Anna And The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Hello Everyone!
It's been long since I last wrote hasn't it?
I'm sorry. I have read a few books after that but didn't get the time to write about them. School has been hectic to say the least. But, Summer break has started and I'm sort of free. So I found this book while in the bookstore yesterday and thought it looked interesting. This is how, here I am writing a review on it, less than 24 hours later. Let's get to it then, yeah?

*SPOILER ALERT*

This book is like something I would read on Wattpad. I'm not even kidding, I felt like I was reading a cheesy, teen fiction, romance book on Wattpad. That's not to say I didn't like it. No. I liked it quite a bit. It's just off late I've been reading a lot of these kind of books and it didn't exactly stand out. It made me feel like, if the books I read on Wattpad are published, they would all probably become bestsellers.

I liked this book. I'm a sucker for sappy, teen fiction romances and this book fit every one of those criteria. The characters were okay. Not brilliant or anything but okay. The main character, I felt didn't have a lot of depth. What I mean is, I felt her, Anna's character to be quite bland. I know many will argue that that is what an average teenage girl is like. But, when you write a story, a character who is just average never catches the readers eye. Let's take Etienne for example. He is not that great a character. But there is something that stand out about him. His killer looks, his accent and to-die-for hair. There is something special. John, he is an incredible artist. Meredith plays football. Rashmi, is well, Indian. And that stands out. Yes, Anna does do the film critiquing thing, but does that attract the reader's attention? Maybe to a girl who aspires like her to become a film critique. But not for the rest of us. So, in that way, I felt like her characters were missing something.

Perkins' writing isn't that great, but it's not bad either. It's the type which is, like her characters, average. Nothing too special. The story did have a few plot twists but there was nothing that I didn't predict. Which probably means that the plot twists weren't twists at all. It got frustrating at one point but I'm glad that that point was short lived and that they made up and got their happily-ever-after soon. Let's all face the fact that we knew for sure that somehow or the other, they would end up together.

The story didn't drag for too long which was good. I didn't actually feel anything while reading it though. Which is saying something, because I am a very emotional person. So, all in all it is the type of light reading, you need as therapy for the emotional roller coaster of a John Green book you just finished. It's the type of book you read, to get your mind off of the other book that left you shattered and damaged. It distracts you, but isn't good enough to make you never want to leave it's world.

I give this book a 3/5 rating and recommend it to all those who have just finished reading a John Green or Cassandra Clare book. All you Teen Fiction/Young Adult/Coming-of-Age/Romance lovers, this book is for you.

I'll see y'all soon with another review.
Bye!

Legend by Marie Lu

Hello everyone!
Long time no write! *nervous chuckle*
I am extremely sorry that I haven't written in 4 months! I can't believe it's been 4 months since I last wrote a review. I have read 4 books since then, I just hadn't found the time to write their reviews, with exam season and all. I am officially a tenth grader now. Wow! I have to admit, ninth grade did not go as planned. I did not work as hard as I could have and that reflected in my grades but nevertheless I am going to work much harder for this new academic year.
Anyway, in the last 4 months I have read The Book Thief, Percy Jackson and the Olympians Greek Gods, The Ruby Circle and Legend. Today, I will be reviewing Legend by Marie Lu.

*SPOILERS*

OMG I absolutely loved this book! It is amazing! I love Day and June!

Let's start with Day's character. Wow! How does a person climb like that?! And to be the Republic's most wanted criminal at 15! Wow! I love his relationship with Tess. Their relationship shows us real love, friendship and family. They would do anything for each other. When Day's mom died...I screamed at the book. How could someone be so cruel as to shoot a lady in front of her own son? I feel Day is such a strong character for putting up with so much since such a young age. He lost his dad, failed his Trial, was dissected like a lab rat, ran away from a horrible fate and kept running away while committing small yet very effect acts of rebellion against the workings of the Republic all at the age of 15. His family thought him to be dead. And yet with Tess's never ending optimism by his side, he fought through all the hardships. I knew from the beginning that he hadn't killed Metias. I was sure of it. And yet as the book advanced, I slowly started believing otherwise. I mean he had just jumped from the 3rd floor of a building, he could easily have been seeing double. So when we found out that it was actually Thomas, that good for nothing, back stabbing son of a dog who killed Metias, I was, along with being so angry, kinda relieved that our dear Day was not a murderer. I think in a way I always knew there was no possible way that Day could get such a low Trial mark. And when we found out he also got a perfect 1500, I was doing a little "I told you so" dance in my head to no on in particular.

June. Where do I start with June? The Republic's prodigy. A perfect 1500 on her Trial. Graduated from college at the age of 15. Basically a younger version of Sherlock. The way she would analyse everything and figure out a person's history in a single glance was unbelievable. I mean, how much more perfect could she get? I really felt for her when Metias was killed. He was her dad, her mom, her best friend and her brother all at the same time. He was her whole family. He was the only thing she had left. And when he left, I couldn't imagine the grief she would've gone through and to not be able to grieve properly and always stay composed, collected and in control of her emotions was not something to be expected from a 15 year old who had just lost the only remaining family she had. The way she tracked Day down was incredible and even though I hate that she turned him in like that and made him watch his mother get killed in front of his eyes, I understand that she was brought up to be the Republic's spawn. What matters is how she fought through everything she had been taught and everything she thought to be real and discovered the truth. The way she found out Metias's riddle/puzzle was ingenious.

Metias's death came so fast. I feel, from the way June talked about her brother that he was an amazing person and I would've loved to have gotten to know him. And the way John sacrificed himself for Day? That was what brought tears to my eyes when I thought about it later on. But it all happened so fast.

Let's talk about Commander Jameson and what a vile human being she is.  Like how?! How can a person take that many innocent lives and defend their actions?! How can anyone do that and still be respected?! And her puppet Thomas? Let's not even go there or I won't be able to control all the things I want to say about him. And they are not pretty. I have never felt so much hatred towards a character as I have towards Thomas. Okay maybe Richie from Eleanor and Park and Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter are a match but the urge to reach into the book and strangle a character have only been this strong in these books.

I feel like this book is so much like Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Even though I haven't finished that book it is so similar in so many ways that I kept confusing the two. But where I found Delirium boring and couldn't finish the book, I couldn't put Legend down. I finished the book in 5-6 hours straight. I was supposed to read it on my flight to Singapore where I spent 5 days of my vacation with my best friends. But I finished it a day before I left so I was stuck with nothing to read during a 7 hour flight.

Moving on, I absolutely love this book and recommend it to all YA/Dystopian/Fantasy/Sci-Fi lovers. I give it 5/5 rating. Because it is just that awesome.

I will be posting more reviews of the books I have already finished in a few days. I am currently reading the next book in the Legend series: Prodigy.

Hope y'all have a wonderful day!
Byeee :)