Ali Novak

On a scale of Astrophil to Stella this book is an adorable sonnet.
I fell in love with Oliver the moment he was introduced in the most adorable coffee shop scene. It was one of the cutest things ever. I had to sit down and breath deeply to keep from fangirling.Stella is absolutely fabulous. Her sass gives me life. Every single character in this book is complex and well developed. Every single scene in this book makes me wish my squad was that reckless and fun.
I have a soft spot for Wattpad show more books and Ali Novak is one of my favourite authors. Her writing is breathtakingly amazing. I love reading her vivid descriptions not to mention the heart-racing song Oliver writes for Stella which is gorgeous.
I would recommend this book to anyone absolutely obsessed with a boy band because this book will be totally #Relatable. In addition, this book should be read by people who enjoy romance, people who don’t, your next door neighbour, you cat, and the cute guy you ‘accidentally’ bump into at the coffee shop who smells absolutely heavenly.
I am absolutely obsessed with the Heartbreakers and I can’t wait to read Alec’s story in Paper Hearts this summer. show less

"I'm sorry," he said, slowly untying the ribbon that held his mask in place. "It's just-I didn't want you to think of me any differently."

Somehow I kept my mouth from falling open. I knew his face, but my mind couldn't accept that he was the person looking down at me.

"My real name is Alec."

I haven’t read the first book in the Heartbreakers Chronicles, but I love a good Hollywood romance story - they’re always such a perfect quick read! And this one was no different. Paper Hearts show more follows Felicity Lyons as she meets and begins to fall for Alec Williams, a member of the world famous boy punk band The Heartbreakers. Paper Hearts was a fun, and surprisingly engaging read. There was an abundance of family drama, teen friendships, and some really swoony romance.

Things I Liked:
The entire book felt like a fantastic early ‘00 teen rom-com! It was filled with great friends, romance, and drama. The overall vibe of the story was summery and fun. While the story is not realistic at all, I still found it to be really engaging and so easy to read.

The romance in the story was really cute and fluffy. You can’t help but smile at Felicity and Alec and their unlikely romance. I like that we see them getting to know each other, and getting to know each other’s friends. I also really appreciated that they don’t confess their love for each other, after knowing each other for such a short amount of time. Kudos!

I loved the roadtrip aspect of the book because roadtrips are always fun! The adventure feeling really added to the teen rom-com vibe and created this invigorating and adventurous atmosphere that was a lot of fun.

I really appreciated the playlists at the back of the book! The story focused on celebrity and the band less than I thought it would, which I think really worked. It was more about Felicity’s personal journey, not a romantic one in relation to a famous person. The playlists were a nice touch to add a bit more music to the story without taking anything away from Felicity’s story.

Things I Didn’t Like:
I would have liked more development for Alec and his father’s relationship. You could understand the rift that existed and the strain it put on Alec, but I felt I always wanted more from their relationship. It would have helped to develop Alec a bit more outside of the band.

Unfortunately, this book had one of my least favorite tropes: miscommunication as a plot device. Felicity and Alec’s fight was just incredibly frustrating because Felicity refused to stop and listen to Alec at all. I understand she was having some trust issues, but I just wanted to yell at her.

I also think that all of Felicity’s family drama was pushing past believable territory into cheesy soapy drama. There was so much drama and angst compounded with secrets, betrayal, reveal after reveal. It got to be a little much, especially because a good chunk of it happened within like 25 pages. I appreciate that Asha told Felicity it was soap opera levels of drama.

Overall this was a super quick read that I knocked out in one sitting. It was heavy on the drama, but never felt weighed down or slow. The book had a great summer vibe and was a lot of fun.

I received a copy of the book from Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

Jackie's learned that making and following lists helps keep her life orderly and predictable. Daughter of wealthy, successful parents, she would love to be as free and creative as her older sister, but knows she's more like her father. When a bad case of the flu lands her on the couch one night, it saves her life, but breaks her inside. The rest of her family is killed in an auto accident.
Her uncle foists her on her mother's best friend from college who she barely knows and it's the show more beginning of major culture shock in numerous ways. Instead of a penthouse apartment with maids, chauffeurs and art museum memberships, she finds herself living in a haphazardly constructed ranch house in rural Colorado. Instead of one sophisticated sister, she's dropped into a family with eleven boys and one tomboy girl. Instead of going to a private school with girls she's known for years, she's attending a public school that's scary and huge.
I expected Jackie to be somewhat snobbish, given her family wealth and veneer, but she was anything but. Instead, we have a girl trying to survive while being heckled and pranked by those she's living with, most of whom resent her addition to an already crowded household. When older brothers Cole and Alex, are attracted to her, it's not only stressful, but very confusing as is the reaction of the girls who befriend her, primarily because they think it will get them close to the hot guys she's now living with.
I liked the book and empathized with Jackie a lot. She didn't have much choice in her upbringing or what happened after she lost her parents. Coming from a high expectation family and having little dating/guy experience because she attended an all girls school, she was a fish out of water much of the time, especially when Alex and Cole were after her.
Verdict: a fun read and one school and public libraries should consider for their collections. show less

Jackie' parents and sister have been killed in a terrible car accident. Jackie has been living with an uncle but he travels a lot so her mother's best friend Katherine Walter decides to "adopt" her for a year. Jackie goes to live with the enormous Walter family which consists of eleven boys (and one girl?) on a farm in Colorado, Some of them are Katherine's biological children - two sets of twin boys, and some are nephews from her sister's failed life. So, not only must Jackie cope with the show more loss of her own family, she must try and absorb herself into this other giant family as well as coming to terms with the fact she no longer lives in New York but now is stuck in some tiny country town
To make matters even worse, there seems to be two of the boys Alex and Cole who are infatuated with Jackie and she must choose between kind-hearted, friendly Alex and roguish player Cole who gets her drunk the first time they go out together.
A fascinating book about being resilient and facing the truth about who you are and your place in families. I liked when the author strayed away from the central romance triangle into the lives of the other Walter boys although I was a bit confused about Parker as she was initially introduced as a boy. The Danny and Nathan characters as well as Lee the cousin all bring something to Jackie's story. I also liked that the boys' perspective was told in an additional chapter at the end of the book.
I read this book because a student raved about it and I can see why. Great read. show less