Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Publisher: Poppy

Pages: 416

Received: Received a copy from Hachette Book Group Canada in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: April 2, 2013
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Goodreads Synopsis:

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

My Review:

Oh my gosh! Why have I not read anything by Jennifer E. Smith sooner! I heard all the talk about her last book The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, but never got around to it (after finishing this book I ran out to buy a copy of her other book). I have so much love for this book, it's absolutely adorable and just such a great story! I have absolute cover love for both of Smith's books and I think they match perfectly (even though these are not part of a series).

When I started this book, I fell in love with both of the characters right away. I don't know if this has ever happened to me before when reading a contemporary novel, but they were just so darn cute, and so were their interactions with one another. I could actually see people giving me weird looks because I had such a goofy smile on my face and I wanted to laugh out loud so much during this book. The story was such a cute idea, how would you answer if fate came calling, would you answer the email from a random person?

When Graham accidently sends an email to Ellie (her email being one number off from a friend Graham's) they begin an unlikely friendship opening up to one another, without actually knowing who the other one is. I really enjoyed seeing the emails between these two characters, everything is so easy and I can imagine how Ellie felt being excited by these emails. When Graham realizes his new movie needs a new location he does everything in his power to get it filmed in this small town so he can meet this girl that he has been emailing.

Honestly reading through this book, I loved so many of the interactions between the characters of Graham and Ellie, she didn't change her thoughts on him just because he was some big movie star. Ellie would say what she thought and she wasn't nervous being with him because she knew a different side of him.

I was also really interested in Ellie's story. Smith really kept me intrigued with this secret past of Ellie's that no one seems to know about. When it came out it really surprised me, and I really felt for Ellie just wanting to take her in my arms and hug her forever.

I honestly loved everything about this book! Jennifer E. Smith has a way with words that just made me go "Awww" and kept me with this goofy grin on my face! I can't wait to read THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT now and more from her! I want everyone to go out and read her books!!

Review: Serpent on a Cross by Darya Asch

Publisher: Northampton House Press

Pages: 241

Received: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: October 30, 2012
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Goodreads Synopsis:

When peaceful Drovania is suddenly destroyed one Sabbath morning by a legion of clawed, black-clad demons, led by a Russian nobleman with a mysterious connection to her mother, Dennah, a seventeen-year-old healer and archer, must face the truth of her heritage and the explosive Power that murder, rape, and pogrom have awakened within her.

Accompanied by Jeth, a blacksmith, and a group of guardsmen from their village, Dennah will face golem-like constructs, a witch with an uncanny resemblance to Baba Yaga, and a dangerous half-human who’ll stop at nothing to claim her as his own.

Set in the second half of the 11th century in Poland and Kievan Rus, SERPENT ON A CROSS is a fantastical mix of medieval adventure, Slavic mythology, and Jewish mysticism.

My Review:

I always have fun reading self published books once in awhile, there is something intriguing about them. This book really stood out to me because of the medieval fantasy aspect, which I have really come to enjoy since I began blogging. When Darya Asch contacted me I was happy to help get word about her book out in the world.

This is a book that is full of action and intrigue right from the beginning of the story. Being a medieval fantasy book, there is a lot of death and destruction throughout, and Asch definitely goes all in with it. I felt disturbed at times, but it's what it was like in those times. I do feel that this book was a lot more adult than I was expecting it to be. The one thing I found very difficult were the many characters in this book. I realize that fantasy books have many characters that are to be followed, but I found that there was no real introduction to each of the characters, and not much time to really get to know these characters. I felt like I was thrown into this story and the lives of the characters and there really needed to be more of a build-up, and this book was just a little too short to get into all of that.

I really loved the character of Dennah, she grows throughout the book, quickly learning about her power and using it to save those she loves. She is on a quest to save her mother and she will stop at nothing to do it. Dennah has amazing strength throughout the story but she has her weaknesses too (especially letting her emotions take over and her power getting the best of her). Dennah is the character that the book is focused on and you do learn a lot about her and her past, and she is one of the characters that is the most fleshed out, but even still I think there is more to her to be known (I did have to keep reminding myself that this is the first in a series).

I did find I was confused by the plot at certain points, it seemed that the story jumped around quite a bit from the perspectives of different characters and I would get lost as to who I was following (I think because some of the characters were not described enough). But the main problem for me was the love story between Dennah and Jeth, I found them confusing  saying they love each other and then talking about how they haven't really talked about their feelings. It was a very complicated storyline and the back and forth between these two characters took away from the story a little bit for me. I also found myself confused with the many Jewish terms throughout the book (I didn't realize until after that there was a glossary at the back of the book, which is difficult to work with in an ebook). The Jewish mysticism was interesting and made me want to research it more, but it was difficult not understanding a lot of what was being talked about.

This was an intriguing book, but there was too much going on for me to understand everything. Asch incorporates some great history into her book, the characters just need a little bit more of an introduction to make it easier to follow. I can see many people enjoying this, I just felt that there were too many characters that were not absolutely needed and that there was a bit of a disconnect in the plot.

Review: Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells

Publisher: Strange Chemistry

Pages: 287

Received: Received a copy from Strange Chemistry in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: April 2, 2013
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Goodreads Synopsis:

While running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure.

Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.

With the ship damaged on arrival, they attempt to traverse the strange lands on their quest. But when evidence points to sabotage and they encounter the treacherous Lord Ivers, along with the strange race of the sea-lands, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to reach the surface world again.

My Review:

I was really surprised when this book arrived, it seemed so small for such an adventurous story, but what Martha Wells was able to fit into 287 pages was full of intrigue and I had so much fun reading this book. The cover is what first drew me in to the story, it's so colourful and different from many books out there, it really stands out on a bookshelf. And honestly, the story stands out as well (in my opinion), Martha Wells really engages her readers in The Hollow World.

This book was an adventure of a lifetime for me, I fell in love with Emilie very early on in the story. She is an adorable character in a crappy family situation, so she decides to run away and do something for herself. One little issue for me was that you don't really get to know Emilie and her situation until a little while into the book, she doesn't want to look bad so tries to keep it a secret why she has left. I wanted a little more from Emilie's past, but for this story it really worked. Her character is absolutely adorable, first I will talk about how she is an avid reader of adventure novels, this continually comes up in the book when things start happening. Everytime Emilie dealt with something new she would go back to thinking about things in the books she had read, this also helps her at times when she is in danger (I wonder if I can use some of the tactics I've read about in a dangerous situation...)

Another great aspect of this book was the steampunkiness of it. There was a great amount of explanation about how the contraptions run and the world was definitely interesting, though I was hoping for a little more explanation to it and the creatures from there. I think that some of the secondary characters needed a little bit more of a background, and that this story was just a little to short to get everything in. But I do think I overlooked that for such an action packed story. Right from the beginning Emilie is thrown into a war between two Lord's and from there we are just brought into more battle, I really loved everything that happened because there were so many twists that I did not see coming.

I did feel like a little more could have been added to the book to explain a few more things, but this action filled book was so much fun that you get taken with the world and everything that is happening. I also really liked that there wasn't a romance featured in this book, it was all about the characters. I do hope that Martha plans to write a sequel, I would love to see more of these characters!