December Wrap Up!

1. The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Wrapped up this series at the very beginning of December, and I'm very happy with this conclusion to the haunting trilogy. You can see my full series review here with a spoiler-free section and a part discussing some spoiler-y things!

Rating: ★★★★★

2. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I really enjoyed this! It was sad and heartfelt, and I really enjoyed the flashback aspect of this book. We got to learn so much about Mia and her family that way, and I just found the whole thing interesting. I didn't really connect to any of the characters in particular though, and I did find the writing immature. Still debating on whether or not to do a full review - I might wait until I read the sequel.

Rating: ★★★★

3. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Lots of YA this month, huh? This book was absolutely amazing, though. It was beautiful and cute and heartwarming/heartbreaking. It was just as happy as it was sad, with a great ending. It just dealt with a lot of topics in a way that I have really seen before in YA - including sex. Sex was treated as though it wasn't a huge deal, which I really liked. It was just done in an excellent way, and I loved the scrapbook and playlist aspect of the book! Time to read more Morgan Matson.

Rating: ★★★★★

4. Judging a Book by its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere by Lauren Leto

Thought I'd throw in a non-fiction to mix it up, since I don't read nearly as many as I would like. This book I enjoyed a lot, it's nice to read from the perspective of someone who loves books equally as much as I do. Books about books are a dream come true. However, the author's voice was very... pretentious. She came off as though she was bragging the entire time, and it was hard to get past. The first half of the book I loved, but I found myself skimming through the last half. It was getting boring and repetitive, and I just wasn't into it anymore. If the book was written with a less condescending and arrogant voice, I think I would have enjoyed it more. But hey, did you know Kurt Vonnegut coined the phrase "flying fuck"?

Rating: ★★★

5. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

I've never been a big fan of new adult, and the first half of this book I had a lot of problems with. I didn't like the writing, the the story seemed cliche, and it was pretty predictable to me at first. I find a lot of new adult books seem like they're more fanfiction that actual novels, just because of the writing style. This one wasn't an exception at first, but then it got so much better. The story took a turn I wasn't expecting, the main character became so much easier to relate to, and it broke my heart. I was sobbing near the end, the characters were so great and their development was perfect. If you're trying to read this, I highly recommend you stick with it, because it gets so much better near the end.

Rating: ★★★★

6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This was a weird one... I don't really know how I feel about it. I found myself skimming some parts of it since it didn't really make sense to me. But then there were some parts that were really wise and I think overall, the book had a good message. It just wasn't really for me.

Rating: ★★★

Those are all of the books I finished this month, but I also wanted to talk about one that I started and did not finish.

My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins

I ended up reading the first three stories from this anthology before I got bored, so I'll tell you my ratings of those three.

Midnight by Rainbow Rowell: ★★★★★

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link: ★

Angels in the Snow by Matt De La Pena: ★★★

I don't know, I enjoyed this for the most part, but I think I'm going to put it down. I'm just really not in the mood for this any more with the end of the holidays, and I don't feel like it's worth carrying over into the new year. 

That's all for this month, guys! I hope you all had a fantastic new year :)