Review #3 The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen

Macy's world is quiet, structured, forseeable. Her life seems well-planned, everything nice and in order, Macy herself on her way to perfectionism. The kind of perfect that her boyfriend resembles. The kind of perfect that's just good enough to please her mom, to keep things as they are. Quiet. Peaceful. Fine, just fine.

It takes a whole crew of disorganized caterers to make Macy wake up from the daily coma she walks through and discover that life can be so much more fun the further away it fades from perfectionism...

Goodreads summary:

a long, hot summer... 

That's what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy's father. 

But sometimes unexpected things can happen—things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister's project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any girl's world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry?

This book was for me. Totally. In like...every aspect you can think of. It was perfect. 

I usually grab a Sarah Dessen novel at times when I just don't feel good about myself and if something's really wrong in my life and I just want to see other people figuring out difficult stages of adolescence. And usually, I get what I want. Which is good, but not that 3-smarties kind of great/amazing/wonderful.

It is different for me with "The Truth about forever".

 From the first page I fell in love with the characters and when I say characters I mean every single one. Macy was that kind of a girl that you want to befriend immediately and Macy's family - although her mom might be a bit difficult - is just so amazing.

The catering-crew, of course, is fantastic, too. They are all so happy and they present a really healthy way of taking life as it is and making the best out of everything.

The way the story went was not that surprising - in my opinion, but I find that with almost every contemporary novel you can guess the ending by the synopsis. There just won't suddenly appear a pack of werewolves from behind the garbage container.

What I liked about this Dessen - novel better than in some others of her works was the story telling and the way Macy's situation and emotions were described. Macy and I do share some similarities, but even if one doesn't I think it would be very easy for him or her to identify with the protagonist.

I could continue praising this novel pretty much forever, but I'm gonna stop now by encouraging every single teenage/young adult girl/ grown up woman out there to read this book :)

Greetings, the Booksmartie

RATING: 3 out of 3 Smarties

Hello and a happy friday everyone!

As you can see from the button above I decided to start participating in the Feature & Follow Friday. I started blogging mainly to exvhange my views on books with others so I felt like this was the perfect opportunity to get to know new blogs/bloggers ;)

Today's question is: Do you read one book at a time or do you switch back and forth between two or more?

Answer: I read several books at a time and that has various reasons. For one, I like to change things up a lot. For example, in rainy weather and on bus rides I like to read paranormal or dystopian books while I prefer romances or rather contemporary novels when the weather is nicer. Also, I like to reread certain books (i.e the Harry Potter series) and sometimes I just need certain books to comfort me when I'm sad. Then again, I read books on my netbook and on my phone so that depending on the device I have with me I read a different book, as well. If they count, I'm almost always listening to audiobooks so that'd add one more book to the list!

Right now, I'm reading "Anna and the French Kiss" by Stephanie Perkins and I'm planning on starting "Perfect" by Ellen Hopkins. In addition to  that I'm listening to "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak (although it's taking me forever). I do actually like to read books in one setting (which obviously means I would not read several books at a time then) but I only do that when I have LOTS of time (like on really lazy sundays). So I guess that's it for now, see you in a bit, the Booksmartie

Review #2 Hush Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick

Imagine the following: You think you are an ordinary girl. With an ordinary life. No, you are not over your father's death just yet and you're visiting your psychologist a few times a week. But other than that, everything's in order. Until, of course it's not anymore because there's an angel falling from heaven and you're head over heels in love with him. End of ordinary.

 Goodreads summary:

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life

I didn't love this book. I liked it okay. I needed almost a month to finish "Hush Hush" and I read about three or four books in the meantime. I feel like if you like a book it can be two different things. It is either that feeling that you get sucked in by the story so much that you forget everything around you. For that, the book does not always have to be super creepy or dangerous or anything. It's just that you get lost in the world that's created for you.
"Hush Hush" -in my opinion - is another kind of book. It's a magazine-book. By which I mean that during the past few weeks I took it everywhere with me and read it whenever I had like five to ten minutes with nothing to do. It was great to not get bored during waiting-minutes. I just wouldn't sit down and read it in one setting and then look forward to the sequel like crazy.

