The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros - Reshelved Books

Hi guys.

Let me apologize for not posting at ALL in August.  I went away on vacation at the beginning of the month and I have been away on vacation ever since.  Alas, it's September and the reviews need to start up again...

It's not that I haven't been reading.  I have!  I have been reading A LOT.  I just haven't been posting.  I have a lot of started reviews sitting in the queue.  (And we all know how much Jessica loves when this happens)
The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros is why this post exists today.

Cover is courtesy of Amazon.com!

This book, you guys. Soooo incredibly amazing. I cannot. 

It also made you fall in love with Beckett Gentry, call sign Chaos.  Honestly, if I could have a literary boyfriend, I would have pass up Mr. Darcy for Mr. Gentry. (It’s said by fellow characters in The Last Letter, that Beckett looks like Chris Pratt. Who doesn’t love Chris Pratt? I must say that Chris Pratt circa Parks and Rec is my favorite Chris Pratt.)

Beckett Gentry, or Chaos as he’s known in his unit; is serving a tour with Ella’s brother, Ryan.  Early on in the beginning of the book, the reader sees that Ryan or Mac, is persuading Beckett into writing letters to Ella.  Ella has a lot going on, not only is she a single mom who's running her own business while raising twins but one her children is diagnosed with a neuroblastoma. Even though he understands this, Beckett is reluctant to do so- he doesn't want the attachment, he doesn't want the what ifs or the what could bes.  But something happens, as Chaos writes Ella, he starts to fall for Ella.  Ella starts to feel the same way about Chaos.  When Mac becomes a prisoner of war and then loses his life, Chaos just stops writing to Ella.  Which breaks Ella. 

The title "The Last Letter" comes from the last letter that Mac wrote in the event that he died.  It was addressed to Chaos- inside it was asking Chaos to go to Telluride, CO; and take care of Ella and her kids.  

Chaos does just that.  He goes to Telluride and rents a cabin for 7 months at Solitude.  
Only Chaos is now Beckett.  
Chaos doesn't exist- he died with Mac.

The start of each chapter starts with a letter either from Ella to Chaos, or from Chaos to Ella.  Each chapter is told from their respected prescriptive only. 

I cried. I literally had tears streaming down my face. To the point where I couldn’t read the words that were in front of me and I needed to stop and get myself together. 


This book had everything. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made you feel love, it made you feel heartbreak. And lastly, it made you feel hope. 

I give this book 5 coffee beans out of 5!  If you're in the market for a new book- I would strongly recommend this one.

~ Jillian

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover - Reshelved Books

Hello Deweys!

I am addicted to Colleen Hoover.  I fall in love with her characters right away.  The way she writes is phenomenal, and it's so inspiring to know that she was first a self-published author before she hit it big.  SO I was super excited to check out her latest novel, All Your Perfects from my library.

This novel did not disappoint.  So what would you do if you if you went to your fiancé's apartment to surprise him and found a strange man sitting outside the door?  What would you do if that man told you that his (soon to be ex) girlfriend was inside having sex with your fiancé?  Yup.  You guessed it. This is the scene that this novel opens up with.  Throw in some Chinese food in the hallway, a wedding that will never happen, and some pride in the face of heartbreak and you get the beginning of this wonderful novel.

Quinn was 25 years old when she found out her fiancé was a jerk, but through the devastation 1) She got out before she exchanged vows and 2) She met Graham.  The novel flashes between the past (the break-up / post break-up) and the present (the the marriage between Quinn and Graham.)  This relationship which was founded through a not-so happy, yet lucky, coincidence is basically the ideal romance of two soulmates.  However, their current marriage isn't so happy.  Mainly because Quinn is dealing with the fact that she is infertile and cannot conceive.  The couple is unable to adopt for legal and financial reasons, and Quinn has become so consumed with this grief of not being able to have a baby that she has changed as a person and as a wife.  

Hoover crafts a story about two people who are supposed to be together, but are struggling.   The reader watches them fall in love, but the reader also watches their love fall apart.  Perhaps things would be better if they could just communicate about their pain, their fears, and their grief, but like so many of us, they don't.  The reader's heart breaks for Quinn and Graham as we slowly watch their relationship silently dissolve.

I silently cried while reading this and I give it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

~Jessica 

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

Those are clean tissues I crinkled up... I promise....

I'm sorry I've been M.I.A.  Life has been CRAZY, but I have been reading, just nothing review worthy.  My last review was on Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us, which I adored.  Surprise, surprise, this review is also about a book by Colleen Hoover.  I'm in love with Colleen Hoover.  I can't get enough.  I'm bookishly addicted.  Maybe I need rehab...

Without Merit is Hoover's latest novel, which I found while perusing the new shelf at my public library.  Everyone should go to their library right now and look at the new shelf.  I know that Hoover writes New Adult Fiction (N.A.) but I wasn't sure that this novel quite fit that category.  To me, it seemed like more of a young adult (Y.A.) fiction novel primarily because instead of having characters in their 20s, Hoover has main characters who are 17-19 years old.   Interesting to me, because all of the local libraries had this book shelved with their adult fiction collection...

