This "WIR" I'm reading a book I'm seriously on the fence about...
A Song For Josh by Susan Rodgers
Blurb:
MUSIC HAS THE POWER TO HEAL...
Discovered while busking on the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Jessie Wheeler – once a teen runaway from Prince Edward Island - is now a popular singer-songwriter and actor. On the day her boyfriend Charlie proposes, he kicks an estranged friend - actor Josh Sawyer - out of his Club. Jessie sees something of herself reflected in Josh’s sorrowful chocolate brown eyes – a deep loneliness and angst. When a part on Josh’s new television series Drifters becomes available, Jessie can’t resist the temptation, despite the fact that taking the part threatens her engagement to Charlie. When a past nemesis, Deuce McCall, makes a tragic appearance in the city, Jessie’s turbulent past catches up with her, threatening any chance she has at a true and sustainable love.
Why I Chose This Book / What I Think of it so far:
I picked this book for a very strange, secretive reason. A means of picking books that I've never revealed to anyone before... I picked this book because of the title. You see, my boyfriend's name is Josh, and I've found through many past experiences that reading books with either a character with the same name as my boyfriend in it (either a minor or main character) or the setting being my boyfriend's hometown turns out really good. I usually love those books. Usually. Hell, I even decided to give A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas a chance having never read anything by the author before simply because her husband's name is Josh and she dedicated the book to him. And I love that book and its sequel.
*Dramatic Sigh*... Anyway, on to what I think of this book so far. I honestly am contemplating dropping this book. I'm really disappointed because I've been looking forward to reading this book since I downloaded it onto my Kindle. So far the story is slow going and hard to read. There are long paragraphs and little to no dialogue. As you read this book it is as if everything you're reading has happened in the past and the narration is telling it from a later time with vague foreshadowing thrown in. That initially didn't bother me but usually, when I read a book that's written that way eventually the story snaps back to the present time and we see what's happening to the character now. My Kindle says I'm only 9% into the book but it feels like I've read hundreds of pages instead of only - yikes- 27. At this rate, the book might as well be a thousand pages long. Besides that, the formatting of the ebook is not good. There should be a hard (page) break between the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next but there doesn't seem to be any breaks in this book. Everything flows together. I just don't know if I have the patience to finish this book, which really saddens me. I'm going to try to stick it out to see where "Josh" fits into this story; maybe it will get better but I'm not entirely sure. If this book makes it out of the DNF stack I'll be surprised.
A Song For Josh by Susan Rodgers
MUSIC HAS THE POWER TO HEAL...
Discovered while busking on the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Jessie Wheeler – once a teen runaway from Prince Edward Island - is now a popular singer-songwriter and actor. On the day her boyfriend Charlie proposes, he kicks an estranged friend - actor Josh Sawyer - out of his Club. Jessie sees something of herself reflected in Josh’s sorrowful chocolate brown eyes – a deep loneliness and angst. When a part on Josh’s new television series Drifters becomes available, Jessie can’t resist the temptation, despite the fact that taking the part threatens her engagement to Charlie. When a past nemesis, Deuce McCall, makes a tragic appearance in the city, Jessie’s turbulent past catches up with her, threatening any chance she has at a true and sustainable love.
Why I Chose This Book / What I Think of it so far:
I picked this book for a very strange, secretive reason. A means of picking books that I've never revealed to anyone before... I picked this book because of the title. You see, my boyfriend's name is Josh, and I've found through many past experiences that reading books with either a character with the same name as my boyfriend in it (either a minor or main character) or the setting being my boyfriend's hometown turns out really good. I usually love those books. Usually. Hell, I even decided to give A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas a chance having never read anything by the author before simply because her husband's name is Josh and she dedicated the book to him. And I love that book and its sequel.
