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Then The Stars Fell by Brandon Witt
This is actually book # 2 in the El Dorado Springs Chronicles... So once again I've read a series out of order... seems to have become a habit of mine...
Synopsis: Trying to recollect himself and get a hold of his life, Wesley Ryan moves to the small town of El Dorado Springs, a place full of happy childhood memories. Taking over the local veterinary clinic, Wesley tries his best to adjust into his new life but when he meets handsome, gruff, and masculine widower Travis Bennett, his heart begins to beat to a different rhythm.
Review: 4 / 5
While reading this book, all I could think of was that this was a m/m version of a Nicholas Sparks novel. I don't know why, I've never even read one of Sparks' novels (except for half of Dear John). It was well written, the perspective changing each chapter, mainly between Travis and Wesley (told in 3rd person), and sometimes giving us insight to the other characters around them: Travis' family (his sister and three children). It was an interesting way to learn more about the main characters and how they affected everyone else, we don't get to see that often in books. But at the same time, we don't get to see as much progression between the relationship of Travis and Wesley, which is a bummer. There are no explicit scenes, which isn't necessarily bad because that left the intimate moments of their relationship to be about anything but sex. The book focused a lot on the relationships Travis has with his family and his deceased wife and Wesley's relationship to Travis' family. Speaking of Travis' family, I instantly fell in love with his youngest son, Mason, probably the cutest little boy ever written into existence. Overall, it was nice change of pace from the Y/A books I usually read, definitely worth reading.
This is actually book # 2 in the El Dorado Springs Chronicles... So once again I've read a series out of order... seems to have become a habit of mine...
Synopsis: Trying to recollect himself and get a hold of his life, Wesley Ryan moves to the small town of El Dorado Springs, a place full of happy childhood memories. Taking over the local veterinary clinic, Wesley tries his best to adjust into his new life but when he meets handsome, gruff, and masculine widower Travis Bennett, his heart begins to beat to a different rhythm.
Review: 4 / 5
While reading this book, all I could think of was that this was a m/m version of a Nicholas Sparks novel. I don't know why, I've never even read one of Sparks' novels (except for half of Dear John). It was well written, the perspective changing each chapter, mainly between Travis and Wesley (told in 3rd person), and sometimes giving us insight to the other characters around them: Travis' family (his sister and three children). It was an interesting way to learn more about the main characters and how they affected everyone else, we don't get to see that often in books. But at the same time, we don't get to see as much progression between the relationship of Travis and Wesley, which is a bummer. There are no explicit scenes, which isn't necessarily bad because that left the intimate moments of their relationship to be about anything but sex. The book focused a lot on the relationships Travis has with his family and his deceased wife and Wesley's relationship to Travis' family. Speaking of Travis' family, I instantly fell in love with his youngest son, Mason, probably the cutest little boy ever written into existence. Overall, it was nice change of pace from the Y/A books I usually read, definitely worth reading.
Synopsis: Aristotle (Ari) is a loner by choice. He doesn't quite understand the world around him: boys, girls, his parents, his siblings and because of that he keeps to himself. Although everyone around him thinks of him as lonely and sad but he is content all by his lonesome. And then he meets Dante who loves to draw, and paint, and read literature and poems, someone who feels with all of himself, someone unlike any other Ari has ever met. Their lives have changed forever.
Review: 4.5 / 5
First and foremost, forgive me for this poorly written review that is about to come. I am not sure I could ever come up with the words that describe how I feel about this book.
Ari & Dante is eloquently written yet simple, that much is true. I was in love with the writing style from the first two lines of the book.
"One summer night I fell asleep, hoping the world would be different when I woke. In the morning, when I opened my eyes, the world was the same."
A huge majority of this book is about friendship, family, trust, loyalty, and Ari and Dante's journey to finding themselves. For Ari, he feels as if the life he lives is not the one he has chosen for himself. He is lost in a world of not feeling anything but rage, rage that his parent's don't speak about his brother, that he doesn't understand his father, that his mother hovers over him. For Dante, he deals with the acknowledgement of being different and how this difference affects his personal life. Both characters were written well and have such a deep bond, the conversations they have are as if they had been best friends for decades rather than just weeks/months. It's easily seen how they fall into rhythm with one another, almost understanding each other more than they do themselves.
