Scan barcode
A review by bookworm097
Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories by Stephanie Perkins
3.0
Overall, 3/5 stars. There were some stories I liked, and some I didn't, so I'm just going to go through each one. I only paid $10 for this, but I wouldn't have paid the full $20 retail price. I'm not a big fan of short stories, there's just not enough time to develop a plot and characters. So most of the time I just don't care what happens and end up not likely the story because it moves too quickly.
Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail by Leigh Bardugo ~ 3.5
I enjoyed the writing. I enjoyed the basic storyline. But all in all, it just felt flat to me. It was quite predictable. I might have liked it had it been longer and there was more backstory.
End of Love by Nina LaCour ~ 1
I did not like this at all. It was quite short. Instalove was the entire plot. I hate instalove. That is all.
Last Stand at the Cinegore by Libba Bray ~ 3.5
This was a horror/paranormal story. Two things I'm not the biggest fan of. I enjoyed the writing and the romance part of it. I thought it was clever. It wasn't my favorite story, but I liked it well enough. I felt like I connected with the characters pretty well in the short time.
Sick Pleasure by Francesca Lia Block ~ 2
This was an interesting story. I thought it was clever how the author didn't name any characters, just gave them all letters, presumably the first letter of their name. However, at the same time, that means I had trouble connected to characters without real names. Again, this was pretty much instalove. Not so much love at first sight, but it went from never talking to dating almost instantly. I was not a fan of the ending of this either.
In Ninety Minutes, Turn North by Stephanie Perkins ~ 3
This was a continuation of Stephanie's story in My True Love Gave to Me. I feel like this is cheating. A short story is just that, no continuation needed. Her story in My True Love was one of my favorites, however I didn't like this one as much. It wasn't bad, but I feel like it was a cop-out and I would have liked to have seen something new.
Souvenirs by Tim Federle ~ 2
I wasn't too big a fan of this story. It was a break-up story. It was pretty much just sad. Coming in on the last day of a relationship, in fact, it's their predetermined break-up day. Who even does that? What's the point of a relationship if you're going to set a break-up day????
As we can see, I didn't really like the first half of this book. However, I did enjoy the second half much more.
Inertia by Veronica Roth ~ 4.5
I really enjoyed this one. This was truly a love story. It had some futuristic aspects to it, which we all know Veronica for, however it wasn't too unbelievable. I loved being able to walk through the memories of a beautiful friendship. I'd like to be able to do that with some of my fond memories with my dear friends, to be able to find out what they thinking at those moments.
Love is the Last Resort by Jon Skovron ~ 4
I did quite enjoy this story. It reminded me of the Disney Channel show, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, which has always been a favorite of mine. I thought it was cute, how all of the characters worked together. How there were several couples that had loved each other for years and just needed a push. However, I did not like that two of the characters were in love after meeting the day before. That just doesn't happen. I did quite like how it was narrated though.
Good Luck and Farewell by Brandy Colbert ~ 3
Again, instalove. Our main character meets a boy, and doesn't like him. She's kissing him maybe 3 hours later, having hated him for 2 of those 3 hours. What? Besides that, the writing was nice, and the main character's backstory was quite nice. I'm very pleased with how much backstory we got in such numbered pages.
Brand New Attraction by Cassandra Clare ~ 4
I do love me some Cassie Clare. However, I'm wondering if all she can do is demons. I did quite enjoy this story, though I was hoping for a little something different from Cassie. But if you do something well, might as well stick with it, right? I thought that the love story was a bit instalove-y, but I was very happy with both of the characters' relationships with others. I thought they were quite flushed out and nicely handled.
A Thousand Ways this Could All Go Wrong by Jennifer E. Smith ~ 5
I think this one was my favorite. Jennifer E. Smith is one of my recent favorite contemporary authors, she's right up there with Morgan Matson and Rainbow Rowell. I have never not loved anything she's written. I thought this story took a really beautiful take on people with autism and Asperger's. It portrayed them in a good light. This story was cute and sweet.