Anyway, back to the book.  In this novel we meet Merit.  Merit has a twin sister named Honor and the two are COMPLETELY different.  Honor is into makeup and boys who are near their death bed, and Merit is socially awkward, a little bit borderline depressed, and collects trophies in which she buys every time something bad or embarrassing happens to her.   So one day while Merit is skipping school and eyeing up a trophy at the local antique shop, she runs into this older guy who kisses her.  WHY DOES A STRANGE MAN KISS HER?  Well, he thought Merit was Honor.  *Ba da bum!*

But if that's not embarrassing enough, this man, who goes by the name of Sagan, moves into her home.  She can't escape the embarrassment.  He's eating breakfast at her kitchen table!  Her family is a mess!  Her mother, who had battled cancer lives in the basement after her father slept with her mother's nurse and got her pregnant / married her, the family is looked down upon by town members after her atheist father bought a church and renovated it into a home, none of the siblings actually talk to Honor, and Honor doesn't appear to like them very much either.  

So, if you're looking for a read that's part soap opera, part romance, and part individual and familial mental disorder, pick this novel up.   I would give it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

And until the next read, which I promise will be something different from Hoover... (even though I just bought a new one)... Happy Reading!        

~Jessica

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover - Reshelved Books

OH MY GOODNESS Dewey Readers!

I just finished Colleen Hoover's novel It Ends With Us, and I am SO in love.  I literally devoured this book in under 24 hours.  It was THAT good.   

This is my first novel by Hoover, and I picked it up while at work, thinking that I would try to do a new adult / ya crossover display for the library.  I'm trying to target the 20-30 crowd.  But it got me thinking, have I read any authors that are primarily known for NA fiction?  Not really.  I mostly read YA and women's fiction, with a few random ones in between.  Hoover's novel literally jumped off the shelf at me. Literally. So needless to say, I checked it out and took it home.    

I am so glad I did.

So, let's talk about the novel.  Lily is 23 years old.  After her father passes away, Lilly is asked to say the eulogy at his funeral.  The problem is that she doesn't have anything good to say about him. So she stands there and says nothing.  NOTHING. You see, Lily's father abused her mother throughout her entire childhood.  He only stopped beating and raping her mother when he became too sick to do so.  Her mother stayed with him the entire time.    

When Lily was 15 years old, she fell in love with a boy who was living in the abandoned house which joined backyards with Lily's home.  Like Lily, Atlas too came from an abusive household.  Except his step-father abused HIM.

Fast forward, and Lily is now living in Boston.  She's on a rooftop patio reflecting about her father's death and her wordless eulogy when a man appears.  Heavily upset, he begins to kick a chair in anger only to turn around and realize that Lily was there watching.  This man is so very handsome and he is a neurosurgeon.  Can you believe it?  A neurosurgeon!  It is many months until they meet again.  

As I'm writing this, I realize that my small summary really sucks and does NOT give this novel justice.  So I'm just going to stop.  

What absolutely amazes me about this novel, is that Hoover is able to tell a love story but she does so by showing both the good aspects of love (that keep us going back for more) and the dirty and terrible aspects of love (that hide underneath the good.)  Hoover mentions in the novel that we all have a limit of what we can take and when "incidents" happen with someone you love, that limit gets pushed back bit by bit.  This highlights the importance of paying attention to little red flags early on and staying true to your limit.  This is also something that I'm slowly learning to put into practice.  Be bold.  Be true.  It's easier said than done.  

What also amazes me is that Hoover is able to craft a character who Lily is able to both love, hate and fear at the same time, but she crafts him in such a way that the reader also is able to fall in love with him, fear him, and struggle with these feelings similar to how Lilly does.  No matter Lilly's decision, I couldn't blame her because I wasn't sure what I would have done in her situation or what I wanted her to do.  Yes, we know what we should do as a detached persona, but not what we would do or what we necessarily want to do. I realize I'm rambling, but this book just has me so excited.  I think I found my new favorite author. 

I feel a book hangover coming on.

I give this book 10 out of 5 Coffee Beans, because I can.  

~Jessica 

   

Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner: Reshelved Books

      When I first started this book I had so many questions.  I had promised you answers, but now I wish I could take that promise back...because figuring out the answers were half the fun of reading it!  

     Who Do You Love is a coming of age novel, which encompasses the genres of both women's fiction and new adult fiction, with new adult fiction being part of the fiction genre with characters who are primarily in their 20's-30's.  This can sort of be thought of as an "older" version of the young adult genre because this book begins with the two main characters of Rachel and Andy meeting at 8 years old, and follows their growth up until their 30's, with a large amount of space devoted to their 20's. 
      So, for those who have been eagerly anticipating this review, having read our last "currently reading" post, Rachel and Andy do fall in love.  But do they marry and is he the one who broke her heart?  Yes and no.  I feel like saying more than that will spoil it for you.    
This novel reads like a mixture between a Nicholas Sparks love story and Kristin Hannah novel.  It explores love and heartbreak, both in the physical because of Rachel's genetic heart disorder, but also in the metaphorical, and for this reason, is very similar to How I Came to Sparkle Again.  However, what I think makes this novel stand out is Weiner's focus on exploring not only the difference between love and lust, but also the difference between true love / soulmates and a love out of respect and duty.  Rachel's first marriage was built on this later love.   She loved her husband, but not in the way needed for it to last.  Rachel's other love was first variety.  They were once best friends, but perhaps had met at the wrong time.  
    The ending of this novel opens with a new chapter of Rachel's life moving forward, but as I sit here reflecting on what I just read, I also wonder if Rachel is simply falling back into the comfort and her old practices.  Rachel has made a career out of social work, working with single mothers who often fall back into bad habits of drug use and domestic abuse.  Could the reopening of this chapter actually be Rachel falling back into her "bad habits," or is it genuine and real?

I am going to give this novel 4 out of 5 coffee beans! 
I'd also love for you to read this book and share with me what you think below in the comments!

~Jessica