Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Blurb:
One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.


Links:
Allegiant on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I finished this last night and afterwards I felt just dead inside. I absolutely hate when a series ends leaving me feeling unsatisfied and even, in this case, angry. I feel kind of betrayed by the author.

I loved Divergent. The book had its faults, but I really fell in love with the whole story, the characters, the romance between Tris and Four, the Factions, etc. I read and re-read Divergent probably 8-10 times. I bought the audio book version as well. I was SO PSYCHED about the movie! I bought Insurgent and devoured it as well. It didn't have quite the same magic for me that Divergent did, but I still loved it. So I was REALLY psyched to read Allegiant.

And maybe my hopes were too high.

I don't know.

That doesn't change the fact that this book utterly and completely disappointed me.

SPOILERS AHEAD

For real, SPOILERS!

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

**What's outside the fence?**

I was really excited, after reading the 'cliffhanger' ending to Insurgent, to find out what was outside the fence. I had my theories, and I was right about some, wrong about others. I was expecting the cameras and Truman Show-esque thing, but I was not expecting all the genetic manipulation crap. As soon as our heroes get outside the fence, there are chapters and chapters of info dumping and, to be honest, it's kind of dull. We learn that Chicago (and some other cities) were created as 'experiments' because of genetic manipulation gone wrong. Supposedly these cities were an attempt at creating more 'genetically pure' people (aka Divergents). This is so far-fetched and bizarre, but I was willing to go along with it.

**Tris and Four**

I wasn't against the dual perspective, though once I finished the book I realized why she HAD to write it in a dual perspective. However, I don't think it was done well. There were several times where I would get halfway through a chapter and not remember who I was in the head of at the time, mostly because the two narrators had identical voices.

Tris has always been an interesting character to me. I really liked that she was tough, but a little vulnerable and naive. I liked her progression through Divergent and Insurgent. She doesn't really progress much here. We've always known Tris is a selfless person who is more than willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good, or for her loved ones. That doesn't change here. More on that later. She does become kind of arrogant and holier-than-thou here, and it really started to bug me. She's 16, but she often acts (and everyone treats) her like a grown-up. She is pretty much always right in Allegiant and she makes sure everyone knows it.

Four was awesome in Divergent. He loses all of that awesomeness in Allegiant. He becomes quite whiny and pathetic to the point where I actually wanted Tris to break up with him. She probably should have, considering some of the stupid and completly out of character stuff he does. I really hated seeing him reduced to this quivering mess of a boy who does nothing but wax poetic about his mommy and daddy issues. Four was always strong, and he is the polar opposite of that here.

I did enjoy the progression of their relationship though. Some people have complained about the scene where Four accuses Tris of being jealous, but I actually liked it. I like that they, FOR ONCE, acted like TEENAGERS. Unfortunately that was a tiny part of this book, and for the rest of it they act like 30-40 year old worldly adults.


**THE END OF THE CONFLICT**

So we have Four's mother Evelyn running Chicago like a factionless tyrannical dictatorship. Johanna and Marcus running the Allegiant, trying to reinstate the factions.

Evelyn has been portrayed as a nearly heartless person, hell bent on making all the Factioned people clean toilets like the Factionless had to do for so many years. At the height of the conflict, she is willing to allow a "Death Serum" to kill pretty much everyone in Chicago in order to avoid going back to the Factions. This is when Four arrives and says "Hey Mom, I'll be your son again if you stop acting like a monster" and she goes "Okay."

She then negotiates with Marcus and Johanna. Marcus wants to take over as evil dictator and Johanna says "Nah, you're not gonna do that" and Marcus just says "Okay."

Conflict over.

WHAT?

WHAT????????????

**Mass Murder**

Roth has not shied away from killing off characters in the first two books, but I felt like most of that had a purpose. Tris' parents in the first book, Al (due to the guilt over his own actions towards Tris), Jeannine in Insurgent, and more. Deaths in Allegiant come just as rapidly and have even less meaning. Tori dies in a very sudden manner, and then is mostly forgotten about. She was referred to as the leader of the Dauntless, but she is killed and then is nothing more than an afterthought for the rest of the book.

Uriah's death is given a lot more page time, but only as a way to make Four feel like total shit for getting involved in the rebellion and to make Tris "right" once again.

The biggest death of all was Tris, and this was the biggest disappointment to me. I will be straight up honest - I LIKE a happy ending. I read YA because I like knowing that things will most likely end up happy overall. I read romance because I know there will always be a happily ever after. HOWEVER, I can deal with a bittersweet ending so long as it feels satisfying and feels like closure. Tris' death was NOT that ending.

