REVIEW | "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

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Title: Hollow City
Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Random House UK
Genre: YA paranormal, fantasy
ISBN: 978-1594747359
Page Number: 416 pages






Blurb
This second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Miss Peregrine’s island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises.
Complete with dozens of newly discovered (and thoroughly mesmerising) vintage photographs, this new adventure will delight readers of all ages.

Execution

While I did like the first book, I didn't LOVE it (which I totally blame me for because I watched the movie first and that kind of destroyed my experience with the book a bit) but the second book doesn't have anything to do with the movie anymore, so the plot was a complete surprise.

And a very pleasant surprise, to be exact. 

From start to finish, this book was gripping, enthralling and full of plot twists that I didn't see coming at all. Especially the end had me gasping because I was so shocked and I cannot wait for the third book.

Characters

The more you read about all the characters, the more you fall in love with them.

They are all so incredibly well created and I loved how we got to see them develop and go through all that stuff together. Their group dynamic is exactly how I want a good friend's group to be in a book - realistically, they do disagree and fight from time to time, but in crucial moments, they all stick together and don't let anything or anyone come between them.

All of them are special and important to the story in their own way and everyone serves a purpose in the book, which I really liked as well.

Emotions

This was kind of an emotional rollercoaster for me. I swear, I was literally biting my nails out of excitement sometimes because I was so invested in the story.

It's hard not to be emotionally invested in a story if you care so much about the characters, and I cared a lot!

(And I'm so scared something bad might happen to one of them in the next books!)

Overall

Altogether, Hollow City wasn't just a solid sequel in this series, it also exceeded my expectations and absolutely met the high standard that was set in the first book.

If you're not sure whether to continue with the series after the first book, I highly recommend doing so! Absolutely loved it! (If I didn't make that clear enough yet haha)

finding your inspiration | WRITER'S WEDNESDAY

Hello!
I'm very excited to announce that I'll be doing a new blog format called Writer's Wednesday!
Since writing is an equally big part of my life as reading and the two of them basically go hand in hand together, I decided to include my thoughts/ experiences/ tips about writing on my blog.
I'm currently working on my very first novel so I'm far from experienced in this business.
However, this is not supposed to be about me being the ultimate writer's guide, it's rather about sharing my experiences and exchanging tips - I would like this format to be an open discussion where everyone can throw in some ideas.

For this first post, I wanted to start off by talking about where everyone has to start when writing: finding inspiration.
This is a very personal and individual process, but I'll introduce some of my ways of how I get inspired here - this may not work for everyone, but I hope it'll help you and I'd love to see some of your ideas in the comments!

Reading
This is the Captain Obvious amongst ways of finding inspiration but at the same time, it's one of the most effective ones for me. Sometimes, I'll read a book or a passage and I'll just get struck by inspiration and have an amazing idea (that often later, turns out to be not so amazing at all, but that's not the point) and other times, I am amazed by an author's writing style and it encourages me to work on my own style.
Essentially, reading is important in order for you to understand how books work and to learn what you like to read. Of course, you should never copy another person's work, but you can always get inspired by another author's writing and learn from their craft.

Keeping a journal
I've always had a diary but lately, I've been getting more and more into journaling daily. I feel like keeping a journal is a whole science for itself and if you need inspiration for that, I strongly recommend using Pinterest. However, I'm skipping all the fancy stuff like drawing and decorating and sticking stuff in my journal: the only thing I ever do with it is write.
And that's absolutely enough. What you write is completely up to you, but I always just sit down and write whatever comes to my mind. Thus, my journal is a wild mixture of poems, random sentences and just what I like to call mind spatter.
I would recommend keeping it as unfiltered as possible - after all, it's not there for other people to read but for you to empty your mind (again, you can of course do it differently, but that's how I use it).
Keeping my journal really helps me getting my head clear and also, sometimes I produce some halfway decent poems that I might even find use for in the future.

Meditating
Similar to keeping a journal, I use meditation to clear my mind.
If you're new to that whole zen and meditation thing, I highly recommend checking out The Mindful Movement on Youtube because they have some really good guided meditation videos.
I usually take ten minutes to meditate in the morning, right before getting out of bed. The effect of meditation gets stronger the longer and more frequently you meditate (at least that's what I feel like) but even ten minutes a day make a big difference for me.
It really helps my mind focus and clear my head. Thus, I am better at observing my surroundings and seeing things that I would have ignored otherwise which makes my mind more correspondant to inspiration.

