Book Review: Endless by Amanda Gray

Endless by Amanda Gray
Published by Month9Books
I received this courtesy of the publisher.

Jenny Kramer knows she isn’t normal. After all, not everybody can see the past lives of people around them. When she befriends Ben Daulton, resident new boy, the pair stumbles on an old music box with instructions for “mesmerization” and discover they may have more in common than they thought.

Like a past life.

Using the instructions in the music box, Ben and Jenny share a dream that transports them to Romanov Russia and leads them to believe they have been there together before. But they weren’t alone. Nikolai, the mysterious young man Jenny has been seeing in her own dreams was there, too. When Nikolai appears next door, Jenny is forced to acknowledge that he has traveled through time and space to find her. Doing so means he has defied the laws of time, and the Order, an ominous organization tasked with keeping people in the correct time, is determined to send him back. While Ben, Jenny and Nikolai race against the clock—and the Order—the trio discovers a link that joins them in life—and beyond death.

Looking for a bit of magic combined with some romance and a touch of history then this could be the book for you. Jenny is a slightly odd girl who sees things when she touches people, it is never fully explained what she see but she sees things. After getting a mysterious message while playing with an Ouija board things go from weird to crazy. With flashbacks to Romanov period in Russia and time travel this sure is an interesting book.

I requested this book a long time ago off Netgalley and I just never got around to reading it. By the time I picked it up I had completely forgotten what it was about and boy was I surprised when the first flashback hit (I may have checked if I was still reading the same book). It is the time travel and historical element in this book seemed quite rushed and abrupt at times. The past and present in this book seemed slightly disjointed until about the middle where things started to make more sense and unravel.

I really don’t have very many feelings about this book, it was interesting enough to hold my attention long enough to finish it but I was left wondering about some of the plot points. Warning this could be a very very vague spoiler, really it means nothing if you haven’t read it but I like to warn. If you’ve read this did anyone else wonder why only one person had smoke inhalation when they were all there?

My favourite part of this book was the romance but I definitely had my faults with it mainly the insta-love factor. If you’re after a romantic gesture then this is the book for you. Not spoiling again it does say this in the synopsis but Nikolai comes forward in time to be with Jenny, if that isn’t love I don’t know what is. My only problem with Nikolai and Jenny’s relationship was that the whole thing was built around the time travel, the characters didn’t really know each other at all.  It was like this for a lot of aspects of the characters, things were just glossed over.

All in all I enjoyed this book but I didn’t find it very memorable. None of the characters or events will really stuck with me and that’s something I look for in a book.

Book Review: Camp Boyfriend by J.K Rocks

Camp Boyfriend by J.K Rocks
Published by Spencer Hill Press
I received this book courtesy of the publisher.

The summer of her dreams is about to get a reality check.

They said it couldn't be done, but geeky sophomore Lauren Carlson transformed herself into a popular girl after moving to a new school halfway across the country. Amazing what losing her braces and going out for cheerleading will do. Only trouble is, the popular crowd is wearing on Lauren's nerves and she can't wait to return to summer camp where she's valued for her brain instead of her handsprings. She misses her old friends and most of all, her long time camp-only boyfriend, Seth. This year she intends to upgrade their relationship to year-round status once she's broken up with her new, jock boyfriend, Matt. He doesn't even begin to know the real her, a girl fascinated by the night sky who dreams of discovering new planets and galaxies.

But Matt isn't giving her up without a fight. As he makes his case to stay together, Lauren begins to realize his feelings run deeper than she ever would have guessed. What if the guy she thought she was meant to be with forever isn't really The One? Returning to Camp Juniper Point was supposed to ground her uprooted life, but she's more adrift than ever. Everything feels different and soon Lauren's friends are turning on her and both guys question what she really wants. As summer tensions escalate, Lauren wonders if she's changed more than she thought. Will her first big discovery be herself?

Lauren Carlson spent years being a space nerd and enjoying it only to have a full makeover after moving across states to Texas and becoming one of the popular girls. After getting sick of the fake feeling about her life and friends Lauren is really looking forward to going but to the summer camp she’s gone to for year. Camp Juniper Point has always been Lauren’s favourite place where she can constantly be herself and she’s really looking forward to that again after a trying year. Not to mention that Laurens camp boyfriend (ie they only date when at camp) Seth will be there and this year she hopes to make the relationship last longer than the last day. As always things don’t go down the way Lauren planned and this is where the love triangle comes into play.

I didn’t really have high expectations where it came to this book if I’m being honest. I love a good romance but I’ve come to despise the typical insta-love meets love triangle troupe that honest just makes me want to slam my head against the wall. Thankfully even though there is a love triangle in this book there is no insta-love both sides of the triangle know each other well.

I don’t really have a lot to say about this book all in all it wasn’t the best best thing I’ve ever read or the worst it fell solidly in the middle ground. Nothing really stood out to me, I liked all the characters but they weren’t memorable, the writing was fine but not beautiful like some books are and the romance was just sweet. The only thing I can really say is that the ending felt a little rushed compared to the rest of the book, which was quite evenly paced and just trotted along. I did like most of all from this book that I wasn’t sure who I wanted to get with Lauren more, nature boy Seth or deeper than he seemed Matt.

All in all if you are looking for something cute and fluffy that wont tug on the heartstrings or leave unanswered questions then this could be the book for you. I would recommend it to a friend if they wanted that.