Serial Hottie

I have realized that I pretty much like any book written by Kelly Oram. They are usually set in high school but they always have good plots and character development! She really know how to write her characters so that you will connect with and root for them. This one had a little suspense as well which kept it interesting!

I was pretty disappointed by this if I'm honest.
I made the critical error of judging a book by it's cover.. An I personally thought the cover was awesome!
And not the every-day 'oh-that's-totally-awesome'-awesome. Oh no; I mean 'awe-inspiring'-awesome. I saw it and thought it was actually a really ingenious way of presenting the title. The whole 'serial-killer-writing' normally found in ransom demands (which basically consists of letters cut out of various magazines/newspapers and glued onto a blank sheet to form a message) is something I've always found quite pretty with a side of creepy..

Which explains why, in my head, I was anticipating this book to be freaky and yet kind of adorable! Like I said, I was disappointed. The book wasn't show more as creepy as I had been hoping it would be; I don't often pick up books with freakier elements, but when I do I want to be creeped out..



And I was very unimpressed with the romance..

Call me crazy, but at times that relationship was downright annoying. I'm one of those people who believe that in a relationship, both peoples' opinions matter. Respect is healthy. So I think it's pretty clear why I didn't like the relationship. I mean you don't just tell someone they don't have a choice in whether or not they go out with you. It's controlling, which in turn is completely unattractive (in my opinion).


(I realize this doesn't really convey my point well because that cat is extremely cute.. But you get the point.. )

Plus, I was so disappointed with our main character.. I was hoping for a bad-ass heroine who wouldn't be bossed around.. *Sigh* That didn't happen, unfortunately.

Although I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised that the Saturday Night Slasher was not who I had expected it to be. I totally had my money on Travis.. That guy was so strange 0.o I do love it when a book is unpredictable!
And that's probably how I ended up giving this three stars.. Simply because it was unpredictable..


Over & Out, T xx show less

I was pretty disappointed by this if I'm honest.
I made the critical error of judging a book by it's cover.. An I personally thought the cover was awesome!
And not the every-day 'oh-that's-totally-awesome'-awesome. Oh no; I mean 'awe-inspiring'-awesome. I saw it and thought it was actually a really ingenious way of presenting the title. The whole 'serial-killer-writing' normally found in ransom demands (which basically consists of letters cut out of various magazines/newspapers and glued onto a blank sheet to form a message) is something I've always found quite pretty with a side of creepy..

Which explains why, in my head, I was anticipating this book to be freaky and yet kind of adorable! Like I said, I was disappointed. The book wasn't show more as creepy as I had been hoping it would be; I don't often pick up books with freakier elements, but when I do I want to be creeped out..



And I was very unimpressed with the romance..

Call me crazy, but at times that relationship was downright annoying. I'm one of those people who believe that in a relationship, both peoples' opinions matter. Respect is healthy. So I think it's pretty clear why I didn't like the relationship. I mean you don't just tell someone they don't have a choice in whether or not they go out with you. It's controlling, which in turn is completely unattractive (in my opinion).


(I realize this doesn't really convey my point well because that cat is extremely cute.. But you get the point.. )

Plus, I was so disappointed with our main character.. I was hoping for a bad-ass heroine who wouldn't be bossed around.. *Sigh* That didn't happen, unfortunately.

Although I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised that the Saturday Night Slasher was not who I had expected it to be. I totally had my money on Travis.. That guy was so strange 0.o I do love it when a book is unpredictable!
And that's probably how I ended up giving this three stars.. Simply because it was unpredictable..


Over & Out, T xx show less

Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.

Serial Hottie was a weird read for me. I love everything that Kelly Oram has ever done, so I went into this with high expectations. Sadly, this book didn't really meet them. My first thoughts about Seth were pretty bad-- because he was creepy. And she still liked him, and wanted to be with him, even though he creeped her out so bad. I am really, really, really not like that. If someone creeps me out, I just can't stand to even be around them. So that just didn't ring true for me. I can't imagine wanting to hang out with someone who creeped me out-- no matter how hot he was.

Aside from that, though, Ellie really was a good character. She was really spunky and funny, and she did some show more unexpected yet hilarious things throughout the book. I liked that she always said what she thought (even if she didn't mean to) and that she was one of the guys. I love the idea of that. She takes hits and sexist comments, and that just made me love her more. Not only that, but I loved her interactions and relationship with the J's. They were such dorky, great guys, and they came off perfectly as her best friends. One of my big problems with Ellie (aside from the attraction to a guy she's skeeved out by) is that she goes back and forth constantly with said guy. You get a few chapters from his point of view in the end, and it must've sucked to be him.

