Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

When Lottie's boyfriend, Richard, tells her he has a question for her she knows it can only mean one thing: a proposal. After all, they have been dating for a few years and they work so well together! But when his "proposal" has to do with a trip and not a wedding, she is crushed and breaks up with him. Soon after, she's contacted by her first love, Ben. He reminds her of a pact they made when they were teenagers to get married if they were still single by 30. What does Lottie have to lose? She agrees and before you know it, they're off on their honeymoon. Lottie's sister, Fliss, does NOT agree with this marriage. Lottie has been known to make irrational decisions after breakups, which Fliss calls her "Unfortunate Choices". She's going through a divorce and doesn't want Lottie to face the same thing, so she goes out of her way to make their honeymoon the worst ever. 

I love all of Sophie Kinsella's books because they are all so silly and have such lovable heroines. Wedding Night is a bit different than her past novels, because it is told in alternating chapters between Lottie and Fliss. You could even argue that Fliss is the main character, since she is the one who learns the biggest lesson. This book is hilarious and a bit over the top. I found myself laughing aloud multiple times because of the odd situations the characters were put in. I also really enjoyed Noah, Fliss's son, and his bits in the story. Unlike her other novels, this one was very focused on sex. It's portrayed in a silly way though, and it's not too graphic. The plot is fast paced and the ending is cliche, but it is all just good fun.

Even though this novel didn't get very good reviews, I still liked it. It's a little bit ridiculous, but all of Sophie Kinsella's books are. I think it had some good morals buried in it and was just plain fun to read. If you liked her other books or are in the mood for a simple book, I recommend this one. 4 out of 5 stars.

How They Met, and Other Stories by David Levithan

How The Met is a compilation of various stories about love by David Levithan. It's pretty cool to see how these were written if you read the before note from him in the book. It started in his physics class when he was bored and wrote a Valentines' story for his friends. They liked it so much that it became a tradition. Also some of his other novels started as Valentines' stories, like Boy Meets Boy. 

I really liked the style of this book and all the different little stories. They all weren't love stories, but stories ABOUT love. Some stories were better than others, but my favorites were Flirting With Waiters, Lost Sometimes, What a Song Can Do, Starbucks Boy, Princes, the escalator, and The Good Witch. I think my favorite one out of all of them was Princes. That one was really sweet and realistic. 

I loved how all the stories had characters of different sexualities, so there were some gay ones and some straight ones. Also as I was reading Lost Sometimes, I was like, "I could have sworn I've read this before" and it turns out I had! It was part of 21 Proms, a compilation of 21 prom stories also edited by David Levithan.

David Levithan, I love you so much. All your stories are so wonderful. 

I recommend this one if you aren't in the mood for a long story, that way you can just read a story or two. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

When Jude was 12, she made a pact with her 3 older sisters. They cut their hands, burned their hair in a church candle, and said an oath. They were never to be involved with one of the Vargas boys in order to prevent themselves from a broken heart. Now, it is the summer after Jude's senior year and all of her sisters have already moved out. Her father has Alzheimer's and in a desperate attempt to "cure" him, Jude decides to help him restore the motorcycle from his glory days. Everything is fine, until Jude realizes that Emilio, the boy hired to fix the bike, is a Vargas. She has to figure out what is right for her father, her family, and herself.

Twenty Boy Summer was a completely amazing book. Bittersweet was good, but not great, and The Book of Broken Hearts falls after Bittersweet. Let's talk about the romance. I liked Emilio, but he was no Sam. He was sweet, and I liked him, but the relationship with him and Jude just didn't seem as REAL as it could have been. The chemistry was good but not great unfortunately. 

I liked how this story was more than just a romance, and it was also about a family who is trying to hold everything together. I really felt Jude's pain about Papi and how she is trying to be strong and make everything okay. 

The characters were all very likable and realistic. There was Papi, who was funny and awesome. I liked Jude, I think at first she isn't totally comfortable with herself but she's really sharp. Her friends are slightly annoying, but that's how they're supposed to be and I can understand their reactions. Emilio is great and Jude's sisters are not perfect, but you can still see why they act the way they act. 

Another thing I really liked was the incorporation of Spanish (or Puerto Rican, etc but they are close enough) because I've taken 3 years of Spanish and I liked learning a few new words!

I liked the ending, I thought it was really sweet and a good way to end it. If you had to choose a book to read by Sarah Ockler, choose Twenty Boy Summer, but this one was pretty good too. Good, not great. 5 out of 5 stars.

Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

This is the second book in the Divergent series. I never wrote a review on that one, maybe I'll get to that some day... haha :) Don't read this review if you haven't read the first book in the series, there are bound to be various spoilers.

Divergent last left us with Tris discovering the truth about the Erudite and the simulations and everything. That was an awful cliffhanger, and we pick up right where we left off. Literally right off. It might as well have been the next chapter instead of a new book! Tris is horribly confused and hurt and guilty for what happened with Will. She is trying to figure out what exactly is going on with her society and how she can stop its corruption.

I really enjoyed Insurgent. I didn't really feel the romance between Tris and Tobias in this one, but that's okay. It was more about her journey. The plot was well developed and there was a lot of excitement. I feel like I can relate to Tris a lot because she isn't the most physically strong person, but she is very strong willed which makes her awesome.

There are a lot of characters and they all seem very real. I like how even the "bad guys" are shown in a new light in this book and you realize that there are many parts of evil to a person. Overall, if you read Divergent and liked it, definitely read Insurgent. I will be reading the next book in the series. There is a bad cliffhanger anyways.

Also, let's take a moment to recognize how awesome Veronica Roth is. Reading Divergent, I was pretty much in love with Four. He is definitely up there in my top book crushes. But not exactly where Sam from Shiver is. No one could ever top Sam! When we found out that Four's real name is Tobias, I was sold. I then went around telling everyone what a beautiful name Tobias was and that I was going to name my future child Tobias lol. This was influenced this book, but also from Tobias from the Animorphs. Then, I was reading the extra special collector's edition of this book and reading the interview with that author. She said that she had given Tobias his name as homage to the Animorphs character! Like, how awesome is that? Me and this author have like one mind haha.

As I said before, I read the collector's edition of Insurgent. It was pretty cool compared to the regular one. The cover was shinier, there was an attached ribbon bookmark, Free Four (the reason I wanted to get this copy as opposed to the regular one), a Q&A with the author, tattoos, a poster, and a couple of other really cool things. I would suggest you get it if you are a fan of this series.

Also, as a side note, as I read this book I became more and more intrigued about how the factions and wondered which one I would fit in. I took some quizzes online and they said that I would be Candor, which I agree with. I like giving my opinion and believe that honesty is a good thing to have. I definitely wouldn't be Abnegation or Dauntless. I know I'm intelligent, but not to the point of arrogance, so no Erudite. One quiz said that I was Amity, which I would be if there wasn't any Candor.  Thinking about it though, I think I am definitely more Candor because though I really like peace and pleasing people, I am not submissive to that extent. Therefore, Candor.

Well, this has turned into a very long rant only partly relating to Insurgent! Anyways, 5 out of 5 stars.