The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue has spent the majority of her sixteen years being told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. When Blue meets Gansey’s spirit on the corpse road she knows there is only one reason why – either he is her true love or she has killed him.

Determined to find out the truth, Blue becomes involved with the Raven Boys, four boys from the local private school (lead by Gansey) who are on a quest to discover Glendower – a lost ancient Welsh King who is buried somewhere along the Virginia ley line. Whoever finds him will be granted a supernatural favour.

Never before has Blue felt such magic around her. But is Gansey her true love? She can’t imagine a time she would feel like that, and she is adamant not to be the reason for his death. Where will fate lead them?

Rating: 4/5 Stars

I’m going to start this review by saying that I have no idea of what to say about The Raven Boys. I know, very eloquent, but so are all my reviews.

This time however, I don’t know what to say because there isn’t really much to say. This is the sort of book that you should read without direction and make up your own opinion because there is nothing to compare it with. The only way I would describe The Raven Boys is… like The Raven Boys.

The writing is incredibly beautiful; the story is full of magic and mystery creeping into every page. The characters are interesting and complex and all of those things together create this unique book.

I love it for the most part, though there was something bugging me about it which is why I didn’t give it five stars. There were times when the story seemed incredibly eerie and fantastic, the characters relatable and layered and the plot wonderful, but there were others when I felt like the story was trying too hard to be something “different”, the characters plain and cliché and the plot boring and forced. The reason for Blue joining the raven Boys still makes no sense because there is no logical sense in her wanting to be near Gansey when that means it’s a step closer to killing him.

Was it a story that took the typical archetypes of Young Adult and played them to make some different with them? Or was it a story that tried too hard to be different and ended up falling into the clichés it tried so hard to avoid? I think it was both and neither, if that makes any sense.

However I did love the book and I’m really looking forward to the sequel. I will have to re-read The Raven Boys though, because there are still many things I think I missed without having the complete picture I have now after I finished.

In any case, I honestly think that The Raven Boys is a book everyone should read, at least to try it out once.

The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others.


Rating: 2/5 stars

The Orphan Queen has a fantastic premise: in a world were magic produces a toxic waste called the Wraith, magic has been banned from most kingdoms and those who practice it are sentenced to death.

Wilhelmina is the lost princess of the Aecor Kingdom, which was conquered a few years ago by the Indigo Kingdom. After having witnessed her parents’ execution, Wil and other royal children who manage to escape form a street team name the Ospreys. Together they’ll plan an infiltration to the royal palace so they finally recover their kingdom and save their people from Indigo’s cruel regimen.

The problem with this book was, there was nothing remarkable besides the idea behind it. Despite the idea of magic producing wastes that encases entire cities in amber and a Princess infiltrating an enemy castle to free her people, none of those concepts are actually approached and what we got is a girl and her friend flirting with guards, dancing and complaining about the bustier royal ladies in Indigo (in case you didn’t’ know, having breasts makes you an asshole just FYI), flirting with a mystery vigilante and talking about clothes, leaving very little room for the actual take of the Kingdom.

Don’t get me wrong, I mean, clichés can still make a good story in the hands of a skilled writer, this however was not the case. The book was dumb, boring and frankly not what I was expecting.

When I hear a plot such as infiltrate a castle and take back a kingdom, I imagine mystery, danger and clever plans. Instead I came across really dumb ideas that work because the plot demands it, forgettable characters and predictable plot lines.

I’m sorry if I’m being harsh, but this was my first big disappointment of the year and it’s January 10^th! This is not the best start for my reading year.

As I said, the plot has some original ideas, such as the Wraith, Black Knife (a vigilante who gets rid of thieves such as Wil) and Wil’s powers. The problem is, they are carried in a way that it’s so unoriginal that it takes away its value. There is no exploration on the world, which we know nothing about, or the characters, everything is simple and one-dimensional, something I wasn’t a fan of.

