Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker // BOOK REVIEW

"I'm an addict and Kyle is my drug of choice."

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Book: Say You Still Love Me

Author: K.A. Tucker

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult

Synopsis: Life is a mixed bag for Piper Calloway.

On the one hand, she’s a twenty-nine-year-old VP at her dad’s multibillion-dollar real estate development firm, and living the high single life with her two best friends in a swanky downtown penthouse. On the other hand, she’s considered a pair of sexy legs in a male-dominated world and constantly has to prove her worth. Plus, she’s stuck seeing her narcissistic ex-fiancé—a fellow VP—on the other side of her glass office wall every day.

Things get exponentially more complicated for Piper when she runs into Kyle Miller—the handsome new security guard at Calloway Group Industries, and coincidentally the first love of her life.

The guy she hasn’t seen or heard from since they were summer camp counsellors together. The guy from the wrong side of the tracks. The guy who apparently doesn’t even remember her name.

Piper may be a high-powered businesswoman now, but she soon realizes that her schoolgirl crush is not only alive but stronger than ever, and crippling her concentration. What’s more, despite Kyle’s distant attitude, she’s convinced their reunion isn’t at all coincidental, and that his feelings for her still run deep. And she’s determined to make him admit to them, no matter the consequences.

What I thought about it...

The Writing

Finally, a breath of fresh air. If my memory serves me right, this is the first romance book I’ve read where the girl is the billionaire and the guy is on the wrong side of the tracks. It is so empowering to read a book where the female lead is strong and independent and has the say in a lot of things and not like some hot, billionaire, bachelor guy stereotype.

It is written in Piper Calloway’s point of view and the chapter alternates between the Then, where she narrates her time in Wawa Camp when she was 16 years old, and the Now, where she’s currently 29 years old and a VP of Calloway Group – a real estate company headed by her father.

The exchange of lines are, wow. I felt the whole d*mn zoo inside my stomach during their Wawa Camp days and I felt like a teenage girl falling in-love for the first time again... it’s amazing. It reminded me of my every firsts – first kiss, first hug, first love and first heartbreak.

The Characters

I like the Now Piper more than the Then Piper. I actually felt indifferent towards the sixteen-year-old Piper and the seventeen-year-old Kyle. Though I love the Young Adult genre, I always find making-out of teens at that age cringey. But in general, I find it cute anyways. Their exchange of lines made me giggly as early as chapter four. But there are things she did (at the camp, e.g. PDA with a guy she barely knew) that made me detest her and she kinda lost me midway.

With Kyle, I like him, very much actually. He’s so mysterious and strong and vulnerable all at the same time. What a set of balls!

I also like the background characters like David just being a douchebag and self-centered and Eric's goofiness. I ship David with Reneé and Eric with Ashley. I was left heartbroken at the end, though, knowing what happened to Eric. I really want him to end up with Ashley cos they looked cute together. I want all of them to be happy!

My Verdict

I love second chances but I’m not a fan of childhood love story so I’m kinda doubtful about reading this... but dang! I enjoyed it at first before it slowly bores me. Reading it gave me tons of feelings. However, I felt like the author was just dragging the story. It lost me at the end and bore me cos the story progressed so slow from the moment Kyle told her why he went away thirteen years ago. On that note, I am more curious as to what’s gonna happen on her career than contemplate if she’s gonna turn her back on her Dad or pursue her relationship with Kyle. I’m contemplating as well if I’m just gonna put this book behind me and move to a new one or just get it over with.

It is awesome, but not awesome enough for me to finish it in one sitting.

P.S. Can I just share what the seventeen-year-old Kyle Miller looked like to me? Well, here.

He’s not every bit of Kyle as described in the book but I’ve watched him recently so his beautiful smile lingers. And it doesn’t help that he’s a security guard in his next lakorn series. Talk about timing.

MY RATING

★★★☆☆

All the Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle // BOOK REVIEW

"We were right inside the story. The past was so close we could touch it."

NO SPOILER REVIEW!!!

Book: All the Bad Apples

Author: Moïra Fowley-Doyle

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Magical Realism, LGBT

Synopsis: The day after the funeral all our mourning clothes hung out on the line like sleeping bats. 'This will be really embarrassing,' I kept saying to my family, 'when she shows up at the door in a week or two.'

When Deena's wild and mysterious sister Mandy disappears - presumed dead - her family are heartbroken. But Mandy has always been troubled. It's just another bad thing to happen to Deena's family. Only Deena refuses to believe it's true.

And then the letters start arriving. Letters from Mandy, claiming that their family's blighted history is not just bad luck or bad decisions - but a curse, handed down through the generations. Mandy has gone in search of the curse's roots, and now Deena must find her. What they find will heal their family's rotten past - or rip it apart forever.

What I thought about it…

I thought this book will end my reading slump... but it didn’t. 

I can’t form a coherent thought about this book. It felt like I understand it but kinda not understand it at the same time. The only reason I kept on turning the pages is because I was intrigued by the story – I wanna know what happened to her sister, I wanna know what’s that curse she’s talking about and how it started.

A few chapters from the beginning I felt like the book is not for me so I would put it down after a few pages but then I will pick it up again cos I wanna know what’s going to happen next. It has a lot of positive reviews on Goodreads and I wanna know why so I keep on reading anyway.

The Characters

I can’t relate to Deena’s character. I don't understand her mind (though this is her POV). I felt like the characters were not clearly illustrated. I think the problem (imo), is that the whole story is not described in detailed and that I can’t imagine it. Though I know I don’t have to imagine what the character looks like down to the last detail, I still want to know anyway, so I can picture them doing this and that. I’m having troubles imagining the whole thing. The book is more focused on the back-story, on the curse, that it didn’t pay much attention to the development of the main characters hence I’m not quite attached to them.

What didn’t work for me…

At the end of the book, I was confused and shook that I don’t know what’s the reality and the metaphor (or if there is). I was really confused that I thought maybe Deena is mentally unstable? Or maybe Mandy is? Is she just realizing things? She has schizophrenia? And why was there a magic in that apple sapling? This book has left so many unanswered questions in my mind. It was like a story inside a story inside a story and it makes me woozy.

Also, what does apple stands for here? (Like, metaphorically) Did I miss something?

My Verdict

It’s not a bad book; I’m just a lazy reader. It’s actually nice and the message is very deep. There are so many, many issues in this book that need to be addressed and discussed. I will still recommend this because it’s so empowering. I love how it encourages each and every one to stand up and be you no matter what and that being yourself is not equivalent to being a “bad apple”.

MY RATING

★☆☆☆☆