Gabriella M Reads

Number Of Books You Read:   52 Number of Re-Reads: 1 Genre You Read The Most From: I believe it was contemporary. 1. Best Book You Read In 2015? I think the best book for me was A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I couldn't put it down and I still find myself thinking about it almost a month later. I'm also tempted to reread it, which is typically not something that I do.  2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? I would either have to say Trust Me, I'm Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summers or The F-It List by Julie Halpern. I actually loved them both in the end, but I expected something completely different than what I got from both of those novels. Going into The F-It List I was kind of hoping it would be more about her friend having cancer and how they're dealing with it together. Instead, I got a novel with a cancer ridden friend kind of in the background. Trust Me, I'm Lying on the other han...

The Beast Within by Serena Valentino 5 Stars Sometime last year I was walking through my local Barnes and Noble when I spotted Beast's face on a book. I squealed and told my mother I had to get, but went home empty handed. I finally got it for Christmas this year and I finished it so fast! The Beast within is all about the Beast before and during his curse. In all honesty he was a jerk and I kind of thought he deserved the curse. However, I was not a fan of the three witches and all of their meddling. The most shocking thing was who was the Beast's best friend growing up. Seriously, WHAT?! If you're a fan of Beauty and the Beast, I truly believe you'll love this one. It's only 215 pages and it's so worth it. If you've read it, let's discuss. If not, go and get it now. Xoxo, Gabriella

Riding in Cars with Boys by Beverly Donofrio 5 Stars I don't know if any of y'all have seen this movie, it came out in 2001 when I was around 6 years old and I fell in love with it. So naturally when the adult me found out that it was actually based on an autobiography, I had to buy it despite my struggles reading non-fiction. Let me tell you, I finished this book in a matter of hours. I just couldn't put it down! I did have my problems, but they weren't with the book itself. Instead they were with the decisions being made by Beverly most of the time. Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic read, hence the rating, but it was so hard for me not to be judgmental. If you don't know, Beverly finds herself pregnant in high school during the late 60's if memory serves. It's all about her parenting journey, but mostly how she finds herself along the way. I definitely recommend this one and it's also very short, barely over 200 pages so it goes by so f...

The Score by Elle Kennedy 5 Stars Holy shit. I swear these books keep getting better and better. In this one we focus on Allie, a serial monogamist fresh from a breakup, and Dean, an unbelievable ladies man. Kennedy does her thing and creates a very steamy read that you won't be able to put down. I found myself wishing I was Allie the whole time out of complete jealousy and love for the leading man. Dean is just mesmerizing and it's honestly not hard to see why no one can resist his charms. He's kind of a cocky bastard, but it works for him. I devoured this novel in one sitting and I still wanted more! I seriously hope this isn't the last book in the series because holy cow, that bomb dropped at the end?! You can't do that to me! I'd love to be able to say so much more, but you honestly just need to read it for yourself. The Score comes out on January 11, 2016 and while it is the 3rd book, it's a companion series so you don't have to read the othe...

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares 5 Stars I still cannot believe that it took me until I was 21 years old to actually read this book! I found it quite enjoyable and in one way or another I could relate to each of the four girls wearing "the pants". Although, I did find myself getting more and more annoyed with Carmen as the story progressed. I seriously hope her attitude changes in the next book because I just cannot handle her! I personally loved how these girls are all so different from one another and yet their friendship remains strong. While reading, I really missed my own friends and longed for a good adventure. I also liked how the book didn't really focus on making grand adventures happen. Instead the focus was on these girls and how their Summer changed them and how they felt about everything going on around them. We see Bridget make a bold choice and instead of being completely over the moon, she's quite down on herself. If you kn...

The Geek's Guide to Dating by Eric Smith 5 Stars First off, I want to thank Eric Smith for so kindly sending me a copy of his book to review. Secondly, I just want to say that despite the absurd amount of time it took me to finish this book, I really loved it. I just struggle when there isn't something making me go, "OH MY GOD, I need to know what happens next!" Moving on, this is a literal guide to dating. It's completely relevant and full of pop culture references that will help you understand what is being said. Example: "If you're an autobot and she's an aerialbot, you can't expect her to suddenly transform into a ground-based vehicle. But you can still bond over your mutual love of administering beat downs to Decepticons. Be respectful, be patient, be open to learning about her passions." Smith also adds the right amount of humor to his work. I personally found myself laughing at several points and I know you will too. I've se...

