Review: Dragons Are People, Too by Sarah Nicolas

Title: Dragons Are People, Too

Author: Sarah Nicolas

Series: N/A

Publisher: Entangled

Publication date: April 28th 2015

Format: Kindle | Netgalley | 255 pages

Genre: YA | Paranormal

Goodreads

Never judge a dragon
by her human cover...

Sixteen-year-old Kitty Lung has everyone convinced she’s a normal teen—not a secret government operative, not the one charged with protecting the president’s son, and certainly not a were-dragon. The only one she trusts with the truth is her best friend—and secret crush—the über-hot Bulisani Mathe.

Then a junior operative breaks Rule Number One by changing into his dragon form in public—on Kitty’s watch—and suddenly, the world knows. About dragons. About the Draconic Intelligence Command (DIC) Kitty works for. About Kitty herself.

Now the government is hunting down and incarcerating dragons to stop a public panic, and a new shape-shifting enemy has kidnapped the president’s son. Kitty and Bulisani are the last free dragons, wanted by both their allies and their enemies. If they can’t rescue the president’s son and liberate their fellow dragons before getting caught themselves, dragons might never live free again.

 

 

My thoughts:

I don't know what's going on, but the books I've been reading lately have been really hard to review. It's not that they're bad exactly, it's just that they don't seem to arouse any sort of genuine, heartfelt response to the story - it all seems to be just…meh.

Unfortunately this was another one of those reads. My biggest problem was that the characters felt extremely flat. Kitty was supposed to be one of those young, genius girls who can kick your butt into next week. She's a soldier who works for this dragon community of spies. But in no way did she behave like it. She still behaved too much like a high school student who can't stop thinking about their crush. It got really annoying.

What I loved but also hated at the same time, was the potential in the read. Sani has a really great backstory that's not explored in the slightest and Kitty has a lot of elements to her that could have made such a difference. Her parents for one and their story, but also, her spy level upbringing - I mean, she could have been that character that everyone loves to read about in YA, but instead she came across as too dependent.

At the same time, this book isn't exactly a 'bad' read. There's plenty to keep you interested. I liked all the action and how fast paced everything was. In some ways, that was the problem - it was too fast. There were so many missed opportunities for characters to be explored. But there was enough there for me to stay curious and keep reading.

My rating: 5/10

Sarah Nicolas:

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Review: The Truth About Jack by Jody Gehrman

Title: The Truth About Jack

Author: Jody Gehrman

Series: N/A

Publisher: Entangled: Crush

Publication date: April 14, 2015

Format: Kindle | Netgalley | 192 pages

Genre: YA | Contemporary Romance

Goodreads

Dakota McCloud has just been accepted into a prestigious art school. Soon she'll leave behind the artists' colony where she grew up―hippie dad, tofu since birth, yurt―and join her boyfriend and best friend on the East Coast. It was the plan…until Dakota finds out her boyfriend and best friend hooked up behind her back. 

Hurt and viciously betrayed, Dakota pours out her heart on a piece of paper, places it in a bottle, and hurls it into the ocean. But it doesn't quite go where she expects…

Jack Sauvage finds the bottle washed up on the shore and responds to Dakota's letter. Except what if his straight-laced life doesn’t jive with the free-spirited girl he’s only seen from afar? As Jack creates a persona he believes she’ll love, they slowly fall for each other with each new letter. Now Jack is trying to find a way to make this delicate, on-paper romance happen in real life…without revealing his deception.

My thoughts:

What a cute story!

I've fallen in love with Jack. It's official. Where can I get me one of those?

Seriously I thought this book was adorable on so many different levels. Dakota was a lovely character who was really relatable to readers her age or otherwise. She was struggling with what she wants to do with her life - does she really want to go straight to college or to get some travelling done? We've all been there in some way right? 

I loved how artistic Dakota and Jack were. They really complimented each other and it made their relationship so real and easy going. Nothing was forced so it was something any reader would root for in the end. I couldn't wait for them to get together.

What I loved more than anything though, was the idea that friendship comes first. I hate the idea of the 'friend-zone'. So many people talk about how at the root of every relationship is some kind of friendship. I mean who would hate the idea of loving your best friend? Jack and Dakota were friends first and in the best way possible. They shared a connection - they were both artists, Dakota with her sculptures and Jack with his gorgeous pianist fingers. They understood each other, and that's why they worked so much better than most YA couples.

The only problem I had with this read was that I wanted more. And I don't mean that in the good way. At times I thought the read was a little rushed and I wanted to get to know the characters a lot more than the read allowed for. I wanted a little more of a fight and a little more of a resolved ending where the past is mentioned and there's some kind of closure. Especially for Jack. Especially between Jack and Miles, that was intense.

All in all I really enjoyed this read. It's super quick and it'll leave you wanting more for sure. Go check it out.

My rating: 8/10

Jody Gehrman:

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Review: Just Pru by Anne Pfeffer

Title: Just Pru

Author: Anne Pfeffer

Series: N/A

Publisher: Anne Pfeffer

Publication date: March 2nd 2015

Format: Kindle | Netgalley | 232 pages

Genre: New Adult | Contemporary

Goodreads

"My mother once joked that my dad had wanted to name me Obedience. As if Prudence wasn't bad enough. I was not a Prudence and I never would be."