Caleb's betrayal was a huge part of Insurgent, and that continues on in Allegiant. He has a LOT to attone for in Allegiant and when he volunteers for the suicide mission to help save everyone, he does it because he wants Tris to forgive him. And he doesn't want to live with the guilt of what he did. Instead of letting him, Tris forces him to let her go instead. I understand this. Tris forgave him and doesn't want him to die because he feels guilty. I get it.

HOWEVER

Caleb doesn't get that opportunity to redeem himself. While I understand that Tris acted the way she had to act, that doesn't mean Caleb can't take a bullet for her. That doesn't mean he can't force a redemption. Instead, Tris dies in a completly unsatisfying scene that left me going "WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?" Caleb lives and basically still is the coward and traitor.

Caleb NEEDED to redeem himself. He needed to take that bullet for Tris and die.

Instead, we get this fucked up ending where Caleb lives. Peter lives (gets his mind erased BY HIS OWN CHOICE and gets to start over). Marcus lives (just disappears somehow). David (Tris' murderer) lives (also gets his mind erased and even though he's an evil murderer, no one cares because he doesn't remember). Almost all the bad guys live and get to have perfectly happy, normal lives.

This is NOT SATISFYING.

THIS IS POINTLESS.

Sorry, but this book was awful. I wanted to love it. I REALLY wanted to love it. I was willing to deal with all the weird genetically damaged stuff. I was willing to deal with the complete dismantling of Four's character. I was willing to deal with a lot, but Tris' pointless and needless death... NOPE. This death felt like it was here for shock value only. So the author could be "edgy" and "different."

Unfortunately, all she did for me is ruin the entire series. I won't be re-reading Divergent or Insurgent anymore. I won't be re-reading Allegiant. And I definitely won't be seeing the movies that I was once so excited for. Knowing how depressingly it ends ruins it all for me.

  1 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/706683179

Review: Sever by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Sever
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Blurb:
With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered.


Links:
Sever on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book was dull and nonsensical. I liked the first book in this series, felt a little MEH about the second, but this one is just bad. The storyline meanders along, major revelations are mentioned and then forgotten about, and some "main" characters are compeletly missing.

MAJOR plot spoilers in this review!

The first half of this book is Rhine hanging out at Vaughn's brother Reed's house. She goes there to keep safe and keeps talking about finding her brother, but ends up just hanging out with Reed for page after page after page. Linden and Cecily come visit her, and it's pretty boring. We spend a LOT of time reading about mature Cecily is now (at age 14), how Linden still seems to love Rhine, but also bows to Cecily's every whim, how Rhine has to stay out of Cecily and Linden's marriage, how Linden doesn't believe Rhine that Vaughn is a crazy douchebag, blah blah. I DON'T CARE.

During Rhine's time at Reed's we get one of the most idiotic scenes EVER. For some reason they're all practicing shooting an empty gun. There is this whole scene where Reed is trying to get people's attention... so he fires an empty weapon and Rhine comments about how EVEN WITHOUT A BULLET the sound was still deafening - a loud crack. Ms. DeStefano, I understand you may not know how guns work, but I'd think you would have seen at least ONE movie where someone tries to fire an empty gun and it just clicks. Quietly.

Eventually, Rhine does decide to leave and look for her brother. Then, for some completely random reason, Linden decides to believe Cecily when she says Vaughn is a bad guy, so Linden and Cecily leave their baby with Reed and accompany Rhine. I don't really know WHY they do this, but they do. And they then proceed to go... to the stupid prostitute carnival from book 2. A bunch more boring stuff happens and eventually they move on...

And find Rowan. Because apparently everyone knows what building Rowan is going to bomb next and he even builds a huge podium to give a speech before he blows it up. Even with all that info, the government/police apparently can't stop him from blowing shit up. So Rhine easily finds Rowan, who is apparently BFF's with Vaughn. And Rhine is like, okay, let's go go Hawaii where we find out that apparently the "virus" doesn't exist in the rest of the world. This fact is just sort of said randomly and then NEVER TALKED ABOUT AGAIN.

Seriously?? This seems like a HUGE FUCKING DEAL.

But whatever, guess it doesn't matter.

I'm also curious why, if the government is trying to hide this fact from the citizens of the USA, people are allowed to fly around to Hawaii and visit.

Then Rhine and Rowan both agree to help Vaughn discover a cure, which he discovers, and some other dumb shit happens including Gabriel randomly reappearing at the tail end of the novel (oh yeah, he exists?) and Linden dying in a really random and silly way.