The plot consisted of Wil and her friend infiltrating the castle of one o the most powerful kingdoms in the world, and you know how they do it? They pretend to be ladies from a Kingdom destroyed by the Wraith (even though it had been confirmed that no one had survived). Wil and her friends simply write some papers saying who they are (but without any royal seal or anything) and they are allowed to stay in the castle, for as long as they want! Nobody checks their identities or corroborates their stories, they say they are ladies and they believe them.

I really don’t feel like getting into details since I could spoil things, but nothing really makes much sense.. Wil has met the Indigo Prince when she was younger, and if he recognizes her (which she’s not sure on whether he would or not) she and her friend would be likely tortured for information and later killed. But for some reason, Wil never shares this information with anybody, not even her friend, keeping it a secret that there is someone in the castle who could blow the entire operation because… I don’t know actually why she does this. I mean yes, I get that the author did it to build tension with Wil wondering on whether the Prince recognizes her and keeping it a secret from her friend but what reason does Wil have to keep it a secret besides being dumb?

There were no secrets or surprises for me and I guessed pretty much the entire plot at 16%. It wasn’t hard, considering how I have read it so many times before in different books, and the identity of Black Knife was the most obvious of them all.

The characters were one dimensional. Wil spends her day complaining about what it was like to have her kingdom being taken away from her, but I never actually felt her rage. It just seemed like something she had to say. The rest of the time she would spend sneering at the other Ladies who try to befriend her (even though she should gather intel and making friends would take some suspicion off of her) and sensing that something is going on with her friends but DOING NOTHING ABOUT IT!

I would recommend it to people who don’t read much YA or are fans of the genres and wouldn’t mind the things I pointed out. If you are looking for a fantastic fantasy book with wonderful characters, intrigue and more… this is not for you.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all. 

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen. 

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

I read this for Popsugar's 2016 reading challenge: A bestselling Young Adult

The Young Elites promised to be a book I would love. It tells the story of Adelina, a sixteen year-old girl survivor of a fever that killed her mother and left her scarred, turning her into a Malfetto along with thousands of other children. People fear malfettos, thinking them to be omens of bad luck and even possessors of great powers. Adelina has lived under the care of her abusive father and she never thought much about herself until her powers manifest and she discovers that there is something dark and twisted inside her, ready to take revenge on those who wronged her. It is the story of a person becoming a villain, of being swallowed whole by darkness. Combine that with intrigue, fantasy and a dash of romance and The Young Elites should have been one of my favourite reads!

And yet… all I can think about this book is:

 

Don’t get me wrong, this book is not bad I just… feel nothing towards it.

I started reading this as a part of Popsugar’s reading challenge and because I had been looking forward to try this one for a while now. I got up to 52% in less than a day, something not very common for me since I’m a slow reader. However, and even though I had gotten that far, I still didn’t have a sense of what the story was about. I didn’t care about Adelina (although I did relate to her at some points) nor did any of the secondary characters left an impression on me. At the end of the day, I finished this book not because I wanted to see what would happen, but rather because I wanted to get it over with, and that was probably because I wasn’t as invested in the story as I should have been.

I didn’t care about these characters, or their stories and I’m still trying to figure out why.

Adelina and her journey towards darkness was by far the best part of the book. I relished those moments in which darkness and rage consumed her, only to leave her confused and sorry when it went away. Her confusion and horror were understandable, and it was fascinating to see how she started to justify herself, how her insecurities, her fears and ambitions drove her to do things she never thought she was capable of, and even get to enjoy doing them.

