Holiday Reading!

Warning: This post contains spoilers!

While some teenagers are spending their times went travelling somewhere, I sat down sweetly and read. Yes, read. Like, read. My daddy's beyond busy for the last three weeks, not to mention I supposed to be in Perth right now.

But it's another story. And what I will tell to you this time is not about the shame Echa crying her renewed passport that went unused, buttt those rock books that I read during holiday. There are 11 of 'em, most I got from my aunt who dropped by one day (she's embassy. She spends most of her time on plane).

So check them out!

1. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

I've been looking it for ages in almost every English bookstores in Jakarta, so guess my face when I found it at a tiny shelf in Gramedia Gancy. Just ONE copy, ppl. One copy left.

Well, it is about Samantha Kingston, high school jocks who had it all; beauty and reputation and a purrfect boyfriend. One day she went partying with her gang and having car crash on the way home. She woke up seven times after that; two times she ended up dying, and four times she made it. One time? Well, you gotta find it by yourself! ;)

I fell in love with Lauren Oliver's poetic style. Flowing, just the way it is. Plus, I gotta feeling that BIF written in simple English words, so I didn't have to carry my dictionary around. And the message was stuck with me for days; how decisions you make form who you are, how such a silly thing like bullying and humiliating could drive fatal reaction, how some things cannot be undone and you have to deal with it and live in guilt forever.

Well... 4.75 stars of 5 for this lovely book!

2. Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

I don't usually leaving a novel unfinished, but when I do, it's reasonable. I'm such a picky reader; I can't deal with ugly names and what. But I didn't make it on this book simply because I wasn't satisfied with the translation... and yes, it was the only bahasa books I read this holiday.

3. The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Aha! From the well known author and mostly, one of my favourite ones, I found it at Books & Beyond Citos for ONLY 110k ppl. Lately I checked the price on other sites and it must be 140 or what.

Anyway....

I love this summer romance story! Telling a girl named Emaline as she discovered some decisions she'd done in her life, and how a short summer could leave such permanent marks. It's more likely about family and yes, life. Emaline had a handsome boyfriend for years, she had dad and father. Her father got her mom pregnant during summer romance and her father is such NATO, No Action Talk Only. He promised her to pay her education bills, and she got into Columbia. And he left her. That was it.

Meanwhile, she met Theo and Ivy, two people renting her family's summer property. Theo was a charming and mature guy and Emaline found herself attached to him after spent so many times chasing the life of Clyde Conaway, a famous painter, due to Theo's and Ivy's documentary film project. She met Benji, her stepbrother from her father, and these things were making up one another and BOOM this story.

Dessen's so much for self-finding and for me, psychological young adult like this, and with no regret I give it 4.25 out of 5 stars.

4. The Selection by Kiera Cass

Ah, another one I found at B&B. It tells us about America Singer, a gorgeous lady in after-war dystopian kingdom of Illéa. There was an obligation that the prince gotta pick a girl from Illéa, and America is one of them. Yes, it was sort of like Miss Universe competition or what, but it was made to win Prince Maxon's heart. Meanwhile, America was madly in love with Aspen, her friend who was casted lower than her.

And yeah, triangle love and stuff, but it tells more about America's and Maxon's love development. I gotta say the characters are kind of shallow, but with the contemporary prince and princess story, it was worth 4 stars at all.

5. Delirium Stories by Lauren Oliver

Yeah! Another book by LO and guess what? I was soooo excited, ppl! It's about Delirium side stories, told from three different perspective, Hana and Raven and Annabel. I warn you to read the whole trilogy because it would be lack of... what? Imagining? Kind of. You'd get lost if you haven't read the trilogy, I swear.

I had read Hana somewhere and hate it. Not hate the writing but I hate Hana for being that selfish and mean. She bertrayed her bestie, Lena, who'd always been living behind her sparkling shadow for being such luckier than her in love life. And Annabel... it kinda broke my heart, how you love someone who could never love you back that fully, wholeheartedly. Annabel's was written from now and then plot, though I enjoyed the then more.

Raven was such masterpiece, I really did enjoy her journey, when she first come to Invalid with Blue (yesss, like my character's name!), how she developed a romance with a used-to-be-called-thief Tack. Raven was tough and smart and I adore her that much, and I ended up screaming as I read the last page of her, that she and Tack... hey, read it yourself! ;)

4.75 stars for this book!

6. The Elite by Kiera Cass

Sequel to the adorable The Selection, it tells us more about The Elite, the big six (supposed to be ten), the yet-to-be Princess of Illéa America, Marlee, Kriss, Celeste, Natalie, and Elise. I like it more than The Selection because the theme was getting heavier, that political atmosphere and war and stuff.

