Cole & Sav: Our Surprising Love Story

"I wasn't looking for a new boyfriend even though I constantly asked God to someday bring  that perfect guy into my life. I was simply praying and trusting that someday He might answer my prayers." - Savannah Soutas 

(Warning: This post may contain spoilers and it is an HONEST review so please, if you are in the middle of the book or if you are a fan and love everything about this book or the people pertaining to this book, please, do not read.) 

What It's About: YouTuber couple, Cole and Savannah LaBrant give followers a never before seen sneak peek inside their lives answering questions for the first time ever, including; Becoming a stepdad to a four year old, waiting until marriage to have sex, the struggles of achieving a long distance relationship and so much more. They tell every detail about their fairytale like love story all the way up until their wedding giving their testimony about how God absolutely changed their lives.


I've watched Cole since his Dem White Boyz days but never knew what was going on after those vines were no longer made. Cole was attending VidCon in sunny Southern California when he unexpectedly had a run in with musical.ly star Savannah Soutas and her daughter Everleigh Rose at the Grove.

To read Cole and Savannah's point of views when they first met, their first date, the texts & calls in between and their wedding day was absolutely so thought provoking and adorable. It was like reading a love story that you only hope can happen to you.  I didn't except for this book to hold so much of their personal stories from their lives. It was incredible to see how God worked through them and God had perfectly made them for each other.

Savannah's past was not what Cole had even thought about when he was praying for his future wife. In fact, he never thought he would marry someone who already had a kid. Cole and Savannah's story just goes to show a lot of the time what we think is not what God is thinking/ already has planned.

I loved how Cole and Savannah touched on a lot of sensitive topics specially since a lot of their viewers are very young and I'm really happy that we have role models like Cole in Savannah in this generation. Savannah's testimony spoke on how her life had turned around from partying, sleeping with guys, having sex etc.... to learning how to praise God, praying, reading the bible and knowing that God has forgiven her for her past. Cole's testimony was about how even though he wasn't involved in sexual activity he spoke on how he lustfully looked upon women and how hard it was for him to stay pure in his young years and waiting for his wife.

I find with a lot of biographies or autobiographies, the authors tend to repeat themselves and in this book it happened A LOT. I knew Cole and Savannah were really trying to stress some of the things they kept repeating but it got to the point where I began to wonder if they were using the repeating to fill the book.

That's really the only thing I really have that  I found a bit annoying or bad inside the book, everything else I can't really write on because it's their life and if you don't like their life then you probably shouldn't be reading the book in the first place.

Of course Savannah and Cole didn't have perfect lives growing up but they acknowledge that and talk about it and now they are striving to serve like God and to love like Him. They are a great couple and the cutest family and I can't wait to see them welcome their newest addition.

                

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

“There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” 

(Warning: This post may contain spoilers and it is an HONEST review so please, if you are in the middle of the book or if you are a fan and love everything about this book, do not read.) 

What's It About: After a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Potter die in a car crash they leave behind a baby boy gifted the name of Harry Potter who has been adopted by his dreadful aunt and uncle. He goes through eleven painful years of life without a proper Christmas, birthday and every other holiday you can think of, until one day Harry gets a letter accepting him into Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Where up until now, Harry has known none of his life and will about to go on an adventure of a life time battling against dark forces, trolls, bullies, a malignant aunt and uncle and also an enemy that has been after Harry his whole life. 

Harry Potter was released in the United States in 1998 which coincidentally was the same year I was born, and if there was any book that had to be re-published in my birth year I'm sure glad it was this one. I haven't read Harry Potter until this year,  I know I know. How is that even possible?

See, I wasn't really a huge fan of wizards, witches and all the magic stuff. It had been too overdone for me. Everyone was writing about spells, potions, inanimate objects and blah blah blah but that was my fault for putting fantasy in that stereotypical box in the first place. You can do whatever in fantasy meaning goblins can be different for anyone, trolls aren't always under bridges and wizards aren't all dressed in cloaks and pointy hats.

I was contemplating not even reviewing this book because of how popular it is and usually people don't tear down or build up books that already have an enormous following but I came to the conclusion that the job of a review blog is to put my honest thoughts out to read. 

When I opened this book up I was instantly grateful to Ms. Rowling for making the genre of fantasy her own. For creating her own memorable characters like Harry, Hagrid, Dudley, Dumbledore etc. She was so in touch with her characters which is something I absolutely look for in every book I read. She knew them in and out, she knew them like they were her own children. Not only did she know her characters, but she knew the wizarding world like the back of her hand. 

