LOVE BOOK #06: Ugly Love

The sixth, and probably the last, Love Book for the February Reading Challenge is Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. Last I heard, this book is actually going to be a movie soon, and they are already filming. So if you want to know more about it, or if you're planning to read it before the movie comes out, read on!

UGLY LOVE
Author: Colleen Hoover

Publisher: Atria Books

Number of Pages: 337

Date Published: August 5, 2014

Genre: New Adult Romance

Goodreads:

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

***

My Thoughts:

LOVE BOOK #05: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

The Love Book to be featured today is the first book of one of my favorite series of ever  by one of my favorite authors of all time.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You 

(Gallagher Girls #1)

Author: Ally Carter

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Number of Pages: 284

Date Published: April 25, 2006

Genre: Young Adult Contemporay

Goodreads:

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

***

My Thoughts:

I read this book in 2010... back when I was a teeny bopper, super fangirl, easy-to-please girly girl myself. The plot, the cute cover, and the catchy title (I am a sucker for long catchy titles e.g. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Catastrophic History of Me and You) sold the book to me. And I really enjoyed it.

LOVE BOOK #04: Wanderlove

I think I'm in some kind of a reading slump. READING SLUMP! Why? Why now? It's been 2 weeks since I last read a book, and I am seriously not liking it. So, I guess the featured book today will not be something from my recent read pile, but something I dug out from my Goodreads archive.

The fourth "Love Book" that is part of my February "Love Book" Reading Challenge (for the full details, click here) is Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard.
 

WANDERLOVE 
Author: Kirsten Hubbard

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Number of Pages: 338

Date Published: March 13, 2012
First Published: March 8, 2011

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Goodreads:

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story

***

My Thoughts:

I am not entirely sure of the exact sequence of events in the book and all the details because I read it almost four years ago. But what I'm sure of is that this is one of those books that will deeply satisfy you after (while) reading it. It's the kind of book that will take you places, make you see realities, and has characters that you can, in one way or another, relate to.

LOVE BOOK #03: Love and Other Unknown Variables

The third "Love Book" of the month is Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander. This is part of my February "Love Book" Reading Challenge  wherein I'll read as many books as I can or feature some "Love books" I've already read with the word "Love" in the title. Here's a link to my previous post fully explaining everything.

Since I haven't been reading for the past couple days. I'm going to feature a book I read on January 2015. I completely forgot I wrote some kind of review of the book on Goodreads, but haven't blogged about it yet. So, I just copied everything I wrote and pasted it here so you'll know how I really felt immediately after reading the book.

LOVE AND OTHER UNKNOWN VARIABLES

Author: Shannon Lee Alexander

Publisher: Entangled: Teen

Number of Pages: 336

Date Published: October 7, 2014

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he’ll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswered questions. He’s that smart. But Charlie’s future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl’s neck.

The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she’s counting on the present. She’s not impressed by the strange boy at the donut shop—until she learns he’s a student at Brighton where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. But, in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy.

By the time he learns she's ill—and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms. Finch from Charlotte’s illness—Charlotte’s gravitational pull is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on or the girl he’s falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second squared).

***

My Thoughts:

Most of us are already so familiar with the “boy/girl meets cancer kid/teen (or any kind of terminal illness)” story. There are a handful of books with that kind of plot in the YA world. And when we look at this book from afar (the farthest distance you can manage), you'll probably see that it belongs to that infamous story line.

LOVE BOOK #02: F*ck Love

It's the time again to feature my February "Love Book" Reading Challenge. Here's a link to my previous post fully explaining the challenge. On this challenge, I'll read as many books as I can with the word "Love" in the title. Aside from that, I will also feature some "Love books" I've already read (or I've been meaning to read), like this next book.

F*CK LOVE

Author: Tarryn Fisher

Number of Pages: 257

Date Published: December 31, 2015

Genre: New Adult Romance

Goodreads:

Helena Conway has fallen in love.

Unwillingly. Unwittingly.
But not unprovoked.
Kit Isley is everything she’s not—unstructured, untethered, and not even a little bit careful.
It could all be so beautiful … if he wasn’t dating her best friend.
Helena must defy her heart, do the right thing, and think of others.
Until she doesn’t.

***

My thoughts:

You could not get much out of the synopsis provided, for it was short and vague. That's probably one of the reasons why I read it - out of curiosity and the need to know more how the story will unfold. Also, a I've been seeing the book a lot on Instagram, Twitter and Goodreads when it was released and there were many good reviews about it.

F*ck Love is about Helena, a girl who has fallen in love with her best friend's boyfriend.

LOVE BOOK #01: Love and Other Perishable Items

The first book in my February "Love Book" Reading Challenge is also the first book I read this month. If you are somewhat confused with this "Love Book" thing, here's a link to my previous post fully explaining the challenge. To sum it up, I'll read as many books as I can with the word "Love" in the title.

LOVE AND OTHER PERISHABLE ITEMS

Author: Laura Buzo

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Number of Pages: 243

Date Published: December 11, 2012

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Goodreads:

From the moment Amelia sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, 15, is 15.

Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?

Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break your heart can still crack you up.

***

My Thoughts:

Basically, the book is simplistic in many ways. The story, the characters, the setting, the way it was written, even the cover - plain and average, nothing very special about them. There's no "wow" factor after reading it. But despite that, it was a surprisingly great read.