It’s book day!!! This was a really good reading month for me, as I had two five star books and two four star books!! Linking up with Steph and Jana.
One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
Jojo Moyes is a wonderful author. She has a way of sucking you in to her characters and their stories. This was such a great read! I did this one via Audible. I hate when people compare this book to Me Before You. Stop it. That book was amazing, but this book is a complete stand alone and a wonderful story in itself. I loved each of the characters, and while the author switches the POV for different chapters, it is not hard to follow. It started out a little slow for me but once you get in to this book, you are in deep!
Bottom Line: Read it!!! This book made me laugh, smile and cry.
Rating: 5/5
Try Not To Breathe by Holly Seddon
This is a mystery book about a girl named Amy who went missing in 1995 and was found in a vegetative state and has been living in a ward at the hospital ever since. A doctor has discovered that some of his patients do in fact have brain activity and can communicate through research testing. Alex, an alcoholic journalist, is writing a story about Amy and discovers some facts that could lead the police to who actually did this. But can she get her alcoholism under control enough to accomplish that?
This book was both really interesting, but slow moving. I didn’t really understand the whole point of Alex’s alcohol problem and how it played in to the rest of the book until the end. There were certainly some parts that could have sped up or been left out to make the book move along quicker, but it was still a decent read.
Bottom Line: If you like mysteries, this was a decent read. I thought I knew who did it all along but I was actually wrong. Though to be honest, the ending fell a little flat for me.
Rating: 3/5
**I received a copy of Try Not to Breathe from Netgalley but all opinions are honest and of my own.**
After We Fall by Marquita Valentine
This is mostly a love story, but also a story about surviving and moving on. Evangeline was nearly beaten to death by her husband, and officer Hunter Sloan finds her. He cant get her out of his mind and has a troubled past of his own. They end up as neighbors, but Evangeline has sworn off men and dating for awhile.
Bottom Line: I really liked this book. Some love stories are sort of cheesy or don’t have a lot of depth, but this one was quite enjoyable. The book moves along rather quickly, I finished it in just a few sittings. Read it.
Rating: 4/5
**I received a copy of After We Fall from Netgalley but all opinions are honest and of my own.**
The Girl From Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux
This is a modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I have never actually read Pride and Prejudice or seen any movie version so I can’t really compare the two but what I will say is that I enjoyed this novel. It took me a little while to get in to, and there was a character in the book I couldn’t stand….but you were supposed to not be able to stand him by the end. I thought this was a really cute retelling and I am glad I read it.
Bottom Line: Whether you liked Pride and Prejudice or not…I think this is a good read. I really enjoyed it and it was cute. Read it.
Rating: 4/5
**I received a copy of The Girl From Summer Hill from Netgalley but all opinions are honest and of my own.**
Swear On This Life by Renee Carlino
What would you do if you discovered a best selling book was written about your life?! This book is about two kids who had a rough life and became friends out of necessity for each other, and weren’t aware at the time, but were so much more. This is an epic love story and I connected with Em and Jax/Jase instantly and their story of struggle really touched my heart. There is nothing about this book that I didn’t like. You guys…..this book!!! This is my second book from Renee Carlino and I absolutely loved it! I actually think I like this book even more than Before We Were Strangers which I also rated 5 stars.
Bottom Line: Just read it!!!!!!!!!! I am going to go ahead and say it, probably one of my top reads so far this year. Cant wait to see what Renee releases next.
Rating: 5/5
**I received a copy of Swear On This Life from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review, all opinions are honest and of my own.**
Other books I read this month
4×4 Diet by Erin Oprea
The Rooftop Growing Guide by Annie Novak
Read any good books lately?
32 Comments
Some of those sound like good picks! 🙂 After we Fall looks right up my alley.
I added Swear on this Life because all those exclamation points that you used. I love a good emphasis with multiple exclamations. I’m serious!
I like what you said about not comparing One Plus One to Me Before You. I feel that way about Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief. He has another amazing book called The Messenger (or I Am The Messenger), and so many people say “well, it’s no Book Thief”. They are two totally different books!
i think i’ll pick up some of the Jojo books for my trip in a couple of weeks!!
With such a glowing review, Swear on this Life is definitely going on my reading list – now that it’s finally getting warmer here, I need some books to read when I sit outside with my lunch!
Ok going to the library TODAY! to see if I can find Swear on This Life!!!!
My mom just gave me One plus One last week after she read it. She said she laughed so hard sometimes that her side hurt, LOL! In my mind that is one great book that can do that! Your reviews always make my book Pile get higher and I can’t keep up, let me get these boys graduated and my whole summer is going to be spent reading ha ha!
maybe i’m just not a jojo moyes fan because i’ve tried reading all of the books but eh, they didn’t capture me!
I liked Try Not to Breathe. It kept me hanging in there.
I enjoy Moyes but feel bad that everything she writes is compared to Me Before You.
I like Jude Deveraux so I added The Girl From Summer Hill, Try Not to Breathe sounds interesting too.
