Book Review: Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Synopsis: 
From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

My Review:

Again, this book didn't disappoint! In fact, Katie McGarry just continues to blow me away! When I first thought about Isaiah through the first two books, I only saw a werido who was trying to interfere between Ryan & Beth in Dare You Ton which might shallow and it was but it was because I never really gave him much thought. But I honestly would have never thought I would see this caring, loving, suffering and swoon-worthy version of Isaiah. I saw a man - not a 17 year old guy - who was trying to scrape his way through life to live a blissful one. I would have never thought he would fall in love.....

   But he did, and it was a spell-binding one, of course! The first half of the book was more thrilling I would say, simply because that's when Isaiah and Rachel first met and it was where it all started, and believe me when I say that their first encounter was an exciting and adventurous one, full of running and action and stuff. Whereas the rest of book, we watch Isaiah and Rachel try to make their happy ever after and it was like they went through hell and back, relatively of course. But hey! We did get a happy ending, tainted with a bit of  a sad incident but happy and peaceful nonetheless. But would you believe me when I say expected more of an exciting ending? No, I don't even know why myself but thought I'd state that anyway.

Isaiah was... Ahhhh! Just totally not what I expected and I mean it in a very very good way. He was just swoon-worthy, hot and manly and with Rachel they were just Wow! Katie just has her way with the male characters, she just creates the best and have me fanning over each and every one of them and the also the female characters, certainly. Just everything about this book was brilliantly thought and written. I found Rachel also to be a noteworthy character, that's definite but I loved her character despite how I disagreed to the way she acted when it came to all her family situation, I did see where she was coming from though. Anyway, in the end, they were both sweet together and they completed and complimented each other quite well.

But what fascinated me more was the details that were present in the book about cars and racing. But at the end of the book there was a Q&A section with Katie McGarry that laid it all out and it was fulfilling and it felt good to know that too so make sure when you get the book to read that part. And if you are not already familiar with Katie's writing style, then you'd see how much of a talented author she is and so there is no need to go there, honestly. Furthermore, it was written in an alternating point of view between Isaiah and Rachel like the two previous books.

And I Iiked the fact that each one of the three books could be read separately and that was just yet another awesome thing about this series! I mean, Noah and Echo had an appearance in the book and also Beth and Ryan but not knowing them won't affect your understanding of the story but of course knowing their story would just makes it a greater overall experience, tying it all together I guess. Although when I come to try and choose a favorite from the three books, that's when it gets real hard! But I would have to say Dare You To! (Tell me what is your favorite book out of the three books so far? I'd love to know so leave it in a comment down below)

And the best thing that came after finishing this story was finding a sneak-peak of Katie McGarry's next book! WOHO! Take Me On and it's going to be about West, Rachel's brother! And I am so looking forward to it :D However, I couldn't decide the rating of this book, I spent a good amount of time thinking about it but then I decided on a 4.5 and the reason why is because among other books this book definitely deserves a 5 but among the Katie McGarry's books, I think a 4 is fair so in the end, I decided on a 4.5 :)

   Overall, this book was brilliant and I enjoyed every single page of it. It had raw emotions jumping all over its pages. It showed us love and friendship on full display as well as hope, determination, loyalty, passion, suffering, pain and seizing the good moments. The love story in this book was heart-wrenching and alluring as we'd expect from Katie McGarry. The plot was witty, creative and just right. The characters were all off the hook, authentic and prepossessing in all possible ways. Katie McGarry just writes the perfect contemporary novels, so if you're looking for an intense and compelling contemporary novel then Crash Into You is the one for you.

Title: Crash Into You
Author: Katie McGarry

Series: Pushing the Limits #3
Source: NetGalley ( For Review )

Release Date: November 26 2013 by Harlequin Teen
Links: Goodreads | Amazon
Rating: 4.5/5

"Thanks to Harlequin Teen & NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy"

"The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least"

-- Unknown

xoxo, Mariam

Feature and Follow Friday #25

Feature & Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by 

Alison Can Read and Parajunkee where they choose a featured blogger every week along with a question for everybody to answer! It's an awesome way to meet new book bloggers and share the follower love :) 
*** 

Q: What book ( or TV show or movie ) have you not read that seemingly everyone else has?

Books: I have never actually read The Mortal Instruments series - Shocker! - but I just never came around reading it so I am just planning on watching the movie instead! And The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa

Movies: Mean Girls, this just sounds like a classic but I never got why, I recall watching it once but I don't remember almost anything. And also, Ice Age 3 and Toy Story 3 as well! These are the only ones I can think of right now.

TV shows: Games of Thrones (Never read the books as well and not planning to do so), True Blood and Breaking Bad, although I just started watching Breaking Bad so I am only 5 episodes into it :D

***

So what about you? Leave me a comment telling me or a link to your own post!

Pervious Posts:

Guest Post: Jamie Baywood (Author of Getting Rooted in New Zealand)

Book Review: Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Book Review: Shift by Em Bailey 

Quote of the Day!

