On My Wishlist #6

On My Wishlist is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City whose blog I absolutely love. Anyway, On My Wishlist is where we can post our list of books which are on the list to be read, wishing we owned....books we covet.


First for this week is Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles:


A modern tale of star-crossed lovers with a fresh urban twist. At Fairfield High School, on the outskirts of Chicago , everyone knows that south-siders mixing with north-siders can be explosive.  So when Brittany Ellis and Alejandro “Alex” Fuentes are forced to be lab partners in chemistry class, this human experiment leads to unexpected revelations – that Brittany ’s flawless reputation is a cover for her troubled home life, that Alex’s bad-boy persona  hides his desire to break free from gang ties, and that when they’re together, life somehow makes more sense.  Breaking through the stereotypes and expectations that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart, Perfect Chemistry takes readers to both sides of the tracks in a passionate love story about looking beneath the surface. 


Why this book attracts me:  I'm a sucker for the forbidden star crossed love story, Romeo and Juilet was always my favourite Shakespeare play.  Anything with a bad boy who falls for the good girl just turns me to mush, two characters who start out hating each other then fall for each other also does it for me...it's that old gem that there's a fine line between love and hate because they're both such intense emotions. 


The second book this week is also by Simone Elkeles - Leaving Paradise:



CALEB: I’m happy to be going home after a year of being locked in a juvenile corrections facility for over a year for a hit and run drunk driving accident. But if I’m so happy about it, why am I feeling so anxious? Facing my parents will be rough. I also have to start my senior year of high school and face the kids at school and friends who ditched me after I got arrested. The worst part is that Maggie Armstrong is my next door neighbor.


Who’s Maggie Armstrong? Oh, she’s the girl I went to jail for maiming. I’m reminded of my mistake every day of my life because of her. Life just isn’t fair.


MAGGIE: I can’t believe Caleb Becker is being released early. I planned on going to Spain for my last semester of junior year so I could avoid facing him. But my plans get screwed up because Caleb is released from juvenile jail early. It totally upsets me that my life has been turned upside down because of the accident and Caleb returns and seems to jump right back in where he left off. Life isn’t fair and I hate Caleb with all my soul. But how can I stay away from my nemesis when he’s everywhere I go? I’m reminded how much my life changed every day of my life because of him. Life just isn’t fair.


Firstly, the cover art is just amazing, the black background with the couple holding hands, the hands and arms being all we can see.  I love the concept of this book from the reviews and descriptions I've read on the internet; the concept of the person who hurt you or caused you harm also being the only person who can put you back together and heal you.

Movie Cast Mondays

Movie Cast Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by mindful musings


1) Create your own cast for an upcoming book-to-movie adaptation OR pick a book you'd like to see be turned into a movie and choose a cast.
2) Post the book title, author, and summary.
3) Try to pick at least 3 of the main characters to cast.



This week my casting is for Fallen by Lauren Kate:  


Luce: I pictured Luce as being incredibly beautiful with almost porcelain skin so my pick for Luce is Michelle Trachenburg from gossip girl, I loved her when she was in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and thought she did the dark goth teenager thing well in 17 Again.   She somehow manages to play the fiesty girl and the volunerable girl all at once.





Daniel:  I imagined Daniel to be this kind of baby, angelic faced, clean cut looking guy with just the slightest hint of danger about him.  The understated rebel....I don't know why but Matt Czuchry from Gilmore Girls just automatically came to mind, I realise he's probably slightly too old but...anyway...

Cam:  Ah...the bad guy who really was a bad guy...whoever plays him needs to be dark, mysterious, dangerous and alluring....who did I think of? Penn Badgley...I know, I know, he plays a nice guy in Gossip Girl but he's just so damn good looking and I love to see him play someone like Cam...

Gabbe:  Hayden Panettiere...I don't know why she's just who I pictured as Gabbe while I was reading Fallen.  

Just Listen - Sarah Dessen

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars What can I say? I actually found this book sort of mediocre. I was expecting so much more. Anabel is the girl who on the outside apparently has everything: She's a model, perfect family life. But everything is not as it seems, her older sister is suffering from an eating disorder, she wants to quit modelling but doesn't want to disappoint her mother so hides the truth but refuses to admit she lies. And because of some shameful secret she's keeping about what happened over the summer she's lost all her friends.Enter Owen, the boy tipped to be bad, the outcast with anger managment issues who saves Anabel from the evil gossipers and they develop a friendship based on their arguements over music. Owen prefers the harder side of musical genius whereas Anabel is all about the poppy stuff. To me this story seemed to follow the same formula of the other Sarah Dessen book I've read: Girl with troubled past/issues meets slightly bad boy who proceeds to show her the error of her ways and save her from herself. It just all seems a little repetitive and their relationship didn't really seem to develop. View all my reviews >>

On My Wishlist #5

On My Wishlist is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City whose blog I absolutely love. Anyway, On My Wishlist is where we can post our list of books which are on the list to be read, wishing we owned....books we covet.

