Bully by Penelope Douglas

     Tall, tattooed, and a total dick...what more could a girl ask for? I say this, but in all actuality, I am in love with Jared, the main male character. I am also in love with Tate, and with Madoc, and with basically everyone (except for the few a-holes that you're not supposed to love). The characters in this book were spectacular, to say the absolute least. You wanted to hang out with them everyday, you wanted to party with them every weekend, if not every night. Most especially you wanted to race with them, or if not in the car with them then on the sidelines cheering them on.

     Now onto some of the authors detailing work in this book. I couldn't have cared less about the rain or thunderstorms before reading this, but it legitimately changed the way I felt about storms. The author made a storm feel like poetry. I basically beg the sky to fall (and do a bitchin' rain dance) everyday, in hopes of experiencing some of that magic she writes about. One thing that is wrong in this book (like face palm at the mention of it wrong) is the terrible taste in angsty rock music that was sometimes a little bit unbearable. I was embarrassed for the characters a bit, in that respect, but who the hell am I to judge a made up characters taste in music? (an all knowing being, that's who)
     To offset the terrible music, the author saved herself with how realistic everything seems. The feels are real. Added to that, another part that I really liked (basically what I just mentioned before, but in real, actual detail) was the friendship between Tate and KC. It was, again, just very real. You fight, you apologize, and you forgive. You're there for each other no matter what.
     I have to give this book a five, even with the terrible, angsty music (the boy has a Limp Bizkit ringtone ...honestly). The writing was unbelievably fantastic. Every part of this book flowed together seamlessly (much unlike this review, I'm sure). The dialogue was on point, sometimes funny, a lot of the times serious, and all together completely believable. The characters were also absolutely amazing. When Tate has her freak out, it's perfection. The author did an amazing job of catching every emotion she was feeling, every thought. You just read through it and don't question any of the things she's feeling or any of the things she's questioning. All of the characters have such a real feel to them. The author also did a really excellent job with the teenage hormones (there's a bit of graphic intercourse in this novel) blossoming in one of the characters, and the full steam ahead hormones with the rest of them.
     I can't say enough good things about this book. I've read it a few times and it never gets old, never gets boring, never loses it's grip on me.

Buy this book here now!

Bookends by Jane Green

     The start of the book was a bit boring, to say the least. I grew up stealing (borrowing without intent to return) my moms James Patterson novels. I like a quick start in a book, and although I know that's not always feasible, it took a bit for me to really get into this one. It starts very slow, with the majority of the characters in college, and then, gradually, it starts to pick up a little later on.

     You enter this story with the group of friends who's friendships have almost all already started. One of the characters who is actually introduced very well, and who you expect to be a bigger part of the story (and I, for one, am happy that she didn't have quite as big of a part as I expected) was Portia. Almost everybody has had a friend (ex friend for me, ain't nobody for time for that) like Portia. The type of girl who's your best friend when they're the center of attention, but when they're not, you see a whole different side of them. While the beginning of the book does take a while to introduce you to almost everyone, most of this story takes place when the group is in their early to mid thirties. It's about the trials and tribulations of being in love with your significant other, not wanting to find that kind of love, and then eventually succumbing to it, because there was no way you were going to avoid it. It is also about taking the risks that are involved in following your dreams, and dealing with trauma after drama after trauma.
     The dialogue in this book was on point. There were quite a few times where I laughed out loud while reading (I would include my favorite part, but it is highly inappropriate for this forum). The characters were developed fairly well, although sometimes you wanted to punch them. There were quite a few twists that you didn't really expect, and the author did a good job of really pulling the emotions out of you for a few of them. The writing was funny, witty, and overall very well done. The biggest problem in the book is that the story wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. I think it went off on too many different tangents. I also think that there were too many ( very possibly life altering) changes happening, all at once, to make it seem realistic. It seemed as though the author wanted to cram as many of the traumas, and as much of the drama, in there as possible. I'd give this book a 3.5. It was very well written, and some parts had you turning page after page, unable to stop, but there were some parts that were a bit tedious. Some of the characters were extremely annoying at times, and not always easy to read about, but I can almost guarantee you will fall head over heals in love with Lucy. I'd recommend this book, but I would also add on the disclaimer that it was not my favorite from this author.

The Devil You Know (First Post!!!!!)

For my very first post, I am going to review the book I have most recently read (for about the 20th time, honestly). The Devil You Know by Louise Bagshawe (currently Louise Mensch). I would like to start off by saying that I have read all of her books multiple times, and will try desperately to not compare the ones I am reviewing currently to those that I have previously read, but I already know I am going to do as such, so be forewarned. I also hate indenting new paragraphs.
As with most of her works (see, already doing it) this story is centered around female lead characters. In this case, there are three of them. The main body of this story is how each girl pulls herself up by her bootstraps (so 90's) to work towards what they want in life. You are introduced to the girls after they are first born, but the story quickly fast forwards to each of them in high school.  Each of them, you will find, are a little disillusioned at what they want in life, and through the help of the mostly male characters that play their lovers or foes or friends, they eventually find what they all want in life. The slight twist in the book is that they are all identical triplets whose extremely wealthy Roman parents were murdered by their greedy cousin, and they were separated at birth. Each was sent to a completely different area; one in L.A., one in New York, and one in England. Even though it sounds like I am giving away a bunch of spoilers I'm not, unless you skip the first few chapters when you read a book. If that's the case go away (just kidding mostly). I don't want to give away too much about what they're doing, it is a fun part of the discovery. I also don't want to spoil it too much for you, but I will tell you that they do eventually find each other. I can also safely assume that you know this story will have a happy ending, which makes me happy, hence why I have probably read it so many times. 
There are many things about books that I find to annoy me, terrible dialogue and pointless filler, to name two. This book didn't have a lot of either. I can't think of a particular time where I would have changed what the characters were saying, because it wasn't something that sounds like it would freely flow from (say that five times fast) someone's mouth. The author also didn't go into a lot of unnecessary detail about surroundings that you ended up bored with what you were reading. She did a really good job of giving you what you need, so you can really picture what she's writing. The characters were also pretty easy to relate to. I loved hearing their stories, and how they became young adults, and what drove them to do what they did. There were just enough personal and professional blunders in the character's lives to make it a little bit funny, and a enough ridiculous references to the mob to make me wince in embarrassment for the characters. Overall, I would give this book a 4, maybe a 4.3. It has murder and mystery, girl power, love, regular power, southern accents, and hair metal. What's not to love?