Probably one of the most interesting aspects about Adelina is that, even though she has been physically and mentally abused, she also plays the victim card very often something that not many authors tend to do. Now, I’m not saying that she should just “get over it”, she went through a lot of horrors from her father’s treatment so it’s not as if I’m saying she should shrug it off and move on, her anger and sadness is justified. However, Adelina is very self-absorbed. She’s the kind of person who, in their minds, you are either with them or against them. It’s always interesting to read about people who think so little and yet so high of themselves, and Adelina didn’t seek out darkness because it was her only choice but rather because she enjoyed it. Her ambition and desire to be loved “with no strings attached” came to a point when she would judge every little thing as an act against her, even if she herself had caused it. The author did a good job, I think, of portraying those thoughts in Adelina, her desire to be liked conflicting with her need to stand up for herself and not be someone else to please others.

The romance:

Yeah… I wasn’t a fan of that either. I understand why it was necessary since it showed Adelina bonding with someone who was similar to her, and cared for her at the same time that tried to use her. However I just… I didn’t care about them together or just Enzo, the crown Prince and a powerful Young Elite. He was looking to restore his rightful claim to the throne that was taken away by his older sister. He is the leader of the Dagger Society, and takes a particular interest in Adelina and her powers.

Besides him, the secondary characters were no better. It was strange because, even though the book spends a lot of time doing nothing, it doesn’t focus on the characters either so, unless they mentioned which power they had, I had no idea of who was who. They had little traits such as one being the “nice” other being the “dick” and then a hue of nothingness for the other secondary characters.

I didn’t have feelings for these people, or their relationships. Whenever Adelina and Enzo shared a “romantic” moment all I could do was read with mild boredom, and it was supposed to be hot I mean, he controlled fire y’all!

Same happened with her sister, I know that they cared for one another, I just didn’t feel it. Although her sister did turn out to be a more interesting character than she seemed, her character still was kiddy pool-deep.

The pace:

Honestly, it wasn't great. We would get this super action-packed scene... and then nothing. The pages went on and on with nothing happening and no idea of what the plot was.

The ending was interesting, probably the best part of the novel but it didn’t leave me wanting more. I might read it to know how it all follows up, but so far I don’t have the dire need to order The Rose Society.

To All The Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.






Rating: 2/5 stars

You know that episode of How I Met Your Mother in which Katy Perry played a girl so naive; the guys only remembered her nickname, honey?

To All The Boys I have Loved Before was like reading a love story from Honey’s point of view… when she was ten years old.

The premise alone was interesting, when Lara has a crush she writes said person a letter detailing all of her feelings and then keeps it to herself so she can move on. One day, she discovers that someone has sent all of her letters to her previous crushes, including her sister’s (recent) ex-boyfriend and the one guy she still has feelings for.

I liked the first part, well actually the introduction:

I like to save things. Not important things like whales or people or the environment. Silly things. Porcelain bells, the kind you get at souvenir shops. Cookie cutters you’ll never use, because who needs a cookie in the shape of a foot? Ribbons for my hair. Love letters. Of all the things I save, I guess you could say my love letters are my most prized possession.

I thought that made her realistic and cute, it showed she had a nice personality. I just wish the book had stayed like that, but with a plot.

The supposed plot was the letters being sent to her crushes and her having to deal with all of those guys realizing that she had once had a thing for her, as well as dealing with the absence of her older sister and comforting her now ex-boyfriend and family friend, Josh whom she has been in love with for as long as she can remember and who may actually like her back.

Instead, nothing really happened. I thought the letters would take the main stage I mean, can you imagine if that happened in real life?

 But they are only an afterthought, and we spend the rest of the book with Lara making dumb decisions, crushing over Josh but being conflicted about him dating her older sister (though not as much as I thought she would) and making a deal with one of her ex-crushes to fake being in a relationship so Josh won’t make a move on her… instead of simply telling her that them dating would be wrong. Sigh, there was a lot of nonsense drama.

You may think that the Katy Perry-Honey gif is too much, but that’s because you haven’t’ read about Lara Jean. She was painfully naïve, the entire narration was super easy to follow, but because it seemed to have been written by a ten year old. It honestly made the romance creepy; I couldn’t imagine that girl with a child-like mentality being mature enough to start a love story.

