Several years ago, when I was a Wattpad fanatic, I started reading this insanely popular book called The Bad Boy's Girl by Jessgirl93. I don't remember much about that book, but I do remember that I really enjoyed it. So when I found out that this book was published? I knew I had to pick it up. 
The Bad Boy's Girl follows Tessa O'Connell, a high school senior content to live her life hopefully flying under the radar. She lives in constant fear of her peers, who bully her mercilessly... That is, until the one person she would've never expected comes back into her life and turns everything upside-down. 
Cole Stone, the brother of the boy Tessa's hopelessly in-love with. He tormented her through her childhood, but now he's back. And he's different. Cole is kind. And he pushes Tessa to be better, to actually live a real life. 
Tessa is a highly relatable character, she's not aloof. She feels real. She's someone the reader can really connect with and understand. And she's funny (as is the story in general.) 
Cole, Cole is basically everything you want in a boy, or I want in a boy. Dark hair sarcastic attitude and a heart of gold underneath all the blunder. What a perfect boy, he proves over and over again how perfect he is through his acts of chivalry towards Tessa. He's back and he's there to prove that he's the one for Tessa O'Connell. 
All in all, this book was a really fun read. It has the components that would win me over in a contemporary novel. Funny, relatable protagonist, bad boy with a heart of gold and an entertaining plot line. The protagonists aren't the only well shaped characters in the story either. No, there are some side characters included who are very well rounded. 
Thing is, the book had such a strong start. The first two thirds of it were fantastic. It was a fun, lighthearted read. Just a book that would make your day better, you know? Aside from having some grammatical flaws, The Bad Boy's Girl was, sorry I'm repeating myself a lot, but the perfect contemporary read. 
And then the last third of the book... This is the reason I'm so conflicted about the story. The ending of a story is really the major thing that sticks with you after you finish it... And the last third of the Bad Boy's Girl was highly disappointing. Actually, the last third of the book really felt unneeded and actually felt more like it was dragging. It kind of felt like it forgot all the side characters and just concentrated on Cole-Tessa and that got... boring. Just the same little things happening over and over and the tension just felt really arbitrary and forced. No, I'm not just upset about the ending because by then I didn't really care that much, plus I've also read the Wattpad version so I know there's more to the story. Basically, the last third of the book kind of ruined it for me. It was forced and just... Meh. I didn't enjoy it. Which is why the star rating is lower than it should be for all the praise I gave for the beginning. 
Would I recommend this book? ... Not sure. See, as I keep repeating over and over. The beginning 2/3s is GREAT. It's the perfect story, it just drags near the end. I want to really like this book, I do... But I just can't get over the ending, I'm sorry. Also the editing is pretty poor-- there are a lot of grammatical errors. But I understand that because I make grammatical errors all the time (I bet there are about a million in this very review), but I would expect it to be a little more clean in a published book. All together I'd give the Bad Boy's Girl 6/10 stars. I've said all I want to say on the topic. Actually, I've just repeated the same thing over and over again. So I think you all know how I feel about it. Sorry this review sucks, I'm just really conflicted over this book and also have a big back up of reviews and it's been a while since I actually read the book. 

Synopsis: 

“Some people bring out the worst in you, others bring out the best, and then there are those remarkably rare, addictive ones who just bring out the most. Of everything. They make you feel so alive that you’d follow them straight into hell, just to keep getting your fix.”
— Karen Marie Moning, Shadowfever

Tessa O’Connell is a girl as ordinary as they come-or so she thinks. Her aim for senior year is to keep her head down yet somehow manage to convince her childhood love Jay Stone to love her back. What she isn’t prepared for is for Jay’s brother, Cole to return to town and change the life she’s always been seemingly content to live. Tall, gorgeous as all hell and a bad boy with ocean blue eyes and the perfect edge of adorability, he was her greatest tormentor, her number one enemy.But the guy that’s come back is like no one Tessa’s ever come across. He challenges her, he tests her limits, he forces her to bring out the girl she’s long ago buried under a veil of mediocrity and most of all he compels her to consider that perhaps the boy that infuriates her to the point of no return might just her guardian angel.

Warning: The story comes with a bad boy notorious for making you swoon, inducing hysterical laughter and making you question whether you could purchase a clone on ebay

Anyway, thanks for reading. I'm sorry my reviews have sucked lately, please bear with me, I've been very busy and haven't had much of a chance to write. Also... Yeah. Well. I'll try to clean them up! 
Love you all, 
Anj