Living your life
I guess very few people get struck by inspiration while just sitting around at home and waiting for wonders to occur.
Nobody wants to read about a person doing nothing and in order to be able to write about your character's life, you need to know how to live.
Go out with friends, travel around, take a walk,... even when you're not a very outgoing person (like me), there are plenty of ways to experience life to it's full extend, also for introverts.
You don't need to go partying every weekend, but don't sit at home all the time, get out of your comfort zone (even though it's hard, I know).

Be in the right environment
I know from experience that being around negative people can really affect your mind and thus, your inspiration, pejoratively. It may not be that obvious at first but longterm, toxic people really get to your soul.
I'm lucky to have supportive friends that constantly push me and make me feel better but have been in relationships that haven't exactly enhanced by personal growth.
Your environment is essential to your creative process - being around inspiring and positive people is genuinely uplifting and you shouldn't let negative energies intrude your path.

Write
Nobody will ever be creative while waiting to get creative. If that makes sense.
Essentially: just start. By writing anything.
May that be in your journal or in a blank document - what matters is that you start writing.
Creativity comes with being creative. It'll come as you write or even just as you think about your work.
You can have all the inspiration in the world and it won't help if you just sit around not using it.

So on this note, I encourage all of you writers to take a piece of paper - or a word document or whatever your preferred writing material is - and write.
Have fun!
xxx

REVIEW | "Our Dark Duet" by Victoria Schwab

Title: Our Dark Duet
Author: Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Genre: YA, fantasy
ISBN: 978-0062380883
Page Number: 528 pages





Blurb
THE WORLD IS BREAKING. AND SO ARE THEY.
KATE HARKER isn't afraid of monsters. She hunts them. And she's good at it.
AUGUST FLYNN once yearned to be human. He has a part to play. And he will play it, no matter the cost.
THE WAR HAS BEGUN.
THE MONSTERS ARE WINNING.
Kate will have to return to Verity. August will have to let her back in. And a new monster is waiting—one that feeds on chaos and brings out its victims' inner demons.
Which will be harder to conquer: the monsters they face, or the monsters within?

Execution
While I did like This Savage Song, I didn't LOVE it so I put off reading Our Dark Duet until I picked it up in the bookstore last week and started reading it on a whim.
And hell, it blew me away.
I hadn't even realised how much I loved Kate and August until I started Our Dark Duet. 
Victoria Schwab's books are always very character driven and this one is no excpetion.
We start off six months after This Savage Song ended but it was no problem for me getting back into the story whatsoever. Not only that, I even, head over heels, fell in love with the story.
Reading the whole Monsters of Verity duology was a very unique experience for me: it almost felt like falling in love with a human being - This Savage Song was the getting to know part and realising that you might have found someone you could potentially really love, and Our Dark Duet was the devoting oneself to someone else, the realisation that you've gotten yourself into something that won't be easy to get out of, but you still enjoy every second of your being together and don't ever want it to end.
Yep, that's what it felt like reading this book.
Needless to say I think the execution was exceptionally well done. Although 'well done' doesn't really cover it - that's what my English teacher used to write under my papers, so maybe 'masterpiece' would be more fitting.

Characters
I love, love, love Kate and August.
I love how fierce and strong and smart they are, both in their very own ways.
Kate is not easy to love but I did it anyway, although I feel like she wouldn't like how I feel about her - she's my precious baby (and she would totally kill me for writing that), and so is August.
August is everything to me and throughout the first half of the book, he kept breaking my heart.
I don't even know how to express my feelings towards Kate and August into words anymore.
Victoria Schwab is a master of creating characters that seem incredibly real and reflect the world and humankind in a way that I see very rarely in literature.
I just never want to stop reading about her characters, especially Kate and August. I just love them to pieces.

Emotions
I was warned before going into this book that it would destroy me.
Well, it did.
I really don't know how to move on with life now - I'm sitting here, writing this not an hour after having finished the book (I just NEEDED to express my feelings about it!) and I'm tearing up all the time because I can't get over it.
Throughout the entire book, I was anxious because I knew something was going to happen that would wreck me but when it finally did, it killed me nonetheless because nothing in the world could have prepared me for my feelings.
This was such an emotional read for me, I'm not sure I have any emotions left for other books right now.

