Bücher mit dem Tag "3 stars"

Das Buch hat mich wirklich sehr gepackt. Die Charaktere fesseln einen einfach. Auch Themen, die nicht so einfach und leicht sind wurden hier wirklich gut eingearbeitet. Lily ist ein toller Character, den man gerne auf seiner Reise begleitet. Das Zusammenspiel aus Vergangenheit und Gegenwart ist hier sehr gelungen. Ebenso die Beziehungen zwischen den einzelnen Charakteren. Einfach ein tolles Buch. 

Ist weiterhin interessant zu erfahren wie es mit beiden weiter geht und wie sie ihre Probleme lösen

Selten ist es mir passiert, dass ich ein Buch zufällig aus dem Regal in der Buchhandlung gezogen, über den Klappentext geschmunzelt und mich dann direkt auf der ersten Seite verliebt habe. (Der Klappentext ist übrigens super - das kann man nicht von jedem Buch behaupten, aber dieses macht gleich neugierig, ohne zu viel zu verraten.)

Lara Jean bleibt freitagabends zu Hause und ordnet ihren Schuhschrank. Ich liebe sie jetzt schon. Und sie schreibt Briefe. Dieser Roman hätte kitschig und klischeehaft werden können, wäre er von jemand anderem geschrieben worden, aber er ist fantastisch. Die Autorin Jenny Han kennt man auch durch "Der Sommer, als ich schön wurde", allerdings war die Reihe leider so gar nicht meins. Aber auch da ist mir schon der Schreibstil der Autorin aufgefallen. Eine Protagonistin wird natürlich nicht automatisch dadurch liebenswert, dass sie ihren Schuhschrank ordnet und ich mich selbst in vielen Aspekten wiedererkenne. Es kommt darauf an, wie das Ganze erzählt wird. 

Mit Lara Jean hat die Autorin eine der liebenswertesten Protagonistin geschaffen, der ich jemals beim Lesen begegnen durfte. Ich habe geseufzt, gelacht und gegrinst wie eine Verrückte. Mein Herz ist abwechselnd aufgegangen und hat sich zusammengezogen, und an der Gefühlsachterbahn, die ich beim Lesen durchgemacht habe, habe ich gemerkt: Das ist ein Buch, das ich so schnell nicht vergessen werde. 

Diese Geschichte enthält keine besonders abenteuerlichen oder übernatürlichen Elemente, sondern handelt einfach von einem Mädchen und ihrem alltäglichen Leben, einer überschaubaren Welt mit einer überschaubaren Handlung. Und doch: Diesen Roman habe ich sieben Jahre nach dem ersten Lesen immer noch nicht vergessen. Ist es der beste Roman, den ich jemals gelesen habe? Nein, das ist er nicht. Aber: er kommt ziemlich nah dran.

Die erste Liebe ist eine, die man im Bestfall nie vergißt. Eleanor ist neu in Parks Schule und eckt an. Denn sie ist anders, sie fällt auf und so fällt sie auch Park auf. Sie sei zu bemüht, sie lege es drauf an - das sind Gedanken die Park zunächst hat. Und doch zieht ihn irgendetwas zu diesem Mädchen, als er ihr einen Platz im Schulbus anbietet. Fortan sitzen sie nebeneinander. Eleanor und Park, Park und Eleanor. Was als schweigen beginnt, entwickelt sich zunehmend und irgendwann ist da mehr. 

Rainbow Rowells Jugendbuch ist leicht, so leicht wie eine junge Liebe eben sein kann. Und das, obwohl die Autorin gerade Eleanor einen schwierigen familiären Hintergrund gibt. Dabei rückt dieser nie komplett ins Zentrum, wird aber gleichzeitig auch nicht negiert und abgetan. Ihr Background ist halt immer irgendwie da. Park hat hingegen mit seinen Wurzeln zu kämpfen, mit den Erwartungshaltungen seiner Eltern, aber eben auch von Klassenkamerad*Innen. Beide zieht es zueinander, beide kämpfen mit sich selbst. Beide sind eben Jugendliche, anders und doch irgendwie vereint. Beide erhalten eine Stimme in Rowells Roman.

Kurzum: Ein unterhaltsamen, kurzweiliges Jugendbuch. Leicht, ohne kitschig zu sein. Kann man lesen.

