When the World Was Flat (and we were in love) by Ingrid Jonach

I received this e-ARC for free on netgalley.com (Thank you!) and in exchange I will do an honest review.

I requested this title from Netgalley because the title (and cover) intrigued me. The title is brilliant and fits the book and story perfectly. I'm a little bit torn about this book. I liked the writing, the whole concept and symbolism throughout the story, and all the references to Einstein. But to be completely honest although Jonach's love story was lovely and sweet it was rather simple and straightforward in itself.

Unfortunately I couldn't connect with the main character, mainly because she has a rather insulting nature. She called everyone names behind their back, called her best friend 'fat', 'slut', etc. I got the feeling that she is the kind of person you never want to be around because you know she is silently judging you behind the smile on her face. But putting that aside, I mostly liked the side characters and even Tom. Although the ever-broody and mysterious new boy remained a bit too broody and mysterious.

In the end, there were a lot of threads still dangling that I was thinking, “Wait, what about that?!”. This book isn’t a bad read, in fact it’s engrossing and mysterious and a bit frustrating, but the story at its core is unique. I just wish I had been able to wrap my brain around it a little easier and that there were even more explanation to the major scientific themes.

"I remember when I first heard his name - Tom. I was sitting in the Cafeteria with my best friends, Jo and Sylv, in the last week of our sophomore year at Green Grove Central High School, scraping Wite-Out off my nails and wondering whether I could stomach the burger on the tray in front of me, when the News broke about the "new guy".

“'I hate him. He hates me. End of Story.'

'Sounds like a love Story to me.'

'Or a Porno.'"

"Einstein once said that God does not play dice. He believed the universe was ordered, the world predictable. But his contemporary, Nils Bohr, famously asked Einstein to "stop telling God what to do with his dice.""

"They say Einstein had a bad Memory. He had once forgotten where he lived and had to phone Princeton University for hid address."

"'You would think we had tried to assassinate the queen,' I grumbled in Algebra. 'Well, she is Green Grove royalty,' Sylv said. 'Yeah,' I agreed. 'A royal pain in my ass.'

3 of 5 stars

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

The cover of this book is pretty much amazing, and it drew my attention. The plot was interesting enough, although I'm not a big fan of ghoststories, I thought the story sounded intriguing. So I gave it a try.

It's a first-person book (Amelia's POV) and although I'm a huge fan of alternating POVs (if they are well written), I really liked Amelia's voice.
I loved the beginning. Amelia is dead, that's the only thing she really knows and the fact that she died drowning in a river. She doesn't remember anything, isn't able to tell time or interact with living people. So basically she wanders around, completely alone. One day she saves a boy named Joshua from drowning in the exact same river, and somehow they connected and he is able to see her. Together they try to solve the mystery of Amelia's death.

Like I said, the beginning was awesome. The story kept me on my toes because I simply wanted to know what happened to this poor girl. The scenes where Amelia felt lost, alone and empty were really well written. I love when the first chapters of a book ensnare the reader into the story and they convey how terrifying and disturbing Amelia's nightmares really are.

I wished that the plot would have concentrated more on Amelia's mystery around her death rather than her romance with the sleeping pill, aah I mean Joshua. It was rather unbelieving after his nearly deathly accident to accept Amelia as a ghost so quickly and easily. Oh, and did I mentioned that he fell in love with Amelia at first sight because she was oh so pretty. Yeah, needless to say, that bugged me. A lot.

And there is Eli, the villain, who - yes you guessed right - wants Amelia for his own Although it somehow sounds like a love-triangle, there really isn't one (thank God).

The story is your typical paranormal romance with a hint of fantasy. The story itself is beautiful and captivating (I'm talking about Amelia's death), but the romance felt flat for me. Somehow I also missed a plot-twist that left you speechless.

"It was the same as always, but different from the first time. It felt as if my Sternum was a door into which someone had roughly shoved a key and twisted."

 “My sense of direction would be the death of me. Metaphorically, at least.” 

3 of 5 stars

Review: Outcast by Adrienne Kress

I received this e-ARC for free on netgalley.com (Thank you!) and in exchange I will do an honest review.

Let's start with the obvious, the cover: it's gorgeous! I really like it and I think it catches the main element of the book perfectly! After reading the synopsis I thought it would be similiar to Angelfall by Susan Ee (which I absolutely loved), but it's not. Outcast is way different, not in a bad way, but don't expect anything like Angelfall. Yes, there are Angels (and Thralls, Nephilim, etc.) and girls who shoot them in the face. That's exactly what Riley does when she meets one of them in her backyard.

The thing I enjoyed most about this read was the relationship between Riley and Gabe. Their relationship felt real (thank God no insta-love for once!),and I loved them together! The book was hilarious and contains a lot of humor. I nearly giggled through the whole book!

The craziness and religious fanaticism that gets a hold of Hartwich was amusing to observe, if a bit unrealistic. That's the only reason why I can't rate this book more than 3.5 stars...the whole setting was quite unbelievable and the ending a little bit dissappointing. I don't want to give too much away, but Kress did a fantastic job in building up Riley's and Gabe's relationship, so I wasn't expecting the story to end like this. Also, I felt like some major explanation were left out, e.g. the whole backstory about the "other world" and why couldn't Gabe remember anything?

The story itself was interesting and unique, I certainly haven't read anything alike, although the whole setting wasn't really my cup of tea.  The book was well written, humorous, and there were plenty of mysteries and twists. Anyway, I’d definitely recommend it, it's a good read with lots of hilarious dialogues and a sweet lovestory.

3,5/5 stars

Review: A Shimmer of Angels by Lissa M. Basso

I received this e-ARC for free on netgalley.com (Thank you!) and in exchange I will do an honest review.

I love a good angel story, I really do. And this book was really unique because the plot is not unlike other angel stories. Of course it has good and bad (fallen) angels, but the most intriguing part is that our main character, Ray, is being considered schizophrenic (because she has the ability to see angels) and she actually spent many years institutionalized. I liked reading about Ray's struggle, her fears and hopes.  

The beginning was a little bit slow, but after every character is introduced (especially after Ray meets Kade) the story is quite fast-pacing. Although the ending felt way too rushed!

I also didn't like Cam. He is supposed to be the good one, but he abandons Ray twice and the romance between Ray and Cam felt off. There was no connection at all.  {SPOILER} After Ray got institutionalized again, Cam doesn't show up until the very end. So that was kind of strange.

Kade on the other hand is a Fallen and supposed to be the evil one. I wasn't really expecting this character, but I'm so glad he got introduced (after reading 40% of Ray's struggles and Cam's boring and stoic attitude it was quite refreshing to meet the bad-boy of the story)! After Kade's appearance the story picked up nicely and kept me on my toes. The ONLY disturbing thing is {SPOILER} that Kade had a romantic relationship with Ray's mother...WTF? I ignored that little shocking statement throughout the book...because if I had taken it serious I would have stopped reading...it felt really awkward and wrong on so many levels.  

I didn't mind the love triangle between Cam, Kade and Ray, but I think the story would have been waaay better if Cam was never introduced. Kade and Ray had way more chemistry, they cared about each other and Kade never let her down. Cam on the other hand was like a sleeping pill: stoic, boring and calm. The way Ray fell for Cam in the beginning was rather quick and out of nowhere. I think their relationship should have been build up a bit better (or left out completely :D ).

One thing I also loved about the book is the whole concept about the Fallen. I don't want to give too much away, but it's really unique and creative!

Overall, I liked reading A Shimmer of Angels, although it didn't really stand out. For me, it's a good solid story, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading angel-themed books.

3/5 stars