It was just bad. Really bad.

There's been a build up to Rowan for like two and a half books, we get there and he is basically Vaughn's lap dog. He doesn't seem to give a damn that Vaughn kidnapped his sister and forced her into marriage with his son. He doesn't care about anything other than blowing up labs (WHY are we blowing up labs? WHY does Vaughn care about blowing up other people's labs?) and sticking his nose all the way up Vaughn's butt.

We get a whole love story with Gabriel in book 2 that I found a little dull, but it was still a major part of the novel. Gabriel is absent for ALL of Sever except for the very end. He has a tiny handful of lines and I cared about him even less than I did in book 2.

In fact, I couldn't bring myself to care about ANY of the characters.

Rhine was a boring wuss. Linden had no reason to exist other than to cave to his wives' demands. He has absolutely no backbone of his own. Cecily is supposedly so mature this time around, but I just found her slightly less obnoxious than before and even more dull.

Completely awful final installment to the series. If I had known it was going to end this badly, I doubt I would have started it. Any magic from Wither is completely absent here.

  1 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/386918283

Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Blurb:

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.


Links:
Clockwork Princess on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I loved this book until the last part of the epilogue. Spoilers for that near the end.

Clockwork Princess was everything I wanted it to be and turned out to be the nearly perfect conclusion to this series - a series I love more than Clare's original Shadowhunter books (The Mortal Instruments). While there didn't seem to be as much Tessa as I expected in the first 60%, we got to spend a lot of time with other characters and I found that I didn't mind. I was curious to see where everything was headed and Clare did manage to surprise me a few times.

We start off Clockwork Princess a few months after Clockwork Prince has ended. Mortmain has been fairly silent, and the Shadowhunter team at the London Institute finds they have to deal with another (slightly) unexpected enemy while gaining a new (also slightly unexpected) ally.

The romance between Gideon and Sophie continues to grow, and I found it adorable. The scones!

We also get to know Will's sister, Cecily, who surprised us at the end of Clockwork Prince by showing up at the Institute to train to be a Shadowhunter. At first, I admit, I was a little bored of Cecily. I didn't think she added much to the story and I struggled not to skim through her parts. Eventually she grew on me and I was pleased to discover her part in the family tree.

**SPOILERS AFTER HERE - like MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR spoilers**



** DO NOT READ PAST HERE UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED THE BOOK!!!**



**MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS BELOW!!**


Will and Jem and Tessa are all still in love with each other (sorta). I admit, I've never been Team Jem. I don't find the sickly pale skeletal look to be attractive and he was always a little TOO sweet. I like a snarky bad boy, so I've always been firmly Team Will. However, I will give Clare credit in that she wrote an amazing love triangle.

That said, I was disappointed slightly with how she ended it. I thought she had some serious balls to kill off Jem a little over halfway through the book. I was shocked and surprised, but also a little happy. I didn't think she would do that. I thought Clare would cop out and I was happy she did something much more interesting than find a cure for Jem.

Then the whole "Jem's not dead, he's a Silent Brother" thing happened. Ok, I get it. I'm still ok with that, because he has to give up everything human about himself to become a Silent Brother. I didn't think it fit well with Jem's personality though. He was so adamantly against it and I was a little surprised he would choose to go that route, but I was still okay with it.

But then the last few pages of the epilogue happened. I went from bawling in happy sad tears to annoyed that Clare did cop out on the love triangle, just as I suspected (and worried) she would. The whole "Guess what? You had a long happy life with Will and he died an old man, now suddenly a few years later Jem is able to cure his illness and stop being a Silent Brother and now you can have a long happy life with him too" thing just ruined the whole feeling of the epilogue for me.

I may be in the minority there - I know there are a lot of people who love Jem - but I was LOVING the epilogue until that point. While I was crying and crying and crying while reading about Tessa's life with Will, and Will's death, and her having to leave their kids, and her going to Magnus, and them having a whole conversation about how much being immortal really does suck (dealing with outliving your children and loved ones)...

Then we get the annual bridge meetup between Jem and Tessa and it just ruined it for me. :(

The epilogue didn't ruin the entire thing for me, but it just felt like there was never a choice. Tessa just got to have both and like I said, it felt like a total cop out.

  4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/230274512

Review: Rush Me by Allison Parr

Title: Rush Me
Author: Allison Parr
Blurb:

When post-grad Rachael Hamilton accidentally gatecrashes a pro-athlete party, she ends up face-to-face with Ryan Carter, the NFL’s most beloved quarterback.

