Kissing Max Holden - Spoiler Free ARC Review

Kissing Max Holden

By Katy Upperman

Spoiler Free!

Details:

Title: Kissing Max Holden

Author: Katy Upperman

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Swoon Reads

Publication Date: August 1st, 2017

Synopsis:
      Kissing Max Holden was a terrible idea...

      After his father has a life-altering stroke, Max Holden isn't himself. As his long-time friend, Jillian Eldridge only wants to help him, but she doesn't know how. When Max climbs through her window one night, Jill knows that she shouldn't let him kiss her. But she can't resist, and when they're caught in the act by her dad, Jill swears it'll never happen again. Because kissing Max Holden is a terrible idea.

      With a new baby sibling on the way, her parents fighting all the time, and her dream of culinary school up in the air, Jill starts spending more and more time with Max. And even though her father disapproves and Max still has a girlfriend, not kissing Max is easier said than done. Will Jill follow her heart and allow their friendship to blossom into something more, or will she listen to her head and stop kissing Max Holden once and for all?

My Review:  
             I received an advanced readers copy of this book off of Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

            Katy Uppeman takes her own unique twist on the classic boy next door story in her debut novel. It's the perfect amount of fun, witty, and serious, and I think that Upperman did a fantastic job. She created lovable characters, hatable characters, a ship that everyone will enjoy, and some seriously awesome make out scenes without making the book too cringe or too unbelievable. 
            A majority of the Contemporary YA Romances set in high school read as completely unbelievable or fake, but thats not an issue I had at all with Kissing Max Holden. By the title alone I thought I was gonna be in for another cheesy teen romance, but I ended up finding so much more. Both Max and Jill have a lot of shit going on in there personal lives, and Upperman does not skip over that. She goes into deep detail on how Max's father's stoke has effected him and how the strained relationship of Jill's parents (and her father in particular) change her over the course of the novel. I feel this is something most typical YA romances lack, and I found it rather nice.
            One aspect I believe Upperman did particularly well was create sone truly incredible characters. There was Jill and Max and Betsy and ivy and Leah and the parents and so so many more. Max as well as Jill go through some major character development throughout the story that really helps to build their personalities past the cliche good girl and bad boy. i especially loved how Jill was a pastry chef--I found myself craving cookies and brownies and cakes on more than one occasion. Upperman didn't skip out on the side characters as well, all of Jills friends had interesting characteristics and I would kill to have a friend as great as Kylie. Also, I think that families/family dynamics that Upperman created were just outstanding. With Jills family, I thought that having a new baby on the way which caused some financial issues helped to set up for later....things (I WANT TO RANT SO BADLY BUT NO SPOILERS!), and that Meredith and Jills relationship wasn't terrible like the normal stereotype of stepmother/stepdaughter relationships. Now, Jills father may be my least favor character. He just has no bounds, and even though I could see where Upperman was going with his character I still hated him so, so much. Max's dad (Bill), on the other hand, I really felt for. Having had a friends father go through a similar thing (a stroke that lead to him just living in a vegetative state for years) really helped me imagine Max's family and understand them better. Max and Ivy (his younger sister) both act out in response to this, their poor mother tries to keep their family together, and their old sister treats Bill like he can't do anything on his own. I found all of the character so intriguing and I really have to give Upperman major props for this feat.
            The story itself was fantastic, but as I stated with Jills father, I could see some major plot points coming from a mile away. This isn't a terrible thing, but I found some things to be very predictable and almost wished that Upperman went in a different direction to change things up to make a fantastic thing even better. She did manage, however, to throw me off guard with sever things as well. One thing in particular that had me literally scream out "HOW COULD THEY!" has to do with Meredith's medical bills--you'll just have to read and see. To summarize things, it was just really cute, fun, and I really enjoyed it.

           In conclusion, I give Kissing Max Holden four out of five stars. It was really adorable and fun, but also believable with interesting characters. The only issue I found with it was there were some predictable plot points. I highly suggest Kissing Max Holden to anyone looking for a fun contemporary read, and if you go pre-order Kissing Max Holden by Katy Upperman  there's a pre-oder giveaway going on for it right now, and everyone gets a prize if you email proof of purchase.