The main problem I had with this book was the characters. As for Nora, the main character, I don't think there was any development at all and from the side characters there was not a single one that didn't annoy me at one time or the other in the novel.
They were all just such stereotypes and then again sometimes made completely unreasonable decisions.

What made up for that a LOT was the actual storytelling. I was never bored with the storyline and the writing was fast-paced. The plot had some nice twists and turns and most of the little pieces of the puzzle fit together in the end in an understandable way.

So all in all I found this to be an enjoyable read that I would recommend  to girls who loved the nice atmosphere that Stephenie Meyer evoked with "Twilight", but as I will not reread it and probably never buy the rest of the series borrowing it from a library might make more sense than buying it.

Rating: 1/3 Smarties

Geeknote #1

Just a quick update fro me ;) I'm suffering from baaad anxiety right now as I'm taking an important exam tomorrow! I hate being nervous before tests because that usually leads to blackouts and stuff, but I just can't help it...I was wondering if anyone knows any tips to calm down before exams? I'm actually not that much of a worrier, so this hit me pretty much off guard :(

Review #1 Divergent-Veronica Roth

If you had to - could you describe yourself in one word and stick to that description for the rest of your life?
Yeah, clearly I coulldn't. And I'm sure most other people would answer this question with a "no",too.
However, Divergent - the dystopian novel written by Veronica Roth - which I'm going to tell you about today deals with exactly that question. Well...not only with that question...

Goodreads Summary:

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.



Divergent is Roth's debut novel which is only somewhat surprising since the author is only 23. Uhu. Try writing such a  jewel before most other people even move out of their parents' house! 


What I liked about this book was that it actually didn't feel like a book while I was reading it. And reading didn't feel like reading.. It was more me getting sucked into a world that I could not leave until I finished the book. I read during all of my classes at school,while I was eating, I sacrificed sleeping (very unusual for me).
Due to the fact that I wasn't reading, but living in the story I cannot tell you guys much about the characters except that I could totally relate to the main character and that all of them seemed very real to me. I never felt overloaded with too much information about the characters' history or their appearance, it was just enough to picture them in my head and to understand why they were acting the way they did.


What was just striking about this book was of course the story and the storytelling. So many little details turned out to be huge and so important in the course of the story. Divergent belongs to one of those books that do give you little hints so that you always have a certain sense of knowing what's going to happen - and then it's totally different.
All the little twists and turns in the novel, the development of some of the characters that was often surprising but never unreasonable and the way Roth can transform you into the story world made this book my new all-time-favorite!


Greetings, the Booksmartie


RANKING: 3 out of 3 Smarties

Hello Internet!

Hello, everyone and welcome to my blog!
As I am completely new to the Internet-world (I am not counting my constant passive existence on facebook) and the book-blogging world, as well, I thought it might be interesting for you to get to know me a little bit.
First of all, I am a sixteen-year-old girl, I was born in Germany and I still live there but for years I have been dreaming about moving to the US when I'm older which is why I read mainly English books which is why I decided to write this blog in English.
I live in a town that certainly is too small for me or at least for the dreams and stories in my head. 
Until now, leaving school drama and the boring everyday-blas behind me has worked quite well with a pile of books near my bed or in my bag, but as the number of people decreased whom I could talk to about books I started feeling a bit lonely. After all, what means a good book if there is no one you can rave about it with? Right, it loses a lot of its power.
And that is actually it. What I want my blog to be. I want to experience the awesomeness of books and I want to experience it with other people. And as my head is full of thoughts and as I am never out of words, books are not going to be the only thing you are going to hear about from me :)
Greetings, the BookSmartie