The story follows, Paige, who has lost someone pretty special to her at a young age. She wasn't ready to accept and move on from that loss. For over a year, sixteen-year old Paige Hancock, has been known as "the girl whose boyfriend died". She's spent the last year shutting herself off from everything but she's now ready for a new beginning and to start living her life. To help herself along, she's created a list:

1. Parties/social events
2. New group
3. Date (Ryan Chase)
4. Travel
5. Swim

That the basic plot of The Start of You and Me. I ended up liking this book, but I didn't love it.

I loved Max, though. How can I not love this nerdy, airplane-loving dude, who is smart as heck, who loves books, and girl scout cookies? How can you not love Max?
But seriously, he was such an amazing love interest. He wasn't your typical panty-dropping guy. He was the cute one, the one others seem to always ignore.

I had some issues with the romance. The Start of Me and You really (really really) takes its time building the friendship between Paige and Max before anything happens, and then BAM! It's over. The story wasn’t perfect, at least not for me. I have to be honest here, it was pretty predictable, but refreshing in some way. I would have liked Paige and Max’s romance to feel more...like a romance... I think.?! Their friendship was really cute and the friendship to ‘lovers’ aspect well done, but I wanted more of these two TOGETHER. And that’s why the ending felt a little rushed to me. An epilogue would have been perfect IMO for this novel. What I really wanted from this novel was a sweet romance, there are sweet friendships, definitely, and there were some romancey feels at the end, but... yeah. Overall, I just wanted more.

Schön und fesselnde Story.  Ich konnte nicht mehr aufhören es zu lesen. Muss man gelesen haben.

Lara Jean hat sich nun doch in Peter verliebt, allerdings glaubt sie, dass dieser noch nicht über seine Ex-Freundin hinweg ist. Dann taucht auch noch ein weiterer der fünf Empfänger ihrer Liebesbriefe auf und die Frage kommt auf, ob man zwei Menschen gleichermaßen lieben kann.

Ich weiß nicht, was genau es mit diesen Büchern auf sich hat aber irgendwie weigert sich alles in mir, einen Stern abzuziehen. Ist "P.S. I Still Love You" ein Meisterwerk? Vermutlich nicht. Es ist einfach eine schöne Geschichte, die entspannt vor sich hin plätschert und es trotzdem schafft nicht zu langweilen.

Sehr positiv ist meiner Meinung nach, dass diese Bücher ein recht authentisches Teenager Leben darstellen, das im Gegensatz zu unzähligen anderen YA/NA Romanen nicht völlig übersexualisiert wird. Lara Jean hat normale Probleme, normale Meinungen und Gedanken. Sie ist mir unglaublich sympathisch. Zwar ist sie nicht perfekt - denn auch sie macht natürlich Fehler - allerdings macht sie diese Art Fehler, die nun mal zum Teenager Dasein dazu gehört.

Einfach ein sehr schönes Buch für zwischendurch, das ich früher oder später auch definitiv noch einmal lesen werde.

I gave Tangled 5 stars. I loved it so much. I was very excited about Twisted but I was really disappointed.

The beginning was great, a little quiet and happy. This is from Kate’s POV. Kate and Drew are the happy, cute and sexy couple.  But then it just went down hill.... I loved the first 35% of the book. I couldn't get enough of it. And then somewhere after the 40% mark, it started to irritate me.

The worst part of the book is at the 35% mark and I nearly wanted to cry because I was so upset. Twisted was just filled with angst! It means a simple problem could have been resolved if both Drew and Kate talked it out with common sense. The root of their main problem was miscommunication and I can’t stand that in books. Jumping to conclusions, misunderstanding over misunderstanding and the whole situation is totally sh**. Truthfully, it just felt way too drawn out.

Towards the climatic ending, it got better, but by the time I got there I was just so devastated by the direction at the 35% mark, I couldn’t get over it. I just wanted the story to be over and move forward.

I’m sorry, this just didn’t work for me and it killed me so much! I think my expectations were set too high and I was just expecting greatness. At one point we did get Drew’s POV and I loved it. It goes without saying that the epilogue was the BEST part of the entire book.

I AM SO FREAKIN' SAD. Because I LOVED Tangled and this was like MEH.

