REVIEW: Finally! The Moon and More- By Sarah Dessen

I was so excited to start reading Sarah Dessen's newest release and I was even more excited to finish it. No, not because it was boring but because I really had no idea how it was going to end and I was so anxious to find out. Like I had previously said, Sarah did not stray from her usual genuine and charming style. It was the real Dessen but just with a different flair.

Something that I most definitely loved about the book was the way I connected with the main character Emaline. I think one of Sarah's great strengths and talents is her ability to make her main characters relatable. I think she has been able to master that skill.

True to Dessen form, there was a girl who had a boyfriend that ended up fizzling out to mistakenly fall for  another boy. It is the typical theme that is always a comfortable favorite of mine.

And so Emaline, who is going to to college in the fall, has lived in Colby,  a beach town her whole life, always admires the tourists that come and stay at her family's rental home business because of the new and endless possibilities to them that are nothing special to her.

Luke being her boyfriend for 3 years, had a great relationship with Emaline, that got distracted by Theo, the city boy tourist on a work related vacation, to film a documentary with the famous Ivy on a local artist who made it big in New York but left mysteriously back to his hometown.

Theo was nothing like Luke but on the day the high school lovers broke up, Theo ended up kissing her and the rest was just a summer romance. Emaline learned more about him and found nothing was what it had seemed.

All the while she was trying to repair a relationship with her estranged father who was not around her whole life and left a trial of broken promises and disappointments. She ends up coming to terms with her paternal circumstance and learning to love her 10 year old step brother Benji.

Without giving it all away, I would have to say this book was great but not amazing. There were many plot lines that were left unfulfilled and the ending seemed harshly abrupt. The characters seemed to evolve rather quickly but then everything in the book happened very fast. Personally, I would have written it differently but that's okay. It is genuine Dessen quality; I just felt it lacked in spots.I wish I could say that it was amazing because I love Dessen but it was still great and I still highly recommend reading it, especially if your a huge Dessen fan like myself.

I think I gave just enough to tease you into buying it. There are a ton of more people and events that I wouldn't be able to fully map out for you so it's my job to get you to read the book! Try it for yourself and let me know what you think ! :)

*Remember: Sunday's at Tiffany's is next up!*
P.S. The picture I took on the first day the book came out. It is from my nook on my intsagram:cherylelizabeth

Inspiration

Recently I've been thinking about what inspires me to get up everyday and live life to the fullest. Besides my boyfriend and my family, books have been more like my friends then some people I know. (Rolls eyes) My exaggeration is harmless. But for the most part I think everyone should find what makes them happy and pursue it. And that is what this blog is all about, pursuing what makes me happy. Blogging, reading and writing are all passions that I greatly enjoy pursuing for your enjoyment and my pleasure. I know this because I will wake up in the middle of the night just dying to keep reading or write down that idea I had. It's when it takes up the majority of your thoughts that not even sleep can get them to rest. 

If you want send me a message or comment on what inspires you to love life. Let's get some dialogue going because I would love to connect with those who are reading what I have to say. You deserve a gold star and my endless gratitude. 

This post is  a means to connect and fill in the space and time while you await the Sarah Dessen review. As an update, I am loving it so far. It has Sarah's genuine flair and charming zest. So far so good. Don't forget to reach out! 

Ciao :) 

UPDATE: NEW SARAH DESSEN BOOK! AND FUTURE REVIEWS!

Hey everyone!

Today, no matter what, is a great day because the new Sarah Dessen book is out, The Moon and More. Maybe I am giving into the hype of one of my beloved authors, but I love to be obsessed with things and this just happens to be one of them. And I think a good obsession anyway.

Sarah Dessen has been nothing but a constant love in my life. It is rare, for me, to find books from an author that I truly love and are inspired by. Sarah Dessen and Nicholas Sparks are on the top. However, I am more of an eclectic book lover and I try hard not to discriminate. However, I am a huge Dessen fan and I plan to stay that way, even if she writes for YA and I'm 21 and sort of reaching the limit on that genre. BUT, who doesn't love a cheesy YA book to get you feeling alive again. Probably just  me. (shakes head)

Anyway, I am going to start reading the much anticipated book and hope for the best! As for the review I hope to have that up by the end of next week.... fingers crossed!

