Highly Anticipated: Velvet Undercover by Teri Brown

Hey guys, today is the day for another take on Highly Anticipated. As the name says here I'll talk a little about new tittles that are still months away to being released and were highly anticipated by me - so much that I couldn't help myself and read them way before the released date. Hope you enjoy these "sneak peeks" of some new books!

Velver Undercover by Teri Brown
To be published on October 20, 2015 by Balzer + Bray
[This book was given to me by the publisher but this in no way affected my opinion.]

Samantha Donaldson’s family has always done its duty for the British Crown. In the midst of World War I, seventeen-year-old Sam follows in their footsteps, serving her country from the homefront as a Girl Guide and messenger for the intelligence organization MI5. After her father disappears on a diplomatic mission, she continues their studies of languages, high-level mathematics, and complex puzzles and codes, hoping to make him proud.

When Sam is asked to join the famed women’s spy group La Dame Blanche she’s torn—this could be the adventure she’s dreamed of, but how can she abandon her mother, who has already lost a husband to the war? But when her handlers reveal shocking news, Sam realizes there’s no way she can refuse the exciting and dangerous opportunity.

Her acceptance leads her straight into the heart of enemy territory on a mission to extract the most valuable British spy embedded in Germany, known to the members of LDB only as Velvet. Deep undercover within the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Samantha must navigate the labyrinthine palace and its many glamorous—and secretive—residents to complete her assignment. To make matters worse she finds herself forming a forbidden attraction to the enemy-a dangerously handsome German guard. In a place where personal politics are treacherously entangled in wartime policy, can Samantha discover the truth and find Velvet before it’s too late…for them both?

From author Teri Brown comes the thrilling story of one girl’s journey into a deadly world of spycraft and betrayal—with unforgettable consequences.

Full disclosure: I know shit about WWI. So I had 0 clue of what was supposed to be historical accurate or not, these being plot and costumes or clothes or whatever, so I definetely wasn't in this book for the historical aspect but for the spy stuff and I have to say that it didn't disappoint me.

The strongest quality of Velvet Undercover was its pace, we start with a lot of just information about the spy stuff and them things go building, the mystery starts to form and about 70% in is basically a torture to put the book down. I really enjoyed the way the mystery was handled too, at first I was holding my disbelief with Sam being chosen by a highly secretive spy organization during a war time to do such a important mission, but we have a good explanation and everything did made sense by the end.

I liked Sam as a character, she was strong and smart, making the situations a lot more easy to believe in; but none of the secondary characters really had a strong personality and the book lacked a more emotional side for me. There is a romance (kind of) on this, I don't know if I would call it a romance because it never really happens but it's pretty obvious that they like each other, so despite this not being in any way a instalove at the same time it kind of seemed like it was? Ugh, is just the way Sam thinks about him since the first time they met makes it clear he is a love interest. But they were never really romantically involved on the book. So yeah, I don't know what to make of it. What I did do was roll my eyes at some of their interactions.

 If you like detective/spy stories I would say to give this one a shot, for me it was worth it may be to you too.

Map To The Stars - Jen Malone

Map To The Stars by Jen Malone
Published on July 14, 2015 by Harper Collins/Harper Impulse
[This book was given to me by the publisher but that in no way affected my opinion.]

Author Jen Malone draws on her real-life experiences as a movie studio publicist to bring you an insider peek at love, Hollywood-style.

The California dream was supposed to give seventeen-year-old Annie Shelton a fresh start far removed from her dad’s unusual betrayal. But when things don’t go according to plan in La La Land, Annie’s mom snags a last-minute gig as makeup artist to a teen movie idol and finagles a spot for her daughter on his European promotional tour.

Down-to-earth Annie would rather fangirl architectural sights than an arrogant A-lister. That is, until behind-the-scenes Graham Cabot turns out to be more sweetly vulnerable than she could have imagined.

Too bad falling for a poster boy isn’t all red carpets and star treatment, especially when you factor in obnoxious fans, an overprotective assistant, a stage mom/manager, and a beefy bodyguard.

But it isn’t until the paparazzi make an appearance that things get really sticky…

Map To The Stars and me had a rough start, I didn't had very great expectations to it (I'm still to find a celebrity falls in love with a regular girl romance that makes me fall head over heels) but it seemed like a cute romance and light read. But right from the start we have shit ton of tropes trow at our faces and with very little to care it was hard to not DNFed it, still I continued and am glad for that decision since about 30% I started enjoying parts of this story.

