The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle

Hello Readers!

It has been quite a while and I sincerely apologize for that. The last few months of school were very busy and filled with homework and tests. I'm sure you can relate. Anyway, today was the last day of school and I am looking forward to catching up on my reviews. I apologize in advance if they are somewhat short and not be the best :P I will try to remember the most of these books. I am currently 11 books behind my reading goal of the year, but don't worry! I will catch up this summer! Let's get on to the review now ...

The Beginning of After is a story about mourning and just dealing with life. Laurel, your average teenager, is completely devastated when she finds out that her parents and brother were killed during a car crash. She would be dead too if she hadn't had to study for school. Laurel cannot believe that the person driving the car, her neighbor's father, lies in a coma while her family was not spared. Laurel has to learn how to get on with her life and the changes that have been made. She has to learn to accept and adapt.

This book did not make me cry and I found it to be just okay. It was a decent read, but not something that was just SOOO special and touching. It is definitely not up to the standards of Sarah Dessen or Sarah Ockler, and I found this to be a little disappointing. This novel has good intentions, but I felt like there could have been MORE from it and I could have felt more connected to Laurel. 3 out of 5 stars.

Also, if you're in the mood for a touching story about loss, acceptance, and a little romance, try reading Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. I'll give you a link to my review of it here.

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

Wren loved Danny. In fact, she still does. He was her everything, and she was his. One sunny day, he dies in a car crash. Wren is devastated, and decides that she must do anything she can to have him back. She’s always known she was special and possessed supernatural powers, so with the hope to have her boyfriend back, she performs a spell. When she opens her eyes, she finds Danny in front of her. At least, it’s sort-of Danny. He’s colder, paler, less human. Undead. She hides him away and is glad to have him back. Then Gabriel comes to town. He sees the power that’s inside Wren, and makes her see that what she did was wrong. With things getting worse with Danny, as well as her relationship with her friends and family, Wren discovers what it means to love and what it means to lose.

The plot was interesting and I liked the author’s take on zombies. In the beginning , I was very intrigued with the mystery and romance. I kinda was over it halfway through. I felt like this would have done better as a longer story, with more background to their relationship, and also the future. I don’t know if a second book is planned, but there were some unanswered questions at the end. It was also pretty anticlimactic. It was promising in the beginning, but it got less interesting as the story went on. Oh, and if you are planning on reading this novel, I suggest you read the summary of it so you get a basic idea of what’s going on. Because the author just throws you out there and explains it later, which can be a bit confusing.

The characters were iffy. I found myself relating to Wren in the way that she loved Danny a lot, and wanted to bring him back because she missed him so much. I loved the bits of the past that she described, because it helped me sympathize with her and understand how special their relationship was. However, she also bothered me because of her selfishness and ignorance to other people’s feelings, like her friends’ and family’s. And also to Gabriel. He had been nothing but nice to her, and basically it was like “Thankyou Gabriel I need you” to “Get away from me and stop helping” in the next second. She was just so afraid of loving him and decides to be mean to him, and every time he comes back. I didn’t find myself connecting with any of the other characters.

I know all I’ve been doing is criticizing this book, but I promise there were some good parts. Those are the parts where I really connected with Wren and her struggle, like when you see why she loved Danny so much. I also really liked the concept, and the conflicting feelings of grief, love, and loss.

The cover is gorgeous, and probably what interested me in the first place. Overall, this is an average paranormal romance for me. I liked the take on zombies, but this just wasn’t my cup of tea. I’m sure If I wanted to read a paranormal romance, I could find a more satisfying story. But this was just okay, not good and not bad. If wouldn’t recommend it, just because I think there’s better out there. If you want a good read about loss and love (not paranormal though) try Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. 3 out of 5 stars for Cold Kiss.

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

At one point of this past summer, I saw the cover of this book on GoodReads and I said "Oh, I remember I wanted to read that!" and then after I got the book I was like "I could have sworn that I read this book" but I couldn't quite remember what happened. At about page 200, I realized that I HAD read the book. Wow, so smart of me!! haha

So, in Twenty Boy Summer there's Anna. Anna's best friends with Frankie, and her brother Matt. Anna has been in love with Matt ever since she was 10, and finally at her 15th birthday party, he kisses her. Life is perfect for Anna. She and Matt don't want to upset Frankie with the news, so they decide it would be best if Matt told her himself when they got back from their California trip. Then, their lives take a tragic twist. Matt dies in a car crash because of a heart problem that no one knew he had. Anna never tells Frankie about her and Matt because it was "their secret". So she goes on with her life, secretly hurting. Frankie changes and so does Anna. A year later, it’s time for Frankie’s family’s annual California trip and Anna is invited along. Anna and Frankie plan for the A.B.S.E. (Absolute Best Summer Ever) and plan on meeting 20 new boys between the two of them. Anna reluctantly agrees, even though she has no desire to meet anyone because she’s still not over Matt.

Twenty Boy Summer broke my heart. I was so devastated reading about how Anna loses her love and has conflicting emotions regarding Frankie, love in general, and herself. I connected with this book so personally because I have a boyfriend, and I would be so so so heartbroken if anything happened to him. I feel her pain, and really felt like I understand Anna.  

Frankie was a little bit difficult to relate to. She and Anna are supposed to be best friends, but I don’t know how Anna puts up with her. I guess their duo needs a leader and a follower, and that leader is definitely Frankie. She pushes Anna into things, forces her to look a certain way, lies to her, and is oblivious to the feelings she had for Matt for SIX years. She seems a bit like a diva, but I think she’s also misunderstood. She’s just grieving like everyone else, but her grief is in a different way. She has her soft spots, though and I grew to like her despite her flaws.

I loved pretty much all the characters, and Matt. The cover is beautiful, and goes along with the story perfectly. The only thing that’s a little bit iffy is the title. If you read the book, you understand it and you love it. But if you don’t, it sounds kinda… sleazy, right? But anyway, I would definitely recommend this book, especially to readers who like Sarah Dessen. I absolutely adored this story, even though it was a little sad for me. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s a good kind of heart break because you know everything’s going to be okay in the end. 5 out of 5 stars.