The romance… well besides the child mentality Lara had, I personally could not connect with her desire to date her sister’s ex. I don’t have sisters, but if I think about my cousins and friends, I know that for sure as hell I wouldn’t want to date their ex-boyfriends. Of course, having a crush is not something that you can control, but it surprised me how little Lara thought of dating Josh, as if it weren’t a big deal that she could date him or that he had always thought about her when he was dating her sister. If I were her, I would punch the guy in the face, crush or no crush nobody does that to my imaginary sister, damn it!

The book was filled to the brim with YA tropes, but considering this was contemporary I thought they would be spun around and made something fun, light-hearted and eye-opening. None of that happened. Lara is the perfectly naïve MC, her only friend is the “slutty” girl created to make the MC purer in comparison (I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate this trope), the perfect guy and the over the top drama. Surprisingly, what I really liked was the guy Lara pretends to date, Peter. He was the most realistic aspect of the book.

In the end and because of spoilers I decided to give this book two stars. I recommend it to people who like fluffy romances and don’t mind silly heroines. If you are looking for something with more depth… ehhh, no.

Fire Falling by Elise Kova

Soldier… Sorcerer… Savior… Who is Vhalla Yarl?

Vhalla Yarl marches to war as property of the Solaris Empire. The Emperor counts on her to bring victory, the Senate counts on her death, and the only thing Vhalla can count on is the fight of her life. As she grapples with the ghosts of her past, new challenges in the present threaten to shatter the remnants of her fragile sanity. Will she maintain her humanity? Or will she truly become the Empire’s monster?

Fire Falling is the second book in the Air Awakens Series.





Rating: 1/5 Stars

DNF at 53% and skimmed to the end, because that was my Christmas present to me.

Despite its promising premise, Air Awakens fell flat for me, there was little of it that I liked besides the similarities to ATLA and it had been a pain to read through it all.

However, I read numerous reviews claiming Fire Falling as a fabulous book, much better than its predecessor and my damned curiosity got the best of me. After all, I had really liked the premise of the series, could it be that it was in Fire Falling that we finally see it to its full potential?

Nope.

I couldn’t even manage to complete this sequel and I chose instead to skim until the end to see if something interesting happened. It didn’t.

Fire Falling begins soon after the end of the first book with Vhalla marching to war as property of the Solaris Empire. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be back in Vhalla’s selfish head but I was, however, curious. If well she didn’t went through any sort of character development in the first instalment, something to be expected of a character who has her world turned upside down, there was the promise of change in the last paragraph of the novel.

I was really looking forward to that, so imagine my surprise when I start reading… and Vhalla is even worse! I’m not even sure how that’s possible, but it happened. Despite her inner monologue of being a new person with dead friends and what else, Vhalla turns into a desperate, whining creature obsessed with the Prince.

You can’t do that, you can’t promise decent character development at the end of a book and then regress Vhalla back to her fricken infancy! Her entire purpose in this novel is to cry, feel bad about Sareem’s death (a character she gave to figs about when he was alive), feel bad about the Prince who is ignoring her (even though being with her would put both of their lives in great danger), that useless love triangle (rectangle??) and crying again.

I don’t know why Sareem’s death was made into such a big deal, considering how we barely knew the guy. That was a major flaw in the story, the author wanted to create this traumatic event that would change Vhalla and so she chose to kill her friend, the problem was she didn’t spend any time grounding Sareem as a character. In fact if we go back we see that he only has four scenes, six if we are pushing it and during all that time Vhalla treated him like dirt, not even paying attention to him when he spoke. Yet I’m somehow supposed to believe that his death was something that marked her? If the character doesn’t care, then the reader won’t care either.

