Dual Review: Most Likely to Succeed and This Is One Moment

Hey, lovelies! As you've noticed, this blog is being updated very randomly these days. After I got all my exams done at the beginning f June, I had to do an internship and, after that was over, I have been working almost every day since July. Now that I have a small break before uni starts back up next week, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about the two ARCs I've read this summer and very much enjoyed as well (◡‿◡✿)


Title: Most Likely to Succeed (Superlatives #3)
Author: Jennifer Echols
Published: August 4th, 2015
Read: July 16th to 18th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

In this sexy conclusion to The Superlatives trilogy from Endless Summer author Jennifer Echols, Sawyer and Kaye might just be perfect for each other—if only they could admit it.

As vice president of Student Council, Kaye knows the importance of keeping order. Not only in school, but in her personal life. Which is why she and her boyfriend, Aidan, already have their lives mapped out: attend Columbia University together, pursue banking careers, and eventually get married. Everything Kaye has accomplished in high school—student government, cheerleading, stellar grades—has been in preparation for that future.

To his entire class, Sawyer is an irreverent bad boy. His antics on the field as school mascot and his love of partying have earned him total slacker status. But while he and Kaye appear to be opposites on every level, fate—and their friends—keep conspiring to throw them together. Perhaps the seniors see the simmering attraction Kaye and Sawyer are unwilling to acknowledge to themselves…

As the year unfolds, Kaye begins to realize her ideal life is not what she thought. And Sawyer decides it’s finally time to let down the facade and show everyone who he really is. Is a relationship between them most likely to succeed—or will it be their favorite mistake?

I have liked the previous books in this series a lot: they’re great reads that I’ve read during a night or two and they're always filled with so many fun moments. This one I had looked forward to a whole lot, because it’s about my otp of the series whom I have been rooting for since day one. Let me tell you, this book did not disappoint! I loved it from start to finish.

"My mother had told me a million times that because I was a woman, I had to work twice as hard as a man for the same amount of respect. And I was black, so I had to work four times as hard. To get twice as much respect, I had to work eight times as hard, and that's what she expected of me."

(— taken from the ARC, 27%)

Kaye is such a great character and so is Sawyer. They’re different in a lot of ways, but also similar in the way that they’re trying to break free of the life set for them by other people. Sawyer comes from a very problematic family and past, yet he is incredibly sweet, caring and I just can’t help but fall in love with him more with each book I read. Kaye is a POC heroine who comes from a family that “has it all”. They’re rich and well-respected in the community, but since they're POC, it's definitely harder to gain that sort of respect than it is for white people, hence it’s expected of Kaye to always bring her A-game, never anything less, which could take a toll on even the toughest people. Seeing these two start fighting for their dreams was very endearing.

With this book Echols tackled some of the very important issues such as misogyny, sexism, feminism, racism, discovering one’s identity, exploring one’s sexuality etc. The author also talks about sex in a YA book which is almost always a no-show in this entire genre. It’s very important to tackle these topics and it was done in a great way. In addition to discussing these topics, this book is filled with awesome sisterhood moments and a lot of swoon! I got very emotional as well, but me crying over almost every other books is no surprise to anyone.

I really, really enjoyed this one and I can’t recommend this book enough (I also can't wait to obtain a US paperback edition of this pretty; /waits impatiently for it to come out next year)! Most Likely to Succeed is a great book to end the summer with or extend your summer in the fall that seems to be arriving at lighting speed. So yes, go pick this up, my friends!

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for providing an ARC. My thoughts are my own 

and in no way did the review copy affect my opinion on the book.

Title: This Is One Moment (Come Back to Me #2)
Author: Mila Gray
Published: September 10th, 2015
Read: August 24th to 26th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

Didi Monroe’s waited her whole life for the type of romance you see in the movies, so when Hollywood heartthrob Zac Ridgemont sweeps her off her feet, Didi believes she might finally have met the one.

While Zac’s away filming for the summer, Didi begins her internship at a military hospital in California. There, she meets wounded Marine Noel Walker.

Frustrated on the outside and broken on the inside, Walker’s a pain-in-the-ass patient who refuses all help.

Yet Didi can’t help but be drawn to him, and though he’s strictly out of bounds it soon becomes impossible to ignore the sparks flying between them.

As the attraction simmers into dangerous territory, Didi finds herself falling hard for a man she knows is going to break her heart. Because Walker doesn’t believe in love or happy ever afters. So what possible future can there be?

Then tragedy hits, shattering both their worlds, and Didi is forced to choose between fighting for love or merely falling for the illusion of it.

I loved Sarah Alderson’s New Adult debut Come Back to Me so incredibly much. It was one of my favorite reads from last year and helped me avoid a reading slump after finishing the [then] newest installment of my favorite series and I think this speaks volume about how great of a writer Sarah is. When Sil told me that she has a new book coming out in this same series I immediately jumped at the chance to read it asap and I’m so happy I did, because this book was just what I needed at the moment.

"I don't think home is a place. I think it's a person. And when you find home, the place you feel the safest, the place you go for shelter and where you can fully be yourself, then you know you're in love, really in love, not just infatuated or head over heels in lust."

(— taken from the ARC, 27%)

This Is One Moment, as Come Back to Me, deals with topics such as grief, depression, PTSD, how war affects people physically and mentally; it’s also a story about finding oneself, love and forgiveness. Didi is a great main character and I really enjoyed getting to know her. I also liked how Walker’s story was handled and his journey really, really touched me. I must say though that my favorite aspect of the novel was the showcasing of how differently people handle these traumatic situations. Even though I saw some things coming and even though a lot of things I wish hadn’t happened, especially something horrifying at the last third of the novel, these things are a reality and this kind of hopelessness and darkness is just.. saddening.

My favorite characters in this novel were probably Sanchez and Valentina who often brought comic relief. I found Walker and Didi’s chemistry off the charts and there was major swooning (and crying; duuh it’s me!) happening on my part. What keeps me from giving this book a full 4 star rating (even though I’m giving it 4 stars), is that I didn’t think the ending parts were that necessary to create a conflict? I think this is one of the easiest ways to do it and these sort of happenings have ruined so many books for me. I get Didi’s reaction, but I don’t get why Walker just couldn’t explain. Why is it always that the other person just doesn’t talk through/over/whatever but lets the protagonist vent and make their assumptions? After everything that had gone down beforehand, it was just frustrating and made the ending a bit rushed for me. However, as a whole this novel was great and I can’t wait to get myself a paperback copy of this to match the beautiful Come Back to Me on my shelf.

Overall rating: 3.8 out of 4.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you to Pan MacMillan and Netgalley for providing an ARC. My thoughts are my own 

and in no way did the review copy affect my opinion on the book.