First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Grab your current read(s).
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author.

 "I've read many more books than you. It doesn't matter how many you've read. I've read more. Believe me. I've had the time."

~ Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"OMG, Mum's gone insane."

~ Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

 

Love Lies Beneath

"consider
that we are essentially
water and wonder
how many eons
we squander,
every time
we allow
ourselves to cry." ~ pg. 51

Once a widow, twice divorced Tara is a woman who prefers to keep her past a secret. Following a ski accident, she begins to trust Calvin, her handsome surgeon. Tara is swept off her feet. But then she notices strange things: threatening texts, a mysterious van staked outside her home, a break-in and odd behavior from Calvin. Tara is housebound in recovery so there's nowhere she can go. Besides, there is no one to turn to, certainly not her envious sister, her prickly brother-in-law, her jealous best friend or her estranged mother. Tara's life may seem perfect but her past is catching up to her future. What's done in the dark for sure comes to light, sometimes not until the last minute.

"I'm stark, raving sane." ~ pg. 30

I expect certain things from certain authors. When I pick up an Ellen Hopkins novel, I expect beautiful prose. Not so when I looked at the first page of Love Lies Beneath. I saw paragraphs, chapters, punctuation! It completely threw me off making it hard to concentrate on the story. Sure, the story line was a great theme but it was hard for me to get past the standard novel format. Instead I only got a glimpse of six or seven poems that served to separate parts of the book. Love Lies Beneath would've been so much greater with Ellen Hopkins' signature poetic writing style.

"Tell stories, like the snow." ~ pg. 226

Love Lies Beneath is expected to be published on July 21, 2015. Hopkins fans, if you're like me and love her prose, hesitate on placing your pre-order. Download a free sample before purchasing the whole book. For those new to Hopkins, give her a try.

DISCLAIMER: This book was received directly from the publisher for review purposes only. In no way does it influence my review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Title: Love Lies Beneath
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Published: July 2015
Pages: 313
Edition: Galley
Rating: ♥♥♥

 

Series Sunday: Grey as Told by Christian

(Fifty Shades #4)

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Read an installment of a series.
• Share your review/recommendation below.
• Include the title, author and series name.

"It's obvious this is her first love. Books." ~ pg. 43

My Series Sunday pick is Grey, the fourth book in the Fifty Shades series by E.L. James, told from Christian's point of view. Yes, curiosity got me. I buddy read it with a couple friends, live tweeted and posted my thoughts on Goodreads as I read along. Where to begin? Oh, where to begin?

The sub-dom/erotic/damaged love story of Ana and Christian is finally told in Grey's own words, thoughts, reflections and dreams. The story is retold from the moment Ana literally stumbles and falls into his office to his conflicted emotions through their arrangement. We finally see why Grey enjoys pleasurable pain and what his nightmares are really about.

I have wanted to read Christian's point of view since the first Fifty Shades book. There was much more to his back story than what he shared with Anastasia. I felt he was holding back more truths, past hurts, nightmare details and the intensity of his feelings.

"Nothing wrong with consumption—after all, it drives what's left of the American economy." ~ pg. 21

Hey, I can't even be mad at E.L. James for capitalizing on the Fifty Shades phenomenon. She has given "soccer moms" and the like a trilogy to fill the void and add excitement to their lives, even if it is through fiction of pages. This fresh new take on the entire story was just the fix needed to complete the Fifty Shades series...if it would've been released years ago. Now? It just proves Grey really is fifty shades of fucked up.

Share your thoughts if you've read or currently reading Grey.

Title: Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian
Author: E.L. James
Published: June 2015
Pages: 405
Edition: eBook
Challenge: Popsugar Color in the Title
Rating: ♥♥♥

 

First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Grab your current read(s).
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author.

"I have three cars. They go fast across the floor. So fast. One is red. One is green. One is yellow. I like the green one. It's the best. Mommy likes them, too."

~ Grey by E.L. James

 

The Third Wife

"It was starting to melt around the edges, like a tub of frozen ice cream left on the counter, the mass of it still there, hard and cold, but almost soft enough to be able to scoop it out without bending a spoon." ~ pg. 42

Goodreads recommends reading Lisa Jewell's The Third Wife if you like authors Jojo Moyes and Liane Moriarty. I have to agree. This novel is family drama with a side of dark familial mystery. It all begins with a drunk woman who lurched into the path of an oncoming bus. Unfortunate accident or suicide?

"Adrian had never intended for his life to get this convoluted. Two ex-wives. One late wife. Three sons. Two daughters. Three houses. And a cat." ~ pg. 21

Adrian Wolfe is a grief-stricken widow. He thought his marriage was perfect. So if his third wife's tragic accident was indeed a suicide, why did she do it? He investigates the cause one year after his third wife's death. His oldest son uncovers poison-pen e-mails sent to his late wife all beginning with "Dear Bitch." As he digs further, his seemingly perfect happy marriage of two years was sprinkled with disturbing secrets.

The extended family goes on annual trips, hang out on the weekends and overall get along fine due to the circumstances of broken homes. No one holds a grudge against Adrian for his habit of cheating on his wife and starting a new family with a mistress...twice guilty. The children get along well and appear to be each other's support system. I love that we get a glimpse into each child's personal life and struggles. Fortunately, the story alternates points of view and the author treats readers to flashbacks of Maya, the third wife, in the months leading up to her death. The characters of The Third Wife are so well-developed.

"Like an abrupt end to a really good book, frantically thumbing through the pages to see if he'd missed a bit, bewildered and rudderless." ~ pg. 36

The Third Wife is indeed a really good book. Like the quote above, I actually did thumb through the pages frantically getting to the end but at times, went back a couple chapters to see if I'd missed something. The mystery was written in such a way that I suspected damn near everyone except Billie the cat. Every character earned suspicion. Unpredictable by all means. Lisa Jewell, you did that! The Third Wife earned a spot in my top books read of 2015.

DISCLAIMER: This book was received directly from the publisher for review purposes only. In no way does it influence my review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Title: The Third Wife
Author: Lisa Jewell
Published: July 2014; June 2015
Pages: 271
Edition: Galley
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

 

Series Sunday: Zoo

(Zoo TV Series)

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Read an installment of a series.
• Share your review/recommendation below.
• Include the title, author and series name.

"Animals once ruled the world. What if they decided to take it back?"

My Series Sunday pick is Zoo, the soon-to-be television series based on a standalone book by James Patterson. Jackson Oz is a young biologist who witnesses a coordinated lion ambush in Africa. Violent animal attacks start happening all over the world. With the help of ecologist Chloe Tousignant, Oz tries to warn world leaders before it's too late and there is nowhere for humans to hide.

Zoo is not your typical James Patterson read so I skipped it. I am not into supernatural, science fiction, zombie, apocalypse type shit. Though after watching the television series sneak peek below, I plan to watch at least the first episode. James Patterson himself says the CBS series will be better the book.

Zoo premieres this Tuesday, June 30, at 9 p.m. on CBS. Tune in with me!

Title: Zoo
Author: James Patterson
Published: September 2012 / June 2015
Pages: 395 / 60 minutes
Edition: Hardcover / TV

 

First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Grab your current read(s).
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author.

"They might have been fireworks, the splashes, bursts, storms of color that exploded in front of her eyes. They might have been the northern lights, her own personal aurora borealis. But they weren't, they were just neon lights and streetlights rendered blurred and prismatic by vodka."

~ The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell