Top 5 Wednesday: Books You Did Not Finish

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at GingerReadsLainey.

Click HERE for a complete list of participants and future topics.

This week's topic is Top 5 Books You Didn't Finish. I actually don't often quit books. I have a good feel for what I'm going to like and what sounds good. And even if something is just meh, I will still usually soldier on through it. I'm telling you, a book has to be bad for me to just totally quit on it. But it's happened. What happens a lot more often is reading the first book in a series and and deciding I have no interest in continuing. So here are the Top 5 books I did not finish and - as a little bonus - the Top 5 series that I did not finish:

THE BOOKS

1. Now & Forever by Susan Colasanti - Sterling was one of the most annoying main characters I've ever encountered. Obnoxious and judgmental, I wanted to smack little miss priss - often. And hearing over and over again about how her teenage boyfriend's music was unlike anything ever heard and was going to change the world. Yeah... no.

2. London Eye by Tim Lebbon - The premise was interesting but the execution - not so much. The world building was so non-existent that I was completely confused about what kind of world these people were living in. 

3. Please Don't Tell by Elizabeth Adler - The characters actions defied belief and the dialogue was so bad I couldn't continue. I should have heeded the GoodReads reviews.

4. Friday Nights by Joanna Trollope - Total yawn-fest. At 50 pages in nothing had happened. Nothing. Did I not notice the 2.98 average GoodReads rating?

5. Tumbleweeds by Leila Meacham - Absolutely nothing rang true in this one (or at least in the 50 or so pages I read). The wooden characters, the cringe-worthy dialogue - bad, just bad. Be gone with you, book!

THE SERIES

*These are the series I quit/decided not to finish. I know my opinions on most of these are wildly unpopular, so withhold the pitchforks, please. :)

1. Mara Dyer - I fell victim to the gorgeous cover and the hype. Unfortunately it contains one of my major deal breakers - an unreliable narrator. That's one trope that I loathe and can't get past. So, adios, Mara Dyer.

2. Half-Bad - My overriding feeling reading Half-Bad was: boredom. One of the slowest paced books I've read and there was nothing there that made me want to pick up book two. Half-Bad put me half-asleep. 

3. The Raven Cycle - Yeah, this is the one that will probably elicit the most boos and hisses. Everyone loves The Raven Boys. I did not. The first book felt like it was laying a whole lot of groundwork, and maybe I would have enjoyed the second book more. But after finishing the first book, I honestly just couldn't be bothered to continue.

4. The Forsaken - I actually read the first two books and even then couldn't drum up the interest to finish off this dystopian trilogy. It's just so middle-of-the-road and nothing really stands out. Plus, the "romantic relationship" is eye-rollingly bad. It was insta-love in book one, zero development of the relationship, and they just stood around clutching hands, professing their love. No thanks.

5. The Remnant Chronicles - I read The Kiss of Deception last year and just wasn't blown away. Fantasy isn't my genre of choice so that probably had a lot to do with it, but I just found it over-long - plus I had zero connection with Lia. I'm all for strong heroines but Lia defied belief for me. Her seemingly never-ending reserve of strength had me thinking she had no emotions at all. 

What books (or series) have you decided you just couldn't finish?

What Are You Reading Wednesday #07

What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly feature 

hosted by Andie at It’s A Reading Thing. 

How to participate:

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

1. What’s the name of your current read?

2. Go to page 34 in your book (or 34% in your eBook) and share a couple of sentences.

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

1.  November 9 by Colleen Hoover

2.  Does she really think that? Do people really not flirt with her? Is this because of her scars or because of her insecurities about her scars? Surely guys aren't as shallow as she's implying. If so, I'm embarrassed on behalf of all men. Because this girl should be fighting off the guys who flirt with her, not questioning their motives.

3.  Absolutely. It's not so much about the world Colleen Hoover creates (she writes contemporaries so it's this world) but more about the remarkable characters she brings to life. So, Yes, I want to know these people. I'd love to have Fallon and Ben in my life. :) 

What are you reading today? Want to share a snippet from page 34 (or 34%)? 

