Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne | Book Review

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne 



Reading Group: Potterheads

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: "The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later.

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016. 
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places."


Cover: The cover of this book shows Albus in a nest with bird wings.  I'm not really sure what the nest has to do with everything, but the wings were the same as the one Delphi has tattooed on her back as a sign to Dark Magic.  The nest may be symbolic of a child who is born into something he maybe doesn't want, but can't control.

My Review:  I would like to start out by saying that I was a little skeptical about this book because it is written like a play and typically when I read plays I don't pay attention as to who's speaking and I get confused and lost very quickly.  It didn't take me long into this play that I realized my reason for being lost was probably because most of the plays I've read have been written by Shakespeare and I had no idea what he was trying to say anyway.  This play was amazing, I mean obviously because it's Harry Potter.  It made me want to jump on a plane and see it in person.  And if it wasn't sold out for months and months I might have.  It was just such an interesting story of Harry's son, who at the end of Deathly Hallows I kind of assumed he'd be just like Harry, but he's not.  The two of them can't seem to find anything to talk about and Albus seems to think that Harry is a fraud for not wanting to help Mr. Diggory.  However, changing the past changes more than Albus and Scorpius ever wanted and they have to figure out a way to fix it before it's too late.  It's a little funny that Voldemort is what brings Harry and his son closer.  It's weird to think that Voldemort was a dad, but I'm not surprised it was Bellatrix's kid.  She was creepily in love with Voldemort and that was evident very early on in the series.  This play is about kids trying to prove something to their parents, which is something most kids want to do, but it's also Harry Potter which makes it absolutely amazing and something everyone should read.


Click to stay connected:
Main Twitter: @juliann_guerra
Second Twitter: @writerjewels
Instagram: juliann_guerra
Second Instagram: writerjewels
Tumblr: juliann-guerra
Goodreads: Juliann Guerra
Wattpad: @writerjewels
Pinterest: Juliann Guerra
Spotify: juliann.guerra
Bloglovin: Juliann Guerra
SHARE:

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

A Beautiful Funeral by Jamie McGuire | Book Review

A Beautiful Funeral by Jamie McGuire



Reading Group: Anyone whose read the rest of the series

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Losing has never been easy for a Maddox, but death always wins.

Eleven years to the day after eloping in Vegas with Abby, Special Agent Travis Maddox delivers his own brand of vigilante justice to mob boss Benny Carlisi. Vegas's oldest and most violent crime family is now preparing for vengeance, and the entire Maddox family is a target.

The secret Thomas and Travis have kept for a decade will be revealed to the rest of the family, and for the first time the Maddoxes will be at odds. While none of them are strangers to loss, the family has grown, and the risk is higher than ever. With brothers against brothers and wives taking sides, each member will make a choice—let the fear tear them apart, or make them stronger.


Cover: The cover of this book has a tree on it with bare branches and falling leaves.  That means that it must be towards the end of fall, which in a literary sense means the end of a life.  Also, Jim gives a speech to his sons about how life goes on the way branches grow off of other branches.  

My Review:  (Just a reminder now that I tend to ramble and give away spoilers)  Oh my gosh you guys this book did me in!  I read it all in one go and didn't go to bed until 4 in the morning last week.  My Predictions from last week was right, but wrong in some ways.  I was right that Jim was the one who died, but he didn't die in a way I imagined.  I also didn't originally think they were going to fake a death, but within about 10 pages of the book I was able to see that that's where it was headed.  Also, I am so upset that Olive died.  I wasn't even thinking of her as an option!  And she was only 18 and about to start college.  Plus, she had already held her brother while he died and now her parents had no kids, and Fayln lost her too.  I wish that she was seriously hurt and maybe it didn't look good, but she pulled through.  Her death hurt so bad.  her death also just seemed so unnecessary to me.  Everyone else I could understand for the most part, I did understand and wrote a blog post about it, but Olive was never on my radar.  She was a Maddox, because she was Falyn's biological daughter, but she was the one no one would know about, so I guess that added an element to the story.
Also, so much has changed!  Fayln and Taylor being in a weird place was a curveball I was not expecting.  And I know they decided to live together again, but I need to know how they work things out.  I also need to know how they handle the fact that the Mayor's son keeps texting her or how he even got her number.  Trenton and Cami not being able to get pregnant was also a surprise, but not as shocking as Falyn and Taylor.  However, I do need to know is Cami ever does get pregnant.  I felt bad to Trenton in this book too because even though he did have lied, his didn't seem as big as his family's and it was clear that he was hurt the most by finding out all of the different truths.  I think this is also what made Olive's death so hard, other than the fact that readers knew her as a little girl and then as an 18-year-old.  Olive was Trent's best friend so for him to be hurting so bad throughout the book and then have to go through that when it looked like it was over was hard.
That Jamie McGuire really knows how to simultaneously ruin and make my day.  Her books are some of my favorites, but then she does stuff like this and it makes me so sad.  However, I think that fact that this book made me feel so much proves how good it is.  If you were to read a book like this and just like "Eh, well it's over now," than the book didn't didn't do a very good job.  A novel should cause a reaction and this one definitely does. 
*Note: Did anyone else notice that at the beginning of the book (Chapter 5) Abby and Travis are at their house talking about baby names before Travis leaves to go t the airport for Liis, but when she does actually land (Chapter 18) Abby is at the hospital having just given birth to Carter?  And there's no way these things happened on the same day because Abby was at Jim's house with Travis when her water broke.  