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas 5 Stars When I first heard about this book it was on Booktube and everyone was saying it was going to be a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Being that Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite, I was so going to make sure that I read it. Despite having preordered it, I hyped myself up too much and didn’t end up reading it until now. Which worked out since I made it the Better Read Than Dead pick for December. Now this may be kind of irrelevant, but I use an Android app called “Read Tracker” that tells me how long it takes me to read. When I found out that it took me 17 minutes to read just 12 pages, I immediately snapchatted my friend Grace about how this book was going to take me absolutely forever to read. Boy was I wrong, I had read all 416 pages by the following evening. Sarah J Maas blew my mind! At first I was prepared for things to go slow considering the first couple of chapters hadn’t grabbed me yet, but once Feyre wa...

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan 5 Stars I absolutely love the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series so when I saw that Rick Riordan had another book coming out, I had to read it. This was the Better Read Than Dead book for November and I loved it. I will say that at some points it was a little slow, but things always picked back up again. I found that Norse mythology is actually a tad complicated and was grateful for the glossary in the back of the book, but you'll be fine not knowing anything so don't feel the need to shy away because of that. Our main character Magnus Chase is actually 16 years old and homeless which was quite different, but he is every bit as sassy as Percy is. I tried not to compare the books as I read, however, I just couldn't help myself. I fell in love with these characters. If you haven't heard, we have a deaf character and also a character of Middle Eastern descent and they're both wonderful ...

Liars, Inc. Black Friday Sale Blitz If you've been around for a while, then you know I absolutely adore Paula Stokes and her book Liars, Inc. If not, welcome! When I heard there was going to be a sale, I decided I had to share this with all of you. I've never read a book that blew me away quite like this one and I know you'll love it. Now on to the fun stuff! “This is one exciting ride.” –ALA Booklist Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money. So with the help of his friend Preston and his girlfriend, Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something, and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative? When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn't think twice about it. But then Preston never comes home. And the evidence starts...

Matt's Story by Lauren Gibaldi 5 Stars Lauren Gibaldi has done it again! For those of you who don't know, Matt's Story is the novella that goes with The Night We Said Yes. Matt's Story follows Matt during his time away living in Texas. In these short 63 pages we get inside Matt's head and see why he decided to keep to himself so much. New friendships are made and some old ones are mended. I'd say this novella is all about growth and how sometimes it's better to let people in and let them help you even when you don't want to. Lauren does a wonderful job of creating characters you'd want to interact with, they're just so realistic. I wanted to hug Matt, but also knock some sense into him most of the time. Plus Kat and Cindy were awesome. I'd love to be surrounded by the joy that they seem to radiate. I definitely recommend picking up The Night We Said Yes and then this wonderful novella. I can't wait to see more work from Lauren Giba...

Trust Me, I'm Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer 3.5 Stars This was the Better Read Than Dead Bookclub pick for the month of October and I must say it was decent. At the very beginning I found myself quite bored. The was a cliff hanger at the end of one of the first few chapters and I was actually able to put it down for a few days. This worried me. I thought, "Oh crap, another book I'm not going to finish." However, I kept reading every now and then. Basically forcing myself to get through it. About half way through, I suddenly became interested. I'm not sure if it was the story or the introduction of a cute boy, but it happened. Note that this boy alone earned a half star, without him I would've only given it 3 stars. The story suddenly became a bit of a thrill and I needed to know more. If you didn't know, this book happens to be about a teenage con artist searching for her missing father. As I read, I kind of had it in my mind that the main characte...

The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley 5 Stars This novel gave me a full range of feelings. I sobbed a ton, full on ugly cried, and I even wanted to throw the book across the room. I would say that is the mark of a fantastic book. I buddy read this one with my best friend, who isn't much of a reader, and when she finished it I was basically told that she hated me and I needed to finish it. One of the best texts ever. Anyway, in this book we are introduced to a couple as a big shift is happening in their lives and slowly we go through flash backs and begin to really understand them. This book will absolutely break your heart in the best way. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that it deals with when life begins as well as when life should end. If any of you have read this, I would absolutely love to talk about it. If you haven't and you would like to, it's decently priced on the Barnes & Noble website. Xoxo, Gabriella