Ok, so my problems with this one were mostly the romance and since this is a contemporary novel heavily focused on the romance that was an issue for me. My problem was that its 100% instalove and it doesn't even try to hide it, since their very first interaction Annie is already obsessing over Graham (and of course, he is obsessing over her too) and this just isn't my kind of thing. But to be fair, that was my only problem with this romance, with the time I did enjoyed their interactions and it was cute to see their plans to spend time together without the paparazzi and fangirls all over them.

But the real reason why this book never really crossed the barrier of mildly entertainment for me was its characters, they just felt too much cardboard cutouts. Annie was an extra super regular girl on the meaning that she never was boy-crazy (until Graham), her favorite clothes were jeans and shirt and she really doesn't care about all this Hollywood things. Graham is the perfect boy with the perfect looks and perfect ways, that screw up a few times but all justified with something that we can all forgive him. It just... We all have seem this before, on basically all celebrity falls in love with regular girl story, and while it didn't annoyed me it also made this book not stand out on the other million of similar stories.

We do have some other things other than Annie and Graham romance; Annie and her mom have some problems that they are running away from and oh god this annoyed, because we only see what this is all about in like 70/80% in on the book and it was a quite quickly resolution in my opinion. None of the secondary characters are all that memorable for me, Annie's best friend was cool, with her apparition at the ending (her speech to Graham was just djvidojviosdji).

So yeah, honestly this book wasn't bad but it also wasn't the exactly kind of fluff that I enjoy. I would recommend it to people that love the trope of celebrity falling in love with a regular person (also for those who still dream of finding their own celebrity!) and the younger public of YA, maybe even some middle grade readers.

Better Off Friends - Elizabeth Eulberg

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
Published on February 25, 2015 by Point

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?

Better Off Friends tells the story of Macallan and Levi, how they got to know each other and become friends to the point until the point where they start to question if they are really just friends or if there was something more. I really enjoyed this one, it was a fluff contemporary read with a cute as hell romance and that had some deep moments.

The story is told both from Macallan and Levi POV's so it was easy to get to know them and understand their motives and feelings through all the story. I specially liked Macallan's POV because it was really easy to see my teenself on some of her actions, her way of being more closed out and only really counting on Levi too is something that I could relate to; Levi's POV was interesting, it was very different from Macallan's (which is always something hard for an author to pull off) and I felt like it was nice too see how Levi struggled, specially during the teen years, with having a girl as a best friend and understanding his feelings on all this.

The romance is kind of a sensitive topic on this one for two reasons. One, is that before reading this book I felt kind of betrayed by its title but them I started reading it and didn't mind at all because I was already on board of this ship since day 1. Two, is that the teen years bought a lot of unnecessary drama - in my opinion - and I just don't really like this much melodrama on my romances, it just felt like they were always on the wrong page with each other just to stretch the book. But overall I really liked them together and it was just so cute and like I said before I was on board with this ship since day 1, I specially liked them because first of they are (and always will be) friends.

The story isn't ALL about the romance either, since we follow Macallan and Levi since childhood until their adulthood (kind of) we got to know a great deal of their lives, their family issues and personal insecurities, friendships and past romances, it all had a room on the story. Of course, most of it was just showed the parts that mattered to build Macallan and Levi relationship but still, it was nice.

I really enjoyed reading this story, it was quickly and easy to get involved on their lives and their relationship. I think that everyone that likes a good contemporary romance will enjoy this one, as well as fans of romantic comedies looking for the trope of friends-turned-to-lovers.

The Wrath & The Dawn - Renèe Ahdieh

The Wrath & The Dawn by Renèe Ahdieh
Series: The Wrath & The Dawn #1
Published on May 13, 2015 by Putnam Juvenile 
[This book was given to me by the Publisher and this in no way affected my opinion.]

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights.

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

It has been a month since I finished reading this book and I still don't know how to put my feelings on words - honestly I don't think it's even possible but I'll try to say what I liked about it.

The best thing, by far, is Ahdieh's writing, she has a way of telling the story as it was a old magic tale I felt like a kid again watching one of my favorite Disney movies for the first time - that feeling of awe and that magic is not only possible but real. Also I had an urge to pick this one back up right when I finished it (and a lot of other times this past month).

