so much better that by the end, I can honestly say that I had an awesome time reading this book it its entirety and even had a few good laughs.

Romance wise, I wasn’t too crazy about the love pairings and I truly did not like it in the first half of the book. I thought it was ridiculous and unfortunately just didn’t work for me. The romance in the second half was a little bit swoonier, but sadly, I still wasn’t a fan. I guess I just didn’t like the “Romeo” and “Darcy” of the story. “Darcy” was definitely more interesting and even shared some swoony moments with Merrilee, but I just wasn’t into him. Not sure why since there’s one part where “Darcy” totally had my heart melting…. but that’s pretty much it. That being said, just because the romances didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean you won’t love it…AND there were plenty of adorable and fun scenes that made me smile so it’s not like I hated it or anything. I just wish there were more substance and swoon and feels…

While the romance didn’t quite work for me, I did fall in love… With the story’s amazing heroine, Merrilee. She’s the ultimate booknerd and I could totally relate to her obsession with romances. She’s also sassy and awkwardly adorable in every way. I loved her personality and wit, which made those ridiculous scenes fun and enjoyable. Merrilee just had this presence that made every scene so much more intriguing and incredibly entertaining.

Overall, this was a lighthearted, fun, and oddly charming YA contemporary romance. I may not have completely fallen in love with this book, but I definitely thought the unique and quirky concept paired with an awesome and totally lovable heroine, made this a pleasant reading date. I’m ready for the next one and cannot wait to see which book boyfriend(s) I’ll get to meet.

Sometimes, first impressions don’t tell the whole story. It’s better to keep an open mind and an open heart cause you just never know….

I received an advance reader copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

authorbio2

tiffanys

A former teacher living and creating mischief in Doylestown, PA. Married to St. Matt, mother of impish boys, and chaser of mischievous puggles. I’m represented by Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary. Oh, and I’m unrepentantly addicted to writing & reading YA.

I have two contemporary YA novels: SEND ME A SIGN and BRIGHT BEFORE SUNRISE. A contemporary thriller series ONCE UPON A CRIME FAMILY, which begins with HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH and continues in BREAK ME LIKE A PROMISE. Up next for me is the BOOKISH BOYFRIENDS series, coming from Abrams Books in Spring 2018

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Thanks for reading my review. Have you read this book? What did you think? Leave your comments down below. I’d love to hear from you.

As always, have a wonderful day!!!

CHEMISTRY LESSONS

Hello bookish friends and welcome to my Blog Tour Stop for Chemistry Lesson by Meredith Goldstein hosted by Rock Star Book Tours. Today, I have my review to share with you and a giveaway at the end.

Chemistry-Lessons_Goldstein
aboutthebook2
Pub. Date: June 19, 2018
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 256

Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD

From advice columnist Meredith Goldstein, a dazzling, romantic, and emotionally resonant YA debut about a teen science whiz in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who tries to crack the chemical equation for lasting love and instead wreaks havoc on herself and the boys in her life.

For seventeen-year-old Maya, the equation for happiness is simple: a dream internship at MIT + two new science nerd friends + a perfect boyfriend = one amazing summer. Then Whit dumps her out of the blue. Maya is miserable until she discovers that her scientist mother, before she died, was conducting research on manipulating pheromones to enhance human attraction. If Maya can finish her mother’s work, maybe she can get Whit back. But when her experiment creates chaos in her love life, she realizes that maybe love and loss can’t be understood using the scientific method. Can she learn to trust the unmeasurables of love and attraction instead?

reviewrating

4hearts

Cute and Charming YA Contemporary

reviewthoughts

Chemistry Lesson by Meredith Goldstein is a lighthearted and charmingly fun novel with a unique scientific twist on love and attraction. It’s quite endearing, adorably amusing, and sweet. I had a good time reading this book and would definitely recommend it.

The premise of this book was really intriguing and fun and I really did like this book, but I didn’t completely fall in love with the story like I expected. Plot wise, some parts were slow and there just wasn’t enough excitement for me in the beginning. Having said that, it does get better and there were fun scenes that I loved and the storyline itself was well-written and easy to follow that I was able to finish this in less than 24 hours. The pacing was also pretty good and while some moments were a bit predictable, I enjoyed all the deliciously fun surprises along the way. The romance wasn’t super swoony or anything, but a few cute moments certainly made me smile. Maya’s relationship with her father was also heartwarmingly sweet and I really enjoyed all their scenes together. The ending was great and I loved how it just brought the whole story together and left me feeling happy.

Maya was a great lead and I really liked her a lot. She was smart, passionate and incredibly determined. However, I wasn’t really in favor of her trying to get her ex-boyfriend back and being a little bit inconsiderate about other people’s feelings while she conducted the experiment. I didn’t always agree with her choices and found her frustrating at times, but she’s also someone teenage me can easily relate to… and honestly, I’ve probably been her at one point or another.

I thought the supporting characters were realistic enough that any reader can most likely relate to one of them. They were annoying at times, but they acted their age and had a sense of genuine realness that made them really likable. However, no one really stood out to me except maybe Bryan. I thought his friendship with Maya was absolutely endearing. Not to mention he’s sweet, funny, and just an awesome best friend. Kyle wasn’t so bad either and he was quite adorable and charming at times, but I just didn’t swoon over him like crazy. Maybe I’m still hung over my other book boyfriends that Kyle just didn’t personally meet my standards right now. Totally not the book’s fault, so I’m sure others will find him cute and swoon-worthy.

Overall, this book was a very light, fun and cute read. It wasn’t spectacularly mind-blowing or anything, but it had a nice mixture of light drama, heartbreak, great friendships, self-discovery, and first loves. It’s charming in its own way and definitely a perfect summer YA contemporary read! Oh and I really enjoyed the “whiff walks.”

I picked up a physical advance reader copy of this book from HMH during Yallwest this year and I also voluntarily signed up to review this book and be part of a Blog Tour hosted by Rock Star Book Tours. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

authorbio2
Meredith Goldstein is an advice columnist and entertainment reporter for The Boston Globe. Her first novel “The Singles,” was released by Penguin/Plume on April 24, 2012.

In March of 2016, Grand Central Publishing acquired a memoir based on her column, Love Letters. It is scheduled to be released by Spring of 2018.

Meredith was born in New Jersey, raised in Maryland, went to Syracuse University, and now lives in Roxbury, Massachusetts with a carnival-size cotton candy machine that she bought for herself on her 30th birthday.

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Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

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