Melina's book club | #18

While I've been doing a lot of reading during quarantine, I've definitely fallen behind on book club posts, sharing books I've read, and my thoughts on them! If you're ever looking to see what I'm currently reading (in real time), you can follow me on GoodReads! I do update that regularly, so if you need more than the monthly (sometimes not so monthly) updates, then that would be the perfect place to follow me on!

Let's get right into it.

Currently Reading:

While I've started & finished a lot of books since quarantine, there are also a lot of books that I haven't really taken the time to finish! From my last book club post, I honestly haven't finished any of the books, except The Taming of the Shrew. I will probably get back to them and finish them eventually, but for now I'm not putting much pressure on myself to finish any books I'm not in the mood for.

what i'm reviewing today:

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone - ★★★★

This story follows Samantha McAllister. To everyone who looks at her, you would think she's just like every other popular girl in her junior high school class. Underneath her perfectly straight hair and makeup, Sam keeps a secret that her friends would never understand.

Sam has OCD and a constant stream of worries and thoughts, that she cannot turn off. She is always second guessing her every move, thought, and word that comes out of her mouth, which makes living daily a struggle.

It doesn't help that the friends she's had her whole life, will rag on her the moment she wears the wrong outfit, has a crush on the wrong person, or eats the wrong thing for lunch.

Then, Sam meets Carolina. Caroline has a refreshing sense of humor and view on life that is exactly what she needs, but she has to keep her a secret. Her current friends wouldn't understand why she would want to hang out with someone like Caroline.

While getting to know Caroline, she introduces her to the Poet's Corner. A hidden room, where a close knit group of misfits meet up. She is drawn to them immediately. She is especially drawn to the guitar playing guy. The moment she starts going to the Poet's Corner, she starts to discover a whole new side to herself.

She feels starts to feel the most comfortable in her own skin she has ever felt. More than she ever felt while hanging out with her popular friends.

Everything was going great until she finds a new reason to question her sanity.

I absolutely loved this book. I didn't know what to expect, because not only do I not know anyone who has OCD, but I also have never read a book with a character who has OCD. I still think they were pretty respectful of someone who has a mental illness, especially with her going to therapy.

I loved AJ, the guitar player, and the buildup between Sam and AJ. ALL THE FEELS!

I really think the overall book was pretty realistic. Even the Queen Bees in the school to me weren't so...cliche? Yes they were nasty at times, but within the book you see that they were funny and sometimes nice as well. They weren't as one dimensional as the typical popular girl.

This was definitely my favorite book out of all the books I'm going to review today. If you read any of the books from this post, please read this one!

That Boy by Jillian Dodd - ★ 1/2

I honestly had some high hopes for this book when I saw the amazing reviews that it had. I read the summary, and it seemed like a fluff piece that was right up my alley.

It's been a while that I've been this wrong. While I did finish the book, I had a lot of difficulty getting through it. There were so many grammatical errors! They were honestly doing my head in.

While I can usually get through a book if I don't like the plot line, one thing that seriously irks me is terrible grammar issues.

While the plot line was something I would have normally loved, I honestly cannot recommend this book. The writing is honestly that bad.

Fate Interrupted by Kaitlyn Cross - ★

Now this is a book I could just...not...finish! Okay, this book club post could be doing a lot better. 2/3 failed reads. It happens, especially when you're scrolling through the Kindle & iBooks free books section.

While the book isn't terribly written, the plot line is wayy too cliche. We have an insta-love/attraction, which I don't really like. It was just so cringe-worthy.

I feel like the two main characters had nothing more than lust, and frankly, these are just books that I'd rather not read. This is another book that I think you should all just skip.

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So these are all the books I’m going to review today! If you haven’t kept up with the other books I’ve reviewed, you can check them out below:

MELINA'S BOOK CLUB | #17

MELINA’S BOOK CLUB | #16

MELINA’S BOOK CLUB | #15

MELINA’S BOOK CLUB | #14

MELINA’S BOOK CLUB PT. 13

If you guys didn’t know, you can check out all the books I’ve reviewed in 2020 on one page! Check it out. I also have a page full of all the books I’ve ever reviewed.What have you been reading recently? Let me know! I’m always looking for new books to add to my TBR list. Thank you as always for reading. Have a wonderful day/night! Sending you love, strength, and positivity!