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." Aristotle

xoxo, Mariam

Guest Post: Jamie Baywood (Author of Getting Rooted in New Zealand)

 

Synopsis:

Craving change and lacking logic, at 26, Jamie, a cute and quirky Californian, impulsively moves to New Zealand to avoid dating after reading that the country's population has 100,000 fewer men. In her journal, she captures a hysterically honest look at herself, her past and her new wonderfully weird world filled with curious characters and slapstick situations in unbelievably bizarre jobs. It takes a zany jaunt to the end of the Earth and a serendipitous meeting with a fellow traveler before Jamie learns what it really means to get rooted.

Get this book on Amazon

Guest Post:

It was always my dream to live abroad when I was growing up in California.  I had bad dating experiences in California and read in a New Zealand tour book that the country’s population at 100,000 fewer men than women.  I wanted to have some me time and an adventure. New Zealand seemed like a good place to do so.

I consider myself an accidental author. I didn’t go to New Zealand with the intentions of writing a book about my experiences there. I had funny experiences that I had trouble believing were true. I wrote the stories down to stay sane. I wrote situations down that were happening around me and shared them with friends. The stories made people laugh so I decided to organize the stories into a book and publish in the hopes to make others laugh too.

One of the first people I meet was Colin Mathura-Jeffree from New Zealand’s Next Top Model. I had no idea who he was or that he was on TV when I meet him. He is friends with my former flatmate Liam. We had a steep staircase that I kept falling down. Colin taught me to walk like a model so I wouldn’t fall down the stairs.

In New Zealand, I had a lot of culture shock.  One of the most memorable moments was learning the meaning of the Kiwi slang word “rooted.” One night I was brushing my teeth with my flatmate Liam and I said, ‘I’m really excited to live in this house because I have been travelling a lot and I just need to settle down, stop traveling and get rooted’.  Liam started choking on his toothbrush and asked me if I knew what that meant because it had a completely different meaning New Zealand than it does in the States.

I had the opportunity to write and perform for Thomas Sainsbury the most prolific playwright in New Zealand. I performed a monologue about my jobs in the Basement Theatre in Auckland.  The funny thing about that experience was Tom kept me separated from the other performers until it was time to perform. I was under the impression that all the performers were foreigners giving their experiences in New Zealand.  All of the other performers were professional actors telling stories that weren’t their own. At first I was mortified, but the audience seemed to enjoy my “performance,” laughing their way through my monologue. After the shows we would go out and mingle with the audience. People would ask me how long I had been acting. I would tell them, “I wasn’t acting; I have to go to work tomorrow and sit next to the girl wearing her dead dog’s collar around her neck.”

I love making people laugh more than anything else. I feel very grateful when readers understand my sense of humor. I plan to divide my books by the countries I’ve lived in. My next book will be about attempting to settle in Scotland.

***

 Thank you Jamie for guest posting here on Book-A-Holic!

About the author:
Jamie Baywood grew up in Petaluma, California. In 2010, she made the most impulsive decision of her life by moving to New Zealand. Getting Rooted in New Zealand is her first book about her experiences living there. Jamie is now married and living happily ever after in the United Kingdom. She is working on her second book.

Connect with the author:
Facebook| Twitter | 
Pinterest | Goodreads 
| Amazon

Hope you enjoyed!
xoxo, Mariam

Goodbye..... for a YEAR!?

So yeah, as you can see from the title of this post, I am taking a break from blogging for this whole year. And the reason why, is because this school year for me is extremely important and based on my grades, it will be decided which colleges I can get into next year - as it kinda works out differently here in Egypt - so as I said, extremely important and its my last year of school! :D 

So I guess that this is going to be my very long hiatus because I need to be focused as much as I can, I won't kill myself or anything but between going to school, studying, doing homework, reading ( hopefully ) and maintaining a social life, I found that fitting blogging in here won't work because for me, blogging is so time-consuming. BUT I am planning on posting reviews and participating in memes from time to time whenever possible so I won't be completely away for the whole year. However, it is true to say that I will miss blogging and reading consistently because it is something that I do enjoy and find myself in it :/ but hopefully, I will be back after finishing school this year ;)

And here is just an inspirational quote that I came across today 

and thought why not share it with everybody! ;)

xoxo, Mariam

Feature eand Follow Friday #24

Feature & Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by 

Alison Can Read and Parajunkee where they choose a featured blogger every week along with a question for everybody to answer! It's an awesome way to meet new book bloggers and share the follower love :) 

*** 

Q: If you could only have ONE - one book - for the rest of your life. Don't cheat.... what would it be?

This is in one hard question but after withdrawing the series that I love and can't live without - because I simply can't choose just one book, I need the whole series - it came down to stand-alones and so, this one book for me is Dare You To by Katie McGarry! ( Review HERE )

***

So that was my answer guys! What about you? Leave me a comment telling me or a link to your own post I'll be sure to check out :)

And don't forget to follow my blog via GFC for more posts and reviews! 

