Review: Never Never

Never Never: Part Two by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a bit of a difficult "book" to review as it's really only one part of a whole. If I were to try and review this as a standalone book then I'd say that it has done it's job of keeping me on the edge of my seat throughout! Silas' anxiety leaps off the page as he desperately searches for answers to his and Charlie's recurrent memory loss, not to mention his search for Charlie herself before their memories are erased in 48 hours. Each new clue he uncovers only leads to more questions - questions that continue to mount faster than they can be answered in the short amount of time he has, all adding to an overwhelming atmosphere rife with suspense and dread as time ticks down to that final minute, those final seconds...until I read the line "to be continued."

If I were to compare the two parts separately so far, I'd say that I enjoyed Part One more in terms of the initial build-up of suspense and mystery surrounding their memory loss. I feel that both Silas' and Charlie's desperation and anxiety in this impossible situation that they find themselves in is felt so much more in Part One than Part Two, even despite the fact that Charlie is M.I.A. in Part Two. Obviously the mystery surrounding her whereabouts adds to the overall sense of dread and confusion of the story, especially for Silas as he basically flies solo in trying to find her, yet I still feel that Part Two is weaker in terms of keeping up that same level of suspense that I felt in Part One. Or maybe it's because the two parts are separated that I feel a decided lack of suspense in Part Two, as I had to try to dive back into the same feelings that I had forgotten about previously.

Perhaps if the parts were instead complied together as one I might change my mind about the coherence of their story and how it flows...I'm left simply imagining how I might react if this were the case and so I'm guessing that I would feel a more sustainable thread of fear and emotion towards these characters throughout had it instead been one book. The thing is that it's hard to jump back into their story and into that feeling of "eep, what's happening next!?" when it's been a while in between the parts and I do think that I'll feel the same way once Part Three is released. Also, this time around I found it harder to believe Silas' love for Charlie even though he keeps saying he just sort of "knows" he loves her...I mean all he has to go on this time when he "wakes up" are the letters explaining their unending love without a physical Charlie around and it just doesn't feel as compelling or realistic to me without them actually being face to face.

In the same situation, how would any one of us react?? (And yes I know this is completely a work of fiction!!) But still, IF this happened to you, would you blindly believe these letters and go it alone or would you turn yourself into the police or a crazy hospital? That's one question I kept asking myself and I'm still not quite sure of the answer. Either way, although the story is incredibly interesting and I do want to figure out how it ends, I'm just not sure I can follow or accept how believable the character's reactions are each time. Well, aside from Charlie because I'm pretty sure I'd do exactly what she does in order to find my own answers!

So despite some reservations I do think it is well written and I will be reading the last one just to find out how it ends. There is enough of a cliffhanger (again) that it's kind of hard not to be curious. Though it might have been wiser to wait for all three to be released and read them all at once!

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Review: Open Road Summer

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First of all, can I just say that when they're done right, female friendships are amazing!

I'd heard so much buzz surrounding this book and Emery Lord as a contemporary author that although I don't normally read a lot of contemporary, I had to check it out - and yes, I'm glad I did! This story touched my heart and is such a beautiful reminder of all the good, deep, and meaningful female friendships I've had in my own life. The road trip aspect was so much fun and definitely got me excited for summer to arrive!

"Her wings stretch wide, but she's not soaring; her clawed feet are not tucked up against her stomach. She seems...ready. Like she's getting there."

Reagan is such a great character. She has been through hell and back and despite a few major setbacks throughout her difficult life, Reagan has thus far managed to keep it together just enough to persevere, due in large part to the thick, defensive walls she has carefully constructed around her. When we first meet Reagan she is hardened, still recovering from the physical and emotional scars that have finally prompted her to turn her life around. Although she wouldn't readily admit it to herself, Reagan is strong, self-aware, and possesses just enough self-love to actually want to change her life for the better. Her character arc throughout the book is wonderful to witness and I enjoyed watching her navigate through some pretty tricky situations with gusto and an enduring desire to 'do the right thing.'