Karou ist Kunststudentin in Prag. Sie ist ein talentiertes, aber ganz normales Mädchen mit 17 Jahren. Außer, dass sie doch irgendwie nicht so normal ist: sie hat blaue Haare (nicht gefärbt), eine Kette mit Perlen, die Wünsche erfüllt und ein Notizbuch mit Skizzen von fantastischen Wesen gefüllt. Keiner glaubt ihr, dass die gezeichneten Mischwesen (halb Vogel, halb Schlange oder Reptil, Bulle und Löwe) nicht etwa ihrer Fantasie entspringen... Doch wenn Karou an einer ganz bestimmten Türe in Prag kloppft und hereingebeten wird, finden sich dort eben jene Wesen: Karous Familie. Als mysteriöse schwarze Handabdrücke auf den Türen Prags erscheinen, ahnt Karou, dass die Zeit des Versteckens bald vorbei sein könnte.

Meine Meinung:

Ich habe dieses Buch nun bereits 2x gelesen, weil ich es so toll finde! Letztes Jahr hatte ich es mir in der deutschen Übersetzung ausgeliehen, weil ich aber den Schreibstil so toll und unverwechselbar fand, habe ich mir die Trilogie auf Englisch gekauft und bevor ich in Band 2 gestartet bin, habe ich mir ein re-read von diesem Band gegönnt.

Es kommt selten vor, dass ich ein Buch häufiger lese, nur extrem gute Bücher lese ich erneut! Und Karous Geschichte gehört definitiv dazu.

Ich liebe das Setting in Prag - das ist ein außergewöhnliches Setting für eine außergewöhnliche Handlung. Die Stadt fängt die Stimmung des Buchs absolut perfekt ein und ich bekomme sofort Fernweh, mir die Stadt erneut anzusehen (kleine Reiseempfehlung). 

Nicht nur Karou hat einen tollen Humor, vor allem ihre beste Freundin Zuze hat mich ständig zum Lachen gebracht. Zwar beginnt die Geschichte ähnlich wie viele Urban Fantasy Geschichten (nichts ahnendes Mädchen findet eine Welt außerhalb unserer) aber die Umsetzung war grandios und einzigartig!!! Die Charaktere sind toll gezeichnet, man kann jeden so gut vor sich sehen, als lägen Karous Skizzen vor mir. Jeder hat so seine Besonderheiten und wie es so oft ist, ist eben vieles nicht immer so, wie es scheint - die Charaktere entwickeln sich toll und ich bin gespannt auf mehr.

Fazit:

Eine riesige Leseempfehlung von mir, tolles Buch, tolle Charaktere und spannend bis zum Schluss - sofort Band 2 bereit legen!

Ich hab dieses Buch schon vor ewigen Zeiten bei Amazon als Mängelexemplar gekauft, weil sich die Beschreibung gut angehört hat. Dann stand es ewig im Regal und nun endlich kam ich mal dazu, es zu lesen!

"Die Zwillingssschwester" von Lisa Scott ist ein Gerichts-Thriller 'alla' John Grisham. Die Protagonistinnen sind die Anwältin Bennie Rosato und ihre vermeintliche Zwillingsschwester Alice Connolly.

Ich fand das Buch absolut langatmig und teilweise auch langweilig. Der Schluss war auch ein wenig enttäuschend, weil es allmählich irgendwie absehbar war, aber dann die Handlung doch recht abrupt und unvollendet abgeschlossen wurde.

  ”Hurting is feeling and feeling is living, and isn’t it good to be alive?”  

Like the earlier books, this book is angst-filled. However, unlike the earlier books, all the drama seemed exhausting instead of entertaining. I love angst, but you really can get too much of a good thing. How many times can Colton go frigid and cruel, turning his misplaced anger on Rylee, only to have her she'd a few tears and immediately take him back? Just when I thought she'd gotten her spine back, Rylee goes and turns into a sobbing, weak mess.

As far as the storyline goes, it was predictable, but sweet. The back and forth really felt like listening to a broken record, which was emotionally draining, but all in all, it was a good story...Predictable, but sweet and worth reading to get closure.

This was way to long of a book. I think it should have been shortened just a little bit. I liked this story. I'm glad I found out how things worked out for these two. I enjoyed the HEA ending,  the Epilogues, yes there are two epilogues, they were perfect! Now, I'm just glad it's over. Good, but nothing that blew me away. I won't read the 5th book, though.

“My heart may not be whole, but it still beats.”

The story of Grant Carter and Harlow Manning is one of my most anticipated stories in Rosemary Beach series. After reading it though, I have to say I'm kind of disappointed.

Harlow Manning is the daughter of rock star Kiro Manning. She has led a sheltered life, and hasn't had much experience with dating. So when she spends two weeks with the gorgeous Grant Carter, and then doesn't hear from him for a while, she believes he doesn't really care about her, and that he is just a womanizer.