Overall
Our Dark Duet has become one of my favourites, no doubt. It was everything I ever wanted a book to be, and everything I never knew I needed in a book.
I'm so sad this duology is over now but I'm so glad it exists and I read it and I want everyone else in the world to read it now.

favorite books of all time #2

Hey!
I really liked sharing some of my all time favorite books with you so I thought I'd continue with this format and introduce some more favorites of mine. Have fun reading!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
It's very hard to explain why I loved this book so much.
I thought the writing was exceptionally beautiful.
I loved how character-driven the story was. Naturally, I fell in love with Ari and Dante. Like, deeply, madly in love.
And their relationship... Gods, I think it's one of the cutest and purest relationships I've ever read about. I loved their talks and them being together and well... I loved everything.
So yeah, that's the best I can do to explain my love for this book. This is one you've got to read yourself though to understand what I mean, I think.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
And here we are again with a Khaled Hosseini book. This was actually the first one I read by this author, hence it was the one that made me fall in love with his writing for the first time.
The story is told in a very unique way: it is one single story, but told from so many people who have an influence on the story and each of them kind of tell their own story. In the end, everything comes together and it's so beautifully crafted. My heart aches thinking about this book, and there is really no other word to describe it other than beautiful.

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Mirrorworld Trilogy by Cornelia Funke
Naturally, I couldn't write this list without mentioning at least one book by my favorite childhood author, Cornelia Funke. Her ideas are always very magical and unique and the Mirrorworld trilogy is no exception to that. I don't only love the fairy-tale-esque, kind of whimsical world but also (so, so much!) the characters and the journey they go on.
If you like fantasy and fairy tales, you'll definitely love these books!

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
I guess this one is on everyone's favorites list, isn't it? I think it's not a good sign when a person hasn't read Harry Potter (or at least watched the movies) and it's even more suspicious when they didn't like it. Like, how can you not like Harry Potter? How can you not LOVE Harry Potter?
I don't want to explain why I love it so much though, that would take too long. I will do a whole post dedicated to Harry Potter one day (though even that would probably not be enough lol)

Was fehlt, wenn ich verschwunden bin (literally translated: What's missing when I'm gone) by Lilly Lindner
Unfortunately, this book hasn't been translated into English yet but I'm still gonna write about it in English.
I read this only a few months ago but I instantly knew it was going to be a favorite. I loved Lilly Lindners autobiography and it wasn't hard to figure out that this book also has some autobiographical features - it's an own-voices novel about a girl struggling with anorexia.
Lilly Lindners writing is incredibly magniloquent, even from the perspective of a little child who doesn't understand what's going on with her big sister (who is the one with the anorexia). It's actually too much to explain here but this book is both so important and so beautifully done.

REVIEW | "Unearthed" by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

scroll down for English translation

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Titel: Undying - Das Vermächtnis
Autorinnen: Amie Kaufman und Meagan Spooner
Verlag: FISCHER Sauerländer
Genre: Jugendbuch, Science Fiction
ISBN: 978-3737356008
Seitenzahl: 496 Seiten
Preis: 19,00 €





Umsetzung
Ich wollte das Buch wirklich mögen. Ich mochte These Broken Stars, was ebenfalls von den beiden Autorinnen in Kooperation geschrieben wurde, und ich bin auch ein Fan von Illuminae, was Amie Kaufman in Zusammenarbeit mit Jay Kristoff geschrieben hat, also hatte ich recht hohe Erwartungen an Undying - Das Vermächtnis.
Und leider wurde ich enttäuscht.
Generell denke ich, wird es sicher vielen gefallen, und ich glaube, hätte ich es vor ein paar Jahren gelesen, hätte ich es auch noch gemocht. Aber inzwischen ist es einfach nichts mehr für mich.
Das größte Problem, das ich mit dem Buch hatte - und am Ende auch der Hauptgrund, warum es mir nicht gefallen hat - ist, dass ich den Weltenbau viel zu oberflächlich fand.
Man wird am Anfang direkt ins Geschehen geworden und auch wenn die Handlung dadurch tempogeladen ist, hätte ich mir ein wenig Vorgeschichte gewünscht.
Diese wurde dafür in meiner Meinung nach viel zu vielen inneren Monologen aufgearbeitet, von denen ich generell eher kein Fan bin, denn für mich ist es viel effektiver, Szenen tatsächlich zu zeigen, anstatt nur die Gefühle der Charaktere darüber zu analysieren.
Dadurch bin ich überhaupt nicht mit den Charakteren warm geworden.
Zum anderen hat mich gestört, dass sehr viel Fokus auf die Romanze gelegt wurde. In Büchern, die hauptsächlich einem anderen Genre zugeordnet werden, sind für mich unterschwellige, sich langsam aufbauende Liebesgeschichten am schönsten, doch leider hatte ich hier eher das Gefühl, es wäre andersherum: ich würde eine Romanze lesen mit unterschwelligen Sci-Fi-Elementen.