"It's part of Dee's charm, that every spark is love to her, every first kiss, every tingle of anticipation. Each moment has big possibilities for Dee."

Lilah, or "Dee," is delightful. She is a refreshing mix of sweet, Southern belle and gutsy power-house. I want to be her friend in real life, so so badly. Dee is frighteningly mature for her 17 years (far more than I ever was at her age) and deals with her new-found fame with courage, confidence and an unwavering loyalty not only to her family, friends and fans but most importantly to herself. Dee has lead a charmed life in comparison to Reagan but still has her fare share of growing to do, learning to take the reins on her own life without holding back for all of the 'what-ifs'.

Reagan and Dee have an amazing bond and support each other exactly how best friends should - without back-stabbing, jealousy, gossip or scheming. They are honest-to-goodness true friends and I can't tell you enough how wonderful it was to be a part of their world for a little while.

"I could sink into the Nashville night like a plush lounge chair."

One last note - I think I highlighted every delicious line about the scenery, the big open sky, the cities they visited and especially about Nashville. I am a sucker for descriptive text and Emery Lord delivered. I felt like I could smell and feel the hot, Southern air and wanted to be wrapped up in the same summer warmth like no other!

Overall, this is a great contemporary read with so much to offer. Although I focused my review on Dee and Reagan, there is a lovely romance or two involving swoon-worthy guys as well. There is laughter, love, tears, and enough big open skies to satisfy everyone.

Happy Reading!
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Review: Ember

Ember by Bettie Sharpe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a fun, imaginative, and sexy retelling of Cinderella! Ember is a kick-ass lead and I thoroughly enjoyed her sass and quick-witted nature. The fact that this is an erotic retelling did not bother me, (I can handle coarse language and mature sexual content), but it didn't really matter anyway as I did not find that the sex scenes were too much or done in distaste. The writing is fresh and Ember is spunky and I had a blast reading it!

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Review: Hollywood Dirt

Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

"That was when you knew you were doing something wrong, when you couldn't look at yourself in the mirror to face it"

Yep. That's definitely when I knew this book was wrong for me. Actually I knew a lot sooner but that sentence sealed the deal.

This is the most disappointing book that I've read so far this year. No, I usually don't read Romance novels, yes I do realize that this is a Romance novel, and an erotic one at that, but you know I believe in giving every genre a chance and every once in a while I crave something in the love department.

I'm pretty disgusted with how Torre portrays women in this book. Despite the unbelievable amount of 4 and 5 star reviews, many reviewers often stated that they were disappointed with how Torre characterizes her Southern characters, especially the female characters, to be nothing more than uneducated, baby-making machines. Not to mention their (totally stereotypical) love for fried chicken and beer.

"Most of our social life revolved around cooking, growing, or eating food. But that was life, especially for a woman, in the South."

Really?! Did that just happen!?

Moving on.

A little backstory about this book: an incredibly hot, world-famous, hot, rich, and did I say hot male actor named Cole Masten descends upon small-town Quincy, Georgia, to make and star in a movie about a bunch of millionaires who made their family fortunes by investing in Coca Cola generations ago. He meets independent, spunky, out-spoken but still southernly-mannered Summer Jenkins, notices her sexy legs, and decides that he wants to bed her right then and there. Oh, I should also mention that both parties have been badly burned by cheating ex's, and that Summer committed some sort of terrible act of revenge upon her ex-fiance that is repeatedly hinted at throughout the entire book but when finally revealed fails to live up to the hype and secrecy.

Infatuated at first sight with Summer, Cole casts her in his movie opposite him as his leading lady so he can charm and woo her to his bed - because he's Cole Masten and he gets what he wants. Summer is not impressed with Cole as a human being, but because she needs the money and apparently wants out of small-town Quincy, she accepts.