Click to stay connected:
Main Twitter: @juliann_guerra
Second Twitter: @writerjewels
Instagram: juliann_guerra
Second Instagram: writerjewels
Tumblr: juliann-guerra
Goodreads: Juliann Guerra
Wattpad: @writerjewels
Pinterest: Juliann Guerra
Spotify: juliann.guerra
Bloglovin: Juliann Guerra
SHARE:

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

After Ever Happy by Anna Todd | Book Review

After Ever Happy by Anna Todd
Click Cover to Purchase


Reading Group Rating: M for Mature

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Tessa and Hardin have had enough surprises.  Their bond is stronger than ever, but ever new challenge they face shakes their foundation-and Hardin's impenetrable facade-to the core.  As the shocking truth about each of their families emerges, it's clear that the two lovers are not so different from each other.  Tessa is no longer the sweet, simple, good girl she was when she met Hardin-any more than he is the cruel, moody boy she fell so hard for.  Tessa understands all the troubling emotions brewing within Hardin, and she knows she's the only one who can calm when he erupts.  He needs her.  But the more layers of his past that come to light, the darker he grows, and the harder he pushes Tessa-and everyone else in his life-away.  After all this time, Tessa's not sure if she really can save him-not without sacrificing herself.  Is love worth losing identity?  She refuses to go down without a fight.  But who is she really fighting for-Hardin or herself?   

Cover: I think the cover of this novel is so cute, with it's pretty colors and sunshine.  It's just so happy, which makes sense given the title and the fact that this story does have a lot of happy moments to it.

My Review: This is definitely my favorite of the After books because this is the one where everything falls into place.  Tessa brakes, but then finally realizes that she needs to be more independent and figure out what she wants out of life.  (Plus, she's less annoying and whiney in this book which makes me very happy)  Hardin reverts back to who he was before Tessa when he finds out about his family, but then he is able to bring himself out of it and finally change to be the man he kept saying he wanted to be.  It was kind of sad that it took Richard killing himself for Tessa and Hardin to figure all this out, but at the same time it had to be something dramatic because the two of them had already gone through things where they said things would be different.  Tessa needed to go through the emotions, or lack thereof, of what she went through when her dad died, as sad as it was.  It brought so many things to light and allowed her to realize that she didn't need Zed (finally, am I right?) and that as much as she loved Hardin, she needed space.  And the space was a good thing because obviously they were going to end up together it was just a matter of when they would be 100% together.  Can you imagine if after 4 books they ended up breaking up?  I would have been so mad.  Also, the epilogue is the greatest thing.  I loved everything about it.  Except I am very confused as to whether they actually ended up getting married or not, but I feel like I read somewhere that Anna Todd explains it better in Landon's books, I don't know though.

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx
Stay Connected:
Main Twitter: @juliann_guerra
Second Twitter: @writerjewels
Instagram: juliann_guerra
Tumblr: juliann-guerra
Goodreads: Juliann Guerra
Wattpad: @writerjewels
Pinterest: Juliann Guerra
Spotify: juliann.guerra
Bloglovin: Juliann Guerra
SHARE:

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Beautiful Funeral by Jamie McGuire Predictions

For those who don't know, I love Jamie McGuire's books.  My favorites of her's are definitely the ones in the Beautiful Series and the Maddox Brothers Series, and she has a new one coming out tomorrow called Beautiful Funeral.

I am really excited about this book because I know it's going to be amazing, but I'm also nervous because I don't know who's going to die.  I know whoever it is I'm going to be upset, and I've been trying to figure it out.  I decided to jot down my thought process to who I think it's going to be.

Travis & Abby ~ Neither of these two can die.  Plain and simple.  They started the whole series and people (Me) would have a field day if either of them died.  However, it would definitely have the biggest reaction from the readers.  They also have three kids at this point and it would just be mean to kill one of them off, Jamie.

Trenton & Cami ~  I will be so sad if either of these two die because I loved them so much.  They were so cute and my favorite out of the Brothers Series.  However, they didn't have an epilogue in Beautiful Oblivion so that makes me nervous.  But I do know that there is going to be a sequel to this book which makes me think that it won't be one of them.  Of course, that book could start before one of them dies and end after, but I just don't think it's going to.

Thomas & Liis ~  Honestly, I wouldn't be completely brokenhearted if one of these two died.  It would be sad because they do have a kid, but neither of these two were my favorite.

Taylor & Falyn ~ Tyler and Fayln were adorable and they have two kids and I just don't want either of them to be killed.

Tyler & Ellie ~ Taylor makes me nervous because there isn't an epilogue at the end of Beautiful Burn and this happened:

"Wow.  That was intense.  I don't know what I would have done if something happened to Taylor.  That makes us three-and-oh the past couple of years."
"What do you mean?"
"Taylor, Trent, and Travis have all and close calls."
[Ellie] buried [her] face into Tyler's neck.  "It's not your turn."
"Well it damn sure ain't Tommy's turn..."

Is that some type of foreshadowing????  Also, he's wrong.  Thomas and Liis got shot and both of them ended up in the hospital.  And Shepley and America got caught in a tornado.  Everyone but Tyler has had close calls.

Shepley & America ~ Although they are part of the Maddox family, Shepley is the cousin so I don't think it's going to be either of them.

I have a gut feeling that it's one of the boys and not one of the girls.  And if it is one of the girls, it's going to be Abby, but I just don't think McGuire is going to kill her off.

Also, the whole reason this is happening is because Travis killed Benny.  So for the mob to get back at the family they plan on killing one of them.  It doesn't really make sense for the mob to target Taylor, Tyler, Trenton, or Shepley because they have nothing to do with it.  It makes sense for Travis or Thomas to be killed because they're the reason that Benny is dead and because they're federal agents.  If you want to send a message, you kill a fed.

However, I think they're going to kill Jim Maddox.  He's the patriarch of the entire family and his death would hurt the entire family.  Also, everyone would be said to read that Jim dies, but it wouldn't be the same as if one of the boys were killed.  No one is emotionally attached to Jim the way they are to the other's because he didn't have a story about him and his wife.

I think that in this story all of the secrets come out and maybe Tyler gets hurt, but ultimately Jim is the one who ends up dead.  Or McGuire could totally throw us for a loop and maybe the death is faked or it's someone I didn't want it to be.

Beautiful Funeral comes out tomorrow and I've had mine on preorder since the beginning of June so hopefully it comes tomorrow, but it's saying the 18th.  My review will be up next Tuesday most likely so we can all cry together and figure out if I was right or wrong.

Who do you think it will be?  Are you as excited/nervous as I am to find out?

You can click below to read the reviews I wrote for some of the Maddox Brother's Series.  Beautiful Disaster, Walking Disaster, Beautiful Wedding, and Beautiful Oblivion I read before I started blogging, but they're amazing as well and if you haven't read them you definitely should!



Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx
SHARE:

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

After We Fell by Anna Todd | Book Review

After We Fell by Anna Todd
Click Cover to Purchase

Reading Group Rating: M for Mature

Personal Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Just as Tessa makes the biggest decision of her life, everything changes. Revelations about first her family, and then Hardin’s, throw everything they knew before in doubt and makes their hard-won future together more difficult to claim.

Tessa’s life begins to come unglued. Nothing is what she thought it was. Not her friends. Not her family. The one person she should be able to rely on, Hardin, is furious when he discovers the massive secret she’s been keeping. And rather than being understanding, he turns to sabotage.

Tessa knows Hardin loves her and will do anything to protect her, but there’s a difference between loving someone and being able to have them in your life. This cycle of jealousy, unpredictable anger, and forgiveness is exhausting. She’s never felt so intensely for anyone, so exhilarated by someone’s kiss—but is the irrepressible heat between her and Hardin worth all the drama? Love used to be enough to hold them together. But if Tessa follows her heart now, will it be…the end?

Cover: The cover of this book has grass, which I think makes sense because the book is called After We Fell and when you fall you end up on some type of ground so grass makes sense.

My Review: Hurray for this post finally going live when it's supposed to!! (For those of you who are confused this blog post has gone up at least three times with only a picture of the book cover and the given summary)

Anyway, I love this series of books and basically everything Anna Todd stands for as a human being. One of the big things I don't like about this book though is the Lake House 'scene' I guess you could call it.  Basically I can't stand the whole lake house vacation.  I think that it's too long and both Tessa and Hardin are just so annoying the entire time.  I even remember when I was reading it on Wattpad I would get so excited for an update and then so disappointed because they were at that house for so long.  When Tessa and Hardin are good, they are so good.  And they are so cute and funny and everything else.  However, when they're fighting it's so frustrating because 8 times out of 10 they're fighting over something stupid, like a miscommunication, and they're both just so proud that as a reader it's easier to see the solution, but neither of them will apologize.  I also think that Tessa and I are just so different that I often get frustrated with her, because I would do things so differently than the way she does them.  She just pushes Hardin's buttons and I get so annoyed.  To me, Hardin Scott is coming from a pretty messed up childhood and he's a very angry and overprotective/possessive guy and yes, he does need to learn to lighten up, but it would be easier for Tessa to cut him some slack and ease him into being less controlling.  I think that a lot of times he has valid points and Tessa disregards them because she doesn't want to be told what to do.  Like with the Zed thing.  Zed was the other participant in 'The Bet' and he makes it known that he has feelings for Tessa, so Hardin doesn't want her hanging out with him, and it takes her so long to understand his reasoning and agree that she would flip out if Hardin spent as much time with Molly as she did with Zed.  I get the point that Hardin can't tell her who to be friends with, but I think it's okay for your boyfriend to be like, 'I don't want you hanging out with someone who likes you and fought against me to take you virginity' because obviously there's tension between these two men and why would you go out of your way to make more when all you do is complain that your boyfriend is angry?  I do really like the ending of this book because the truth is starting to be revealed about Hardin's family and it's kind of hard to imagine what the last book will bring (even though if you're like me and you read it online you already know).

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx
Stay Connected:
Main Twitter: @juliann_guerra
Second Twitter: @writerjewels
Instagram: juliann_guerra
Second Instagram: writerjewels
Tumblr: juliann-guerra
Goodreads: Juliann Guerra
Wattpad: @writerjewels
Pinterest: Juliann Guerra
Spotify: juliann.guerra
Bloglovin: Juliann Guerra
SHARE:

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Me After You by Jojo Moyes | Book Review

Me After You by Jojo Moyes 

Reading Group: 17+

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: “You’re going to feel uncomfortable in your new world for a bit. But I hope you feel a bit exhilarated too. Live boldly. Push yourself. Don’t settle. Just live well. Just live. Love, Will.”
 
How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?
 
Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.
 
Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .
 
For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.


Cover: The cover of this novel follows the theme of its prequel in the way that it is simple, but still very pretty.  Because this is the paperback there is a little picture in the corner reminding you that Me Before You is "now a major motion picture" as a way of promotion.

My Review: I really really liked this novel.  I liked it because at the end of Me Before You Lou is in Paris doing what Will wanted her to do and you think she's fine and has this great life ahead of her, but in reality she's not.  She's still suffering with the loss of Will and finding the Lou she used to be.  Gone is her crazy fashion sense.  Louisa Clark is wearing simple jeans and t-shirts.  That is until Will's daughter, Lily, makes herself known.  Now, I can see how the 'long lost daughter' aspect of this story may seem a bit cliche, but I liked it.  When Lou was up on her roof she was yelling at Will for ruining her life and leaving her when Lily startles her and she falls.  That fall restarted her life in some ways.  It was because of that incident that Lou's father makes her goes to the support group for people who have recently had a loved one die.  (Granted a lot of people think Lou jumped off of the building, but still.)  That fall is the first place she meets Ambulance Sam and the group is where she learns that he is related to Jake.  I absolutely loved that she thought Sam was Jake's father who had been having sex and then crying as a way to grieve for his dead wife instead of Jake's uncle.  That was funny.  Lily was also the reason Lou reconnected with Mr. and Mrs. Traynor, which I think she needed.  Lou is good at taking care of people.  That was evident in Me Before You when she was the only one able to get Will to leave the house, and it continued when she took in Lily.  Lily turned Lou's world upside down, but it was exactly what she needed.  Lily gave Lou the ability to move forward and love again.  When someone you love dies, your life goes on, but not in the same way.  It takes a long time to feel 'normal' again and it's hard to get there alone.  That's what this book reminds us and I definitely recommend it to anyone really, but obviously you have to read Me Before You first.        


Click to stay connected:
Main Twitter: @juliann_guerra
Second Twitter: @writerjewels
Instagram: juliann_guerra
Second Instagram: writerjewels
Tumblr: juliann-guerra
Goodreads: Juliann Guerra
Wattpad: @writerjewels
Pinterest: Juliann Guerra
Spotify: juliann.guerra
Bloglovin: Juliann Guerra
SHARE:
© Juliann Guerra
Blogger Templates by pipdig