***The next book will probably be Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson.
I've heard great things about this book and I'm super excited to see for myself!***

Ciao, Cheryl :)

REVIEW: The Best of Me - By Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks does it yet again. The Best of Me was clearly a challenge for him as he revealed in his acknowledgments at the beginning of the book. I kept that in mind as I was reading the book. I was trying to find the difficult challenges he may have faced.
It became more clear as you continue reading at the vast amount of knowledge one needs to create a book becomes almost an insurmountable obstacle.

Sparks created various different characters each with their own individual personalities and purposes. He created numerous plot lines that were flawlessly intertwined to create one "Spark"tacular book. (cue the cheesy eye rolls.)

As Sparks customary, the setting was in his native North Carolina. Dawson and Amanda the main players in The Best of Me have an almost Notebook like romance. Amanda, a southern debutante who never liked to follow the rules fell in love with the wrong man from the wrong side of town. But their romance was that one of a kind, deep down to the soul kind of true love that you only get one chance at. And the chance was ruined when the pressure from Amanda's parents and the time to leave for college left them leaving each other behind.

What Dawson faced in his life next was a life that most people thought he was destined for, jail, after he accidentally hit and killed the only doctor in the small town. To which Dawson never fully recovered, harboring the guilt to his death. Dawson had a rough life growing up, his mom left and his dad was an abusive alcoholic. He would run away to live in Tuck's garage, an old lonely man who lost his wife. Tuck became a God like presence in both Amanda and Dawson's life that tried to change fate from the grave however his efforts only falling short.

Dawson was truly not like his family and vowed to make a change. But Dawson kept to himself and went through traumatic experience on the oil rig he worked on. After his near death experiences, he started to see a man,with a blue track suit, showing up at these moments that forever changed people's lives and eventually stopping Dawson's life forever. The man was the doctor he killed back when he was younger, pushing him to save his sons life while also ending Dawson's.

As you can tell, the plot has so many twists and turns that every other page was a new persons story evolving.

Dawson and Amanda were re- united over the death of Tuck over 20 years later. They tried to rekindled the old flames but Amanda's marital guilt forced her to think of her family and not her own desires to get back to the man she loved. Where Dawson was trying to keep hidden from his family who was out to get revenge that ultimately put the nail in his coffin.

Without trying to revel the complete story, I wanted to give the parts I felt would make anyone want to gt up and read the book. It was pretty clear that it is kind of hard to really write about this book because there was just SO much going on and so many plots to unravel that it would probably be easier to draw a map.
In any case, I wanted to give you the gift of this review because this is a highly recommended book, like Sparks books are. Some things that I left out were the true ending that leaves you with an almost sad satisfaction. This turned out bad but they could have been much worse and if it had to be this way than there was no better way for it to end.

In the end, I loved another one of the Sparks emotional roller coasters that leaves a definite remembrance.

UPDATE: LOOK OUT FOR NEW AWESOME REVIEWS

Hey everyone,

Look out for a new review coming soon. I am really excited about this one and I bet most people have heard of Nicholas Sparks. Yep, I will be reviewing the Nick Sparks book - The Best Of Me. It is really been great so far and I am close to the end. Hoping to have the review up by the end of the week. Check back soon or shot me some suggestions for future reviews. 

I am also SUPER SUPER excited about the next book that I will be reading by one of my very favorite authors Sarah Dessen who inspires me everyday to pursue my dreams. Her new book: The Moon And More is coming out on Tuesday the 4th and I have already pre-ordered it to my nook so I can read at all times of the day. Hopefully I will have that review up within the next two weeks. 

SO, as you can tell there is so much to look forward to on The Book Bound and hope everyone comes along for the journey. 

Ciao :)