Book Review: Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith

Title: Kiss Crush Collide
Author: Christina Meredith

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publishing Date: December 27^th 2011

Length: 320 pages

Keywords: YA, contemporary romance

Source: Gift

Kiss
What Leah did—only she really shouldn’t have—one hot night at a country club party.

Crush
What Leah has—only she really shouldn’t have—on the guy with the green eyes, the guy who is not her perfect boyfriend, the guy who does not fit in her picture-perfect life, the guy her sisters will only mock and her mother will never approve of. Not in a million years.

Collide
What happens when everything you always thought you wanted—having cool friends, being class valedictorian and homecoming queen—runs smack into everything it turns out you really do want.

Kiss. Crush. Collide.
For Leah and Porter, summer is only the beginning.

Summary by Goodreads 

  

The major conflict in KISS CRUSH COLLIDE is about the perfect life of a sophisticated family which stands in conflict with the personal preferences and wishes of single individuals, like Leah their youngest daughter. In general exactly that conflict made me want to read the book in the first place. Leah falling for the poor boy. I hoped for a story like PERFECT CHEMISTRY which circles around an unwanted love between a girl who is supposed to be perfect and a boy out of her league, that overwhelms you with its awesomeness.

For my taste the romance came way too short. Sometimes scenes between Leah and Porter were totally irrelevant and not well-integrated into the whole story. I was frankly disappointed by the love story. No chemistry, no insight into the characters feelings for each other, only some inexplicable hook-ups from time to time.

It’s not only that we don’t really get an insight into Leah’s thinking, but the fact that from the moment she starts seeing that new boy, Porter as she calls him, she not once feels shame or guilt for betraying her boyfriend Shane with another boy. That trait of character let her appear like such an unsympathetic person to me that I couldn’t really enjoy the rest of the read.

A friendship between Leah and two old friends and one girl she dislikes is sketched, but I don’t believe in a very close relationship since Leah is such a careless character. She is one of the few YA contemporary protagonists I didn’t like. Sometimes a spark of sympathy tries to push its way through, but mostly I just didn’t get her way of thinking. She blames other people for her misery first and starts thinking about her own part in the story after only a while, if at all.

The whole family of Leah, her sisters and mother are so shallow, it started to really annoy me. I cannot tell you how bored I was every new time Leah mentioned her oh so perfect boyfriend who bothered her, the colour trio her sisters and her are always supposed to wear or her analysis of every single chest in that book! It’s all about the looks and very few about the inner strengths of people. The family has issues, but they are mostly ignored and are not discussed.  

Christina Meredith has a convenient writing style which is fitting for a contemporary romance novel. Cover and writing are really nice, but the content couldn’t convince me at all. I expected the romantic conflict between Leah and that boy at the country club to be so engaging, some sneaking around and sizzling romantic scenes between the two. The premise was so promising and I liked the general constellation of characters and the setting, but their interaction didn't convince.

  

1) of experiencing a whole new way of living

2) of your own four wheels

3) of sneaky meetings

4) there’s always a difference between doing the perfect and doing the right thing

5) of sisterly triple power

2,5/5 **/* KISS CRUSH COLLIDE- Pretty cover, dull content. They kissed, expectations were crushed and opinions collided.

This is the story of a well-established (in this case: shallow) family trying to break out of their habits. Definitely no PERFECT CHEMISTRY. If the premise draws you to the story like it did with me, just pick up this book and just see if it works for you. I’m a fan of YA contemporary romances, but this one unfortunately didn’t really work for me. 

* Read an excerpt of KISS CRUSH COLLIDE here. 

* Visit www.christinameredith.com for fruther information about Christina Meredith and her books.

Teaser: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo


"I looked back over my shoulder, searching the crowd. Mal was arguing with the captain from the sandskiff. As if he felt my eyes on him, he looked up and met my gaze. I could see my own panic and confusion mirrored in his white face. I wanted to cry out to him, to run to him, but the next moment he was gone, swallowed up by the crowd."

-p. 53

New Releases: November 12th - November 18th

November 13^th

Reached (Matched #3) by Ally Condie
Echo (Soul Seekers #2) by Alyson Noël
Black City (Black City #1) by Elizabeth Richards
Witch World (Witch World #1) by Christopher Pike

The Beautiful Creatures Complete Collection by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
Matched Trilogy Box Set by Ally Condie

New Books On My Shelf #58

Here are the books I've got in the past few weeks (I'm in love with them!).

