Lauren Kate

*3.5 stars*
By Any Other Name is the story of Lanie, an editor who unexpectedly becomes her company’s biggest client’s minder. Fortunately, Lanie and Noa – the client, have been communicating for years and have a good relationship. Events necessitate that the two finally meet and woah! Noa actually turns out to be Noah and thinks get messy.

This was a really slow burn romance and honestly, I am not sure if I classify it as a romance in my head. I think the pacing was a bit off. I did enjoy the romance when it happened, but it was so not the focus for a good part of the book. The characters did have good chemistry together, so kudos. I also enjoyed Lanie’s growth from beginning to the end. Noah was also a good ML character. I have my reservations though when it comes to issues that sort of look catfish-y.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Thanks to the Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.
… (mer)

If you can believe this, I bought Teardrop when it came out... And it's been sitting on my shelf ever since. I kept looking at the book and I wanted to pick it up, but I just never did. It kind of breaks my heart, since this is totally the book I would have loved way back when... But I did finally manage to grab in when I decided it was nostalgia time! And, thankfully, I wasn't disappointed!

Was this my favourite book in the world? No. It was kind of whiny at times, and I know I was supposed to feel bad for the main character... but at times, Eureka was unbearable. A fair amount of the characters frustrated me, but I let that slide since this is a YA fantasy where everything doesn't have to make perfect sense. She acts like how I expect a teenager to act - they are all self centred and their world DOES revolve around them. She was depressed and needed help, and honestly her family could be a bit of a nightmare. Her friends were also very stereotypical, and not in a good way. An African-American friend who was just into sex and a good time? Eh... Felt like a bad stereotype, but high school girls can act like that... A best friend who's into her but also kind of seeing another girl and totally leading them both on? What a jerk! Typical? Totally was at my house school. Boys sucked! So, I'll give it to Lauren Kate... Sadly, it the drama was fairly realistic (sadly, meaning my high school was stereotypical like this one... and I wish that wasn't the sad part).

The plot itself? Eureka being "the chosen one" that will somehow help (or hinder) finding Atlantis? Super cool plot wise! It's a different mythology that I'm pumped to see brought forward in the YA world. Getting to the plot? TOOK FOREVER. It was painful how long it took to getting to the lore, which is why it took many attempts to jump back into this book. I seriously wanted to love it, and at times I did... but at other times, it was too slow (and the unbearable characters made that so much worse).

The book leaves off on a horrible cliffhanger that frustrates me. The book didn't end with some sort of fulfilling statement, it just left lots of unanswered questions. I don't want to come to the end of the book and feel forced to read the sequels. I should have some sort of conclusion that allows me to continue if I want to. Sure, at book two keep the cliffhangers, but not at the intro book. That annoyed me and I just... don't want to keep reading? If I stumble upon the book, sure, but I won't go out of my way.

Overall, this book was not my favourite. There is a lot of positives - the cover is GORGEOUS, the lore is super cool, and I think Lauren Kate's writing is very addicting. The slow pace, annoying characters, and slow to start lore is what is steering me away from these books.

Two out of five stars.… (mer)