If you would like to purchase Kissing Max Holden

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A Court of Wings and Ruin - Book Review

A Court of Wings and Ruin 

By Sarah J. Mass

DISCLAIMER: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Details:

Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin

Author: Sarah J. Mass

Page Count: 699

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: May 2nd, 2017

Synopsis:
      A nightmare, I’d told Tamlin. I was the nightmare.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit—and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well. As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords—and hunt for allies in unexpected places.(Goodreads summary)

My Review:  
             I honestly went in to ACOWAR thinking that Mass was gonna try to rip out my heart, then repair it, then rip it out again, step on it, roll it in some broken glass, and then throw it into a bucket full of lemon juice--and boy was I right.
             The book begins with Feyre causing havoc in the spring court as revenge for Tamlin siding with the King. I personally loved seeing the manipulative side of Feyre--especially when she used it to make Ianthe look like an idiot. I also loved how Lucien teamed up with her and became more of an interesting character than he was in the first and second books.
             Nesta and Elain are two characters who also develop quite a bit in this novel as well. We readers got a glimpse of what they were like when they were thrown into the cauldron, but Mass did a fantastic job with them in ACOWAR. Elain begins the book as a frail little thing who doesn't do anything other than mope around, but by the end she's holding Azriel's dagger on the battle field (...I kind of ship Elain and Azriel more than Lucien and Elain DON'T KILL ME PLEASE). Nesta, on the other hand, was a spitfire even before she was thrown into the cauldron, and that just intensified afterwards. She and Cassian are my new favorite ship, and I especially love the scenes where they just bicker back and forth. Both girls play a key part in ACOWAR, and I really can't see the novel being as good as it is without them.
            Though the inner circle has gotten bigger by adding Nesta and Elain, the original members are still going strong. Amren continues to be one of my personal favorites, and the sacrifice she makes at the end was really touching, and I'm so glad that she's still with them. Cassian and Azriel are still the best Illyrian warriors ever, and I think that they got a little bit more 'air time' so to speak in this book and I loved it. Now, Mor....I had some issues with her in this novel, but that can wait for a later paragraph.
             I can't believe I've gone this long without talking about everyone's favorite High Lord, Rhysand. I think we all went through an emotional roller coaster ride with Rhys in this novel--especially when Sarah ripped out all of our hearts by telling us that he had died. Of course it was only a momentary death before all of the high lords (yes, even Tamlin....I now consider him less of a prick) helped to resurrect him and bring Amren back to her human form. Also, Feyre and Rhysand's relationship develops so much 
            Aside from the Characters, I believe that Mass did a fantastic job in concluding the series. I know that there are going to be more books in the ACOTAR world, but this is teh last book with Feyre and Rhys as the main characters, and Mass ended their story well. The past two books have been leading up to the epic battle between Hybern and Prythian, and the battle itself did not disapoint. Mass also did well in displaying the politics side of war with the discussions of alliance and battle tactics between all the high lords. Almost every scene throughout the novel had me fully invested, and I can't wait to see what the next books have to offer.
             I'm glad that everyone's story had a somewhat happy ending (well....besides Hybern), but here is also where all of my happy thoughts about the book ends and I have to talk about everything I didn't like. Before I dive in on the deeper issues I just want to discuss some of the smaller things. Starting off, I think that bringing in Feyre's father as some pirate like figure was completely unnecessary and random. I get that Sarah had to get a ton of other troops to the battle field to help the good guys win, but Feyre's father was such a small character. Plus, he was only there for a chapter or two before he got killed so I really think it was not needed. Another minor complaint I have is that I think the sex scenes were a bit blasé compared to those in ACOMAF--if not a bit redundant.
             Now onto the bigger issue that I think a lot of people have been talking about--the lack of diversity. Honestly, before all these people started complaining about it, I didn't find any issue with it. Looking back on great series like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings there is a lack of diversity in those books as well, but it's not that big of a problem to me since it doesn't effect the content of the book itself. Don't get me wrong--I think it's important to have diversity and recognize different races, sexualities, etc. in literature, but I don't think it's good when it comes across as forced, and that's how I felt about it in ACOWAR. I think Mass was trying to overcompensate for the apparent lack of diversity in the other books by making Mor a lesbian and adding characters like Helion and co. She almost plays into the slutty bisexual stereotype with Helion, and if she had made Mor come out in the earlier books it could have made a stronger impact and would have felt much less forced. I just wish that Mass would've left her story alone and not let other people's criticisms effect her story as much, or that she could have at least waited to add some more diversity in the story in a smoother way.
           In conclusion, I give A Court of Wings and Ruin four out of five stars. I thought that despite some of the issues I had with the amount of diversity in the world and the way Mass addressed this, the story line, character development, and overall kick-ass-awesomeness that ensured outweigh the problems leaving the reading feeling completely satisfied. I highly suggest the ACOTAR series to anyone interested in fantasy at all as it is one of my absolute favorites.         

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