I loved One Plus One too! Almost as much as Me Before You! And I’ve seen the Swear on this Life cover around, but now you’ve made me want to add it to my tbr list!
I can’t believe you have avoided any Pride and Prejudice movies. To be fair, I haven’t seen the most recent one which was probably 2005. I love retellings.
I JUST read Me Before You and am letting that book/author sit with me for a while before reading her other books, like the sequel and One Plus One. It’s awesome that both you and Kristen read and loved Swear on this Life. I’ve just added it to my list!
I so loved One Plus One myself… I’m just really liking everything JoJo Moyes writes!
One Plus One is my favorite Jojo Moyes book. It was freaking excellent.
Very intrigued by Try not to Breathe! Glad it had a twist, but sorry that the ending fell flat for you. That’s how I felt about Gone Girl. Still angry about that ending! 😛
Well I just added one plus one to my reading list and with a review like what you gave for swear on this life I added that too! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston
I read One Plus One this month too and totally loved it. I really can’t compare it to Me Before You because they are SO so different. I will say that Me Before You was one of the most emotional books I ever read, and although One Plus One doesn’t fall into that category, I absolutely totally loved the story and the characters. Her writing is great, as far as I’m concerned. I’m looking forward to reading Swear on this Life – sounds like such an interesting storyline.
It seems like a lot of thriller novels have endings that are just falling flat recently. I think everyone is trying to jump on the Gone Girl and Girl On A Train bandwagon.
I still haven’t read Me Before You but I does seem like so many people always compare all her other books against that one, which both understandable and not fair. Adding One Plus One and Swearing on This to my TBR, but bummed because my library doesn’t have the latter. Grrrr …
I’m getting to the point where I completely ignore book comparisons. Someone told me that a book I read this past month (The Name of the Wind) was like a less gory version of A Song of Ice and Fire (the Game of Thrones books) and I have no clue where they got that from. For starters, ASoIaF has a bajillion characters that it rotates through and The Name of the Wind just has one, and one is third person and the other is first, but even beyond that, I can’t think of a single thing I’d call a similarity. I’m super glad I read it – The Name of the Wind might just be my new favorite book, but the comparison that got me started was completely irrelevant.
I really loved One Plus One! After You, on the other hand… not so much. But this one was good and albeit farfetched, I liked the story a whole lot! I just got my Netgalley stuff sorted out yesterday so I’ll have to see if Swear on This Life is available… you’re really selling it!
I really need to get on the reading train again — I have Me Before You in my library checked out to me, but I just can’t find the motivation to read it. Maybe it’ll hit me again after all this running —- Also, I really like the way the last one sounds!! Will need to check it out once the reading bug bites again.
I’m so excited to read Swear on This Life! Sounds like I need to move it up higher on my NetGalley list! 🙂 The Girl from Summer Hill is also on my shelf, so I’m glad you liked it! 🙂
Kristen read Swear On This Life this month too, and it sounds like such a good book! It’s definitely on my TBR list! So confession time, I still haven’t read a single JoJo Moyes book, but I saw the preview for Me Before You and now I’m dying to read it! Plus the fact that everybody keeps on talking about how wonderful it is! Maybe I’ll read one for Erin’s challenge in June! After We Fall and The Girl From Summer Hill both sound like great reads too!
I have One Plus One on my TBR list, glad to hear it’s so good! And I’m adding Swear on This Life to my list right now, you’re the second person I saw recommend it today!
yayyy you loved one plus one. i read it soon after me before you and the girl you left behind so i remember not liking it as much, but i’ve since upped it to 5 stars because it really is amazing on its own and she’s a fabulous author and i’ll read anything she writes.
i can’t tell you how glad i am that you liked swear on this life. i was worried because our opinions differed a bit on before we were strangers, but this was just.. amazing. like i loved it so much. i might even up it to 5 stars because fuck it why the fuck not hahaha.
hopefully gonna finish summer hill tonight!
I have to admit that out of the 4 or 5 Moyes books I have read, One Plus One was my least favorite. It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t love it quite as much. Added Swear on This Life to my TBR!
Hey thanks for the heads up on these, I took a break from novels, right now I am reading a book about the Spanish Civil War
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
Oh I’ve gotta read Swear on This Life! Right now I’m starting the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, and I’ve been listening to Amy Poehler’s Yes Please which is just awesome!
I already added Swear on this Life because of another blogger’s post (and I can’t even remember who). It sounds so good! I listened to Try Not to Breathe and really enjoyed it.
I added Swear on this Life when I read Kristen’s post, and now I’m really glad I did! I love books that make me feel a lot of emotion, and when someone is emphatic that I give it a shot, I’m going to do so. 🙂
I have a couple JoJo Moyes books on my “To Read” list (including the one you reviewed). I feel like everyone seems to love her stuff, and I’m hoping I feel the same!
I just added Swear on this Life to my to-read list earlier today! So glad to hear you loved it too! I’m also checking out The Girl From Summer Hill! I love all things P&P so that sounds like a winner. 🙂