Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a really great meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. 

Today's Topic? 

Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR List

Spring (n.): One of the four season of the year; usually entails the cutest darn baby animals you've ever seen in your entire life, more flowers than there are stars, allergies, allergies, and more allergies, the weather you've been waiting all freaking year for, and, of course, brand new books! 



Here are the top ten books on my to-read list for this year's spring time:

1. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare: Spring is all about new things, right? Well...this BRAND NEW series in the Shadowhunter chronicles should be perfect for spring reading!

2. The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski: With no particular relation to the spring time, I just really need to get my hands on this book. I loved her other novels, and now, it's time for me to devour this one. It just happened to be released around spring. 

3. The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore: Birds are springy. They fly around and tweet their little (slightly annoying) bird songs. Why not read a book that references feathers in the title? 

4. The Heir by Kiera Cass: I have to, I have to read this book. Now. Right now. I might be subjecting myself to an onslaught of thorougly addicting books/romances, but I am so ready for it.  

5. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty: I smell realistic fiction with a side of juicy romance. What could be more perfect for the spring? 

6. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys: I love me some real good historical fiction. Salt to the Sea is not only historical, it's Ruta Sepetys historical, which, to me, is one of the best kinds.
7. Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between by Jennifer E. Smith: So, no, there is never a time when romance is not appropriate. But, during the spring time, it's even MORE appropriate. And Jennifer E. Smith is just too cute. Plus, might I just say, her book titles are to die for.
8. Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider: I adored the Beginning of Everything, and even if this story isn't as happy-go-lucky as some of the other picture-perfect spring reads, a story about second chances and learning to love is just fine for this time of year.
9. The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick: Ah, the aforementioned picture-perfect spring read. What else can I say?
10. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard: The first was so good, I just couldn't deny myself the pleasure of reading the sequel. Reading this as soon as possible is high on my list of spring to-dos.

What I Thought Was True Review

What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Title: What I Thought Was True

Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick

Series: None

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: April 15 2014

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 422

Format: Hardback

goodreads

Gwen Castle has never so badly wanted to say good-bye to her island home till now: the summer her Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, takes a job there as the local yard boy. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

A magnetic, push-you-pull-me romance with depth, this is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Deb Caletti.

It’s hard to be a fan of authors like Sarah Dessen or Jenny Han, or even Huntley Fitzpatrick if you don’t on some degree love summer romances. My Life Next Door, another romance by Fitzpatrick, detailed what it was like to love a life you could never have. What I Thought Was True explains the difference between what we think are facts, and what things are really like.

Both are incredibly intriguing romances worth finishing in one sitting.

Gwen Castle doesn’t live in a million dollar mansion. She doesn’t go to a posh private school or drive a sports car. No. She works at her dad’s burger shop. She helps her mom pay the bills when it’s a little too hard to make ends meet. In other words, she is nothing like Cassidy Somers a.k.a The Boy That Never Should’ve Happened. He comes from a life of Harvard and bottomless bank accounts, while she comes from Portuguese fishermen and housekeepers. They come from different worlds. They don’t belong together. But if that’s true, why is it so hard to keep away from him? When Cassidy gets hired as a lawn boy in the same neighborhood Gwen takes a job taking care of the rich Mrs. Ellington, she runs into him more than she would like. A lot more than she would like.

One thing that is hard to find in other books that this one seems to capture perfectly is the relationships. You can’t really find another summer romance with the intense, truthful, and incredibly accurate relationships this one has. The connection between the friends in the story was perfect. The romance was topsy turvy and real. The thing most book authors seem to forget is that no relationship ever happens smoothly and without kinks. And, even if they did, they would be boring and would go nowhere. I mean, who wants a boring relationship?  The story itself also brought something worth having. The subplots, minor romances, and minor characters were almost as interesting as the main ones. Em, Gwen’s little, not-quite-autistic, different-than-everyone-else brother was my favorite character, and not to mention, essential to this book’s charm. And let’s not forget Cass. Cassidy Somers. Ahh….Don’t you just love the characters that remind you that the boy you are looking for in real life doesn’t actually exist? I mean, really. Reading books has caused my standards in men to skyrocket. I really don’t think anyone will compare.

What I didn’t like was Fitzpatrick doesn’t seem to have an understanding on the emotional turmoil that relationships and love brings. You’d think boys and girls bounce back from relationships like they were made from rubber. And that just doesn’t happen.

In the end, I liked this book. It was nothing like the light summer read that I was expecting, but it was still good. One thing I learned: we don’t always have a smooth ride on the road of love, and we don’t always travel it with Prince himself, but, then again, why would you want it any other way? Besides, what fun are relationships without a little drama?