The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett

Title: The End of Feeling

Author: Cindy C Bennett 

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Online Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars

*I RECEIVED THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW*

NO SPOILERS! 

Summary from Goodreads: 

Benjamin Nefer seems to have it all. He’s the most popular guy in school, the star quarterback with college scouts looking at him, his grades are near the top of his class, he can get any girl he wants . . . but he hides behind his dream life to mask the nightmare of his reality.

Charlie Austin is the new girl. Forced to move in with a bitter aunt, she only wants to protect her fragile mom from the world’s cruelty. When Benjamin sets his sights on Charlie, she’s armored against his charm—friends warned her about Benjamin’s game of pursuing and then dumping a long line of girls, not caring about the broken hearts he leaves behind. She doesn’t count on how single-minded he can be when she refuses him, or how charismatic, easing into her life through what he claims is just friendship.

Benjamin thought he could keep Charlie in the same place he keeps all girls—something to be used and then discarded. But Charlie has as many secrets as he does, secrets he’s determined to discover while keeping his own hidden. He realizes she’s the perfect girlfriend candidate . . . someone he can use to keep up the façade of a perfect life. Now he just has to keep his frozen heart from softening toward this unique girl, because if he doesn’t, his carefully constructed lies might just come thundering down around him, crushing him beneath the burden of feeling.

My Opinion:

The End of Feeling by Cindy C Bennett is a book I definitely recommend to YA romance readers. This novel was a romantic, contemporary which made my heart explode because of all the feels. I just can not get over how perfect and realistic this book was. The End of Feeling follows Charlie, short for Charlotte, the main female protagonist and Benjamin, the main male protagonist. Charlie story was quite unique and different from other protagonist's stories. Her mum suffers from a terrible disease causing her mind to function at a child's level. Seeing Charlie struggle to keep her mum safe was quite heart breaking. From terrible experiences Charlie had to face in life I can now conclude that she is definitely one of the most strongest protagonists I have ever read about. From being the new girl to being the core to her family we see her true, courageous self shining through the novel. Readers felt a great empathy and love for Charlie as Bennett's elegant writing style helped make her character relatable to. The male protagonist, Benjamin also faces many adversities in life, from being abused by his dad at home to being the 'player' at school. His character faced many challenges and due to this hardships he had to turn of his 'humanity'. I adored how Charlie and Ben's relationship was not forced in anyway and I loved their friendship as well. They both could relate to each other and help each other become better people. The character development from the beginning to the end of the novel in both characters was quite evident. This novel broke my heart many times and I cried heaps of times throughout this novel because of the "feels". This novel dealt with very strong themes such as abuse which is why I recommend this novel to mature YA readers. Cindy C Bennett has written a beautiful novel which definitely made me wanting more to read. I really wish Charlie and Ben's story was a series as I felt really connected with the characters and am dying to read more about them. The only fault in this novel which stopped me from giving this contemporary a full five stars was at times due to the duel narrative I felt I could 'hear' Charlie's voice in Ben's point of view. Other than that this novel was phenomenal and beautifully written. Thank you Cindy Bennett for sending me an e-arc, I really appreciate it. 

- Erisha <4  

Don't Fall by Rachel Schieffelbein

Title: Don't Fall

Author: Rachel Schieffelbein 

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Online Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars

*I RECEIVED THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW*

NO SPOILERS! 

Summary from Goodreads:

In which a teenage girl endures the over-protective love of her adoptive mother until she falls for a boy who has her wanting to spread her wings, pitched as a contemporary retelling of Rapunzel.

Seventeen-year-old Anya leads a very secluded life in a house on the edge of town with her adopted mother. She doesn't go to school, but instead has a private tutor. Her over-protective mom keeps her so sheltered that she doesn't even have a best friend. 

But Anya doesn't seem to mind. She has her books, her photography, and her daydreams, and would do anything to please her mom. Until one day at the library, the only place she's allowed to go, she takes a picture of a beautiful boy.

Before long she's lying to her mom, and sneaking out late at night to meet Zander. But Zander wants more than a secret romance. If Anya wants to be with the boy of her dreams, she will have to risk her relationship with the only other person she's ever cared about.

My Opinion:

Don't Fall by Rachel Schieffelbein is a modern, re-telling of the classic, 'Rapunzel'. The aspects of Rapunzel were conveyed in this book through the characters and the environment they are living in but this story also had it's own twist to make it special and different from other fairytale re-tellings. This contemporary, love story is a short, interesting read. Schieffelbein has written an excellent book which made the readers feel as if they were present in Anya and Zander's world. Although the beginning was quite slow and difficult to "get into" the story later progressed to a fun, fast paced read. Anya's character was quite unique and special but at times I found her difficult to relate too. Other than that, her character was quite outstanding and courageous. Living through the rules of her overprotective mother was represented through the novel intelligently by Schieffelbein. Zander's character was very opposite to Anya's as I found him relatable too and also the perfect fictional male character. The main romance relationship in this novel was paced out well and was not forced in any way. The novel, which was written in duel narrative, gave us an equal amount of insight on both Anya's and Zander's lives which helped express the emotion of each character more and allowed us, as the readers, to feel a deep connection with the characters. Don't Fall dealt with strong themes such as family and other relationships which Schieffelbein expressed brilliantly throughout her novel. Her elegant writing skills helped tie in the novel all together including unsolved questions and other mysterious to be solved. At times I felt this novel lacking reality and excluding events that would happen in real life relationships. In my point of view, the ending was too perfect to be true, in other words cliche and I really wish the ending was more real as I believed that this novel had potential to be extraordinary. Overall this novel was a fun read and I would definitely recommend it to readers in their teens who enjoy romance. 