*Dramatic Sigh*... Anyway, on to what I think of this book so far. I honestly am contemplating dropping this book. I'm really disappointed because I've been looking forward to reading this book since I downloaded it onto my Kindle. So far the story is slow going and hard to read. There are long paragraphs and little to no dialogue. As you read this book it is as if everything you're reading has happened in the past and the narration is telling it from a later time with vague foreshadowing thrown in. That initially didn't bother me but usually, when I read a book that's written that way eventually the story snaps back to the present time and we see what's happening to the character now. My Kindle says I'm only 9% into the book but it feels like I've read hundreds of pages instead of only - yikes- 27. At this rate, the book might as well be a thousand pages long. Besides that, the formatting of the ebook is not good. There should be a hard (page) break between the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next but there doesn't seem to be any breaks in this book. Everything flows together. I just don't know if I have the patience to finish this book, which really saddens me. I'm going to try to stick it out to see where "Josh" fits into this story; maybe it will get better but I'm not entirely sure. If this book makes it out of the DNF stack I'll be surprised.
Earlier this week I read the first book in a great series...
Grasping at Eternity by Karen Amanda Hooper
Blurb:
Leave it to Maryah Woodsen to break the one rule that will screw up eternity: Never erase your memories.
Before entering this life, Maryah did the unthinkable—she erased. Now, at seventeen years old, she’s clueless that her new adoptive family has known her for centuries, that they are perpetually reincarnated souls, and that they have supernatural abilities. Oh, and she's supposed to love (not despise) Nathan, the green-eyed daredevil who saved her life.
Nathan is convinced his family’s plan to spark Maryah's memory is hopeless, but his love for her is undying. After spending (and remembering) so many lifetimes together, being around an empty version of his soulmate is heart shattering. He hates acting like a stalker, but has no choice because the evil outcast who murdered Maryah in their last lifetime is still after her.
While Maryah’s hunter inches closer, she and Nathan make assumptions and hide secrets that rip them further apart. Maryah has to believe in the magic within her, Nathan must have faith in the power of their love, and both need to grasp onto the truth before they lose each other forever—and discover just how lonely eternity can be.
My Review:
After barely surviving a home invasion attack that took the lives of her parents and her twin brother Michael, 17-year-old Maryah moves cross country to Sedona to live with a godmother she’s never met before.
Louise and her family are more than welcoming and their home is beautiful but Maryah misses her “real” family terribly and her dreams are filled with what she believes to be her “angel of death.” Feeling the push of her cousin and best friend, Krista, Maryah decides to stay in Arizona.
At her new school Maryah makes friends with Faith, a friend of Louise’s family, a girl named April, and April’s rock star wannabe boyfriend, River. As she settles into her new life she still wishes that her sexy angel of death would whisk her away to be with her family in the afterlife. Until she comes face to face with her angel and realizes he’s not an angel at all… but Louise’s son Nathan.
Nathan is not a stranger to Maryah, he’s her soul mate. They’re both Elements, humans who reincarnate with paranormal gifts. But Maryah doesn’t remember anything about their past lives together because at the end of her last life cycle she chose to erase her memories instead of retaining them. Nathan and his kindrily (eternal family) are at a loss as to why Maryah would choose to forget everyone that loves her and everything they’ve been through together. Fearing the worst, Nathan believes that Maryah’s memories of their lives together can never be restored, simply wiped away with her paranormal abilities.
But Maryah’s powers may not truly be gone. Can Nathan keep Maryah away from harm before someone realizes that her power is still intact? Will Maryah regain the memories of her past lives? Does everyone in her life have her best interests at heart?
I really loved Gasping at Eternity. It was a mix of my favorite things, romance, paranormal abilities, and great writing; not to mention the cover is awesome. Nathan’s kindrily reminds me of a cross between the Cullens in the Twilight Saga (minus the vampire part) and Daniel’s friends and loved ones in Lauren Kate’s Fallen series in the way that they all look out for each other and love each other despite not actually being related by blood. I liked the constant struggle in Nathan and Maryah’s relationship with her reluctance to like him and his fear that she could never be the same again. Despite the ending I also really liked River. I wish the ending could have worked out better for him. As for the reincarnation aspect I thought the story portrayed it in a really cool and unique way and I really liked it. Overall I thought this book was unique and really fantastic. I recommend this book to all fans of young adult paranormal romance.
My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
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