Review: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

My rating: ★★★★☆
Book: Epic Fail
Author: Claire LaZebnik 



In this modern take on "Pride and Prejudice," Elise Benton, who has just moved to California, is a junior at an exclusive prep school where, in spite of her initial bad impression, she finds herself attracted to the moody and handsome son of Hollywood's most famous celebrity couple. 

“I got lost in him, and it was the kind of lost that's exactly like being found.”

It says in the Synopsis that it's a modern take on Pride and Prejudice, which is obviously a classic, but as I haven't read it yet, I wont comment on that. Maybe this will be an excuse to read Pride and Prejudice now.

I have to say that I really liked this book. I don't know why in my mind I kept comparing it to Not that kind of girl by Siobhan Vivian which I read earlier this week. Even the covers used similar colours, I think both books just explored similar themes like boys, high school, relationships, and then you have the tall muscular guy who is actually a total sweetheart but you wouldn't expect him to be, and then the female protagonist who is to quick to judge and is blind to the truth...at first.

But more than Not That Kind Of Girl, I really did enjoy this book. I felt more sympathy for Elise the protagonist, she was so likeable had her values and stayed true to them through the book but while she managed that, she doesn't see the truth, over thinks too much and doesn't realise she may be wrong.

As you may know, I am really big on endings, if the ending isn't right it can kill the book for me, and i have to say I wasn't too happy about the ending, not about what happened because everything was the way it should have played out, that was fine. But, I felt like there was something missing in the ending, the way it was written didn't seem right to me. That is my own personal opinion, though I do think the rest of the book was lovely and Claire LaZebnik is a very talented writer.

It just was a great quick easy read that I loved. I didn't initially think I would like it much but I was pleasantly surprised.

I grew to like Derek and Even the rest of the characters were so likeable, Juliana and Chase, and obviously what's high school without the beautiful self-centred mean girl, Chelsea and her Sidekick Gifford.

Another thing I think I should mention is the cover. One of the things that drew me into the book was the cover, but to be honest I didn't feel like the cover had anything to do with the book, I don't quite get it. Anyone? I mean even the title, to me was irrelevant to the book itself. From what I can remember the word 'Fail' was mentioned twice in the book and 'Epic Fail' was mentioned Once and even that seemed like it was pushed in there just to link to the title.

So overall this was a great easy quick read but I would have liked to see the romance developed a bit more.  I would totally recommend to anyone who likes light YA Contemporary Romance. I think I'm going to give Claire LaZebnik another shot, any suggestions?

I am really confused about what rating to give the book, it's somewhere between 3 and 4 stars but I'm not sure how much I liked it, or how much the ending put me off. I'm going to be nice and put 4 for now.


Oh oh oh. and  I don't think I mentioned this, I fell in love with Derek, once we found out about what he's really like

Review: Not That Kind Of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

My rating: ★★★☆☆
Book: Not That Kind Of Girl
Author: Siobhan Vivian 


Natalie Sterling wants to be in control. She wants her friends to be loyal. She wants her classmates to elect her student council president. She wants to find the right guy, not the usual jerk her school has to offer. She wants a good reputation, because she believes that will lead to good things.
But life is messy, and it's very hard to be in control of it. Not when there are freshman girls running around in a pack, trying to get senior guys to sleep with them. Not when your friends have secrets they're no longer comfortable sharing. Not when the boy you once dismissed ends up being the boy you want to sleep with yourself - but only in secret, with nobody ever finding out.
Slut or saint? Winner or loser? Natalie is getting tired of these forced choices - and is now going to find a way to live life in the sometimes messy, sometimes wonderful in-between.

This book is basically about high school, boyfriends, relationships, pressure to be someone you're not (not from just friends but yourself and family), sexuality, friendships. It's not exactly the type of book I love but for what its worth the author did a great job, and someone interested in the pressures of high school would seriously love this book. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.

I did read this book in one night straight, till 7am in the morning.

I have to say I didn't actually like Natalie's character much, but i did love Connor, he was true to her from the start before anything happened between them, he defended her when she wasn't there he was honest, throughout. It really does make you wonder how girls complicate things so much, how we think we're angels but everything isn't really as black and white as we want ourselves to believe.

I think I read the book for the romance more than anything, the message of the book itself was a bit all over the place I din't quite get it.

Overall, a good book, but i guess I didnt connect with it as much as I'd wished I had, but it was an enjoyable read.

Review: Harry Potter: The Prequel

My rating: ★★★☆☆
Book: Harry Potter: The Prequel 
Author: J.K. Rowling

This was a lot shorter than i had expected it was more of a scene than anything else. I knew it was 800 words but still a lot shorter than i expected, i wouldn't technically classify it as a book.


I have to say though, it was really funny, it made my laugh. I would have liked to see this as a part of an actual spin-off stand-alone short story. I'm still not ready to let go of harry :(


I can not wait for J.K. Rowling's new book later on this year.