I got so attached to Harry within the first few pages. He was very easy to get attached to which I know will be a curse the further along I read through the series. I found it relatively easy to get attached to most of the characters except for Hermione. I don't know if it was because she was a stereotypical know it all or just not my type of character.

Speaking of characters, there were a ton. There were memorable ones (Harry, Hermonie, Ron, The Weasley brothers, Hagrid etc.....) Then  there were others that nearly played just stand ins (Crabbe, Goyle and the ghosts) that made it confusing to remember all their names considering we just met all of these characters and it is the first book.

I'm the type of person who likes a lot of description. Which I think Harry Potter lacked. Everything just was told very simply. Hogwarts barely had any description at all. At first sight all it says is, "Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood." We know that it's a large castle that was tall and it was built on a cliff. Description for me as an author is key but I also understand  if the author purposely does this in order for the reader to gain creativity and to make up whatever they imagine it looks like. I do believe there is a good middle though,  where the author can be descriptive but the readers can also toss in their own creativity. 

I do believe that J.K. Rowling has written one of the most significant books of this generation and I hope this book stays around forever because not only  is it a land of make believe but it has the perfect ounce of real life too. 

Extra Thoughts: 

Favorite Character: My favorite character has been without a doubt Harry Potter. He's one of those character that you would love to sit down and have a cup of tea with and just talk about grand adventures, small adventures and life goals. He's an all around well developed character and I just loved his bravery, humbleness and energy. 

Favorite Scene/Chapter:  Out of all these great chapters, mine would have to be Chapter Fifteen, The Forbidden Forest. If there's anything I like in Fantasy books it's the forests. Anything can live in a forest and I, personally, love to see what the author has hiding in the forest and in J.K. Rowling's case it was the main antagonist and some centaurs and unicorns. 

Least Favorite Part of the Book: The only part I really can name my least favorite part was the beginning. It was really slow and drab. I wasn't expecting for the beginning to drag on but the rest of the book made up for it. 

Daughter of the Pirate King

“Imagine that you traveled all over the world, looking for happiness, looking for thrills to pass the time. Imagine seeing everything there is to see and still not finding happiness. Well, that would give you a very bleak outlook on life, would it not?” Alosa, Daughter Of The Pirate King.




(Warning: This post may contain spoilers and it is an HONEST review so please, if you are in the middle of the book or if you are a fan and love everything about this book, do not read.) 

From the first page to the very last, I was hooked on this book. I never ever have been interested in Pirates so when my dear friend had suggested this book to me I was sort of on edge about buying it and reading it. 

I really liked the main character. I had attachment to her from the very first thing she thought on page one. I found part of myself in her, I laughed with her and felt with her. I had mentioned a lot in other reviews that I don't agree with authors who makes their female leads so strong, stubborn and "I don't need no man" that they seem less human than ever. Alosa was all of these things, she was strong, she didn't need anyone to save her but she never seemed less human at all even though she had these characteristics. Maybe she wasn't always like this. Maybe she liked pink, and plated with dolls and adored horses.  Maybe  it's because that she was trained to be like this because of her father, The Pirate King. I applaud Ms. Levenseller though for creating a female character like this. That can take care of herself and not seem like a robot or unrelatable.

I was also instantly drawn to Riden, he was so sweet and endearing and awh! Just such an awesome and enchanting male lead.

Speaking of Riden. He is the love interest to Alosa and you know when there's a love interest there is bound to be romance and when there's bound to be romance...…….I cringed, I skimmed, I totally skipped parts because I just couldn't read these "scenes" if you will. I'm all for the cutesy love scenes and the romantic scenes but this was not romantic. This was too much for a book about pirate romance. This turned from a book about pirates to a steamy love story real fast. I don't mean harsh about it but I found it gross and pointless for what?  Nothing to happen at the end between Alosa and Riden except Alosa saving Riden's butt. Sure give them a love story but not sexy scenes especially when these characters don't have a love story in the end. 

I loved this book, don't get me wrong. Tricia Levenseller is an absolutely great author and I look forward to reading Daughter of the Siren Queen next. A swashbuckling adventure like no other, for sure!

P.S. when this gets made into a movie please cast Karen Gillan as Alosa and Noah Centineo as Riden, thanks!

The Loneliest Girl In The Universe by Lauren James

Like I said on another one of my reviews, it's very rare I like a book so much that I finish it in two whole days!! This book really blew my mind, but like everything there were pros and cons for me. I truly would recommend this book but let's dig in to see more of my likes and dislikes of this book:

CONS
-There's more sexual stuff then I would have liked it. Come on we're in Space here people, let's not get into it. I mean yes sex does happen but can we not fantasize about and dream about it in every romance book? Romance is not all sex. These parts really turned me off.