I love comments so tell me below. :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Book-to-Movie Edition

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme 

created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is all about book to movie adaptations. Which ones are you looking forward to, which ones have you yet to see, which ones are your favorites. So here we go... 

10. Mockingjay Part 2

Yes, this is probably on almost everyone's list but there's good reason for that - it's The Hunger Games, people. It's Katniss and it's Peeta. What more could you need?

9. The 5th Wave

Loved the book and can't wait to see how they translate it for the big screen.

8. Me Before You

 This was one of my favorite books of 2014 so I'm equal parts excited and nervous to see it adapted.

7. Shadowhunters

The 2013 movie was a colossal disappointment so I'm skeptical of the TV adaptation... but I know I'll be checking it out come January.

6. Allegiant

I know. Believe me, I know. After Allegiant (the book) and Insurgent (the movie), I'm not expecting much. But, like a glutton for punishment, I'll be going back for more. There's hope, right? Right? Anyone?

5. Eleanor & Park

Color me happy! I just recently heard that E&P had been optioned and that Rowell herself is penning the script. I am pleased. Very, very pleased.

4. The Bronze Horseman

 Just last month, author Paullina Simons announced that it is finally happening. I'm thrilled but oh so nervous. TBH is my favorite book EVER. The movie could be positively epic and bring my Tatia and Shura life... or it could shatter every perfect image I have in my mind and ruin this masterpiece. But no pressure.

3. Obsidian

 Jennifer Armentrout had many in full fangirl mode when she announced last month that a movie for Obsidian is finally moving forward, with a screenwriter in place. This one will be tricky because (cover model) Pepe Toth *is* my Daemon. And while he is a professional athlete and a model, I've never seen "actor" listed next to his name. Maybe he can hurry up and take some acting lessons. 

2. Beauty and the Beast

Nothing but goodness. This simply can't miss.

1. Ugly Love

Please get this right. Please, please, please get this right.

Which book to movie adaptation are you most excited for? What's your favorite adaptation that you've already seen?

Review: Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

Title: Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

Series: Hopeless #2.5

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

Release Date: October 14, 2013 by Atria Books

Format: Kindle

Source: Purchased

Find it here: GoodReads | Amazon

Synopsis

This novella is a companion novel to the Hopeless series, but can be read as a standalone.

A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love comes with conditions: they agree it will only last one hour and it will only be make-believe.

When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them only seemed perfect because they were pretending it was perfect. Moments like that with girls like her don’t happen outside of fairytales.

One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in insta-love is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Daniel soon realizes the way he pretended to feel about Cinderella and the way he really feels about Six may not be so different after all. Especially when the two loves of his life end up being one in the same.

Unfortunately for Daniel, finding Cinderella doesn’t guarantee their happily ever after…it only further threatens it.

My Thoughts

I'll never know how she does it, but Colleen Hoover manages to do in 90 pages what many authors cannot accomplish in a full-length novel. This follow-on novella to Hopeless and Losing Hope is chock full of heart and humor and genuine emotion.

"If you want to call yourself my girlfriend half as much as I wish you would, then it would save me a whole lot of begging. Because I was literally about to drop to my knees and beg you."

She squints her eyes playfully. "No begging. It screams desperation."

"You make me desperate," I say, pressing my lips to hers again."

Take Holder's best friend Daniel and Sky's best friend Six, put them together, and you get absolute magic. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for the first three-quarters of the book. Daniel is such a crazy, unique character and Six is his perfect foil. Together they are quirky and funny and they are each exactly who the other needs. I loved every moment they were together. And every moment they weren't together but Daniel was thinking about her. And all the other moments.

“I’ve never believed in anything like I believe in the possibility of the two of us.”

And then, in her typical fashion, CoHo added a twist, hurt my heart, made me cry, and then made me happy all over again. 

Daniel and Six (and Holder and Sky and Breckin) made me laugh out loud, and grin like an idiot, and, as with everything Colleen writes, this was absolute perfection. I simply love Daniel and Six. I love them hard.

5/5 STARS

Note: The Kindle edition of Finding Cinderella is available for free at Amazon. Link is above.

Have you read Colleen Hoover before? If so, which is your favorite?

