Tori's Review: My Life with the Walter Boys (My Life with the Walter Boys #1) by Ali Novak

My Life with the Walter Boys by Ali Novak
Series: My Life with the Walter Boys #1
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ♚♚♚
Pages: 368
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on March 1, 2014
Amazon | B&N

Sixteen-year-old Jackie Howard is devastated when her parents are killed in a car accident. She has no one to turn to except for her mom's best friend Katherine Walter. Jackie quickly discovers that Katherine is no stranger to being a mom-she's got twelve boys! And every single one is a handful...

Adjusting to life with the Walter boys is not going to be easy, especially when two of them start to show an interest that definitely goes beyond brotherly.

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

Honestly, I feel so different when I read a published book that used to be a Wattpad book. On one hand, I'm very proud of the Wattpad author for making it so far with their writing, but on the other hand, I'm trepidatious before reading the book, because I know that Wattpad books are very different from published books. Nevertheless, My Life with the Walter Boys was no different from any other Wattpad book. I have to admit that it improved a lot from when it was first published on Wattpad, because I had read it then, but I still think the characters need to get a reality check before entering the publishing world.

The first things that irritated me about My Life with the Walter Boys were the characters. Jackie, for one, was stuck up, and I really didn't like her. She made decisions that were out of character. She was portrayed as a goodie-goodie who didn't drink and didn't go to parties, but lo and behold the moment Cole Walter tells her to, she does it! Then there was Alex Walter. He was very hormonal for a teenage guy, and that's all I'm going to say.

Finally, there's Cole Walter himself.

Oh, Cole Walter. What will I do with you? On one hand, I really liked Cole and his brooding self. But then as the story went along, he really started to irritate me as well. He thought he was all that when he clearly wasn't all that. Sure, he was hot, but he really didn't have a personality. The author gave Cole somewhat of a past to try and make him relatable, but I wasn't buying it. Also, I was extremely iffy on Lee and his supposed "hatred" for Jackie.

Other than the characters, the plot was fun. A bit dramatic, but I suppose that's what contemporary is about. The whole my-brother-stole-my-ex-girlfriend-but-it-was-just-a-misunderstanding fiasco between Alex and Cole got a bit old, but it kept things entertaining. In my opinion, everyone's problems were solved too easily. It was as if everything just sort of fell into place at the end, which didn't make me mad but didn't please me either. I like endings to be difficult, but the ending to My Life with the Walter Boys was nothing short of easy.

But the very, very ending/goodbye between Jackie and Cole was touching, and I found myself rooting for the two by the end of the book somehow. The end left at a hint for a sequel, which I think will be happening, according to Goodreads. (Plus, the sequel is on Wattpad, so... I probably won't read it unless it's published, though.)

In conclusion, this was a decent debut novel for a Wattpad writer to published author. The characters weren't my favorite, but I didn't despise them, which is good. The plot kept me entertained and kept my interest, which is also good. There were a few instances where things didn't quite match up, but I'm sure the book's ARC status is to blame, which should be no big deal when it's published. If you're looking for a fun, quick read, then this book is definitely for you! Remember that three stars doesn't mean that I didn't like it.

Tori's Review: The Cellar by Natasha Preston

The Cellar by Natasha Preston
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Rating: ★★★★
Pages: 368
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on March 1, 2014
Amazon | B&N

"Lily?"

My stomach dropped as a tall, dark-haired man stepped into view. Had he been hiding between the trees? "No. Sorry." Gulping, I took a step back. "I'm not Lily."

Before I could blink, he threw his arms forward and grabbed me. I tried to shout, but he clasped his hand over my mouth, muffling my screams. My heart raced. I'm going to die.

_____

For months, Summer is trapped in a cellar with the man who took her-and three other girls: Rose, Poppy, and Violet. His perfect, pure flowers. His family. But flowers can't survive long cut off from the sun, and time is running out...Nothing ever happens in the town of Long Thorpe – that is, until sixteen-year-old Summer Robinson disappears without a trace. No family or police investigation can track her down. Spending months inside the cellar of her kidnapper with several other girls, Summer learns of Colin’s abusive past, and his thoughts of his victims being his family…his perfect, pure flowers. But flowers can’t survive long cut off from the sun, and time is running out….

NOTE: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I remember this book when it was on Wattpad. I have to admit that I never read it, but my friend did, and she said that it was scary as hell and that I shouldn't read it in the dark at night time. Because of this, I expected something way more scary than what I got. Yes, The Cellar is creepy on many levels, but it wasn't downright scary. It didn't make me want to pee my pants. For some reason, scary movies and TV shows scare me way more than books do, and I'm seriously waiting for that one book to pop out and scare me so bad that I loose sleep over it (thank you to The Grudge for doing that to me. I appreciate it). 

I honestly didn't care that the book didn't scare me; I just anticipated for it to scare me, and it didn't. It's not even a real problem that I had with the book. A real problem I had with The Cellar was the fact that the psychological issues weren't that severe for Summer. She was locked in a cellar for nearly a year, witnessed girls being murdered, and was raped. I just thought that the psychological impact on her mentality would've been worse that just, "Oh, I feel a bit woosey. Ooh, I can't really remember you. Ooh, I don't want you to touch me." I sort of wanted her to have a panic attack or something. Going into this book, I even thought she would develop Stockholm Syndrome. (She didn't.) 

On the other side of the spectrum, the POV change was refreshing and nice. At first, I thought that I was going to hate the POV changes (I usually do), but I didn't in this case. I'm actually glad that the author decided to do them. If she hadn't, I would've gotten bored with Summer's POV after so long of her being locked in a cellar day in and day out. 

If anything scared me in this book, it would be Clover's point of view. It showed that he wasn't completely all there. He honestly believed that murdering people was okay. I think that this part of the novel was done very well. Another part I thought was done really well was Rose's (Shannen's) attachment to Clover. It was explained adequately, which I appreciated (apparently I appreciated a lot of things regarding this book). Also, I really enjoyed watching Clover's obsessive compulsive disorder span out through the entire book. It was fascinating. 

I have to admit that I didn't really like the flashbacks because they got a bit confusing at time, but as time wore on, I started liking them more often than not, and by the end of the novel I was completely fine with them. 

Preston might have sort of glossed over the psychological aspects of the book, but she sure didn't gloss over Clover's murdering, which I also loved. In my search for a book that really scares me out of my wits (it's safe to say that I haven't read Stephen King yet...), I've noticed that books really don't scare me much, so I appreciated the fact that Clover did managed to creep me out more than I liked. 

In the end, this was a solid novel for Natasha Preston, and I'm glad that I requested it on NetGalley to review. I'm really glad that I read it, and I learned to never go out at night in the dark looking for a friend because I might get kidnapped and shoved into a cellar. I'll most likely be ordering this online once it comes out so I can showcase it proudly on my bookshelf!