Yet I like America less in this story because she was getting more shallow than ever. I understand she kind of reckless, what I don't understand is how Maxon gave everything to her. I hate this version of story, where the girl is a sensitive, shallow, dumb and the guy was... what? Having no such integrity? I find it really unrealistic, because the species of guy who would says sorry first when he makes mistake is rare nowadays, don't call me overrated if I find that almost impossible to see a guy who gave his world to a girl.

Oh yes, I thought that America's character was vague in some ways. She did reckless things YET she couldn't choose between Maxon and Aspen and it made me sick. What entertained me was the Halloween party and Marlee's decision. And I love Maxon for being coherent with America, how he did fair by dating Kriss (she was my favourite character after Marlee!) and stuff.

So... 4 stars for this one!

7. How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Stohmeyer

Ugh. I picked this book by the cover, simply sweet, and I didn't expect much when I opened the first page. Turned out I couldn't put this down. The story is as simply sweet as the cover.

It was about Zoe, an orphan, and her cousin, the poor Jess who were chosen to work during summer at Fairyland, sort of like Disneyland, so those who work gotta wear princess and prince costumes and what. But Zoe, sadly, was picked to be the "Queen" personal assistant, which meant she gotta get up at six a.m. and do whatever she wanted, and Zoe did them well so her beautiful cousin could win "Dream and Do" grant, worth $25.000 and scholarship. Everything was alright until Zoe stepped out to Forbidden Zone, and luckily she was saved by a guy she called "My Prince". And we got into a hide and seek game from that page on, guessing who was Zoe's real prince.

Ah, yes, Zoe is kinda that girl every girl hates because of her kindness and luck. She was trapped by various serious problems but she always survived. The "Queen" made her Cinderella, she met her Prince, those who hate her removed halfheartedly by the "Queen". And what made me relieved was Zoe survived those all, and made her dreams (mostly) come true in the end.

4.5 stars for this book!

8. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I was curious with those 5 stars reviews on Goodreads, so I was beyond excited when I got it wrapped nicely on my bed. It's about Anna Oliphant, a girl who came from broken home family, who had no choice but to spend her sophomore year at SOAP, School of America in Paris. The story was opened by Anna crying alone in her room until the girl next door, Meredith, came and stopped her cry. Anna visited Meredith's room and when she got back to her room, she accidentally hit the beautiful, wonderful Etienne St. Clair.

So yes, they shook hands and met, and gradually, their love story develops. However Anna felt her heart was still at home, inside a guy named Toph's grip. And St. Clair was such a jock, too, with so many fans AND a girlfriend at another school. But St. Clair always seemed to give her hope (yes, he was such a FHG, Fake Hope Giver), took her to Point Zero at Paris, took her around, called her attractive and beautiful. Sadly, Ellie the girlfriend always came at the first place, blocked Anna's way through St. Clair, so they chose to be bestfriends instead, until one day St. Clair's mother got sick of cancer and Anna listened to his whole stories, and the Christmas break broke every single piece of Anna's heart for Toph.

I couldn't say much, this book was for me. Written beautifully, setting was clear and easy to imagine, and I was extremely into this book because the witness, Anna, wasn't self centered and never thought herself pretty, never complimented herself or what, which, I've known this well, is really hard to write as a writer. I love my characters, whatever they do is gorgeous in my eyes.

And Stephanie Perkins didn't do it. I'd give her five thumbs if I had.

The ending was beautiful, too, so I'm not overrated if I call this book as perfection.

6 out of 5 stars, if I could!

9. Lola and the Boy Next-Door by Stephanie Perkins

Yessss, another book by Stephanie Perkins! Huahahahaha, sadly the setting wasn't in Paris, but the rock n' roll city, San Francisco. It's about Lola (short for Dolores), the girl whose parents were two gay men, was born because of MBA, and freak about costumes and fashions. She wore wig and dress everyday to school (which made me think, "Whoaaa, unpredictable move, Steph!") and suffered from past broken heart. Once upon a time, she had fallen for Cricket Bell, a boy who lived next to her, before Calliope, Cricket's perfect twinsis, ruined everything. Calliope was a Olympic skater and so famous for it, so Cricket gotta travel the world, follow his family in mission of supporting her career.

And Cricket came one summer day, and they fell in love again. The hit was Max, Lola's rock n roll boyfriend. Lola couldn't help it but stuck between Max and Cricket, Cricket and Max, and I know that feeling when somebody you love is out of reach while somebody once you loved would bargain his shoulder when you cry. I can't blame Lola, though, she was cute though kind of self centered and childish, but hey, she trapped in a complicated life. Cricket helped Lola finishing her Marie Antoinette gown for prom, and Lola helped Calliope when her dress was torn (Lola plenty reminds me of Irene Maurania Jasmine).