The first book on my wishlist this week I discovered on another person's blog - I want to read that - the book is Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt:



This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation.
Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet.
It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care.
But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot.
Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other.


I particularily like the cover art for this book, it portrays that lost feeling that I think the book will highlight - can't wait to read it.


The second book on my wishlist this week is Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler:

Ivy and Tristan are meant to be together. Both stunningly attractive, brilliantly talented and very much in love, they think their happiness will last forever. When a terrible car accident shatters their world, killing Tristan and injuring Ivy, she must face life alone - or so she thinks. However, Tristan is watching over her as her guardian angel - so close she can feel his touch and hear his voice. And no one needs a guardian angel more than Ivy, because someone is trying to kill her. But if Tristan saves Ivy, his mission on earth will be finished, and he'll have to leave her behind. Will saving Ivy mean losing her forever?


I've seen this book in the bookshop and have hummed and harred over it, I'm intrigued by the concept of the story, it's very Romeo and Juliet-esqe but only one half of the couple dies leaving the other to pick up the pieces.

Going Too Far - Jennifer Echols

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

My rating: 4 of 5 stars All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far...and almost doesn’t make it back.John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won’t soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won’t be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge—and over...The concept for this book is simple: two damaged people forced together to save each other. It's an endearing book about pushing the boundaries and opening up and realising that the one person who can't possibly understand what you've been through is perhaps the only one who really can. Though written from Meg's point of view, I actually felt worse for Officer After, he's trying to do the right thing for whatever reasons and Meg just keeps pushing him and treats him as if he's just a stereotypical back water town cop. Right from the off set he's trying to save Meg and make her realise that the path she's going down is a self-destructive one while she tries to show him there is more to the world than the town they live in. I found Going Too Far to be well written but felt that the speed at which their relationship developed was a little unrealistic but that's just me, I also felt that John wasn't as well described as I'd hoped there was a lot of focus on his intense eyes but other than that I wasn't able to form a clear picture of him in my imagination. Overall though this was an enjoyable, fast read which I would happily read again. View all my reviews >>

Fallen by Lauren Kate

There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori. 

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move. 

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her. 

So after much anticipation and waiting I finally read Fallen, I must admit when I first bought the book it was mainly for the cover art, it's just gorgeous and called to me (yes...books whisper to me...it's fine, it doesn't make me crazy), I actually had no idea what the premise for the book was.

When we first meet Luce she's moving into the Sword and Cross boarding school and adjusting to the restrictions this is causing:  giving up her cell phone among other things.  Her fellow classmates are quirky - if not slightly crazy and the moment she sets eyes on Daniel she feels a strange sense of deja vu...that is until he proceeds to be rude and makes her feel as if she is crazy.  At times I found Luce to be fiesty and a little bit kick ass but at other times she was tentative and not quite with what was going on but still charming in her own way.

And then along comes Cam....ah Cam, the dark, mysterious, hot boy who wants Luce all for himself.  I must admit at first I liked Cam a lot more than Daniel, I initially thought Daniel was the bad guy (or at least just a jerk) but you really have to pay attention to what he's not saying and to his actions as opposed to what he does say.  As I read more and more I realised what a tortured fallen angel he is, he remembers everything and I could see why Luce would be so drawn to him.

While the action was a slow burner, the characters and their interactions and the way they were all intertwined kept me interested as did the push/pull thing Daniel had going on, pushing Luce away only to pull her back in.  The writing was intricate and dark and gothic and I could perfectly conjure up the image of the settings in my mind.   I'm really glad this is the first in a series because I would love to learn more about Luce and Daniel's past as well as Cam's - Cam may be bad but there's still just something about him that draws me in and I want to find out why or how he got to be so bad.

Overall, despite the mixed reviews about this book, I really enjoyed it, the writing was great, if not at times a little repetitive and the descriptions were just so details...it's definitely one I'd recommend to be put on the To Be Read lists.