I can see the story told in this book not being to everyone but for me it worked since the first page. The first thing that you need to know about this is that the feelings here are <i>intense</i> and they're intense right from the start, so this can be a down side to some readers if they don't get suck into the story right away. There is also some things that you have to hold your disbelief, like the reason why Khalid doesn't kill Shahrzad right away as his other wives, for me this didn't took my enjoyment away at all but just saying.

But I think that even if you don't exactly love these things above, this book has a lot more to offer. Like for instance this is probably one of the best culture diverse books that I have read in a lot of time, this is one rare YA book where we have a different setting than USA and it also doesn't have the other culture making use of american things to make the reader more ~comfortable on the different setting - I felt really immersed on the Arabian culture since there is a lot of words and cultural elements (don't worry, there is a glossary by the end of the book if you don't know the meaning of something).

The other thing that I loved where the characters and their relationships. Shahrzad is an amazing character, she can be totally wrong for the historical accuracy of this story but I say fuck accuracy, I want a strong, kick-ass female lead and that she definitely is. Khalid was an amazing character too, you know he will be a complex one since from the start and it was oh, so good to get to know him. Their relationship doesn't disappoint either, it was intense and gave me feelings since their first interaction and this only grew to epic proportions, I honestly can't even say how I got to this level of shipping, is like I need to create a whole new scale (seriously, I'm not exaggeration, there was one scene that was even before the 30% mark and I was already deep on feelings).

So yeah, I really think you should read this book because it's awesome and there is an epic romance, a intrinsic story that will remind you of classical tales and one of the best writings.

Highly Anticipated: Da Vinci's Tiger by Laura Malone Elliott

Hey guys, today I'm here with a new feature of the blog called Highly Anticipated. As the name says here I'll talk a little about new tittles that are still months away to being released and were highly anticipated by me - so much that I couldn't help myself and read them way before the released date. Hope you enjoy these "sneak peeks" of some new books!

Da Vinci's Tiger by Laura Malone Elliott
To be published on November 10, 2015 by Katherine Tegen Books
[This book was given to me by the publisher, this in no way affected my opinion.]

Young, beautiful, and witty, Ginevra de’ Benci longs to take part in the artistic ferment of Renaissance Florence. But as the daughter of a wealthy family in a society dictated by men, she is trapped in an arranged marriage, expected to limit her creativity to domestic duties. Her poetry reveals her deepest feelings, and she aches to share her work, to meet painters and sculptors mentored by the famed Lorenzo de Medici, and to find love.

When the charismatic Venetian ambassador, Bernardo Bembo, arrives in Florence, he introduces Ginevra to a dazzling circle of patrons, artists, and philosophers—a world of thought and conversation she has yearned for. She is instantly attracted to the handsome newcomer, who admires her mind as well as her beauty. Yet Ginevra remains conflicted about his attentions. Choosing her as his Platonic muse, Bembo commissions a portrait by a young Leonardo da Vinci. Posing for the brilliant painter inspires an intimate connection between them—one Ginevra can only begin to understand. In a rich and enthralling world of exquisite art, elaborate feasts, and exhilarating jousts, she faces many temptations to discover her voice, artistic companionship, and a love that defies categorization. In the end, she and Leonardo are caught up in a dangerous and deadly battle between powerful families.

The strength of this book is its history accuracy, its beautiful descriptions and love for art. It's clear reading it that Elliott is a lover of history (or at least of Italian Renaissance) by her through research of the facts and possible facts, I know this is fiction but there is something magical when reading a historical book and seeing that this stories could actually have happened. The descriptions of Florence were breath taking, everything felt really vivid and oh, how I wish I could go there right now and see all the places that are sited on the book. If you love art this book will be a treat, we have Leonardo da Vinci and Verrocchio as main characters and get to see they creating, as well of a lot of other artists and works being mentioned - I specially loved the fact that Elliott took some of Leonardo lines from his actual diaries so yeah, that was cool.

But where this book felt short for me was on its characters. I never really got attached to Ginevra, I understand her inside fight but she never grew on me as a strong carrier of this book. The other main characters hardly were worth mentioning based on their character growth, it just lacked a more emotional connection to me. The one character that amused me to no end was Leonardo, every scene that he was in was a good one, but unfortunately it had very few of those (for me).

In true this book is a dedication to the Italian Renaissance of the XV century, it's a imaginative version of historical facts and of works of art.