PS: I follow/comment back! Just leave me a comment ;)
xoxo, Mariam

Blog Tour: The Forgotten Ones by Lauren Howard

Synopsis:
Allison O’Malley’s plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she’s been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison’s mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn’t trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother’s sanity.

Series: The Danaan Trilogy #1
Publication date: April 30th 2013
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

 Excerpt:

“What time do you get off work?” he asked.

I turned and narrowed my eyes at him. “I close at six. Then I have to balance the register, so around six thirty.”

Ethan looked down at his hands for a second, then glanced up at me through his thick lashes. “You want to get something to eat when you’re done?”

I licked my lips, his dark brown eyes pulling me in. I tore my gaze away and tried to focus on the computer screen. He didn’t say anything for a few moments, and I fidgeted, knowing he was watching me. When I turned toward him, his expression was so intense that my stomach somersaulted.

“Just one time,” he said quietly.

“What?”

“Say yes, just one time.” Ethan slowly moved behind the counter, his eyes never leaving mine.

“If you don’t have a good time, fine. But, I’ve been trying to get you to give me a chance for years. Don’t act like you didn’t know.”

I shook my head slightly as he approached, wanting him closer but afraid of what it would mean.
He stopped, his brow creasing. “I won’t hurt you,” he whispered.

His expression was so earnest my mind went blank for a moment.

“Ethan,” I began, my thoughts scrambled. “You know I’d like to—”
“So say yes.”

I looked up at the ceiling. I was tired of always pushing him away. If I went out with him once, maybe then I could convince him too that this was a bad idea. I covered my face with my hands.  “All right,” I mumbled through my fingers.

“What was that?” I felt the warmth of Ethan’s hands as he pulled my own away from my face.

“I said all right,” I repeated, my insides fluttering.

He gathered my hands and pulled them close to his chest. His scent, clean and fresh like sun-warmed denim, made my knees go weak.

With his head tilted back, he exclaimed in a mock reverent tone, “Yes! Thank you! Six-thirty on the dot. Be ready. I’m picking you up!” 

Giveaway (International):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author:
Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel. 

Connect with Laura:

Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Links: 

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

 

 



 

Have Fun!
xoxo, Mariam

Book Review: Golden by Jessi Kirby

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.

My Review: 

   This book may not have stood out in the sense of it being a one of a kind novel, one that you won't forget easily but it did kind of stand out through the meaningfulness of the story itself, that it wasn't just a love story where instantly everything came together and everybody was happy. Their were certainly some moments where I was definitely intrigued by the path that the story was taking, there was unique vibe to the plot and that captivated me to complete reading the book but other than that I guess the plot was okay and also it was like a story within a story which was fun too! Furthermore, I did like the poetry entries that the author added, it wasn't overwhelming which was crucial or it would have been a total turn off.

   The romantic aspect of this story was really cute, normal but not cheesy and that I appreciated because it definitely added to the story. However, I felt that there wasn't much focus on Olive's relationship because the actual relationship didn't happen until the last few chapters of the story and I would have loved to see more and that kind of left me with the feeling that something was incomplete in the story but I liked it nonetheless.

   I wasn't really comfortable with the writing style, I mean it was good but not always because it slightly annoyed me for some reason throughout the first half of the story. But the characters were a strong feature in this story. The book was told from Parker's point of view - which is by the way a somewhat odd name for a girl, right? - and she was a character that I definitely liked, generally, her actions, mistakes and way of thinking are definitely one of a real human's, making her believable and I personally can relate to her in some things. Another character worth mentioning was Trevor, who was such a sweet guy and I can't get over how sweet he was and I pitied him because of the constant rejection from a certain someone in the story which I guess this someone is obvious but still, lets not get in further in the fear of giving away anything. Nonetheless, the ending of this book was a nice happy one, a bit vague on a few parts but it was okay, you pretty much get what happens in the end.

   Overall, I definitely did like this book because firstly, it didn't go directly under the category of the average romantic contemporary novels because there was more to the story than only that. There were some words of wisdom thrown here and there in this book as I also found the characters to be authentic and lovable, a nice storyline with some diversity as we also go through a journey of self-discovery and a world of new chances. However, I honestly can't say that I do wholeheartedly recommend this book because for me, I did like it but it didn't wow me, so I'd would say to just give it a try if you found it interesting enough to intrigue you because who knows, maybe it will wow you ;)

َFavorite Quotes:

- It’s one of those moments I think Frost was talking about when he wrote “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” I see it differently now. Not as a sad thing, but as a truth of nature. And life. Things have to change.

- Up until tonight, I thought that making big choices took courage—more than I had. But what I realize, here, now, is that it’s not actually making the choice that takes courage. It’s facing it afterward. Owning up to it, whether it’s good or bad. 

- ‘What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’ Mary Olive.

Title: Golden

Author: Jessi Kirby

Series: Stand-alone

Source: Owned

Published: May 14th 2013 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Rating: 3/5  

"What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" 

xoxo, Mariam