- Erisha <4

Designed To Love by Elle Davis

Title: Designed To Love

Author: Elle Davis

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Online Ratings: 3.3 out of 5 stars

*I RECEIVED THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW*

NO SPOILERS!

Summary from Goodreads:

Messing with Mother Nature can have unexpected consequences…

Ronan Callahan isn’t your average teenager. He was genetically engineered before birth resulting in designer looks, enhanced intellect, supernatural abilities, and an uncanny ability to know exactly what and how to get what he wants. When he asks Cat to marry him, he is confident that they are destined to be together forever and rejects all counsel insinuating otherwise. For the first time in his life he feels a sense of purpose and after his parent’s death, he teams up with other genetically engineered young Designers to work on dangerous undercover missions for the U.S government; a lifestyle much more befitting of his designer character.

When a deadly flying accident turns his life upside down, Ronan finds himself struggling to accept the prospect of a life without Cat, while honoring promises to protect, and take care of her “gifted” six year old sister, Claire. A string of seemingly unconnected personal tragedies all collide in the second of ‘The Designer Chronicles’ and the family of Designers are driven to daring acts, as they work around the clock to save the lives of those they thought were dead and buried.

My Opinion (Contains Spoilers from 1st & 2nd novel): 

Designed to Love by Elle Davis is a fun, adventurous, interesting novel which captures the eye of reader instantly from the blurb. Since I finished Designed For Perfection, I have been eagerly waiting for the next novel to be released as I was quite excited how Elle Davis proceeded events from the ending of the previous novel. Elle Davis' elegant writing style very beautifully connected both novels together. I was very curious to hear Cat's response to Ronan's question and I was fully satisfied when I read the answer in Designed to Love. Elle Davis' 'Designed to Love', was a fun and adventurous novel leaving not a dull point in the book. I also adored how Ronan handled the shocking news of Cat. Drinking and turning to alcohol is a common habit when grieving over the loss of a loved one. When Ronan turned to alcohol many readers were mad but I felt that Elle Davis portrayed and illustrated a realistic image of how people behave over death. Also in this novel I felt Ronan and Cat's relationship was more mature and unique from other novels. Character development of Ronan was represented from the beginning to the end of the novel which made the novel even more interesting to read. Also learning that Cat was the GEM and not Claire was also quite interesting/ shocking. This one event turned the whole plot around and things started to get really interesting. Following Cat through her journey of discovering new talents was quite fun and also helped us relate to her character better. We started to understand Cat's feelings/ emotions making her easily relatable to. The idea of leaving cliffhangers after every novel is a magnificent idea as it keeps the suspense within readers and also the desire to continue reading the serious. Designed to Love was full of suspense and definitely was left off at a cliffhanger. I can't wait for the next novel to be released as I am curious to see how certain events that were left unexplained in Designed to Love will come together for the finale of the chronicles. Following Cat, Ronan, Claire and the other Designers story in Designed to Love was an adventurous journey. I definitely recommend this series to anyone who loves Sci-Fi and Romance. I definitely would place this series in my top 10 favourite series of the year. 

- Erisha <4 

One, Two, Three by Elodie Nowodazkij

Title: One, Two, Three...

Author: Elodie Nowodazkij 

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Online Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 stars

*I RECEIVED THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW*

NO SPOILERS! 

Summary from Goodreads:

When seventeen-year-old Natalya’s dreams of being a ballerina are killed in a car accident along with her father, she must choose: shut down—like her mother—or open up to love. 

Last year,seventeen-year-old Natalya Pushkaya was attending the School of Performing Arts in New York City. Last year, she was well on her way to becoming a professional ballerina. Last year, her father was still alive.

But a car crash changed all that—and Natalya can’t stop blaming herself. Now, she goes to a regular high school in New Jersey; lives with her onetime prima ballerina, now alcoholic mother; and has no hope of a dance career.

At her new school, however, sexy soccer player Antonio sees a brighter future for Natalya, or at least a more pleasant present. Keeping him an arabesque away proves to be a challenge for Natalya and his patient charms eventually draw her out of her shell. 

When upsetting secrets come to light and Tonio’s own problems draw her in, Natalya shuts down again, this time turning to alcohol herself.

Can Natalya learn to trust Antonio before she loses him—and destroys herself?

My Opinion:

One, Two, Three... by Elodie Nowodazkij is a fantastic novel which revolves around a teenager, Natalya who is facing some difficult hardships. This novel explores the story of a girl who is lost due to the death of her father. The main themes that are explored in this novel are overcoming adversities, accepting your challenges, first love, friends and family. This novel is not only about overcoming challenges but is also about accepting your new true self. These themes help make this book acceptable to be read at any age over 13. In this novel we see Natalya's recovery process from the car accident in which her dad died. This recovery process comes to represent that every individual have their own way of defeating challenges. Antonio, the main male protagonist, helps Natalya to cope with her new school life and also challenges at home. He helps bring her out of her shell and also takes time to learn more about her, helping her in any way he can. Antonio himself is facing many challenges at home and school after his brother moved after town. Antonio had to fix the problems his brother left behind and seeing another story in the novel come to 'play' was extraordinary. Both Natalya and Antonio's story are relatable too making readers fell empathy and love for these characters. From first person perspective we could really feel Natalya's emotions and place ourselves into her hardships. This helped create a stronger bond between the reader and the main female protagonist. One, Two, Three... is a beautiful novel which will definitely leave you in a "reading slump" for days. The characters are so life like and relatable to that you will never want to stop reading this novel. Elodie Nowodazkij has written a phenomenal novel which definitely captures the interest of the audience. I enjoyed this novel so much that I finished it in less than a day. I definitely recommend you to pick up this novel on the 26th of June at your local bookstore. I am glad that Elodie Nowodazkij was kind enough to send me an e-arc as this novel really reached out to me and captured my attention. 

- Erisha <4

My Edits: