[Review] Brittainy C. Cherry - Loving Mr Daniels

Title: Loving Mr Daniels

Author: Brittainy C. Cherry

Release date (in Poland): 2015-06-17

Pages: 300

Title in Poland: Kochając Pana Danielsa

I wasn’t sure if I should write about this book, since its premiere was more than two years ago in Poland. But there are books worth remembering, whether they were released one year ago or 20 years ago, and I’ll always think that whatever comes from Brittainy C. Cherry is worth remembering.

I think everyone is a litttle broken – some of us less, some of us more. Sometimes it’s hard to find yourself, to understand how to survive and live when everything seems to overwhelm you. We feel lonely, even if there are people around us, because this kind of loneliness is deep in our hearts and it seems like nothing can heal it. ‘Loving Mr Daniels’ shows how powerful love is, when hard times arrive.

„Because pretending to be happy is almost like being happy. Until you remember that you’re only pretending. Then you’re sad. Really sad. Because wearing a mask every day of your life is the hardest thing to do. And after a while, you get a little scared because the mask becomes you.”

Ashlyn has just buried her twin sister who died of leukemia. Her heart is full of misery, grief and longing. At the request of her mother, she moves in with her father, whom she had seen at the funeral for the first time in her life, and his new family. On a train to Edgewood she meets Daniel – a boy with beautiful blue eyes. Receiving an invite from him, she goes to a bar to see his band perform. His music heals her broken heart, his voice heals her wounds. They quickly discover how much they have in common. They both love literature and Shakespeare. They both understand each other without words. And they both have broken hearts which heal when they are aroung each other. But everything complicates on a first day of school, when it turns out Daniel is also Mr Daniels, her English teacher.

„I thought I made you up. I thought that I was living in a world of darkness and I imagined you into existence. That somehow my mind crafted you, placing you on that train months ago. But then I realized I could never dream of something so beautiful. “You’re the reason people believe in tomorrow. You’re the voice that scares the shadows away. You’re the love that makes me breathe. So for the next few seconds, I’m going to be selfish. I’m going to say things that I don’t want you to listen to.” My hands ran up and down her back as I pulled her closer, feeling her nerves rocking throughout her. I kissed the edge of her ear. “Don’t go. Stay with me forever. Please, Ashlyn. Let me be your everything. Make me your golden. Don’t. Go.”

When I started reading, I didn’t really know how to feel. ‘Loving Mr Daniels’ had its premiere more than two years ago and somehow I was avoiding this book. We all know the saying ‘Don’t judge the book by its cover’, right? I think that’s what I did. Well, kind of, because I didn’t judge it by its cover, but by its description. I had watched so many series and read so many books about student-teacher relationships, I didn’t really want to start another one. The unoriginal concept wasn’t very convincing.

„I love you slowly. I love you deeply. I love you quietly. I love you powerfully. I love you unconditionally.”

Turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong. ‘Loving Mr Daniels’ is a beautiful story about love that helps you survive. Judging by the fact that the book is a romance, everyone will probably think I’m talking about Ashlyn and Daniel’s relationship. Which I am, I’m mostly talking about them, but I can’t not mention the love between family, friends or even stragner who make us not feel lonely. The author did an amazing job creating the main’ characters story but also the subplot.

“It just gets harder,” I said, understanding completely and stepping closer to him. “And it gets old to everyone around you. People get tired of you bringing it up. People get burdened by your sadness. So you act like it doesn’t hurt anymore. Just so you can stop people from worrying about you. Just so you won’t annoy anyone with your grief.”

Every character of this story is perfectly imperfect. Brittany C. Cherry always creates dark, deep, moving stories. She puts the characters in a sad reality, full of pain, grief and loss. Ashlyn is young, she’s only nineteen, yet she just buried her sister. Along with that, she lost her mother, who can’t look at ther since she reminds her of the dead daughter. She had to move in with a man who has been sending her birthday cards her whole life, yet lived with another family he cared about and loved. I loved how realistic the characters were. Ashlyn is lost and lonely, she makes irrational decisions, sasses her father which may be a little childish behaviour. But when we have to deal with something like this, don’t we all just wanna scream and cry, only to go back to how things were before? Daniel lost his mother and then also his father, not to mention his brother is in prison and hates him. Music is the only way to help him survive until Ashlyn shows up and gives him hope for better tomorrow. What I love the most in Brittainy’s writing is how she names feelings and emotions. A reader feels everything she writes. Deeply, wholeheartedly. It’s not easy to use words this way. Love between Daniel and Ashlyn is beautiful, passionate, deep and eternal. It’s hard to find one like this, it’s almost impossible. Love like this lasts and gets stronger, no matter how hard it gets.

“Being a teenager is a curse and a gift. It's the age where fairytales cease to exist and Santa isn't real but parts of our hearts want to say 'What if...'”

My favourite character is a a supporting character, Ryan – a son of Rebecca, who is a girlfriend of Ashlyn’s father. He’s the character I suffered the most with through the whole book. His story broke me the most. When I got deeper and deeper into it, my heart broke second after second, page after page. At some point I was laying down on my bed, staring at the ceiling and ugly crying, suffering with him. It all got to me so unexpectedly, I admire the author for that. I think that many of us identify with this boy.

“People always said it would get easier after losing someone. People said that, over time, it would get better. But I couldn’t comprehend how that could be true. As each day passed, it just became harder. The world only grew darker. The pain merely deepened.”

Brittainy C. Cherry’s books are on of the most beautiful in the world. They are not simple and cliche, yet worth reading. You have to choose the right moment and fall for one of her stories. ‘Loving Mr Daniels’ gets on my list of my absolute favourites. Everyone who loves romances as much as I do should reach for this title. 

WYŚWIETL POLSKĄ WERSJĘ

[Review] Jenn Bennett - Alex, Approximately

Before I start the review, I just want to say two things. Firstly, I decided to translate my reviews from Polish to English, because it's something I hope I'm going to do in the future. But there probably are some mistakes, because I'm not a native speaker and I'm still learning. I hope you understand :)
Secondly, I wanted to wish you all Merry Christmas. Spend it with your loved ones, with your family and friends and have a great time. I hope none of you will feel lonely during this time.

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Title: Alex, Approximately

Author: Jenn Bennett

Release date (in Poland): 2017-11-14

Pages: 336

Polish title: Mój Alex

I know Jenn Bennett from „The Anatomical Shape of a Heart”, which I’ve fallen in love with long time ago. I was completely infatuated with Bex and Josh’s story (amazing romance and characters who are artists? Count me in!) and I knew I was going to read another great book coming from her. And she didn’t disappoint me.

Bailey is a huge classic movie fan and loves dressing up as Lana Turner. She meets Alex, a boy who is as obsessed with classic movies as much as she is, on the Internet. Bailey, who has a crush on him, talks with him everyday. They live on two different sides of the continent, until Bailey moves in with her dad – who lives in the same city as Alex. Bailey, in doubt if she can trust him, doesn’t tell anything about living in his home town and decides to look for him first. She starts working in a local museum and her co-worker happens to be an arrogant, mischievous, but really hot, Porter Roth. Everything complicates, when she discovers how quickly her hate transforms into something different, and she has to make a decision whether she still wants to look for her Internet crush or she wants to fight for a guy who drives her crazy and at the same time, makes her week at the knees.

At the beginning, when I started to read the book, I was afraid I would have to deal with a love triangle – and that’s something that I really hate in romance novels and makes me really irritated. But I quickly found out nothing like this was going to happen and I could breath a sigh of relief. Let’s begin with the fact that I haven’t laughed so much in a really long time as I did while reading this book. Porter and Bailey’s banters and arguments made me laugh so badly I cried (but there were also some unpleasant ones and that’s when I wanted to stick something in Porter’s eye). Even though they both thought that they had many differences, turns out, they actually had more in common than they would’ve imagined. And there was also the fact they felt really attracted to each other.

Bailey, I've been yours. I've just been waiting for you to make up your mind.

At first, Porter seemed to be an arrogant, mischievous, cheeky asshole, who embarassed Bailey when they first met. But it turns out, there’s a great guy under the mask – he’s loyal and real. I loved both of his sides – the arrogant Porter made me laugh with his commentary and the cute Porter made me emotional and I really wanted to stole him from Bailey. Where can I find a guy like him? Bailey on the other hand is somewhat like me. She has some trust isses because of something that happened in her past. She avoids people, tries not to stand out and she prefers to be alone rather than with others. I love that you could feel the tension between these two, when they were in one room together. They both drive each other crazy yet they can’t stop thinking about one another. I also love how shameless Porter is, it made the book even funnier. Jenn Bennett did a good job creating these characters. Bailey has flaws, she makes mistakes but always learns from them and apologizes, she’s real through the whole book. And Porter and his confident, flirtatious self and at the same time his devotion to family and how much he cares about Bailey… you just can’t not love him.

“You belong here with me.”
And for that moment, I believe that I do.

I think that the mystery of who is Alex was actually said in description of the book, but I don’t wanna spoil it for you. I skipped the book to the end (bad habit) and I found out before I even started reading, and I actually regret it a little. I think that you should make your own investigation, while Bailey is doing her own and you won’t be disappointed.

“He looks toward the ocean, dark purple with the last rays of light. "My mom says we're all connected--people and plants and animals. We all know one another on the inside. It's what's on the outside that distracts. Our clothes, our words, our actions. Shark attacks. Gunshots. We spend our lives trying to find other people. Sometimes we get confused and turned around by the distractions." He smiles at me. "But we didn't.” 

You may think that if it’s a contemporary romance book, it won’t touch any heavy subjects. And yet, the author writes about the hard stuff, like drugs, violence, sex and traumatic experiences. She does a great job introducing it to the plot, she doesn’t overwhelm the reader, she just gives a glance into characters’ story, even the supporting ones. She created a lovely story with darker elements, which only made it better.

“And not after, when we’re clinging to each other like the world just fell apart and is slowly clicking back together, piece by piece, breath by breath . . . heartbeat by beautiful heartbeat.” 

The book is so addicting I was reading it until late at night and I finished it at school, because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. You read it in no time and the reader feels the excitement and interest all the time – that’s the type of books I’m living for. There wasn’t a moment I felt bored and that’s a huge accomplishment. I’m for sure going to read it again someday. If you’re thinking whether you should read it, just do it. You won’t regret it. 

WYŚWIETL POLSKĄ WERSJĘ

[Review] What Light - Jay Asher

Title: What Light
Author: Jay Asher
Release date (in Poland): 2017-11-08
Pages: 276
Polish title: Światło

It’s snowing outside the window, Christmas is only a few days away, so how to get into Christmas mood better rather than by hot chocolate, Christmas music and a book with Christmas vibe?

Jay Asher is an author of ‘13 Reasons Why’, famous almost all over the world. As I only knew him from this book, I didn’t know what to expect. But I was looking for a Christmas book and What Light is what most of the people recommended.

Sierra, together with her family, runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon. Every year they go to California to sell them and for a whole month, she lives a different life. The journey also gives her opportunity to spend some time with her best friend Heather. But this time, she meets there Caleb, a cute guy, who she can’t stop thinking about. She decides to break all her resolutions of not jumping into a relationship and starts spending time with him. The problem is, she knows it might be the last time she’s spending Christmas in California; Caleb hides some dark secrets about his past and her overprotective parents don’t want her to get involved in any relationship, knowing she’s going to leave California in a month.

It's your heart. No one else gets a say in that. 

Personally, I have mixed feelings about this book. Jay Asher does a good job creating a Christmas atmosphere. There were Christmas trees, hot chocolate, ugly sweathers, Santa, cookies – it all makes the book very atmospheric. Moreover, it’s not only a love story, but it also a story about trust and forgiveness. Caleb’s past is something what people had been talking about for many years. Rumours won’t let him forget about something that happened many years ago and he’s always reminded about that one mistake he made. A book shows us that people love to gossip and there are only a few who want to find out if there’s a truth in them. Most of us don’t know how hurtful it can be to be always reminded about that one day from the past we wish we could forget. He doesn’t have a chance to heal and forgive himself.

"People think what they want. That's what I've had to accept," he says. "I can fight it, but that's exhausting. I can feel hurt about it, but that's torture. Or I can decide it's their loss"

But it bothered me, that even though Jay Asher had a great idea, he didn’t make most of it in his book. The story is predictable, cliche and through all the time I spend reading it, I just felt that there was something missing. Jay Asher spend too much time writing about completely unnecessary stuff rather that focusing on character’s emotions, feelings and thoughts. The plot was shallow, but I didn’t have to be this way to create an enjoyable Christmas love story. There was nothing surprising, everything lead to one thing: Sierra’s leaving.

