A Bad Boy Stole My Bra by Lauren Price

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 304

Publisher: Ink Road 

Released: 12th of July 2018 

Imagine waking up in the dead of night to find your hot new neighbour dangling out of your window. What’s more, he's clutching your tattiest bra in his hand.

What. The. Actual. Fudge.

When bad boy Alec Wilde moves in next door to Riley, sparks fly. After their 'unconventional' introduction, Riley is determined to get her own back. A nemesis is just the distraction she needs: inside, she's barely holding it together. It's game on.

But behind the banter, there's a side to Alec that Riley actually likes. How can she get through to the real him when she can't even take herself seriously?

What I Have to Say 

This was a disappointment. I'd heard quite a lot about the book and it seemed like such a funny idea, but it actually fell quite flat on me and I'm not really sure why. The swear words also really put me off. I can't imagine anyone ever saying "grasshole", even a teenager with a younger brother. Just say the actual word or use a different word. 

I really liked the relationships, not just between Riley and Alec (talk about a slow burn!) but also all the friendships and family relationships in the books. It was a really good set of characters and even so many of the side characters felt really real and honest. 

I guess it just didn't have the humour that he title implied. It was more centred around the grief and guilt that Riley and the people around her feel about what happened to her cousin. And though that wouldn't usually put me off, I just wasn't prepared for it. I just didn't manage to engage with the book the way I do with most books. 

I'm really disappointed. It wasn't a badly written but I just couldn't get into it.. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Ink Road for providing me with this copy for review. 

Wild Blue Wonder by Carlie Sorosiak

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 288

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books 

Released: 28th of June 2018 

There are two monsters in this story. One of them is me.

Ask anyone in Winship, Maine, and they’ll tell you the summer camp Quinn’s family owns is a magical place. Paper wishes hang from the ceiling. Blueberries grow in the dead of winter. According to local legend, a sea monster even lurks off the coast. Mostly, there’s just a feeling that something extraordinary could happen there.

Like Quinn falling in love with her best friend, Dylan.

After the accident, the magic drained from Quinn’s life. Now Dylan is gone, the camp is a lonely place, and Quinn knows it’s her fault.

But the new boy in town, Alexander, doesn’t see her as the monster she believes herself to be. As Quinn lets herself open up again, she begins to understand the truth about love, loss, and monsters—real and imagined.

What I Have to Say 

This book pulled up a lot of my own issues for me, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have really, through no fault of the book. It was a fantastic setting with great characters with a lot of magic, monsters and a really strong story line of guilt, grief and a family torn apart by one small thing. I think I could have really enjoyed it if it hadn't triggered so many of my own feelings.

I liked all the stuff about monsters and sea creatures. This book has made puffer fish my new favourite fish, so I have it to thank about that! (If you don't know about the mating rituals of the puffer fish, you /have/ to google them. I also liked the symbolism of the sea monster, the desperation that Quinn had to find it because it gives her something to pin the blame on other than herself.

I truly think that this is a well crafted book with a great story and I'm sad that it was so tempered by my own emotions. I hope in the future once my head is back in a better place that I can read it again and give it the enjoyment it deserves.

My thanks go to Netgalley and Macmillan for providing me with this copy for review.