Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

Publisher’s summary: Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them.

Four years ago, Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. They’re struggling to make ends meet at first, but Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.

Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes and deep dimples, and perfectly skates that irresistible line between nice guy and bad boy. Hardened by her tragic past, Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable, and Trent is desperate to find a way into Kacey’s guarded heart—even if it means revealing an explosive secret that could shatter both their worlds.

My Take: OK! So I totally now get why everyone’s obsessing over K.A. Tucker’s NA Contemporary Ten Tiny Breaths, why they were all eagerly awaiting One Tiny Lie and why the already independently published Ten Tiny Breaths was picked up by Atria Publishing! And that’s because K.A. Tucker’s writing is amazing! She creates extremely vivid scenes, she does a phenomenal job bringing each character and their personalities to life and she always keeps the story flowing at a steady pace that keeps you interested and wanting more! And that is exactly what she did in Ten Tiny Breaths!

However, even though I’m already a huge fan of K.A. Tucker and her Causal Enchantment Series, I’m not really big on Contemporary, and it’s pretty much always been a HECK NO when it comes to the New Adult genre. In New Adult books, the characters are usually a little bit older than in Young Adult and I think the whole point of the genre is to show the characters actually having sex, and it’s the detailed sex scenes that I’d like to stay away from. So, even though I’m still leery about New Adult, I’ve started to give Contemporary a try. Luckily, I didn’t feel like K.A. Tucker took it too far in the sex department! And, since I’ve exclusively been listening to the audios of the Contemporary books that I have actually started to try, I was thrilled to discover that Ten Tiny Breaths was available with Audible!

As for the characters, Kacey, the main character, is pretty dang badass and she’s super funny too. But she’s got some SERIOUS mental issues. (Due to her past, it’s understandable that she’s a little mentally messed up.) And Livie is the perfect little sister. She’s so sweet and innocent that she would be anyone’s ideal little sister. Storm, the stripper neighbor, is totally awesome and her daughter, Mia, is just the most adorable little girl. But one of my favorite characters is a doctor who makes his appearance near the end of the book, and he rocks! Except, I’m not so sure I’d actually like him as my doctor. OH…and then there is Cain! He’s super cool too! OK…so you’re probably getting the idea that I like every character. LOL! But last of all there is Trent! All I’m gonna say is he’s a hottie and I was rooting for him throughout the entire book.

Now for the story . . . Ten Tiny Breaths starts off with Kacey and Livie arriving in their new home in Miami, running from something potentially horrible in Grand Rapids, MI. They’re starting a whole new life which means that Kacey basically needs to start from scratch. The story moves along really quickly and K.A. keeps the story very entertaining. I think my favorite scene was probably when Kacey finds a rattlesnake in the shower. That scene was hilarious and it led to something even more hilarious. Near the end of Ten Tiny Breaths there is a very crazy twist/reveal which made me think to myself, “Yep! There’s K.A. Tucker’s twisted brain in action.” This twist messes everything up but it also makes the whole story so much more brilliant.

So, if you’re looking for a brilliant Contemporary that will keep you glued to your reading chair…look no further! Read this book!!!

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Publisher’s summary: “Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it’s like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it’s like to be young and in love with a book.”—John Green, The New York Times Book Review.

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we’re 16.
What about Romeo and Juliet?
Shallow, confused, then dead.
I love you, Park says.
Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

My take: After hearing from so many people who loved this book and after reading John Green’s awesome review of Eleanor & Park, I was really looking forward to reading this book.

First of all, I am quite pissed off with the ending. There was something that I was waiting, and Waiting, and WAITING for that I thought would happen sometime throughout the entire book, and then something happens in the very end that only “implies” that this particular thing “might have” happened. BUT I wanted Rainbow Rowell to SPELL IT OUT!!!! I want to know what those three friggin’ words were on that dang post card. I have my hopes about what they mean but, based on this particular character, her actions are not always what you really expect or hope for.

OK…I have a lot of emotions over this book. I think I was a little guarded through a lot of the book because I was constantly bracing myself for something awful to happen. And yes, something awful does happen and, even though I was trying to prepare myself for the worst, I didn’t think it would happen like that…so I was all thrown off. You want to know if I cried? Yep!!! I cried…a lot. But it was all worth it…and it would be even more worth it if Rainbow would actually tell us what’s on that post card. *sigh*

What I loved most about this book is how well the characters were put together. First, there are Park’s totally hilarious parents who seem to be making out all the time in every corner of the book. And then there are the all-around horrific parents of Eleanor who make you want to climb right into the book and give Eleanor a giant hug. There’s also the change in Park’s personality from the beginning of the book to the end, and then there’s Eleanor who seems like she doesn’t care what people think about her on the outside but, on the inside, she’s ALL messed up. And last there are those characters that ended up surprising me at the end of the book! Loved it!