Charaktere
Ich muss zugeben, dass ich die Charaktere in der Theorie durchaus mochte.
Jules als privilegierten, gebildeten kleinen Streber und Amelia als Bad Girl - die Konstellation ist auf jeden Fall ansprechend, in der Praxis jedoch nicht so optimal umgesetzt worden.
Auch hier wieder denke ich, hätte es geholfen, mehr zu zeigen und weniger zu reden. Sprich, auf die endlosen inneren Monologe zu verzichten und die Protagonisten mehr durch die witzigen Unterhaltungen zu charakterisieren, von denen viel zu wenige im Buch vorkamen.

Emotionen
Leider hat mich das Buch emotional nicht berührt. Da ich die ganze Umsetzung ein wenig zu oberflächlich fand, konnte mich auch die Geschichte nicht mitreißen und die Charaktere lagen mir ebenfalls nicht allzu sehr am Herzen.

Insgesamt
Ich glaube wirklich, es liegt an mir, dass mir das Buch nicht gefallen hat, denn theoretisch hat es alles, was ein gutes Buch braucht - tolle Charaktere, eine interessante Idee und viel Action. Nur für mich war es leider nichts, was ich darauf schiebe, dass ich dem Ganzen einfach entwachsen bin.
Demnach kann ich das Buch nur Menschen empfehlen, die vielleicht noch neuer sind in dem ganzen Genre und die etwas für Zwischendurch lesen möchten.

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Title: Unearthed
Authors: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Genre: YA, sci-fi
ISBN: 978-1484758052
Page Number: 336 pages






Blurb
When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying's advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.

For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study... as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don't loot everything first. Mia and Jules' different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.

In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race's secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race...

Execution
I really wanted to like this book. I liked These Broken Stars which the authors cowrote and I'm a big fan of Illuminae which Amie Kaufman wrote together with Jay Kristoff. So I did have high expectations reading Unearthed. 
Unfortunately, I was let down.
Generally, I think this is a book that a lot of people could actually like a lot and honestly, a few years ago I would have liked it either. But since I've changed as a reader, I think I've kind of outgrown this book.
The biggest problem I had with the book was the world building which I think was a bit shallow. In the beginning, you get thrown right into the plot and while that definitely made the story seem fast paced, I felt a bit overwhelmed and I would have liked some back story to warm up to the characters.
There were far too many inner monologues for my taste, I would have liked to see a bit more interaction between the characters instead of reading about their thoughts about each other for endless pages.

Additionally, I didn't like the focus of the story being so much on the romance. In books like this, that are mainly another genre but romance, I like a slowly developing, subtle romance but here I felt like it was just the other way around: like Unearthed was really a romance story with some subliminal sci fi elements.

Characters
I do have to admit that I liked the characters - at least in theory.
Jules as a privileged, well educated nerd and Amelia as bad girl - that constellation intrigued me a lot, but unfortunately it fell a bit flat in practice.
Again, I think it would have helped showing a bit more and not thinking so much. In other words, to quit the endless inner monologues and to characterize the protagonists through those funny dialogues that were perfect, but that we didn't get enough of!

Emotions
Unfortunately, this book didn't touch me at all. Because the exection was too shallow for me I couldn't really get involved into the story and I just didn't really care for the characters either.