While most girls would be thrilled to meet the attractive young millionaire, Rachael would rather spend time with books than at sporting events, and she has more important things to worry about than romance. Like her parents pressuring her to leave her unpaid publishing internship for law school. Or her brother, who’s obliviously dating Rachael’s high school bully. Or that same high school’s upcoming reunion.

Still, when Ryan’s rookie teammate attaches himself to Rachael, she ends up cohosting Friday night dinners for half a dozen football players.

Over pancake brunches, charity galas, and Alexander the Great Rachael realizes all the judgments she’d made about Ryan are wrong. But how can a Midwestern Irish-Catholic jock with commitment problems and an artsy, gun-shy Jewish New Englander ever forge a partnership? Rachael must let down her barriers if she wants real love–even if that opens her up to pain that could send her back into her emotional shell forever.


Links:
Rush Me on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
* I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!!*

I've rated this 3, but it's probably more like 3.5. I actually really liked it - so much so that I started reading it when I got off work at 430 am and liked it so much that I stayed up to finish it.

Some parts of the book were a bit far fetched (like the random walking in to a pro football player's party, and the whole coming back to get her lost scarf and ending up staying to watch tv and play poker thing...), but I liked it. I'm a big fan of the rock star/sports star trope and Allison Parr did it pretty well.

I love how snarky Ryan and Rachael are to each other at first - I fully admit I also love the hate-turns-in-to-love trope too! Their constant arguing was funny to read and their eventual relationship progressed sweetly.

I know a lot of people will dislike that we first meet Ryan while he's getting a blow job from a groupie - but I liked that he wasn't Mr. Perfect from the start. So many times in the rock star/sports star trope we get heroes that are just too perfect - and Ryan definitely was not!

A lot of people also will dislike that Rachael can be a total bitch, but I found her insecurity to be pretty realistic. I thought, actually, that Ryan was a little too defensive when Rachael would get upset with him, especially when he was getting a blow job when they met. He acted really offended that Rachael was upset by having unprotected sex and I was annoyed with him for that.

Even so, this was a fairly good book for the genre. The characters were unique (Rachael being Jewish is something we don't often see in romance novel heroines) and the story flows really well - it's paced in such a way that you keep turning the pages wanting to know what happens next.

I'm very curious to see what this author comes out with next. Definitely a good first novel. :)

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/575856509

Kindle Fire Giveaway (By I am a Reader not a Writer Blog)

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Georgetown Academy (Book 1) by Etting and Schwartz

Title: Georgetown Academy (Book 1)
Author: Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz
Blurb:

It’s the beginning of a new political administration. That might not mean much at most high schools, but at Georgetown Academy, Washington D.C.’s most elite prep school, January 20th means new alliances, new flings, and new places to party.

While freshmen—nicknamed “interns” for their willingness to jump into bed with anyone higher on the D.C. totem pole—navigate the not-so-friendly halls of GA searching for Algebra and Bio classes, the school’s lifers have other things on their minds.

For self-proclaimed D.C. royalty Brinley Madison (of those Madisons), the first day of school is all about establishing the social hierarchy and playing the part of perfect political wife to her boyfriend, the outgoing Vice President’s son. Too bad he has a wandering eye that puts Bill Clinton’s to shame. Can she keep him, and her own secret vice, in check?

Ellie Walker, Brinley’s best friend, floats through the halls on the arm of golden boy Hunter McKnight (the JFK of GA). But when her ex-boyfriend, Gabe, returns to town and her Senator mother’s political nemesis is reelected, Ellie’s life starts to snowball out of control.

Shy, quiet Evan Hartnett is more into books than beer, and her closet is full of t-shirts and jeans instead of Jason Wu and Jimmy Choo. No one’s ever really noticed her—but she’s been noticing them. When her star rises as an intern at D.C.’s most-watched political news show, she soon finds the two worlds colliding in ways that make her question what’s secret and what’s fair game.

New girl Taryn Reyes is all laid-back, California cool; with a father who’s in line to be the first Hispanic president, she’s ready to dive into the D.C. scene with an open mind. But when her fellow students turn out to be more interested in spreading rumors than making friends, she realizes that forging a drama-free path might be a lot harder than she thinks.

With so many new friends and former flames in the mix, things are bound to get a little heated. And while diplomatic immunity might keep the cops away, there’s not much it can do about the press.
In a town where one teenage misstep can turn into a national scandal, the students at Georgetown Academy will have to be on their best behavior—or, at least, they’ll have to make the world believe that they are.

Because there’s only one rule: whatever you do, don’t get caught.

