Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins is a book that I have picked up and finished in less than two days in a long time. Reading the book itself towards the ending leaves you in a jumble of emotions, to the point where I had to set the book down a few times to digest it all.

The story starts off as the main character Lola Nolan, a high school student who designs and wears outrageous clothing and wigs, simply wishing for her fathers (yes, her fathers) to accept her current boyfriend Max. Max happens to be in a band, displaying several tattoos, whilst being 22, five years older than Lola. She has small troubles and things to worry about until her childhood neighbors, the Bell twins return after being away for several years.

Lola has had several issues in the past with Calliope, whom nearly everything revolves around and a lost childhood love connection between Cricket. Cricket has changed after being away for several years, his family always on the move for the benefits of his twin sister’s future. Lola is convinced that she loves her boyfriend Max and despises Cricket, yet when he comes around, she finds the same emotions creeping back after several years since he left her emotionally wounded.

A short, heart aching love story of a different unique girl and an awkward well dressed genius who struggle to find the words to admit their feelings after the long years they’ve spent apart. It’s heartwarming, irritating book of two characters who seem to find their connection in an instant, but drag out time to finally be together. It’s a pain in the chest to see them grow so close at some times, to the extent where you experience their aching desire for each other, only to be pulled apart again.

I would highly recommend this story to teen romance lovers who love a long fight for long before the end of the journey.

Eman Fathala

Josie and Jack by Kelly Braffet

I can say for sure that I have been waiting a few hours now to get all my thoughts on this book while I am still heated. I started and finished this book in less than three hours, completely and utterly consumed in it.

The stage set, siblings Josie and Jack, live together in a large house with a unloving, neglecting (slightly maniac) father, deprived of a mother, who has deep interest in the studies of science, and believes schools teach their children rubbish, therefore having them homeschooled. Josie and Jack, share the same dark, witty humour that sets them off from everybody in town, as they’re the only people who understand each other. After Josie has a falling out with their father, he leaves the house for several months only to come back and invite Josie along to their new destination: New York.

I grew faintly attached with Jack, Josie’s nineteen year old brother, who takes care of her with such care, in the midst of the book, I was suspecting a slight case of incest when he would kiss or caress her, pushing away several of her admirers, stating that he would be the only one to love her. Josie, must to my distaste, is greatly dependent, and almost cannot be without him, overall creating a weak female lead, made difficult to like.

It’s certainly a consuming book that leaves you thinking after the ending, wishing you’d gone back and read carefully so you wouldn’t miss a single word. Their dialogue and emotion put you right in the scene, a delightful, taboo romantic relationship between the two that will leave you breathless. I highly suggest this a quick read or something to dissect and interpret in your free time. A intelligent, tear-provoking book. I suggest it if you’re up for it.

Eman Fathala

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

How can something so wrong feel so right?
Forbidden written by Tabitha Suzuma and published in 2010, is another book I have read recently and felt the need to review once again. This book includes explicit and mature content, so a mere warning for those who are sensitive to topics including incest (in addition to foul language and graphic scenes)

It takes place in London, where a dysfunctional family of an alcoholic, neglecting mother, two lively younger siblings, a wicked troublemaker by the name of Kit, and the two oldest siblings, Maya and Lochan. With their mother constantly outside the house, Maya and Lochan are put in full responsibility of caring for the children, preparing their meals, driving them to school, and assisting them with their homework. Lochan, a witty but anti social outcast, suffers from a phobia of speaking to people and even speaking, only feeling comfortable at home. As him and Maya work together and grow closer, they are forced to battle and confront the feelings and they have built towards each other, their longing and aching desire for each other growing worse by each page. Their love turns to something they wish to keep in desperate secrecy till finally they are able to reach a conclusion.

Although the writing style not of something I would normally enjoy, slightly vague and lacking some detail, I was unable to put it down. The emotion and description were enough to keep me going and experiencing nearly the same joy, pain and aching desperation as the characters. It takes incest from a different point of view, much to my pleasure, and it somehow make this normally socially shunned subject slightly more...acceptable?

As much as I wish to spoil this, I cannot and will not. A heart wrenching, tragic tale, but highly suggested for a romance lover that loves a dare, a little more danger.

