Lucky Caller

Lucky Caller

by Emma Mills

It's Nina's senior year and everything is about to change. Not only is she getting ready for college, but her mom is getting remarried and moving the family out of the apartment they have called home for so long.

Since it's a time of change, Nina decides to take a chance on the radio broadcasting class offered at her school. What she doesn't expect is her ex-friend and current neighbor sharing the class with her, being in her radio group, and still giving her those feelings she'd had years before. 

She also didn't expect to suddenly have to come up with a celebrity guest for their radio show in time for the huge fundraiser that she and her radio crew accidentally fell into creating.

Final thoughts: This is cotton candy, but it's not really tasty. The characters are all pretty one-dimensional and the story is pretty predictable. There's a massive deus ex machina ending, which doesn't really fit the rest of the book; it feels like the author got herself in a bind and tried to have the cavalry come in at the last minute to rescue her protagonist. It was messy and not planned well. I didn't even remember Nina's name because it was mentioned just a couple of times, as if the characters themselves never said the names of the people around them. I don't understand the point of the sisters except to serve as contrasts to Nina and maybe give her some context, but it just felt forced. The romance was not very well done and there was just so much that could have been improved upon. Not a fan.

Rating: 2/5

ARC courtesy of NetGalley

The Truth About Forever

The Truth About Forever

by Sarah Dessen

Macy Queen is the dutiful daughter and devoted girlfriend. She wakes every morning, does everything her mother asks and more, listens attentively to her boyfriend, and makes no waves. 

She wasn't always like this.

She used to be her daddy's little girl who ran with him every morning and joked with him every night. She had friends, a team, and a life beyond her home and school.

But when her father dies just steps from her home during the morning jog that she had waived off taking that day, Macy's world changed and she went from independent and lively to simply wanting to keep her mother sane and her own world from falling further apart.

However, her world can't help but crash when her boyfriend goes to brain camp, leaving her behind to take over his job at the library, and then leaving her behind altogether. 

Macy can't hold it in anymore. Especially not after meeting the insane bunch who work Wish Catering. Macy may finally have the chance to put herself back together. She just has to be willing to try.

Final thoughts: This is my first Sarah Dessen and it fits pretty well into the Chick Lit YA genre. There's the realistic girl with unrealistic expectations about herself and life. There's the cute guy who somehow just gets her. And there's the complications and drama that surround them both. Decent read overall.

Rating: 3/5