After spending two weeks with Harlow, Grant's friend Jace dies, and this makes him re-evaluate his own life. He over analyzes his feelings for Harlow, and decides to put the brakes on whatever was starting to develop between them. Grant is terrified of letting himself care enough about someone, that losing them could destroy him, and shatter his heart.

Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed with this book. I find its story shallow and I just couldn't connect with the story. It was more of an okay read to me. Maybe some of you find Grant Carter charming, good looking guy you'll swoon over with but I'm not, he has unfortunately fallen short of my expectations.

"There was no closing my eyes and sliding back into that blissful dream of normal. This was my normal now."

In book one of the DARKEST POWERS series, THE SUMMONING, Chloe and several of her friends escaped from the group home they had been living in. Now, Chloe and Rae are recaptured by the Edison Group, a shady organization that has genetically altered them to try and make use of the powers that many of them were born with.

This was... fun. That is seriously the best word I come up with. This wasn't great in terms of plotline, characters or anything really but I just found myself enjoying it. It was funny at times and very easy to read. I'm smitten with Simon, and can't wait to see what happens in the final book.

The pacing could be better (meaning I wouldn't complain if things moved along somewhat) and the relationships could be clearer but overall it's a pleasant experience and I'm eager to read the final book. I did enjoy the book, I'm just mad that I didn't love it to death, but we can love them all that way right?

“I love you.” It was like all other words had vanished from his vocabulary. He only knew those three, and he would have to repeat them over and over until she believed him."

Zane picks up right where Kaleb, the first book in the series, leaves off. Zane is in the hospital after he was brutally beaten by the Jake Saunders and his friends. After a long month in a coma and two more months in the hospital recovering, Zane is finally released. Zane has not seen Vanessa since the attack. She stayed by his side when he was in a coma but has not been by to see him since he woke up. Their texts have also been few and far between. This distance is something that Zane is going to rectify.

V has become fairly withdrawn, is very slow to trust and has some pretty cast iron emotional defences to prevent anyone other than her best friend Zoey to get close. She’s finding Zane incredibly hard to resist even as she tries to deny her feelings, that smokin hot incendiary physical connection they share cannot be resisted and they succumb time and again with white-hot scenes. Zane is a hottie alpha who is desperately trying to get the girl he knows Is the other half of his soul, but V is as stubborn as they come, overcome with her insecurities and fear.

It was an okay read for me, it was something I needed to read just to find out what happens next, I didn’t generally love it but still a pretty good read. The lil snippets of Travis was what thrilled me more, and I was happy when it came to an end because I knew whose book was up next. Hopefully the next book doesn’t disappoint and that it only gets better from here.

This series, Alluring Indulgence, crosses over frequently with the author’s other series Club Destiny and, but these work as a standalone.

“I think about what I didn't say then, which is this: the stars we see aren't even real stars. We see the light that they gave off millions of years ago but that is only now reaching our eyes. We don't see a star as much as a memory.”

I'm not sure how to review this book, so here is my ramble. This book started out adorable and young adult-ish. The familiar good girl with a crush on her best friend that could charm an angry wasp with a crooked smile. Then somewhere around page 100 it became something else, sort of outlandish and Bonnie & Clyde. Then suddenly it was The Fault in Our Stars.

Sixteen year old Axi Moore decided it was time to stop being the good girl and time to live life and go on an adventure. Her best friend Robinson couldn't believe that, Axi was capable of being anything other than a good girl (GG) which he nicknamed her, but he would soon be proven wrong. Together the two of them set off on a road trip where they would discover a world they never knew existed and do things they only dreamed of.

Not really sure how I felt about this book. I did like the plot just wish it was written different.

“Honor sometimes means doing something very unwise. Behaving like an idiot is better than dishonor. To this day I blush for having chosen sensible restraint over common decency.”

This is the story of a Belgian interpreter who works in a big Japanese company in Japan. Extremely autobiographic, funny and surprising at the same time; a young Nothomb lost in the corporatist Japanese life at the beginning of the 90's. This novel is about the horrible abuse Amélie suffers at a Japanese company where she’s originally hired as a translator and eventually demoted to bathroom attendant.

With plenty of humor and irony, the author describes how the hierarchy scheme is able to destroy the character of an occidental foreign young woman who struggles to be accepted and recognize by her work. While I at times found Nothomb’s prose witty and the story in general to be consistently fast-paced and breezily written, the events it depicts frustrated me beyond belief.