Overall
I strongly believe it's my fault that I didn't like the book because technically, it has everything a good book needs to have - great characters, an intriguing premise and much action to keep the plot going. It just wasn't for me because I feel like I have grown out of those kind of books. I do recommend it to anyone who is new to the genre and not as experienced of a reader though.

top 6 tips to read more

Hello!
I've always been quite a fast reader - there were times when I used to read one (normal-sized) book per day. Which is quite a lot.
However, the problem I had with that was that I used to read even at times I didn't really want to just because I wanted to read as many books as possible. Which is entirely stupid and over that mind set, I kind of lost the joy in reading which was very devastating for me.
So I thought I'd share some tips with you today on how to read more WITHOUT getting overwhelmed and forcing yourself to read.
Reading should be something you want to do in your freetime and forcing yourself on a book will just reduce your enjoyment reading it.
So without further ado, here are my tips:

1. include reading in your daily routine
I, for instance, always read while eating. When I went to school my family left the house at different times so I was always alone eating my breakfast which was really boring - so I started to read. That habit stayed with me up until now so it's an integral part of my routine. Of course, you can apply this to any part of your routine, whenever it suits you best.

2. take a book with you wherever you go
I don't know how often I stranded somewhere waiting for something and I didn't know how to pass the time. For that reason, I got into the habit of always taking a book with me (sometimes even two lol), wherever I go. That way, when I have some spare time along the way, I can always read.

3. read several books at once
Personally, I'm quite a mood reader and sometimes I'm in the middle of a book and find myself craving another genre. In the past I would have tried to get through the book that I was already reading as quickly as possible so that I could go on reading the one that I really wanted to read but honestly, that's very stupid. Though I still prefer reading just one book at a time, sometimes it's just inevitable to pick up more than one if your mood changes.

4. DNF the books you don't like
I know, I said it - the bad word. DO NOT FINISH. There you go - for a long time, that has been my worst nightmare. What if I would enjoy the book after a hundred more pages? What if I was missing out on something if I didn't finish it?
I'm going to tell you something: the only thing you're going to miss out on are the thousands and millions of other books you could be reading and actually enjoying instead of holding on to a book you don't like. Because if I don't like a book, I often find myself putting off reading it and then forcing myself to read and then, again, losing joy in reading. And that's not what we want, is it?
And if it comforts you - you can always pick up a book another time.

5. find your best reading environment
This may sound a bit odd at first but for me, it's very crucial. For instance, I'm very sensitive when it comes to noises - it has to be very silent when I'm reading because otherwise, I get distracted very easily and can't concentrate on my reading.
I can read best at night in bed or in the garden or when I'm alone at home, I read on the sofa but I absolutely can't read with music or when there are people talking because then I'll read the same page over and over again without taking anything in.
People are very different when it comes to things like that so the best advice I can give you is to just try out different reading spots and see what works best for you.

6. listen to audiobooks
This may not work vor everyone (I am VERY picky when it comes to audiobooks) but if you're spending a lot of time driving or doing housework or whatever, you can get some reading done with listening to audiobooks while doing that.
If you're new to audiobooks and don't want to spend a lot of money on them because you don't know if you'll like them, I recommend checking out the audiobooks they have on Spotify because they're absolutely free.

So those were my top tips on how to read more. You probably heard some of them before but maybe I could still help you out a bit.
If you have any more tips, I would love to read them in the comments!
xxx

REVIEW | "Save Me" by Mona Kasten

scroll down for English translation

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Titel: Save Me
Autorin: Mona Kasten
Verlag: LYX
Genre: New Adult, Liebesroman
ISBN: 978-3736305564
Seitenzahl: 416 Seiten






Klappentext
Geld, Glamour, Luxus, Macht – all das könnte Ruby Bell nicht weniger interessieren. Das Einzige, was sie sich wünscht, ist ein erfolgreicher Abschluss vom Maxton Hall College, eine der teuersten Privatschulen Englands. Vor allem mit James Beaufort, dem heimlichen Anführer des College, will sie nichts zu tun haben. Er ist zu arrogant, zu attraktiv und zu reich. Doch schon bald bleibt ihr keine andere Wahl …

Umsetzung

Nachdem ich von Begin Again von der Autorin nicht allzu begeistert gewesen war, hatte ich keine besonders hohen Erwartungen an Save Me, wurde dann aber angenehm überrascht.

Die Liebesgeschichte, um die es ja nun vorläufig geht, hat mir gut gefallen und war für mich gut nachvollziehbar. Ich mochte es, dass man aus der Perspektive von beiden Beteiligten liest, weil man dadurch einige Handlungen sehr viel besser nachvollziehen kann.