Eman Fathala

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor and Park, by New York Times Bestseller Rainbow Rowell, is the extraordinary teen tale between two misfits, the two more different and complex than each other. Despite the many troubles and people around them, they’re able to develop the innocent, heart-warming romance all teens long for. Both smart enough to know that their first loves don’t last; they decide to give it a chance.

Each of their stories told through an alternating third person perspective, it allows us in to each of their lives before we’re quickly removed away from their worlds. Eleanor, a slightly bigger girl with uncontrollable bright red hair comes from a home where recycling clothes and acting like she can’t see the bruises on her mother’s arms is the norm. Facing the troubles of trying to avoid her sickening, gross stepfather, her life sees a speck of light when she’s forced to sit next to a privileged beautiful Asian boy, Park. From there they’re story begins.

Through the exchange of comic books and music tapes, their high school love story is unlike no other. It makes you want to tear up nearly most of the time because of the simple, yet meaningful dialogue and the different ways they interact. You see change in Park as you dig further into the story, fighting his father and doing as what he pleases, or what makes him happy. Some shocking events are revealed at the ending, and I highly suggest this as a sweet, quick read if you’re ever in the mood for a slightly more unique high school romance.

Eman Fathala

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews, a New York Times bestseller happened to fall in my hands unexpectedly last week and I finished in under two days (along with the attached sequel I will review next). I caution readers about this book as it make trigger any strong emotions or discomfort.

The story takes place in 1957, where two children, Cathy and Chris, and their mother, impregnated with twins, await their father on his 35th birthday. An officer arrives instead with the tragic news that their father has died. The family is forced to move to their mother’s house where they’re coldly greeted by their grandmother who openly despises them all, the twins now having been born. She loathes her daughter and grandchildren for the reason that they are the children of the devil, because of a “sinful” marriage between their mother and her husband, who is her half uncle. While staying the attic, for a number of years abandoned by their neglecting widow of a mother, changes occur, emotions and feelings change between the children, more specifically Cathy and Chris after been kept contained in an attic to grow and develop.

This book is one of the first books I have started in months and have managed to finish in less than twenty-four hours. It’s captivating, emotionally, and certainly a page-turner. If you haven’t already gotten the hint, I think it’s appropriate to say that this book includes quite a bit of incest. Usually when people hear this word, they feel sick to the stomach but this book could possibly change your perspective. After viewing their relationship with the children and with each other, their mother have no role in their lives anymore, they take up the roles of parents. They take care of the twins, make sure they’re happy and safe, even when they’re kept inside the walls of an attic, far from sunshine, air, and more importantly, a normal life.

I would highly suggest this book for anyone who is looking for something that will keep them on the edge of their seat, or something rather daring.

Eman Fathala

After by Anna Todd

After by Anna Todd, first time author Wattpad sensation alone has bucked up around one billion reads online, only to be brought to shelves worldwide. A book that will leave your head aching and wanting for more, despite the turn of events. A slightly more mature book, including foul language, sexual content and graphic writing, I would not recommend this to readers under seventeen.

Tessa Young, 18, the ambitious daughter with the reliable caring boyfriend back home, is lead into a completely different life world when she is meets Hardin Scott, the classic bad boy through her dorm partner. With his tousled brown hair, tattoos and piercing and cocky attitude, there is sure to be a clash between the all-innocent, sweet good girl and the intricate British heartthrob. Tessa knows he is different and life after him will certainly not be the same.

The book itself is a series of four books, and each book more heart wrenching and indulging than the other. The story itself, as mentioned, received a series of mixed reviews from people who debate and question if this is a so-called romance. The story itself is very addicting to read, the type of book that you cannot set down, but I could that at times it lacks detail and some of the events are repetitive, resulting in no actual plot.

It’s claimed that despite the cheats, lies, and actions displayed through the book, it tells the story of a traumatized man who learns to accept and give love with the help of the patient, kind hearted woman. Many readers criticize that this displays several signs of an abusive relationship both physically and emotionally, while others disagree. The story itself is very addicting to read, the type of book that you cannot set down, but I could say that at times it lacked detail and some of the events were repetitive, resulting in no actual plot. Then again, that is up to the reader to decide.

It mixes the ideas of old classics such as Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice to tell the story of two stubborn, passionate individuals.

Eman Fathala