This is a very quick read that takes you through a lot of emotions, but the best part is the very fun, intense romance that seems like it should be totally awkward, but is OH!!! SO PERFECT!

Easy by Tammara Webber

Publisher’s summary: Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret
Sometimes, love isn’t easy…

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.

A groundbreaking novel in the New Adult genre, Easy faces one girl's struggle to regain the trust she's lost, find the inner strength to fight back against an attacker, and accept the peace she finds in the arms of a secretive boy.

My take: First of all, I want everyone who’s reading this review to be fully aware that a lot of content in this book is all about THE very things that I normally say absolutely NO to when reading a book. So, me giving this book 4 stars is pretty ginormous. Number one, I do not read Contemporary. Number two, I do not read anything that has Adult or New Adult content. And, lastly, I stay 100 feet away from anything that has to do with sexual assault. All of the peeps out there who have been trying to push me into reading this book really don’t know me too well. But even after saying all that, I actually quite enjoyed this book.

I listened to Easy on Audible on a road trip, and I only started listening to it because I was struggling to keep awake while listening to another book. I’m not going to tell you what other book I had to put on hold in order to listen to Easy, but I think everyone would die if they knew what book I set aside to listen to this one.

Anyways, the scene in the very beginning pretty much should have told me to run far, far away. But it didn’t frighten me as much as it normally would, and I was consumed into the writing style so that I kept on listening.

Easy was written with extremely well developed characters. Jacqueline is struggling with a previous breakup, then this horrible thing happens to her and then she grows into a very strong character throughout the story. Everything about Lucas is easy to fall in love with from his hot looks, to his funny, playful and protective personality. And then there are the several douchebag characters that were very well developed too.

Obviously, you can see that this book is full of all kinds of drama, so it’s a given that there would be a lot of tears shed while listening to this book. And yes, I sobbed! The best part of the story was the romance with Jacqueline and Lucas! The whole development of their relationship was extremely well done.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 

Publisher’s summary: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

My take: Oh! Em! Gee!!! I blew through this book! It was a very quick read and it was amazing! So this is my first dive into YA contemporary, and I’m so unbelievably happy that I picked The Fault in Our Stars to be my first in this genre because it was freakin’ awesome!

So, first of all, I read The Fault in Our Stars in audio. But I was so caught up in the story that for the last few hours I listened to the book, I also followed along in my signed hardcover (thanks to Kristina.) The audio was fabulous, and the audio reader really did this book justice!!!

The one thing I have to say for sure is that I was a major hot mess while reading this dang book. I was like full on ugly crying for the last TWO HOURS of reading this freakin’ book. Yep, I was sobbing so much that I had to blow my nose more than a few times. I actually had to have a full roll of toilet paper sitting with me on my bed, and I even had to use an empty box next to my bed as a trash can. Yeah, there were a few moments where I was only just tearing up a little, but once I got to this one particular, DANG part, I was full on sobbing! And then I just couldn’t stop! It was bad! Like really, Really, REALLY bad. And, then, even when there were really funny parts in the book after that (and there were a LOT of funny parts!) I would be laughing while I was STILL crying. Thank goodness that no one was watching! I can honestly say that I’ve never been that emotional over a book before. I think the only movie/book I’ve ever cried that hard over is the movie A Beautiful Mind, but that’s only because the story to A Beautiful Mind hits me really close to home.

In fact, The Fault in Our Stars made such an emotional impact on me that, at one point (when I was feeling awful over the realization that Grace wouldn’t be a qualified candidate to receive a lung transplant because she was too sick), I thought that when I die I want to make sure I donate my lungs ONLY to someone who’s too sick to be a transplant candidate!

I need to confess my love, heart and soul to Augustus Waters! I’m not a poem writer or even a poem reader, but he makes me want to write poetry dedicated only to him! I love you Augustus Waters. LOL!

I guess I should talk about all the other awesome characters, other than Augustus Waters. I love Hazel Grace Lancaster as well! Reading from the first-person POV of Hazel was perfect! Her thought process kept the story extremely entertaining. And another one of my fave characters is, of course, Isaac. He adds just the right touch to the story. All of the characters in this book were very well developed…to the point where, even if we got to see a character only briefly, their character was very vividly developed in my mind.

This is a book I would highly recommend to anyone, but make sure you keep more than a few tissues handy.