Ich hab das Buch schnell durchgelesen, weil es mich sehr fesseln und mitreißen konnte. Der Schreibstil ist angenehm und dem Genre angemessen und die Handlung geht gerade schnell genug voran: es wird nicht langweilig, aber es geht auch nichts zu schnell. 

Natürlich muss man sagen, dass es nahezu unmöglich ist, in diesem Genre das Rad neu zu erfinden und eine einzigartige Geschichte auf die Beine zu stellen, und einem gewissen Muster folgt Save Me zugegebenermaßen, aber gerne gelesen habe ich es trotzdem und bin gespannt, wohin die Geschichte noch führen wird (NACH DIESEM ENDE, UFF)

Charaktere

Wie oft habe ich schon New Adult Bücher gelesen, die vor Sexismus und klischeehaften Bad Boys und schüchternen, unsicheren Mädchen nur so wimmeln?

Auch in der Hinsicht hat mich Save Me positiv überrascht. Natürlich ist James ein Bad Boy, keine Frage. Aber dadurch, dass man die Geschichte teilweise aus seiner Sicht liest, konnte ich ihn wirklich gut nachvollziehen. Ich verstehe, warum er so ist wie er ist (was sein Verhalten an mancher Stelle natürlich weder gerechtfertigt noch besser macht), aber er ist zumindest nicht dieses typische, sexistische, besitzergreifende Arschloch, das man schon aus so vielen New Adult Romanen kennt.

Auch Ruby ist nicht das klischeehafte graue Mäuschen. Sie ist mir sehr sympathisch (ebenso wie ihre Familie!), ihre Handlungen sind überlegt und nachvollziehbar und allgemein als Charakter erscheint sie sehr realistisch.

Emotionen

Es war nicht schwierig für mich, eine emotionale Beziehung zu Ruby und James aufzubauen und bei ihrer Geschichte mitzufiebern. Natürlich ist es an mancher Stelle etwas arg emotional (das Ende!) und ich weiß immer noch nicht recht, was ich davon halten soll, weil es dem ganzen eine für das Genre klischeehafte Note aufdrückt, die sonst im Buch glücklicherweise fehlt. 

Insgesamt

Alles in allem ist das Buch sehr solide, ein spannender Auftakt zu einer Reihe, auf deren nächste Bände ich mich sehr freue und die, wie ich hoffe, vielleicht das Ruder noch einmal rumreißen und etwas frischen Wind in das Genre bringen werden. 

ENGLISH

Execution

After I wasn't quite convinced by Mona Kasten's debut novel, Begin Again, I was a bit apprehensive going into Save Me but gladly, it positively suprised me.

As the main plot of the novel, I really enjoyed the love story, because I found it to be comprehensible and realistic. I liked how you get to know the story from both main character's viewpoints because it makes you understand some actions better.

Since the story was captivating and compelling, I read it quite quickly. The writing is enjoyable and appropriate for the genre and the plot's pace is just right: it doesn't get boring but it's not too fast either.

Of course I have to admit, it's hard to reinvent the wheel with this genre and to write an original story and Save Me does follow a certain pattern but that didn't keep me from enjoying it and I am excited to see where the story will go in the next book (THAT ENDING THOUGH)

Characters

I'm so overtired reading new adult books dripping with sexism, stereotypical bad boys and shy, self-conscious girls.

But again, Save Me surprised me by not exactly being like that. Admittedly, James is a bad boy, no question. But through reading parts of the story in his perspective, you can actually kind of comprehend his actions. I understand why he is the way he is (which still doesn't justify his actions at some points or make them any better) but I do have to admit, he's not the typical sexist, over protective asshole that I know from so many other new adult books. 

Also Ruby does not fulfill the stereotype of the spineless little girl without any self esteem. She knows what she wants and she isn't afraid of working hard for her goals and stepping out of her comfort zone. Her actions are deliberate and reasonable and her character in general seems very realistic.

Emotions

It wasn't difficult at all for me to establish an emotional connection to Ruby and James and root for their story. Sometimes, it is even a bit too emotional (like the ending!) and I still don't know what to think about that because it kind of gives the story a for that genre stereotypical touch which is gladly missing throughout the rest of the book.

Overall

Altogether, Save Me is a solid and thrilling opening to a series which I can't wait to continue with and I really hope the author will bring a breath of fresh air to the genre because I feel like the trilogy does have the potential to do that.