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton 5 Stars As a lover of the Jurassic Park movies, I just had to read the book. Now there were some changes and I actually didn't mind them much. An example being the nephew is older than the niece and it's the opposite in the films. I actually loved that difference. The boy being older made a ton of sense to me. I personally really enjoyed how this book jumps from the people that are in the park to the people that are in the labs and control rooms instead of only getting one side of the story. It's very interesting to see how each person reacts to all of the chaos. I would have to say one of my absolute favorite things was every time Dr. Ian Malcolm started rambling about how things wouldn't work, etc. When it came to the action, it was every bit as thrilling as the movies, if not more. I definitely needed to know what was going to happen next and I could not put it down! Within a few days of finishing Jurassic Park, I found myself...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling 5 Stars I feel like I'm one of the last people, out of my age group, to read this series. Of course I've seen all of the movies, but that's just not the same as experiencing the magic and detail of the book. Going into this book I was very nervous for two reasons. One being that I heard a lot of people saying this was their least favorite book and also because it was my favorite movie. I didn't want to be disappointed and I definitely wasn't. J.K. Rowling has me at a loss for words. I was happy to see cute little Dobby was back and that Sirius was more prominent than he was in the movie. Lots of sobbing happened while I read, whether happy tears or sad tears, they were there. There's not much more I can say without spoiling it for the few others who haven't picked it up yet, but I will say that as fantastic as the movies are, the books are truly pure magic. I will be buying the next book in the ser...

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn 4 Stars I picked this book up a couple of months ago because my mother was desperate to see the movie and I obviously had to read the book first. Starting off, I really wasn't that into it and I kept putting it down for days and sometimes weeks. I actually found myself only enjoying the "Ben" chapters for most of the book. It wasn't until the last 150 pages or so that I began to enjoy every perspective as the story unraveled. The book felt a tad slow to me for the most part, only speeding up towards the end and boy did I need to know what was going to happen next. I felt the same way while reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn so I think that if you enjoyed the writing style there, then you'll enjoy it in this novel as well. I don't want to give anything away, but this one took me by surprise. I actually had no idea who actually committed the murders. If you haven't read the synopsis, I recommend not reading it. I personall...

I want to read, but I don't want to read. These past few months I've found myself in quite the slump . I call it a life slump, but we're only going to discuss the reading portion of said slump. Now what exactly is a slump? Google defines a slump as   a sudden severe or prolonged fall in the price, value, or amount of something . I believe we all go through slumps every now and then, reading or otherwise. How do I know that I'm in a slump? I've only finished a total of four books in the past two months. Considering I've finished thirty-one books so far, this is quite disappointing.  How do you deal with a reading slump? After all of my experience with other readers and booktube videos, I've realized there are several ways to get out of a slump and it always depends on the person. Some people try to force themselves to read a certain book while others pick up several books until one catches their attention. I seem to be one of the latter, but we'll...

The Pact by Karina Halle 4 Stars Had I written this review sooner, I would probably know what I wanted to say. What I can tell you is that I did enjoy reading this book. It's a classic friends to lovers story filled with a lot of near misses that may or may not frustrate you. I was certainly frustrated, my head was going, "GET TOGETHER ALREADY!" You can tell this is going to happen from the very beginning when "the pact" is first brought up. I enjoyed how while you are going through several years of these people's lives, you don't linger. Maybe one chapter is dedicated to unimportant years just to give you a glimpse of something that may be important before moving on to the more important years. Overall, I enjoyed it and I have already purchased it's companion novel The Offer. If you enjoy friends turning into lovers then this is the book for you, but I will say it's like most others. If you're looking for something absolutely specia...

The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi 5 Stars I was so excited when I was told that I won this ARC! I still can't believe it. It took me a while to read because of finals and all that, but I still loved every second of it. Basically this book centers around a relationship. The chapters alternate between then and now, so you can look at this relationship forming while also seeing the aftermath. Each "then" chapter matches with the following "now" chapter making them completely relevant to the story and not random at all. Of course along with this relationship you see kind of an epic group friendship that I found completely realistic. It actually reminded me of my group of friends in high school. I actually am an Ella who has her own Meg. I hope everyone has that friend that pushes you out of your comfort zone every now and then. Through the book the characters just say yes, within reason, to ideas thrown out about what to do leading to an interesting adv...