Post Tagged with: "Nicola Kraus"

Over You, by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Over You, by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Over You

by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

4 out of 5 on Goodreads.com

When seventeen-year-old Max Scott got her heart broken she didn’t just sit at home sobbing into her ice cream and obsessing over her ex, Hugo’s, latest Facebook postings. Well, actually she did. But she also decided that no girl should have to be tortured like that, so she read through all the psych books, Oprah transcripts, and historical precedents she could get her hands on and came up with a foolproof program to get over being dumped.

These days, Max is the go-to guru for heartbroken high-school girls all over NYC. But when Hugo shows up in her neighborhood, suddenly Max is so busy trying to avoid her own ex that she isn’t able to help anyone else with theirs. As Hugo invades her life all over again, Max’s carefully controlled world starts to unravel. With her clients’ hearts hanging in the balance, Max will have to do the seemingly impossible: get over her ex once and for all.

This story was adorable.  I don’t think I’ve ever described a book with that word, but it’s the first word that came to mind.  High school may have been eleven years ago for me, but the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college I had my heart BROKEN.  Two years of dating down the drain and The Ex was now with one of my friendsI would have loved for a Max to help me out of my insanity.

Luckily, I had friends who did pick me up off of the floor and into the shower.  And I eventually had my Moment, though it took years instead of weeks and I remember walking away and being like YES YES YES THIS IS IT!

The point of my relationship history is that I’ve been through it. So completely exactly through it, as most girls (and guys) have whether it was a short passion-filled month or years of dedication.

Over You is written for a YA audience and isn’t one that I see crossing over to a general adult audience like many in the genre are these days.  But the characters are great, the storyline is relatable from all angles, and I highly recommend it.

August 29, 2012 0 comments
Now reading…

Now reading…

image

August 22, 2012 0 comments Read More
Between You and Me, by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Between You and Me, by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Between You and Me

by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com

Twenty-seven-year-old Logan Wade has built a life for herself in New York City, far from her unhappy childhood in Oklahoma. But when she gets the call that her famous cousin needs a new assistant, it’s an offer she can’t refuse. Logan hasn’t seen Kelsey since they were separated as kids; in the meantime, Kelsey Wade has become one ofFortune Magazine’s most powerful celebrities and carrion for the paparazzi. But the joy at their reunion is overshadowed by the toxic dynamic between Kelsey and her controlling parents. As Kelsey grasps desperately at a “real” life, Logan risks everything to try and give her cousin the one thing she has never known—happiness. As Kelsey unravels in the most horribly public way Logan finds that she will ultimately have to choose between saving her cousin and saving herself.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Goodreads.com/Simon & Schuster and was under no obligation to review this book.  I am receiving no compensation for this review.

This isn’t my usual type of book being that I read mostly YA books and the characters are in their mid-late 20′s and the themes are more mature than YA.  I don’t believe I’ve read a contemporary novel in general in a very long time, (me being my fantasy-loving self) but I was pleasantly surprised.  I seriously get Logan.  I get her mentality with guys, with her career, and with her family.  That’s one of the main reasons contemp. fiction isn’t my favorite — it’s hard for me to relate to characters my age when they aren’t like me.

Kelsey’s meltdown was classic Britney Spears, and it was interesting to see it all from someone else’s eyes.  To see how it affected someone else.  Logan’s loyalty to her cousin is commendable — I don’t think I could have done what her character did.  I don’t think most people could, which the authors made clear when Finn (love interest) confronted her with it.  He didn’t get it, but she didn’t back down and was loyal until the end.

The end of the book is what kind of let me down.  I just didn’t like it — it wasn’t my style and it left me a little irked.  But that says nothing about the books or authors, but more of my personal taste. (It also says that I shouldn’t stay up until 3:30am reading.) And although I am irked, I think the epilogue was very interesting and nice twist that makes it stand out from other books.

July 19, 2012 2 comments Read More