That was it, Vhalla doesn’t want to do anything war related even though it may KILL her. Her obsession with Aldrik truly baffled me. I didn’t buy it in the first book, but now? For the love of God, I’m pretty sure this girl can’t take a dump without angsting over her precious Aldrik. Her entire thoughts consisted of “Aldrik, Aldrik, Aldrik, My Prince! My Prince! My Prince!” and I just sat there, thinking WHY? Why is she so obsessed with him? Why am I supposed to care about that half-thought of “romantic relationship” with no chemistry or logic?

The real thing Vhalla is in dire need of is a hug… by a force jacket and sit in a room with cushioned walls.

Aldrik was the same, still boring, still “brooding” and the sun still shone out of his ass. Everything that happened to Vhalla, was in fact a plot to show his skills/feelings/bullshit. The story is still orientated so that, despite Vhalla being the main character, nothing is about her but rather her bland love interest.

Larel… oh my sweet Larel! You had so much potential but the writing made you into a Refrigerator Woman, only there to serve a purpose to the main characters and no plot of your own. Back in Air Awakens we knew that her only purpose was to heal Vhalla’s wounds, clean her vomit and make Vhalla jealous due to her relationship with the Prince (though Vhalla is so obsessed she couldn’t believe they were just friends).

In FF she becomes a toy, going as far as to say that she would go to war with Vhalla and die for her… for a girl she has talked to five times, tops. Sounds legit.

 I was looking forward to seeing more of this world, considering how little we got at first and the entire novel would be about heading to war. This would be a fantastic opportunity to expand the world-building! And yet we spent all of that time with a dreaded love triangle that makes no sense, since Vhalla has no doubts who she’s obsessed with-I mean, loves.

The editing was still lackluster. There weren’t so many horrible errors like in the first one, but there were still plenty and it was certainly not up to publishing level.

Clearly, this series just isn’t for me.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

“We all wind up drawn to what we're afraid of, drawn to try to find a way to make ourselves safe from a thing by crawling inside of it, by loving it, by becoming it.” 

I'm sorry for this sad excuse for a review, I think finals and college has taken my ability to write properly... if I ever had such ability.

This book was nothing like what I'm used to in typical YA, and that's probably the reason of why I liked it so much.

Probably the stellar point of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is its characters; from our main one, Tana, who lived forever haunted by the scars her mother left her when she was infected, and almost killed her. She would always push her luck, risking her wellbeing and doing dangerous stunts to play with death, blaming herself for her mother's death and fearing that she might become her.

“She wished it was an unfamiliar feeling, that ache, the urge that made her hit the gas when she ought to hit the brake.” 


To Aidan, her ex-boyfriend and now Cold friend. I didn't know whether to hate him or feel sorry for him. He was manipulative and selfish but ultimately a good person and desperate to make people like him and don't leave him to the point where he did stupid things to ensure that. He was constantly battling his need for someone to love him with doing what was right, and often failed.

Gavriel, the vampire that had been tortured for over a decade to the point where he couldn't distinguish what was real and what wasn't, his relationship with death and pain had become so mixed up he couldn't live without either.

“But there's nothing you like better than when it hurts a little, is there?" Lucien asked.

Gavriel's bloody mouth lifted in a voluptuous smile. "Sure there is. I like it when it hurts a lot.” 

Midnight... screw her. Yes, yes I can't hate her entirely because just as the rest she was broken, but she was the proof that vampirism didn't turn you into something else but rather showed who you really were, underneath.

Valentina was amazing, her desire to be a vampire esteemed from wanting to remain in her body forever rather than having to depend on hormones and treatments she couldn't afford. I loved how she was so kind and brave, how even though she thought that the boy she loved was in love with a vampire, she still went out of her away and risked her life to make sure that that girl she barely knew lived.

I loved all of the characters, even the ones who had barely a line or no line at all felt real, as if there were a story behind them ready to be told. I loved the diversity both cultural and in sexuality and how it wasn't frowned upon or made a big deal out of it, rather stated as something natural as it should be.