The book is supposed to be based on the author's experiences when working in Japan. Recommended if you're interested in Japan and the Japanese.

It's a fearful thing to love what death can touch...

In the first book, Hereafter, we are introduced to the main characters and the mystery of how Amelia died; we meet Josh, we see them as they fall in love. In the second book, Arise, Amelia and Josh go to New Orleans, meet a whole clique of Seers, and some new friends. Now, we come to a close in Elegy as Amelia is threatened by some ghosts who want her to join their dark side under duress.

Throughout the entire series, especially in the second and third books, I had a lot of trouble with the world building, most specifically the ghost mythology. Eventually it got to be distracting enough to affect my reading. I felt like the limits of how much I could suspend my belief in order to enjoy Amelia and Joshua's story, were being tested beyond their bounds. Many of the ghost rules did not make any practical sense to me, especially once elements change in book 2. Some of the rules seemed to be added just to create tension to the plot, and not because of a good explanation.

The third book in a ghost trilogy is where I start to dread the fact that I'm reading a series that features a relationship between a human and someone who is dead. It's when reality sets in, and I realize that there aren't a lot of options that end positively for the couple in question...but still what kind of ending was that, though. I would have like a different ending to the series especially after EVERYTHING Amelia and Joshua went through. I'm super disappointed. I can't help feeling disappointed with this. The ending was just far too bittersweet and it didn't feel tied up very well. I wanted more of a conclusion and I feel cheated. What about Eli? What about her mom? There's so many things I am left wondering about and I'm disheartened by how incomplete this feels.

It’s the final book to Jack and Laurelyn’s story!

Beauty from Love picks up right after Beauty from Surrender with Jack Henry and Laurelyn on their honeymoon. Jack's ready to start a family, but Laurelyn's hesitant because she wants to spend some time with her new husband. Laurelyn decides to surprises him on his birthday and let him know she's ready. They don't waste any time. The first half of the book is full of steamy scenes....almost too many if that's possible.

Then starts all the unnecessary drama. Women from Jack Henry's past, one after the other, keep popping up trying to ruin their relationship and win Jack's heart. Laurelyn gets jealous, Jack Henry is paranoid she will leave, then they make up. It happens a few times. Not to mention Laurelyn has a complicated pregnancy, her mom is horrible, and the assault charges against Blake are dropped. I love this series, but this one was just over the top.

I really wanted to give this book more stars but I just couldn't get over some things. I felt like this book was "trying" too hard. There were a lot of little things that added up to be big things that I disliked. I was so disappointed because I felt like this had such great potential to be a great way to end this series. It just fell short for me.

"I know it must feel like you don't know me, but you do. It was just a couple of details. But the person talking to you, that was me."

Twist is the second book in Kylie Scott's Dive Bar series.

Alex finally works up the courage to meet the man she's been chatting with online for months so she heads to his bar to surprise him. Only the surprise ends up being on her when she learns Eric has no idea who she was, and it wasn't him she was talking to but his brother Joe.

It all started innocent. Joe wanted to try and get his brother interested in his online dating profile again so he took over chatting with Alex. Then he just never stopped since he enjoyed their chats. Now that she's there in person he needs to get her to accept his apology and hopes they can remain friends. Maybe more than friends if Alex has any say in it though.

Honestly, this book was on it's way to being a 4+ star favorite of mine, until closer to the end. I loved Joe so much that I took it very hard with his change of behavior. Not saying I didn't understand a lot of where he was coming from, but still. While I have remained somewhat neutral towards the characters for the first half of the novel, they annoyed me to no end in the second half.

There was unnecessary drama that didn't fit the story, it felt forced. The last quarter of the book felt rushed and left me unsatisfied. Which resulted in me not being fully committed to the characters and story. I did enjoy the writing and some of the side characters.

Raveling You picks up shortly after the events of Unraveling You. Ayden's still struggling to remember the horrifying details of his past, while his friendship with Lyric is taken to the next level. Lyric wants a more physical relationship, but how can Ayden give that to her when just the slightest touch triggers memories and emotions from his past?

So this is book 2 of Ayden's mysterious past and we are no closer to having any answers or learning anything new. This is frustrating for a series because the reader needs to stay engaged and I struggled with this book.

In the first book, nothing was resolved, the novel was too short and felt incomplete, and no significant events really happened; however, because I loved the characters and their relationships and the plot, I still loved the book despite its flaws.
Because I loved the characters' and their world so much, I was dying to read the second book hoping Sorensen would step up her game and write something that would make up for the first book. I still want to know what happened to Ayden but I am not that eager to read book 3.

