Tori's Review: Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton

Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Series: Everneath #1
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: ♚♚♚♚½
Pages: 370
Published by Balzer + Bray on January 24, 2012
Amazon | B&N

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned-to her old life, her family, her boyfriend-before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance-and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

The first thing that really stood out in this book to me was the world-building. Ashton was able to create a world that felt real even when it wasn't. The mythological aspect in this was super fascinating, and I loved how Nikki was submerged into the world of the Everneath. Her interactions with the characters in the story were realistic and didn't seem forced at all.

The only person in this book that I didn't like was Jules. She just didn't seem as genuine and as real as Cole and Jack were. She felt more as a person who was there just to move the pace along. This wasn't a big deal, but I think it's important to mention. She ended up being more a nuisance more than anything.

Personally, I'm more toward Jack in this book. Cole doesn't seem like the type of person that one can depend on. He doesn't seem committed to anything other than himself. He's such a stereotypical bad boy, too. Although I'm more toward Jack, I'm still not in love with Jack nor do I love him. I think the only reason I couldn't give this book a full five stars is because I'm not completely convinced that I need to be in love with these characters. They seem real and all, but I just haven't formed an emotional connection to them (yet).

I have to admit that I do personally really enjoy that Jack never gives up on Nikki. It's sweet, and I loved that about him. I suppose Cole doesn't really give up on her either, but in a different sense.

I think Aston created the perfect atmosphere for this book with her writing. She really set the tone as mysterious and borderline fantasy, which I love. For some reason, I particularly enjoy urban fantasy, so this book was perfect for me.

This book is mostly romance and relationships, so I was extremely happy when the romance didn't outside and block the plot. That just didn't happen, and I loved that about this book. I honestly tried to find something that I hated about this book and couldn't stand.

I came up blank. I recommend this book to nearly anyone. I think so many people will enjoy reading it.

Tori's Review: Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ♚♚♚♚½
Pages: 288
Published by Point on February 25, 2014
Amazon | B&N

For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?

From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again — and one kiss away from true love?

NOTE: I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. 

First off, let me tell you that you need this book in your life. Lately, I've really been digging contemporaries, and that's why I requested this book on NetGalley. I don't think I've ever been so grateful that I requested on NetGalley. This book was hilarious, cute, and everything good in life. It pained me to read about Levi and Macallan not being a couple.

One of the best aspects of Better off Friends is that Levi and Macallan are characters that you can relate to. They make stupid, rash decisions in the story and in real life people make stupid, rash decisions. Eulberg makes middle school and high school sound real rather than the fake cliche stuff most of the contemporaries I've read are all about.

Macallan and Levi's relationship together—their friendship and their love for one another—makes the entire novel. Surprisingly, it's not boring. In fact, this book is actually quite entertaining. I read it in one sitting, on the way home from my out-of-town tournament, and it's honestly the best road trip book. It's light and cute, which is what I just need some days. The writing is simple and to-the-point, which I love.

Each character goes through a hardship in life that is reasonable and realistic with reasonable and realistic responses. It's interesting to see how each characters deals with each event in their life differently.

I especially loved the double POV. Lately, I've been loving split POVs. Levi and Macallan have such interesting voices, and I love them both. Levi is a meat-head—a typical boy—and Macallan is bordering on needy—a typical girl. I love how the two feed off each other and seem to be better people with one another.

But let me say that the tension between the two is sky-high, and it made me want to toss my phone out the window at one point or another. It was amazing how blind they were toward each other's feelings throughout the entire novel.

Honestly, like I said before, the entire novel is their relationship with one another. There's nothing I can really say about this novel without repeating myself. If you're not going to read the novel, you're mistaken, because you are going to read Better off Friends. It's simply amazing, and I loved it. Everybody needs this book in their life, because it might just teach them a thing or two about making stupid decisions and moving past them. Plus, Levi and Macallan are hilarious.

Tori's Review: Ten Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski

Then Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★★★½
Pages: 368
Published by HarperTeen on June 7, 2011
Date Finished: August 10, 2013
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house - parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have.

If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them.

In this hilarious and bittersweet tale, Sarah Mlynowski mines the heart and mind of a girl on her own for the first time. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time.

Tori's Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Series: Nightshade #1
Genre: Young Adult, Werewolves, Paranormal
Rating: ★★★★½
Pages: 452
Published by Philomel on October 19, 2010
Date Finished: July 13, 2013
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything- including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?