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things by Lev Grossman ~ 5
This story was incredibly beautiful. There was basically no backstory on anything, but it was written in such a way that I didn't miss it. The two characters bonded over a shared phenomenon and made the best of it. They found beauty in ordinary, everyday things. We all need to open our eyes more to see the beauty around us.
Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail by Leigh Bardugo ~ 3.5
I enjoyed the writing. I enjoyed the basic storyline. But all in all, it just felt flat to me. It was quite predictable. I might have liked it had it been longer and there was more backstory.
End of Love by Nina LaCour ~ 1
I did not like this at all. It was quite short. Instalove was the entire plot. I hate instalove. That is all.
Last Stand at the Cinegore by Libba Bray ~ 3.5
This was a horror/paranormal story. Two things I'm not the biggest fan of. I enjoyed the writing and the romance part of it. I thought it was clever. It wasn't my favorite story, but I liked it well enough. I felt like I connected with the characters pretty well in the short time.
Sick Pleasure by Francesca Lia Block ~ 2
This was an interesting story. I thought it was clever how the author didn't name any characters, just gave them all letters, presumably the first letter of their name. However, at the same time, that means I had trouble connected to characters without real names. Again, this was pretty much instalove. Not so much love at first sight, but it went from never talking to dating almost instantly. I was not a fan of the ending of this either.
In Ninety Minutes, Turn North by Stephanie Perkins ~ 3
This was a continuation of Stephanie's story in My True Love Gave to Me. I feel like this is cheating. A short story is just that, no continuation needed. Her story in My True Love was one of my favorites, however I didn't like this one as much. It wasn't bad, but I feel like it was a cop-out and I would have liked to have seen something new.
Souvenirs by Tim Federle ~ 2
I wasn't too big a fan of this story. It was a break-up story. It was pretty much just sad. Coming in on the last day of a relationship, in fact, it's their predetermined break-up day. Who even does that? What's the point of a relationship if you're going to set a break-up day????
As we can see, I didn't really like the first half of this book. However, I did enjoy the second half much more.
Inertia by Veronica Roth ~ 4.5
I really enjoyed this one. This was truly a love story. It had some futuristic aspects to it, which we all know Veronica for, however it wasn't too unbelievable. I loved being able to walk through the memories of a beautiful friendship. I'd like to be able to do that with some of my fond memories with my dear friends, to be able to find out what they thinking at those moments.
Love is the Last Resort by Jon Skovron ~ 4
I did quite enjoy this story. It reminded me of the Disney Channel show, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, which has always been a favorite of mine. I thought it was cute, how all of the characters worked together. How there were several couples that had loved each other for years and just needed a push. However, I did not like that two of the characters were in love after meeting the day before. That just doesn't happen. I did quite like how it was narrated though.
Good Luck and Farewell by Brandy Colbert ~ 3
Again, instalove. Our main character meets a boy, and doesn't like him. She's kissing him maybe 3 hours later, having hated him for 2 of those 3 hours. What? Besides that, the writing was nice, and the main character's backstory was quite nice. I'm very pleased with how much backstory we got in such numbered pages.
Brand New Attraction by Cassandra Clare ~ 4
I do love me some Cassie Clare. However, I'm wondering if all she can do is demons. I did quite enjoy this story, though I was hoping for a little something different from Cassie. But if you do something well, might as well stick with it, right? I thought that the love story was a bit instalove-y, but I was very happy with both of the characters' relationships with others. I thought they were quite flushed out and nicely handled.
A Thousand Ways this Could All Go Wrong by Jennifer E. Smith ~ 5
I think this one was my favorite. Jennifer E. Smith is one of my recent favorite contemporary authors, she's right up there with Morgan Matson and Rainbow Rowell. I have never not loved anything she's written. I thought this story took a really beautiful take on people with autism and Asperger's. It portrayed them in a good light. This story was cute and sweet.
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things by Lev Grossman ~ 5
This story was incredibly beautiful. There was basically no backstory on anything, but it was written in such a way that I didn't miss it. The two characters bonded over a shared phenomenon and made the best of it. They found beauty in ordinary, everyday things. We all need to open our eyes more to see the beauty around us.