Forget logic...Logic doesn't know what you want. 

As I mentioned, it’s a shame that author didn't focuse more on characters. I was too aware that they were in their teens, because sometimes they acted really immature. I mean, not every teenager acts like a child. I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters. Actually, author focused only on Sierra and Caleb, but there were many other people in their lives and I know almost nothing about them.

The book is not bad, but it’s also not excellent. There were some cute moments between Sierra and Caleb, which made me finish the book, but besides that, there was nothing worth remembering and it was also predictable. Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel any excitement when I was reading it. But I’m sure young people, who look for a light love story with a Christmas atmosphere, will love this one.

WYŚWIETL POLSKĄ WERSJĘ

[Review] Kasie West - Lucky In Love

Title: Lucky in Love

Author: Kasie West

Pages: 408

Release date (in Poland): 2017-10-11

Polish title: Szczęście w miłości

What would it be like to win 30 million dollars in a lottery? Most of us don’t even dream about having these large sums of cash in our bank accounts. Maddie has no idea what’s going to happen when she buys a lottery ticket.

I have come across Kasie West’s books before and to be honest, I didnt’ have big expectations for this one. It was waiting in my library for a long time, because I wasn’t in the mood to start it. Everyone, who’s acquainted with Kasie’s style of writing, knows that she’s into light, cliché love stories. Among many other romance novels, it’s not easy to write something original and not boring. I had many different feelings about Kasie West’s books. I was so surprised when I finished Lucky in Love with a big smile on my face.

The main character Maddie is all about hard work and she already has her future planned. When she does something impulsive for the first time in her life, she wins 30 million dollars. Happy that she’s going to solve all her family problems with the money, she doesn’t realise what negative effects it might have. When everything gets out of control, Maddie becomes ‘that’ girl and her new popularity rises, it seems like the only person who still treats her the same is Seth – a guy she’s working with at the local zoo. But with all the problems Maddie’s dealing with, going away to college and the secret she’s keeping from him, is there a chance for love?

Sometimes regardless of what we want, reality takes over.

This book is full of funny, adorable moments that warm up reader’s heart. Maddie and Seth’s relationshop brings the biggest smile on your face. Maddie is a realistic character even though she sometimes makes not well thought out decisions. Seth on the other hand is a really cute and funny guy. The only characters that irritated me were Maggie’s best friends – Blaire and Elise – who sometimes acted like little kids; and also Maggie’s brother. I really liked him at the beginning but then I was like ‘no, I don’t like you’.

We make our own luck. I believed that, too. We chose our own fate. We controlled our own future. I knew what I wanted. I needed to go get it.

I liked the idea of winning the lottery, even though, let’s be honest, it wasn’t really realistic. Turns out that money doesn’t solve all the problems, what you might have assumed. All of a sudden there’s unwanted popularity, new friends, who don’t necessarily have good intentions and a question, how to deal with this new life. It was very interesting to watch how main character manages to find her way through this new life as multimillionaire, but also, how people arround her act – starting with her family and friends, ending with strangers.

You need to empty your mind, and relax each other muscle group until you feel like you are going to melt into the floor. Then you just let it all go. All the expectations, all the unneeded worry, all the things other people want for you but you don't want for yourself.

I feel like not everyone will like this book. For some of you it might seem too simple and cliché. I have read many negative reviews, which were one of the reasons, why I didn’t want to read it, but turns out, the book wasn’t so bad. With all the stress, sadness and many hard moments we have to deal with, can’t we just once read something that’ll bring a smile to our face? The book is written in a simple language. You read it in a flash, because pages just turn by themselves. Maybe it is predictable, but sometimes you should read even this kind of books.

I recommend it to people who look for something for a lonely night, to relax with a cute love story in hand. Kasie West’s books aren’t challenging. You won’t find tragedy, misery or deep, passionate love in them. There’s no need for serious overreaching, because they are written to be simple and not challenging. It’s worth reading, for example to nicely spend some time alone.