"He'd captured the afternoon light streaming into the room, the way the shadows fell on the chair and gave it depth and made it appear as if it was something more than an inanimate object. There was something sad and solitary about the sketch and I wondered if that's the way he saw the world or if that's the way he saw my world. I stared at the sketch for a long time. It scared me. Because there was something true about it."
Dante makes everything better. I truly believe he is the star of the novel. He has such a unique and special way of seeing the world and everything about him is just wonderful. I don't think there is a single thing I didn't like about Dante.
Overall, this book is actually quite deep. It's philosophical in a way. There was a lot to think about, the "secrets of the universe" to be learned. A great coming of age novel, a great story of love and friendship and of familial bonds. I will definitely be picking up more books by Saenz if all his writing is like this.
Collide by J.R. Lenk
Synopsis: Hazard James, now entering high school, is at an impasse of sorts. He has feelings he doesn't understand and his life seems to have gotten a hundred times more confusing after entering high school. And then he meets Jesse Wesley, the infamous bad boy everyone knows and talks about. Forming a camaraderie of sorts, Jesse introduces Hazard to the world of parties, alcohol, drugs, and sex which eventually leads to a friends-with-benefits relationship between he and Jesse. But as time goes on, Hazard's feelings deepen and perhaps so does Jesse's but neither is willing to admit to it. Collide is a tale about the insecurities of love and the change that comes from two people "colliding", forever changing the other's life.
Review: 3.75 / 5
This book... I don't even know what to say about it... it is probably the most frustrating book I have ever read... Each page... each line... I hated everything... Okay, so obviously that isn't quite true. I was... I don't know... I don't think anything I say can really justify this book. It's full of angst... teenage rebellion... insecurities... heartbreak... sex... love... It was literally everywhere... The main character Hazard is increasingly insecure. He has abandonment issues and he cries a lot. He is also witty and sarcastic, at times a pain. But he also has a cute side to him. Jesse is a wild card... you never really know how he's gonna act or what mood he's going to be in... When they're together, they are either totally and completely in love with one another, never able to keep their hands off each other or they hate each other's guts and are in screaming matches. They have really tender moments and some really not tender moments... It's like watching one of those chick flicks when you know that the main characters are in love with one another but because of a misunderstanding or what not they never get together until the end... except that this isn't as perfect as a movie... You'll just have to read it to understand what I mean.
Synopsis: Hazard James, now entering high school, is at an impasse of sorts. He has feelings he doesn't understand and his life seems to have gotten a hundred times more confusing after entering high school. And then he meets Jesse Wesley, the infamous bad boy everyone knows and talks about. Forming a camaraderie of sorts, Jesse introduces Hazard to the world of parties, alcohol, drugs, and sex which eventually leads to a friends-with-benefits relationship between he and Jesse. But as time goes on, Hazard's feelings deepen and perhaps so does Jesse's but neither is willing to admit to it. Collide is a tale about the insecurities of love and the change that comes from two people "colliding", forever changing the other's life.
Review: 3.75 / 5
This book... I don't even know what to say about it... it is probably the most frustrating book I have ever read... Each page... each line... I hated everything... Okay, so obviously that isn't quite true. I was... I don't know... I don't think anything I say can really justify this book. It's full of angst... teenage rebellion... insecurities... heartbreak... sex... love... It was literally everywhere... The main character Hazard is increasingly insecure. He has abandonment issues and he cries a lot. He is also witty and sarcastic, at times a pain. But he also has a cute side to him. Jesse is a wild card... you never really know how he's gonna act or what mood he's going to be in... When they're together, they are either totally and completely in love with one another, never able to keep their hands off each other or they hate each other's guts and are in screaming matches. They have really tender moments and some really not tender moments... It's like watching one of those chick flicks when you know that the main characters are in love with one another but because of a misunderstanding or what not they never get together until the end... except that this isn't as perfect as a movie... You'll just have to read it to understand what I mean.
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