Sorensen actually managed to do a worse job of things in book 2 by introducing even more new conflicts, once again, with no resolutions, making it equally, maybe even more, unsatisfyingly short than the first book, and managed to fit more insignificant events into the novel instead of working towards tying up loose ends.
This makes me so sad because I love Lyric and Ayden and their parents and their world so much, but the presentation of the novel just ruins everything for me.

“And I pretended it was the kind of kiss that could make all that possible. The kind of kiss that could seal and bind and change and forgive. A kiss that couldn’t fade. A kiss that could go on forever. A kiss that could last. Instead of what it really was – a last kiss.”

This is a conclusion to the two book installment of the First and Last series.

After the way the first book ended, I had to know how things would work out for Emily, Reeve and Amber. I can't say that I was surprised by the overall direction that the story went in. However, I was shocked by some of the details that came to light in the end. All of Emily's secrets seems to be unveiling. Just as she finally got to a relationship place with Reeve, the appearance of someone from her past shakes the foundation of it to the very core, leaving her questioning everything, including herself.
She may not have intended to fall for Reeve, but she barely had a choice in the matter. The man is everything she craves. His intensity calls for her submission and her submission is what he gets...

As expected, Amber's reappearance has drastically changed the dynamics of Emily and Reeve's relationship. There is plenty of guilt and regret to go around. Emotions run high and choices must be made.
I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that I spent a lot of time feeling conflicted while reading this book. There was plenty of angst and turmoil to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Emily was just an okay character for me. She was frustrating, even annoying at some point and in my humble opinion a weak heroine who for a long while didn’t know exactly what she wanted. It took a long time for her to figure out that and to understand who she is. Many of her choices were frustrating to me. I wanted to shake her. Similarly, Reeve's blindness infuriated me. These two really needed to get a clue and pull it together this time around. I spent a lot of time shaking my head at them.
However, Amber was the character that really took the cake. I HATED her! Laurelin Paige created quite the villain in Amber's character. Honestly, I couldn't see what Emily or Reeve ever saw in her. She was selfish, manipulative and a bitch to boot! While I felt sympathy for her rough start in life, and I understand how her past influenced her, I just couldn't bring myself to forgive her.

The book, did leave me mildly exhausted and unsatisfied. It's been a very long time since I felt that level of frustration when reading a book. I actually remember what book it was that made my blood boil and made me want to scream at the characters. Now I can add this book to the list. My goodness. I wanted to throw the book at the wall. I felt like Reeve and Emily were going around and around in circles and I couldn't keep up. The plot twist at the very end I saw coming, by the time it happened it wasn't very satisfying... I really wanted some feelings of triumph or something.

It was still well-written but less impressive. The plot was such a let down.

"A beautiful story but I still can't see myself calling the ghost-human-love story an ideal romance.... one day Joshua will have to move on and marry somebody who is a living human being and Amelia will have to decide to leave Joshua and choose the Hereafter or that other place."

Arise is the follow-up novel to Hereafter. Joshua and Amelia's story captured my heart in the first novel, it was a five star read for me. Hereafter proved to be one of my favorite ghost stories.

We pick up with Joshua and Amelia a few months after their showdown with the evil ghost Eli. With that dilemma out of the way, Amelia and Joshua just have each other to focus on with no worries, right? Wrong. With this huge problem out of the way, (or so we hope) the underlying issues of their problematic relationship come to the fore. How can such a relationship survive when Amelia will always be a ghost and Joshua will graduate high-school, go to college and eventually want to start a family? Joshua has a positive outlook, but Amelia is not buying it. She starts to think that taking herself out of his life, even though it would be heart-breaking, is the best thing for him. Also, more problems are becoming apparent with Amelia now experiencing frightening nightmares and uncontrollable materialization.

This book seems to focus a lot on Amelia. Amelia's struggles with being a ghost and her indecision about being in love with Joshua and the whole EVIL PEOPLE WANT TO KILL HER thing. I really liked watching Amelia grow and change throughout the novel. Arise doesn't really focus on Joshua and Amelia and their undying love for each other and that's what I was missing while reading. The book is more suspenseful and mysterious and adventurous but it's lacking romance.

While Arise was not as fun as its predecessor, I still liked it.

Hoping for a good ending for Amelia and Joshua in the third and last book.