The ending was beautiful, too, and yes, Lola ended up with Cricket. I though this whole story is about, "Speak the truth even though it's bitter." And you gotta make peace with yourself, gotta forgive and be honest with it, to taste what happy really is.

4.5 stars!

10. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

It's about, over all, Eleanor and Park.

What caught my eyes the most was the setting, it was set in 1986, and soon I was thinking of vintage and "Amerika tempo doeloe". It pretty reminded me of A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. Well, Eleanor was a fat, redhead girl who came from that messed up family--I really mean it, they were that messed. Poor family who couldn't pay for batteries and shampoo, with temper and alcoholic stepfather and four kids. I was blank for minutes when I discovered that, thinking what Eleanor's mom had been through.

Meanwhile, Park was an Asian guy, rich and having everything at the place. They met on the way to school on bus, Eleanor sat beside Park and those simple conversations started. Slowly they talked, reached for each other's hands, said "I like you". I undoubtedly love this story, simple, flowing, easy to imagine, but I hate the ending. SAD ENDING, PPL, and Rowell gave me no clue about that. It was like, 300 pages of sweetness and stuff and 20 pages of BITTER ending. I couldn't easily deal with it.

Every characters in this book are flawed, and I hate Eleanor for being overwhelmingly sensitive and Park for giving everything to her big baby girlfriend, AND wearing mascara. Later I accepted that, yes, because Eleanor came from messed up family and Park, well, he was half Korean (Eleanor even called him "pretty" twice or trice). Yes, there's always an excuse.

Park invited Eleanor to dinner and for the first time, her Korean mom didn't like her, and later showed her sympathy after seeing Eleanor and her big, screwed family at Christmas shopping. They slowly accepted her coming, and I love that, because once in a lifetime, I felt what Eleanor felt, being unwelcomed by the loved one's family.

KOK GUE CURHAT.

Undoubtedly, 4.75 stars for this book.

11. Infinite Sky by CJ Flood

Okay. So this story really reminded me of Nicholas Sparks' The Last Song, it tells about a messed up family; the mother left, a narrow-minded father, a brother who couldn't deal with reality, and a sister, which went off like, "She's beyond mature for her age." This one written from the sister's perspective. Iris Darcy lived in a farmland in a small town of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, where gypsies come and go every year. Sounds promising, right, and I tell you, the cover is really, eye catching. One day a gypsy group came to her dad's yard and stayed there and she fell in love with the boy from the Irish travellers--that was the way she mention that--named Trick.

So they caught a spark of summer romance while Iris' family screwed up over stuffs. It was well written, I gotta admit, with scenes built up perfectly in my head. What got me terribly sorry is... I can't really deal with the witness' stupidity.

Okay, she came from a broken home family, but what? She's so dumb... beyond dumb that I was sick because of her. She lied to her father all summer long just to meet the gypsy guy and... what term to describe it? Shy? But to her parents? I really couldn't tell why she kept up such a thing she'd already known would make everything worse. And what kind of 14 yo from England who saw her brother attacked by a strange-summer-date-fellow AND refused to explain it to her father and police? What kind of sister who still protect a rotten temporary boyfriend by keeping his address (yes, the gypsy group went away after Trick attacked Sam) and not telling anybody? I know he was there when nobody was, but HELLO, he hit your brother's head with a brick!

It was so painful, because I seriously love this beautiful story. Beautiful setting, well written. Kind of unfair a lovely summer story like this ruined by a dork (and yes, she was the main character) girl.

After all, 3 out of 5 stars.

***

Sooo these are my books, and I still have some books to read during Ramadhan (I'm so sick the holiday is over), like:

1. Shards and Ashes by various writer, another dystopian book (!!!) (I got it from B&B for only 85k!)

2. Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Stohmeyer (have read it for 39 pages before Anna and the French Kiss ruined and impossible to resist)

3. Nobody but Us by Kristin Halbrook (thank you Damen for this early birthday present!)

4. Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt (thanks to Kak Bila for bringing it home to me!)

5. This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith (again, thanks to Kak Bila:D)

And my wish list now is like:

1. House of Hades by Rick Riordan, the 4th book of Heroes of Olympus, coming out on October 8.

2. Just One Year by Gayle Forman, sequel to Just One Day, coming out on October 15.

3. Allegiant by Veronica Roth, final book of bestselling trilogy Divergent, coming out on October 22.

4. Panic by Lauren Oliver, coming out in March 2014.

5. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, coming out in May 2014.

6. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, coming out since forever, and I haven't read it because I couldn't find it anywhere! Online bookstore? My parents so tense up about credit card.

This is my review. What about yours?