What’s Cool from Coliloquy:
As the party scene at Georgetown Academy gets under way, authors Alyssa and Jessica let readers decide which of the main girls to follow. You’ll see scandalous behavior, unexpected liaisons, and secret betrayals…all giving you a different perspective as events unfold.


Links:
Georgetown Academy on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
* I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!!*

Choose Your Own Adventure books work, in print. I don't think the technology is quite there for Kindle books though, and that was a huge detriment to this book. When we got to the "Choose which character to follow" I chose Ellie, and then I had the option afterwards to continue on with the story (which I chose) or go back and read everyone else's stories (which I didn't do), so by the time I finished the book I felt like I had missed out on a lot of the other characters' stories, but at that point, it was too annoying to backpage through my Kindle to try and go back to read their other stuff, so I didn't.

That said, what I did read was decent. I'm not in to politics, but I found the whole private school full of politician's children to be somewhat interesting. The characters are all pretty well fleshed out and compelling, but I think the author's spread themselves too thin for such a short book. We follow I think 4 different "main" characters and don't really get into the meat of any story with any of them. This book just didn't feel like a complete novel. :(

I am curious enough about the characters that I will continue on with the series and see how it goes. This book ends on quite the cliffhanger for Ellie and I'm dying to know how that works out for her!

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/578123188

Review: Love on the Lifts by Rachel Hawthorne

Title: Love on the Lifts
Author: Rachel Hawthorne
Blurb:

Winter Break super-secret perfect cocoa recipe:
8 oz steamed whole milk
(no skim! doesn't work!)
2 tbsp. dark cocoa powder (big scoops)
1 tbsp. sugar (can't be too sweet)
4 dried, crushed mint leaves
(or 1 tbsp. mint syrup)
Stir thoroughly. Add mint swizzle stick. Combine with cute ski instructor, or brother's cute best friend, or cute guy you never noticed was so cute...Enjoy.


Links:
Love on the Lifts on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book was sweet and cute and clean - basically a generic romance for teens. It just didn't have that WOW factor. The plot line is one that's overused and Hawthorne does nothing new with it here. Girl likes Douchebag guy. Sweet guy likes girl. Girl takes awhile, but eventually realizes Douchebag guy is a douchebag and falls for the sweet guy. Happily ever after.

Kate was one of the most oblivious and idiotic romantic heroines I've ever read. She met Brad (her brother's college roommate) once and "fell in love" with him. Right from the start she can't give any reasons why she's head over heels for him except that he's hot. She even says "What else is there?" when her Aunt asks her what other reasons she has for liking Brad.

The setting for this book is a ski resort where Kate and her two friends (all high school seniors) have to share a 3-bedroom condo with her brother Sam and his two friends (Brad and Joe). Brad is the roommate that Kate has a crush on.

As soon as Brad enters the picture it's made VERY obvious that he's a complete dirtbag. One of his first lines is about how his favorite things are "driving fast and kissing babes." He hooks up another girl on the very first night of their vacation and moves in to the other girl's house for the duration. His lines are all skeevy and douchebaggy, he moved in with another girl, and Kate still thinks he's the most amazing thing since sliced bread.

Enter Joe. The other friend of her brother's. It's made VERY obvious from the start that Joe has a thing for Kate. He's super sweet, super attentive, flirtatious with her, asks her on a date, kisses her, and is generally awesome. But she is wishy washy about it for the majority of the book (gotta get conflict SOMEWHERE I suppose).

It bugs me that authors don't realize the best characters are not 100% evil or 100% good. Making Brad a complete tool and making Joe Mr. Perfect makes them BOTH boring. There was never any 'love triangle' or any reason for the reader to ever believe that Kate wouldn't come to her senses and go for Joe instead of Brad.

I had two other issues with the book.

1) Were they or weren't they all having sex? It's kind of implied that they were. ALL of them. Kate's friend Allie sleeps in the same bed as Sam. Kate's other friend Leah moves in with a ski instructor for the duration of the vacation. Brad moves in with his new girlfriend. Kate sleeps in the same bed as Joe. While there isn't any explicit mention of sex, it's kind of implied that everyone is pretty much doing it like jackrabbits and that's something that annoys me in a YA novel - especially one that is otherwise packaged as a sweet and clean romance.

2) The "Kate-have-a-good-time fund" .... DROVE ME ABSOLUTELY NUTS. How many times did this saying need to be uttered? ZERO in my opinion, but instead it's brought up OVER AND OVER AND OVER. I know it's minor, but I admit I have occasional pet peeves and this is one of them.

Overall, the book was just mediocre. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it that much either.

2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/557310689