Speaking of Seth, I do agree with Ellie. He is pretty creepy. Sometimes he can be the sweetest guy ever, and I realize that something bad happened to him, but seriously. I am off-put by his creepiness. He's overly possessive and jealous too. It actually made me wonder if he was that way because he was used to getting what he wanted, being so hot and all? I don't know, but their relationship was a whole new definition of totally screwed up. Towards the end of the book, I was all kinds of freaked out, you don't even know. Especially because I did think that he was the serial killer. So I have to give Kelly props for that set-up.

For the sake of spoilers, I can't tell you whether Seth is the killer or not-- but let's just say that I was really surprised when I finally figured out who it was. Instant shock-factor. All in all, Serial Hottie was a likable read, but I just can't get over the fact that Seth was so creepy and she still wanted him?? Why?? show less

Fun and intriguing

The whole time I was trying to guess who the killer was. The author did a good job keeping the mystery! Ellie and Seth were such fun characters to read about. I love how strong Ellie is and that she doesn't let people push her around. She can be stubborn and a little slow to realize things, but she 16 so what do you want? Seth was adorable. He could be creepy at times and needed more social skills, but he liked Ellie so much! He was always defending and protecting her and giving her chance after chance. He was persistent and went for what he wanted. I really enjoyed this book.

3.5 stars
I got a copy for review from the author!!! *happy dance*

Review will be posted Jan. 10.

Kelly Oram definitely knows how to write a book - this was just such a fun book to read, with such an unusual characters; mainly, stalkers. But not the creepy kind. Well, a little bit creepy, but mostly just really amusing, sweet and fun.
I really enjoyed reading this book!
The characters in the story are, as mentioned before, pretty unique.

Ellie is the main character and the voice of the story. She's strong and throughout the book discovers herself as both a girl and a tomboy, learning to accept both parts in her, to realize there's no shame in wearing girly cloths.
She's also feisty and takes crap from no-one, which I loved.
But... she was show more also SUPER frustrating! Toward the end I was screaming at her on her stupidity!
"Listen to your guts and STOP BEATING ON YOUR BOYFRIEND FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"
I cried out-loud. She didn't listen :
Angela is Ellie's older sister. I had a love/hate relationship with her.
I hated her because: at first, she refused to listen to the fact Ellie was truly scared of Seth, and later because she kept trying to set them apart.
But she was doing it all from a good place, all because she cares, so I couldn't really hate her, you know?

Seth is Ellie's new neighbor, and he's a really creepy (but also really sweet) stalker. But all those are a great thing because he is supposed to give off these feelings!
He breaks into Ellie's room, he watches her all the time, he leaves her little sweet messages in the most unusual--and creepy--manner. He's supper jealous and super protective, super athletic and super messed up.
He's also really amusing and adorable to read about, imagine that.
Admittedly, he's pretty confusing, with the mixed signals we, the readers, get about him, but I loved him regardless.
In fact, at a certain point--what with Ellie's pigheadedness (I'm not sure whether this is a proper word...)-- I was thinking he's too good and forgiving for Ellie, which goes to prove just how much he grew on me.

I think Seth and Ellie make a perfect couple because no-one other than Ellie can control and accept Seth. He's pretty messed up (albeit a hot, adorable mess), but when she gets used to him she don't get scared at his crap and it doesn't even faze her. She's more than capable to boss HIM around. Also, she enjoys all that forceful stuff.

As for the ending... While I loved it, I kind of wanted to see what happened after the ordeal. Did her friends start talking to her again, how did their relationship get accepted in school, all that jazz.

In the copy I have I got bonus parts from Seth's POV - the first chapter and the first time he saw Ellie.
It was awesome to read, but they also made him look not nearly as crazy/creepy as the rest of the book. He seemed aware of becoming a stalker and that it's not good, which conflicted with the him I came to know in the book. I still loved it, though, and I'm interested in reading the entire book from his POV... which probably will never happen :/

If you're looking for a fun, light, enjoyable read with unique main characters and an interesting romance, this is the book for you! show less

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

Oram's trademark cute, light contemporary romance (which also includes some heated scenes), but with the added layer of mystery. It's still mostly light and happy, but there is a serial killer on the loose, and some real questions in building trust between the main couple.

Overall, enjoyable, though just a touch scary/creepy for me. (Probably not scary or creepy enough for those who normally prefer mystery/thriller, though.) Also, I have to admit that I rarely find it endearing when the protagonist/narrator is less intelligent/savvy than I am. In this case, though I found Ellie cute, there were times when I was catching on to things much faster than she was, and I just wanted to shake her.