WYŚWIETL POLSKĄ WERSJĘ

[Review] Mia Sheridan - Kyland

Title: Kyland

Author: Mia Sheridan

Release date (in Poland): 2017-02-01

Pages: 320

Polish title: Bez Szans

Publishing house: Wydawnictwo Otwarte

It’s the second time I reached out for this title. The first time I had it, it was an ebook, few months afer it’s polish premiere, which was almost a year ago. I remember exactly how it broke my heart, made me think about it for another month. I decided to read it again at this moment, because I really needed something that was going to commove me. Kyland turned out to be perfect book. I got the opportunity for reflexion and through the whole night, I just couldn’t stop reading.

The author, Mia Sheridan, is not unknown for me. I have read many of her books, and this one, with Archer’s Voice, had taken my heart. She’s on the podium of my list of my all time favourite authors, since the first time I had her book in my hand. Mia Sheridan knows how to write original and moving novels. She doesn’t go for mushy stories about young love. Sure, the main characters of her books are usually young people. But she writes stories about deep feelings, often full of hurt and pain, yet worth fighting for. Her books aren’t cliché, she talks about difficult subjects, and every word she uses to describe feelings and emotions, enters our souls and makes us feel everything with every part of our body. That’s exactly how I felt reading Kyland.

When we think about USA, we think about a rich country – huge, expensive houses; succesfull companies, with registered offices all over the world; beautiful cities full of skyscrapers or beaches. Only a little of people realise that it’s just a part of how America looks. The part that media shows us. In this book, the author opens up our eyes for new perspectives. Who would have thought that in a beautiful state of Kentucky, there’s a small town Dennville, where there’s poverty, pollution, hunger and emptiness? Unemployment and lack of food on plates is just a part of the world Sheridan shows us in Kyland. She shows a different kind of world, the one that breaks out heart and makes us rethink everything we know.

Half agony, half hope. Half pain, half ecstasy. Half grief, half joy. Half my downfall, half my savior.

We meet main characters, Tenleigh and Kyland, when they are seventeen. They both fight to survive in a small mountain town. Tenleigh, together with her sister, takes care of her ill mom, while living in a small caravan. Life’s not treating her good, she dreams of not needing to worry about food everyday, of having her own shoes with no holes, of having her own home. She dreams of getting a scholarship and leaving the town, that is filled with so much pain and shame. Kyland clenches his fists and does everything no to let loneliness and despair devour him. He dreams of having a fridge full of food, of home, which isn’t filled with silence, loneliness and hurtful memories. After he loses everything, he does the best he can to leave Dennville after graduation and to forget the pain he had to go through. They both hold on to the last of their strenght to survive. But what happens if love stands in the way? Will they be able to sacrifice their dreams for the loved one?

They knew they’ll eventually go their seperate ways – that there’s no hope for a relationship, for a future together. They only have a few months together till they have to say goodbye and never see each other again. Kyland refuses to love and get engaged, because he doesn’t want anyone or anything to get in his way of leaving – till he realises how much he desires Tenleigh. She, contrary to his claims that he’s leaving, gives him her heart. What happens when the time to say goodbye comes?

- Go to hell.
- I do go to hell. Everyday. For you.

The author doesn’t create a cliché love story. Tenleigh and Kyland’s story moves since they first meet. It touches our hearts and tightly clenches it till the last page. Feelings they have for each other

aren’t simple. They’re full of pain, sadness, longing and dedication to create future for themselves.

I think that when enough time has passed, when you've survived that which you didn't imagine you could, there's a dignity in that. Something you can own. A pride in knowing the pain made you stronger. The pain made you fight to succeed. Someday, when I'm living my dreams, I'm going to think of all the things that broke my heart and I'm going to be thankful for them.

Kyland is a book full of emotions – hurt, misery and shame. But it’s so addicting I read in in one night. It shows that even in the worst cases, there’s always hope. You just have to fight and never let negative thoughts and feelings get you. Besides the sadness, I can’t forget to mention, that there’s also a lot of happiness and joy. We read about families that have almost nothing, yet they share every small thing with others. We read about the people, who selflessly give gifts to each other just to see the smile on another person’s face. We read about a feeling, which shows two people how to survive hard life. Which makes them find strenght in each other to live.

Sometimes my life felt so small. And I had to wonder why those of us who were given small lives, still had to feel pain so big.

I highly recommend this book. I think that everyone who’s looking for a beautiful love story will fall in love with Tenleigh and Kyland.

WYŚWIETL POLSKĄ WERSJĘ