When twenty-five-year-old Pru Anderson—braless, pajama-clad, and clutching her cat, Chuck—is rescued from her burning Los Angeles apartment, the thing that scares her most is meeting the neighbors. New people make her hide in the bathroom, counting by sevens, but when her home is destroyed, she must turn strangers into friends … or crawl back to the controlling parents she only recently escaped. 

What would her idol, Pepper Hathaway, do? That’s a no brainer: the detective-slash-supermodel heroine from Pru's favorite TV series would take no prisoners while looking fierce in a tankini and stilettos. So when the chance comes to live with her upstairs neighbor, Ellen, a playwright, Pru goes for it.

Thus begin the adventures of Pru, who's never had a job, a friend, or a first kiss. Swept into Ellen's whirlwind life, Pru begins to build her own, as director's assistant for a new play, muse to brooding actor Blake, and possible love interest to adorably neurotic neighbor, Adam. 

Only one thing can derail Pru's exhilarating ride. Well, actually, it's two things—and they're in a car headed straight for LA to torpedo her life. When the past that nearly destroyed her comes calling, who will she be: a Prudence or a Pepper?

 

My thoughts:

What a cute read!

I fell in love with Pru right away, I really did. She's too endearing not too. I just wanted to give her a big hug, pat her on the back and be all 'there,there'. Pru is the character who constantly messes up but has this running commentary that makes it so much more hilarious than it would be otherwise. I was chuckling to myself from the very beginning and mentally urging her on in the tougher situations like with her obsessive parents.

I also loved how both Pru and Adam were so obviously imperfect. Adam was in no way naive like Pru is but he was just as, if not more so neurotic. The mental health side of the read didn't really go into too much detail which was disappointing, but Pru suffers from depression and anxiety while Adam has OCD. They understood each other to the extent of Adam being able to calm Pru down and Pru finding Adam's horror towards any sort of bacteria 'cute'. 

This was a really quick, light and fluffy read that can get you through a bad day.

What I didn't like though, was how predictable it was. You sort of expect it with reads like this - where the book is more focused on humour and a light hearted sort of tone to the read. It's not going to be all roses and sweet things and then the ending is a real downer…it doesn't make sense right? But, more often than not, it means what is going to happen is evident from just a few chapters in. I mean, it was clear to me from the beginning - who was going to end up with who, what was going to happen with Pru's parents and a few other things. It's just a question of details, and the details are where you can actually enjoy the read. Obviously I would rather have just a small doubt in my mind as to what will eventually happen, but it doesn't happen much with reads like this and that annoys me. What's the point in reading if you already know what's going to happen?

Aside from that I still liked this read. To be honest, it was over too quickly for me to get really frustrated with any problems I had. I think it was a nice story to pick up just to waste a couple of hours and distract you from cleaning the house or something equally tedious. 

My rating: 6/10

Anne Pfeffer:

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Review: The Virgin Romance Novelist

Title: The Virgin Romance Novelist

Author: Meghan Quinn

Series: N/A

Publisher: Hot-Lanta Publishing

Publication date: April 2nd 2015

Format: Kindle | Netgalley | 292 pages

Genre: Contemporary | Humour | New Adult 

Goodreads

Her bosom heaved at an alarming rate as his rough hand found its way down to her soft, yet wiry briar patch... 

Can you say briar patch in a romance novel? What about meat sword? That’s what it is…a meat sword, right, all meaty and sword like, slaying through the inner dungeons of a woman’s dark desires. What about breasts? Do bosoms really heave? 

God, I have no idea what happens when private parts touch. 

I’m a virgin trying to write a romance novel and can’t seem to write past a sex scene thanks to my lack of experience. 

My two best friends encourage me to drop the pen for a while and gain some real life practice through multiple dating facets such as blind dates, online profiles, and random hookups. 

But losing my virginity is proving to be tougher than expected…

 

 

My thoughts:

This is another one of those reads that you have to be in the right mood for. I really wanted something that would just constantly make me laugh - something light hearted and full of quirky characters that get up to all sorts. This was definitely that book to get me out of a bad mood.

I think the only way to enjoy this read is to take it as it's meant to be. It is pretty ridiculous with the things that go on - throwing up, running away from gangs of cats and general hilarious conversations are pretty much what this book is made up of. It was a blast.

I really liked these characters. Rosie made me laugh but she was also really relatable - to a certain extent at least, hopefully no one has to go through what she did! She was an ordinary young woman who wanted to get out there and experience life - she was unsure about her job, where she stood with her friends and most of all, she thought her love life was a disaster. But she took it on the chin for the most part and tried her best to figure things out. 

Even though this was supposed to be a fun read, I did think it needed more substance. Rosie went through potential dates like nobody's business and it just didn't pace well since around 4 happened in the span of one week, each with different guys. I also really wanted to hear more about the other important things in her life - she didn't spend a lot of time with her best friend (aside from Henry) and nothing else was mentioned about the work aspect of the story. I mean, the whole idea was Rosie trying to get experience in order to write a romance novel…but what happened to the actual novel after the experience part was done? I would have liked more.

 

Overall if you want a light, fluffy read that will make you laugh I would recommend this one. 

 

My rating: 6/10

 

Meghan Quinn:

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