- It was boring at times. I caught myself flipping through pages to see when the next exciting thing happened. But these boring parts never lasted long. So thank you for that, Lauren James.

- This book was tragic. Hence the title, "The Loneliest Girl In The Universe" I guess this is personally a really big con for myself when I'm looking for books. I hate sad books and thought that we weren't going to be reminded of tragic events every other chapter. I like to get away from the sad stuff the world can bring not read about it too.

-I don't see much self growth with the main character, Romy until the last page, literally. She had such good potential too. (I would really like to see a sequel to this book where Romy is on EARTH II where we can see that Romy grew up a bit.)


-The fanfic thing was too weird. I liked that the author incorporated fan fic into the story but the characters were ridiculous I just really dreaded every time we got to read some fan fic Romy had written.


PROS:

- The twists and turns that this book will take you on were unlike any other. I was so compelled to read more and more and then I realized I was at the last page!

- The dedication was perfect and stayed true. "For all the girls who never felt they were brave enough to be the hero in an adventure story," this book tells this to a T and oh my gosh will it make you feel awesome being a girl.

Romy was a perfect female hero. She had fears, she had doubt, she had a mental breakdown she wasn't so strong she couldn't cry, so strong she wasn't really female anymore, and the most part the male character wasn't weak to make the female character bigger and better and tougher. I'm looking at you Hunger Games. (Ya'll I'm a HUGE fan of the Hunger Games so I'm not bashing Ms. Collins)

-I realized I love stories set in space!

-The ending of this book was GREAT! Ms. James, second book please?

Christopher Robin

This book review was kind of hard to write. I liked this book very much and hated this book for the very same reasons.

-The writing was childlike. It was so simple and there was no description. There were just words inked on a page/ It's simplicity gave off the most childlike vibe and it made my imagination run wild with how many things I got to dress up.

-The storyline was predictable. From the very beginning of the book I knew how this story was going to end. / The simplicity of just being whisked away in the book and not worrying about plot twists or keeping track of things that maybe was foreshadowing something.

- Everything was perfectly peachy in the ending/ The ending that we all crave, The ending where everything is butterflies and rainbows. The ending that distracts us from life's hard trials and tribulations.

- Unrealistic. This could never happen.....ever/ Disney's magic always leaves us hoping that even though we know it can't that these stories will come true.

-No opening/lead for a second book. I understand that there are people that are saying, "Why would you want a second one? It doesn't need one....." But there are so many other adventures adult Christopher Robin can go on with his Hundred Acre Friends. After all no one gets a second chance to make new old friends.

When I was thinking about all these negative thoughts while reading keeping this review in mind. I needed to remind myself that this was in fact a children's book, a children's story. I think that's why it might have been hard for me to decipher which thing were actually pros and cons because there is still a child inside of me when I read these Disney books and watch Disney movies filled with innocence and the same old Disney magic.

Overall I was really excited when this book/movie was released and did enjoy revisiting Pooh and the gang through the words and am excited to see the movie

The 15:17 To Paris

"“I just wanted to go to war and save lives.” - Airman Stone, The 15:17 To Paris

Such a good book, I need to start off by saying that I saw the movie trailer before I even knew about the book and I refused to see the movie before I read the book. I made that mistake too many times. 

If you don't know what The 15:17 To Paris is about, read here: What began as a fun trip to Paris, three friends (ANTHONY SADLER, ALEK SKARLATOS AND SPENCER STONE) ended up becoming American heroes. Stopping Isis operative, Ayoub al- Khazzani they prevented an event that could have killed over five hundred people.

This isn't normally a book I would read but that just goes to show sometimes you have to step out of your book comfort zone and you might just find yourself gripping the sides of a book that is the black sheep full of white sheep on your bookshelf. 

A never put down book about modern day heroes who were humbled by the glorification and praise. I loved how true this book was, I imagine there wasn't much exaggeration coming from the actual heroes that lived through this traumatic event. They seemed very genuine and grounded through their words. I also enjoyed reading about their childhoods and families, that made it more personal. I only have two personal downfalls with this book. To me, some parts were confusing because flashbacks were not a rarity. Second, I felt like there were way too many named characters (or too many characters at all) It just felt like a lot of the supporting characters didn't need to have their names in the book or be in the book at all.

Overall I would really suggest this book to anyone. It has something for everyone and a great read about modern day heroes who didn't back down even with doubts. 

Let me know what you guys thought down below!