Book Review : Sometimes It Happens

Book: Sometimes It Happens
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Date Published: July 12, 2011
Pages: 320
Source: GalleyGrab
Date Read: May 24, 2011

On the last day of her junior year, Hannah's boyfriend Sebastian dumped her. Facing a summer of loneliness, Hannah turns to her best friend Ava for comfort. Ava does what BFFs do: she stays by Hannah's side...until it's time for Ava to head up to Maine for the summer. Also left behind is Ava's boyfriend, Noah, who's such a great guy he gets Hannah a job at the diner he waits tables at. Slowly, Hannah comes out of her funk thanks to Noah's good conversation and their fun times at the diner. But things get complicated when their friendship turns into attraction--and one night, into a passionate kiss.

The novel opens on the first day of senior year; the day Hannah is going to see Ava, Sebastian, and Noah all in one place. Over the course of the day secrets and betrayals are revealed, and alliances are broken and reformed. In the end, everyone is paired up once again, but not the way you might think...

Summary Taken from Goodreads

Yani's Review:

There is not much to say about Lauren Barnholdt other than she consistently writes books I love to read. Two-Way Street is one of my favorite books, and one of my favorite things about it is the writing style. Lauren's style in each of her books in different and unique, she has an awesome way of writing past and present at the same time and I love that about this book.

Yes, you know what happens right from the beginning, yes it deals with a difficult topic (cheating), but the way the story builds is amazing. I couldn't put the book down. And while Ava was a B***h at times, no one deserves to be cheated on. I liked that Hannah at times tried to rationalize the way she was feeling, or give herself excuses, but in the end she knows what right and wrong is.

I LOVED Noah, and while Hannah fell for him that summer so did I. The romance was cute, and really came from a friendship. That paired with the emotions Hannah express, makes it so I can't hate,

My Review in a Tweet: Hard not to fall in love with this story, told in past and present, Lauren's writing style always draws me in! Sometimes it Happens

Ratings:

Plot: 4/5
Writing Style: 5/5
Uniqueness: 3/5
Characters: 5/5

Memorable Quotes:

"I grab another magazine and start to read angrily. Well, I'm not sure you can really read angrily. But you can make it clear that you're upset by sighing a lot and ruffling the pages. Which is what I'm doing now." Hannah

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Book Review : Playing Hurt

Book: Playing Hurt
Author: Holly Schindler

Publisher: Flux
Date Published: March 21, 2011
Pages: 312
Source: My Bookshelf
Date Read: April 23, 2011

Star basketball player Chelsea "Nitro" Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone's admiration back home. Then she took a horrible fall during senior year. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

That summer, Chelsea's dad hires Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player and "boot camp" trainer, to work with her at a northern Minnesota lake resort. As they grow close, Chelsea finds that Clint's haunted by his own tragedy. Will their romance end up hurting them all over again—or finally heal their heartbreak?

Summary Taken from Goodreads

Yani's Review:

It is so hard for me to write this review because there where some things I loved, but then there were things that really bothered me. I will try to review without spoilers and warn you when it gets a little spoilery.

First off a fair warning, this is definitely a HOT book, which I liked, but I wasn't prepared for it. Being labeled as YA usually means sexual stuff may happen, but its skipped over or faded out like in movies. In this book you get a full frontal, and let me just say Holly knows how to write steamy scenes.

This book starts off slow, explaining Chelsea and Clint's background and while I didn't mind the slow pace I did feel the writing jumped trains of thought quickly. It left me a little confused, but a couple of chapters in I was totally engrossed and either didn't notice it or it stopped.

Start spoilery section

I absolutely loved Clint, I felt for Chelsea in the beginning, but I never liked Gabe (her boyfriend). He was way too romantic/corny/cheesy/perfect. Still as much as I didn't like him, I could not believe Chelsea would cheat on him. And the thing is, I really do understand why. She has an amazing connection to Clint, they have a common struggle, and I can understand that she is confused and is acting selfish because she feels like she lost everything. But the way she acts towards Gabe, once she is back home, to me, cheapens her connection to Clint.

Its like instead of growing up and facing her mistake, she acts like she did nothing wrong. The end made it clear that she never grew out of that selfishness.

end spoilery stuff

Still I am giving it a pretty high rating because I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed reading it and while not every character has to be "good" and not every story needs a lesson learned. I wish Chelsea had gotten more from the summer and from Clint other than to stop being scared. Plus there where some really good romantic scenes and some beautiful writing, I mean I really felt like I was on the mountains.

Ratings:

Plot: 3/5
Writing Style: 4/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Characters: 4/5

Similar Titles:

Memorable Quotes:

"In that moment, my hip is an open wound he's just emptied an entire salt shaker into."