Very few books can do what The Coldest Girl in Coldtown did and pull it off so effortlessly, and it's funny how with it being a book about vampires it dealt with social situations of our daily lives as it main focus, our relationships, our passions, and especially our fears. The writing was fantastic I wish I could quote it all.
The ending was a bit abrupt though, but besides that it was wonderful I absolutely recommend it to everybody!

The Girlfriend Request by Jodie Andrefski

Updating best friend to girlfriend is more than a change of status…

Emma has been best friends with Eli since she moved to his neighborhood ten years ago. Tired of being cast in the role of the girl next door, Emma creates a fake Facebook profile in the hopes of starting an online friendship with Eli, which would hopefully lead to more. Like...way more. From friend request to In a Relationship--it all seemed so completely logical when she'd planned it.

Eli can't figure out what Emma is up to. He’s pretty sure she's the one behind the Facebook profile, but then again, why would she do something so drastic instead of just admitting she wants to be more than friends? And who the heck is this new guy he saw her with? Eli starts to think that just maybe...he missed his chance with the girl next door.

Two best friends, one outlandish ruse. Their status is about to become way more than It’s Complicated…

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains one fake Facebook profile, two best friends who secretly crave each other, and a dreaded sex talk with parents…boy crush in the room included. Pushing a relationship beyond the friend zone has never been so crazy…


Rating: 2/5 Stars

I was kindly provided with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

When reading The Girlfriend request I was pretty sure of what I’d find, a cute and fun love story between two friends filled mishaps and goofy moments and, in a way, that was delivered, I’m just not very happy with it.

Emma and Eli have been best friends since her family moved to their neighbourhood when she was six, and ever since then her love for him grew. The problem is, Eli is perfectly happy with her as a friend which is the reason she creates a fake facebook profile so she can talk to Eli and hopefully get him to fall in love with her.

My issues with the book were a few but, one of the biggest one was its lack of excitement. Sure, as a contemporary romance I knew pretty much everything that would happen, no aliens coming down from the skies or anything, it was a classic romance story but that it’s no reason for it being boring. It was pretty much a knock off of so many other contemporary romances out there, there was nothing about it that could set it apart, no message, humour or idea that made me think this was something else.

Another problem was the characters. Emma could be a little dumb and naïve at times (let's face it, creating a fake Facebook profile for your best friend to fall in love with wasn't exactly genious) but also, she didn’t sound much like a teenager but more like what a grownup imagines a teenager sounds like. Just look at this quote:

“I’d made up an entire Facebook profile in the hopes of starting an online friendship with Eli, which would hopefully lead to more. Like… way more.”

What is this? Does anybody speak like that all the time?

The relationship, although I could see the love from Emma’s side, it lacked substance from Eli. The book is told in two different POVs and to the writer’s credit they don’t blur together and you can actually tell the two voices apart. The thing is Eli has no feelings for Emma. We see how he is happy with their friendship, in no moment does he say that he wants something more or implies that he has different feelings, on the contrary, and yet the second he sees her talking with another boy he’s super-duper in love? I don’t really buy it, he went from zero to 12324234234 in a second.

Probably my biggest issue was the mean girl stereotype.

“Everyone at school is afraid of you because they know what a two-faced vindictive bitch you are, and they don’t want to get on your bad side.”

As a classic romance story with no surprises, the two love birds are meant to have an obstacle, something to keep them apart and build the tension (even though it failed here) and that something was Carissa, Eli’s ex and Emma’s arch nemesis. Carissa had no depth or personality; she was simply mean because beautiful girls are all evil and backstabbing monsters, duh! Except our main character, of course because despite the fact that she has two guys crushing on her and is constantly told to be beautiful, she’s not mean because she has no confidence in herself.

So remember girls, if confidence and self-esteem you have, a bitch you will be called.

That’s the only message I can get from The Girlfriend Request, and when I read a contemporary romance I’m in for the cuteness, not the slut-shaming.