For Review

Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick (Do you see how shiny this beautiful HC copy is? Thanks to Simon & Schuster UK)

Bought

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (read)
Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty (finished about 10 minutes ago)
Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty (starting when this post is published)
(Fourth Comings & Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty - ordered yesterday)
Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (currently reading)


aaaand the first two seasons of my newest (besides Marcus Flutie) obsession DOWNTON ABBEY! If you haven't watch it yet, watch this. It's the trailer for DA season two and I can easily say that this season could be my favourite TV show season ever.

Book Review: The Hunt (The Hunt #1) by Andrew Fukuda

Title: The Hunt (The Hunt #1)

Author: Andrew Fukuda

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Publishing Date: May 10^th 2011

Length: 293 pages

Keywords: YA, fiction, zombies, action, romance

Source: Publisher

Against all odds, 17-year-old Gene has survived in a world where humans have been eaten to near extinction by the general population. The only remaining humans, or hepers as they are known, are housed in domes on the savannah and studied at the nearby Heper Institute. Every decade there is a government sponsored hunt. When Gene is selected to be one of the combatants he must learn the art of the hunt but also elude his fellow competitors whose suspicions about his true nature are growing.

Summary by Goodreads 

THE HUNT isn't exactly a book that'd appeal to me I thought. Zombies? So not my thing. Yet I decided to gave it a try when a copy arrived at my doorstep. And I think we should give more books out of our comfort zone a try. In the end they can surprise you and turn out as quite enjoyable reads, just like THE HUNT.

One fact that I immediately liked about THE HUNT is that the story is told from a male character's point of view, Gene. I think his character made the jump into the story easier when the first chapters and the concept of the society in general still didn't make much sense to me. Gene is a very comfortable character to follow. I'm not well accquainted with the zombie world and its possibilites so if you aren't either, just plan in some more time to adjust to its gory details.

Andrew Fukuda applied a very casual writing that fits Gene's train of thought well. He's just like everyone else (so it seems). They think he is one of them, but truly he is at danger 24/7. He's a human ("heper" as it's called in the book) in a world of a new kind of zombies. And you know what zombies do, right? Eat humans. You think he'd hide from them, but his father taught him to pretend, to be one of them. So he has to folllow all the (weird) customs to fit in. Like there cannot be a single hair on his body, or he cannot alllow himself to show any reactions to cold. And there are many more interesting details to learn about Fukuda's creatures.

Better don't let me start on the gestures,  mimics and customs they apply. The zombies have the strangest way of expressing themselves. I don't want to spoil the fun, but their way of having sexual pleasure was just way too bizarre. So, zombie fans, I guess Andrew Fukuda gave even you many cool details to the species to enjoy.

In this case, the title of the book has a strong correlation to its story. The hunt is the one thing that the story constantly is about, the event everything's leading to. Some time in the first chapters the big hunt is announced which turns the zombies' world upside down. That's where the things start to unravel and Gene's getting more despearate with every passing second to stay unnoticed. To survive.

And there's a girl. Her name's Ashley June. She was one of my main points of interest. She's a mysterious character who has a connection to Gene. Although it's too dangerous for him to allow contact to zombies, it looks like he's falling for her. So in between all the rumble and anxious feelings there's also room for moments of quiet and budding romance.

There's a lot of action towards the end of the story and hords of zombies present, so get ready for fights and fun. Some very gruesome scences and elements are involved, but who wouldn't expect a zombie book to be a little bit gory. 

1) of gory zombie manners

2) of being allies in the darkest times

3) of an unexpected love story

4) of a thrilling hunt

5) of a sunbeam of hope

3,5/5 ***/* THE HUNT- A zombilicious read with dangerous appeal!

I didn't know what happened, but at some point I just felt the urge to read on and on. Fukuda involves a kind of countdown to the day of the hunt and it felt like my brain was inevitably connected to it. It might not be my favourite genre, but THE HUNT was definitely a nice change.

* Don't miss the next book in this series, THE PREY!

* Read an excerpt of THE HUNT here. 

* Watch the book trailer for THE HUNT. 

* Become a fan of the THE HUNT UK fanpage on Facebook! 

* For more information about Andrew Fukuda and his books visit www.andrewfukuda.com

* Thank you Simon & Schuster UK for sending me a copy for review!