Don Tillman Duology by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Series: Don Tillman #1
Published on October 1, 2013 by Simon & Schuster

I don't know why I waited so long to read this book, it's an amazing! Don is kind of a Sheldon Cooper, in the way that he doesn't perceive the world around him the same way most people do. Now Don thinks its time to settle down and find someone to have a romantic relationship with, on the course of the story he finds Rosie, a girl that doesn't check any of his requirements for a good partner but still manages to make him care and fell - something that had never happened before.

Don is a great main character, his narrative way is unique and reading about the way he sees the world made some moments hilarious and others very heartfelt. I'm not very sure about the romance, Rosie is pretty crazy on her own, maybe that's why Don is such a good fit for her with his schedules and everything organized, and her for him making him loose himself a little.

This was a one sitting kind of read, a can't stop reading cause is so good since page 1. Super recommended to everyone but specially to lovers of chick lit or adult romances.

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
Series: Don Tillman #2
Published on December 30, 2014 by Simon & Schuster

I absolutely loved the first book but something of that first spark was lacking on this book.  The plot seemed to be moving from one check point to the other without real time for seeing Don's growth as in the first book, turning this more in a entertainment to see what crazy thing Don would do next time than making me care about its characters. Also in the first book there was some major changes on Don's character and in this I just didn't felt like there was much difficulties for him, except of course for Rosie. Rosie was different on this book, she suffered from something like the maniac pixed girl syndrome, she just came in to tell the news of the baby and them was practically gone for the entire book, except when she needed to turn up and give cryptic messages to Don.

What I did liked was the group of friends that Don created, these four boys are completely different but still managed to be friends because of Don putting them together on the same table, drinking every week, it was nice and I felt like they are genuinely friends.

Overall I feel like this book was nice and entertainment but didn't live up to the emotional connecting that I had with the first book, also it was less hilarious.

Geek Girl: Model Misfit - Holly Smale

Geek Girl: Model Misfit by Holly Smale
Series: Geek Girl #2
Published on July 21, 2015 by HarperTeen
[This book was given to me by the Publisher but that in no way affected my opinion].

You can make a geek a model, but you can’t make her chic. Hilarity and high fashion await in the sequel to the #1 bestselling UK hit Geek Girl!

Harriet Manners is now an international fashion icon—but at home, she feels even less popular and more awkward than she did before. So when the famous designer Yuka Ito offers her a summer modeling job in Japan, it sounds like the perfect vacation.

She may have to bring along her crazy, free-spirited grandma Bunty, and she may run into Nick, the gorgeous model boyfriend who dumped her two months ago. But no one is going to ruin Harriet’s fabulous Tokyo adventure—unless she accidentally ruins it herself. . . .

Holly Smale’s first novel, Geek Girl, burst onto the scene in the UK as the year’s #1 bestselling YA debut. It was shortlisted for several major awards, and won over readers’ hearts with its fabulous shenanigans and loveably awkward heroine. With all the humor of Louise Rennison’s Confessions of Georgia Nicolson and Meg Cabot’s The Princess Diaries, the Geek Girl series is perfect for any girl who’s ever felt like a geek.

I read Geek Girl last year and enjoyed it immensely so it was a no-brainer to read this as soon as I could, this series continues to show that when I'm on a slump or/and needing a light read this is the series to go but I did had more troubles with this one than the first. On this volume Harriet is going to Japan to a new campaign, her heart is broken because of Lion boy and also she doesn't seems to get anything right on this trip - of course all of this will get a resolution with a lot of craziness on the way.

The main plot on this one was even  over the top than the first one, it was that kind of thing that you see on a tv show drama from CW (this would totally happen on Gossip Girl) and of course I enjoyed it all the way. Harriet's bad lucky and her ways of always getting herself into confusion made this hilarious, we have a few new characters too that were good additions but at the same time I missed a lot Harriet's family and friends, they were such a great group on the first one.

Other minor pet peeves were the romance, which continues to be not for me and this time around they have a "conflict" that is so not a conflict at all and was one of those problems that could have been solved if they just sit and talked instead of avoiding each other. I could have been okay with that because they are young, but Harriet is continually portrayed him as her savior and that she could only do her job right if he was there to save her and this is not okay. Other was the fact that Harriet supposedly is a major fan of Japan and always wanted to go there, so I mean if she wants so badly to go there she probably would have searched all about it, but still she didn't knew that is a disrespect to enter a tatame with high heels - it just didn't seemed right that a "geek girl" would have let that pass.

Overall it was still a fun read, with less content as the first one for me but still worth it and it managed to me continue to wanting to read the rest of the series. Recommended to fans of the first book and younger reads.