Of course a Romance novel wouldn't be a Romance novel without a little sparring to generate some sexual tension, am I right? We've already established that Cole finds Summer attractive enough to employ her in the hopes of getting some action on the side, but her strong, 'southern woman' personality (a.k.a she stands up for herself) is more than he's used to handling back in Hollywood where women literally drool at his feet. Summer finds Cole instantaneously and irresistibly hot - so hot in fact that she can hardly look at him or form sentences, but (not surprisingly) completely loathes his personality so thoroughly that we really wonder if these two will ever end up in bed together (they do).

Now really, this love-hate-love story-line has been done before and is not entirely the reason why I dislike the book. What really set me off is the incredibly demeaning way that all the men treat Summer. Other than Summer, there is a decided lack of females in the story save for her mother, who doesn't play a significant role. I know part of the reason stems from Summer's aforementioned 'revenge plot' that renders her a social pariah in town, leaving Summer to deal with the group of Hollywood-misogynistic-creepy men by herself.

No one has her back when Cole, angry with Summer for shunning his advances after their first sexual encounter, decides to change the original script to include first a kissing scene, and then later on a sex scene between the two of them, complete with Summer needing to appear naked on camera - something she never agreed to and "fought tooth and nail" over, but to no avail.

Cole - "You have to do it. You signed a contract."
Summer - "The contract didn't say anything about me being naked on camera."
Cole - "Correction. The contract didn't say anything about you not being naked on camera."

Chapters 83 and 84 (which includes the above passage) really got to me. I'm not entirely sure where Torre is trying to go with this story at this point because these chapters, to me, read as though Cole is basically forcing Summer into doing soft-core porn, and other than the spineless director objecting a few times, no one else stands up to Cole or supports Summer in not wanting to film a sex scene. It is even mentioned that Cole's script changes make absolutely no sense to the continuity of the movie. Regardless, Cole tells Summer to "man up" and "be a professional about it" - two ridiculous statements because first of all she's a woman, not a man, and second of all she is not a professional actor but an amateur, someone Cole plucked out of nowhere.

I've had a hard time articulating why I'm uncomfortable with this part of the story because up until the last 20% of the book - when Cole coerces Summer into (fake) sex for money - it wasn't such a bad read, albeit a cheesy read.

Basically, it feels like Torre takes a serious subject, men using their masculinity and status to force women to do things they don't want to do for money or other rewards, and makes it seem like no big deal. I say this because despite the fact that Summer strategically maneuvers herself out of doing the sex scene, she doesn't retain any dignity in my eyes because she still wants Cole's smokin' hot bod anyway. Why did Torre write her like that? What is her motivation for making Summer so...hypocritical...in her actions?

Cole treats Summer and everyone else like the big jerk that he is, and yet she still falls in love with him and constantly stares at his 'package' and fantasizes about his naked body. It's as though, simply because he's a hot, famous actor, she forgets herself. And just because Cole's been cheated on in the past, he can treat everyone in his life terribly. To be fair I'll add here that Summer is not entirely blameless, as they are both pretty immature in how they handle their weird non-relationship, fighting and bickering and not communicating like the adults they are.

In the end neither one of them go through any kind of major growth or realization about themselves, they just 'get together' and have a baby and live happily ever after. I wanted to feel sympathy for Summer for what she went through with Cole, and vice versa, but really the two of them are so frustrating in their ignorance that they pretty much deserve each other.

Sorry but...I just don't buy it. I would never let a man treat me the way Cole treats Summer. He makes her cry repeatedly, feel inferior, ashamed for standing up for herself, and used. But she still goes for him in the end.

And yes I know it's just a story, a totally hypothetical, erotic story, but stories have the power to shape and reflect our realities, which is why I'm shocked that so many women gave this book such rave reviews. Is this how women want to be treated by men? Dominated and bullied? And is this how women act towards those men? Flippant and wishy-washy? How romantic.

I guess I should try to stay away from these kind of Romance novels, hey?


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