Review: Five Ways to Fall by K.A. Tucker

Title: Five Ways to Fall by K.A. Tucker

Series: Ten Tiny Breaths #4

Genres: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Release Date: June 24, 2014 by Atria Books

Format: Trade Paperback

Source: Purchased

Find it here: GoodReads | Amazon

Synopsis

Purple-haired, sharp-tongued Reese MacKay knows all about making the wrong choice; she’s made plenty of them in her twenty-odd-years. So when her impulsive, short-lived marriage ends in heartbreak, she decides it’s time for a change. She moves to Miami with the intention of hitting reset on her irresponsible life, and she does quite well…aside from an epically humiliating one-night stand in Cancun with a hot blond bouncer named Ben. Thank God she can get on a plane and leave that mistake behind her.

Football scholarship and frat parties with hot chicks? Part of charmer Ben Morris’s plan. Blown knee that kills any hope of a professional football career? So not part of the plan. Luckily Ben has brains to go with his knockout looks and magnetism. After three long years of balancing law school with his job as a bouncer at Penny’s Palace, he’s ready to lead a more mature life—until his first day of work, when he finds himself in the office of that crazy, hot chick he met in Cancun. The one he hasn’t stopped thinking about.

If Ben truly were a smart guy, he’d stay clear of Reese. She’s the boss’s stepdaughter and it’s been made very clear that office romances are grounds for dismissal. Plus, rumor has it she’s trouble. The only problem is, he likes trouble, especially when it’s so good-looking…

My Thoughts

I have loved K.A. Tucker's Ten Tiny Breaths companion series and am sorry to see it come to an end. These five books (4 books + 1 novella) introduced me to characters that I loved getting to know. I hurt for them, laughed with them, cheered for them, and loved following their journeys. And I credit that all to Tucker's incredible story telling.

Five Ways to Fall follows Ben and Reese. Readers familiar with the series will know Ben as the (former) bouncer at Penny's. Now out of law school, Ben has been hired by a reputable law firm in Miami and is determined to turn over a new leaf - one that involves him not hitting on every female he finds attractive and trying to act like a responsible adult. 

"I just helped you make your ex-husband jealous, so you're welcome. I don't do pretend boyfriend shit. I'm normally Switzerland. I went rogue for you, so be grateful." - Ben

Reese is also starting over. With an absentee father, a social climbing mother, and a brief marriage that ended in heartache, Reese is hurting but hides it with her tough-girl exterior. With help from her former stepfather, Reese moves to Miami and works at his law firm in an attempt to turn her life around.

I think Ben has a strange power over me - the ability to balance my chaos. - Reese

Five Ways to Fall had a lighter feel than the previous books in the series. Yes, Reese had been through a lot, and Ben had his own family issues, but there was more humor and less high drama here. I've always enjoyed Ben's character - the charming, good-time guy - and getting a whole book of him was a total treat. I loved getting his backstory and seeing the love and respect he had for his mother. I didn't warm to Reese as much as I have the other female protagonists is the series. Reese was sharp-tongued and prickly, and while I tried to understand her motivation, she made (many) decisions that made me want to shake some sense into her. She was so fixated on her past that she was oblivious to what was in front of her. I found myself frustrated with her a lot.

Ben and Reese truly met their match in each other. They each gave as good as they got and their banter was hilarious. Neither of them was looking for anything serious and I loved watching as they both fought the fact that they might actually have feelings for one another. Reese slowly revealed a vulnerable side and Ben proved that he had a heart of gold.

She’s everything I never knew I wanted. She’s everything I never knew I could have. - Ben

As always, Tucker created an amazing cast of secondary characters that made for a richer story. Stepfather Jack, Mason, Ben's mother Wilma, Reese's friends... they all played important roles in Ben and Reese's story and not one of them fell flat or seemed cookie-cutter. Thank you, Kathleen, for always providing side characters that feel as real and fleshed out as the protagonists. Such a rarity! And getting small cameos from some of the characters in the previous books was such a treat. 

If you haven't read anything by K.A. Tucker, you're missing out. The only thing that keeps me from being heartbroken by the end of this series is knowing that the Burying Water series is ready and waiting for me to dive on in. There's much more of Kathleen's phenomenal story telling in my future. 

What was the best book you read in October?