Cute, light and happy, everything you want in a contemporary novel. How do introverts fall in love? Apparently texting. Maybe I should try it out sometime, haha. 
Several years ago when I was super into Wattpad, I started reading this story called the Cell Phone Swap. I really enjoyed it, so when I saw this book, the published version, I just knew I had to get it. And I do not regret that choice in the slightest. 
Extrovert follows Keeley, an introverted girl who's always lived in the shadow of her brother Zach, who's captain of the football team and one of the most popular boys in school. She's never been the star of her family or her school, that was always Zach's place. Then, one day Keeley accidentally swaps phones with someone who happens to be an extremely attractive guy. 
While Textrovert is every cliche put to the max, it's still highly enjoyable. This book doesn't use the cliches in that annoying I've-read-this-one-million-times before way. No, it actually uses the cliches in the way that you can enjoy the classic adorable tropes. Sure, everything was extremely predictable, but aren't all contemporary novels? The fun of contemporary novel isn't the mystery, it's the journey the story takes you on. :Like how much you smile and laugh while reading this book. 
I frequently found myself grinning from ear-to-ear whilst reading this book, as well as squealing from the adorability of it. 
An extra just cute factor of the book is that it's formatted so that the texts sent between Keeley and Talon are depicted as actual texts, which I just absolutely loved. 
Keeley is a relatable protagonist who's easy to sympathize with. I soon found myself falling in love with her, the way she thought and her relationship with not only Talon, but also her brother. Even though Zach is the "star" he still needs his sister, and doesn't want to be separated from her. That pulled on my heart and I just... I love Zach. I love all the characters in this book-- there isn't a single one that I found really annoying, no I liked the way they all fit together. But back to Keeley. She's the perfect protagonist for the story, I loved following her thoughts throughout. She's funny, and over text she comes off as sarcastic and a little confidant, while in real life she's shy and frequently second guesses herself. Tell me that isn't relatable. I can really relate with having a relationship (I'm not talking about boyfriend girlfriend, just a relationship as in a connection between two people) over text/the internet with someone being perfectly okay-- where you can basically tell each other anything, but when we come face to face? It's kind of awkward at first. Neither of us are really sure of what to say to each other, or how to act. So yeah, I really relate to Keeley in this story, and not only because of that. She's just a very likable protagonist. 
Talon is Keeley's love interest. The guy she accidentally swaps phones with. He's the perfect boy. He has his flaws, but that makes him so much more perfect and realistic in my eyes. He's cocky, sure, but he has a heart of gold underneath and really, that's all that matters. I don't really want to give too much away about him. I'll let you fall in love with him on your own. 
I've already mentioned my love of Zach, he's so sweet and my heart frequently twisted for him in this story... I'm actually maybe crossing my fingers for a spin-off/ companion novel following Zach. Yeah, that's how much I love this character. 
All in all I would give Extrovert 8/10 stars. It was everything I could want in a contemporary novel, sweet romance with heartstoppingly cute moments that had me squealing loud enough to scare my cats, funny moments and lines that had me laughing hard enough to scare my cats, and characters that are so easy to grow attached to that my heart could barely handle it. (Yeah, could't relate that to my cats, sorry.) I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy some good, cute, light romances as well as some well-used cliches. 

Synopsis: 
​
Summer is nearly over and Keeley is about to start her senior year when disaster strikes: she picks up the wrong cell phone by mistake. 😞 Just her luck that it belongs to Talon, a totally arrogant jock 🏈 who’s just left for football camp—with herphone. Keeley doesn’t know him, but they’ll need to rely on each other to forward their messages for an entire week.

Talon is so full of himself, but Keeley quickly discovers he’s funny, too—at least his texts are. 😅 And he listens to Keeley—which is more than anyone else does. Texting Talon, she can be more than just the quiet twin sister of a popular boy. Texting Talon, she can be the outgoing person she’s always wanted to be. Soon the two are falling for each other, hard.

But when true identities are revealed and secrets are exposed, will Keeley’s feelings stay the same?

Anyway, thanks for reading <3
Anj

This isn't a tale for the faint of heart. It's no superhero story. No this is a tale of the origin of two villains, all starting when two brilliant young men meet in college. Ten years later they emerge, one with an undying need for revenge, and the other on a mass murder spree. When they meet again the collision will be cataclysmic... And only one will emerge victorious. 
Eli and Victor were best friends in college, but one fatal day changed all of that, landing Victor in jail and Eli set on a new mission. 
This is a fun novel to read, especially if you love anti-heroes. Because Victor and Eli are far from anything close to being heroic. It's slow, and takes a while to get in to, but after a while the book becomes hard to put down. It's intriguing, finding out what happened to tear Eli and Victor apart and set them in the places they currently are. 
Like all other Schwab novels that I've read (which is a grand total of two), this book has an air of distance to it, as in the reader doesn't feel as connected to the characters, but at the same time it's really hard to put down. The characters are so... strange and different from anything I've ever read before. Both are psychopaths for sure, and neither of them are even close to being in the right. But that's what make them so compelling, because they both believe they're doing the right thing with such a strong conviction... But then again, doesn't every villain think they're the hero in their own story? 
This book's world is so interesting, think of it as something like the world of X-men, but without any good in it. There's no Charles and Magneto, there's just... Well, I don't know the X-men well enough to find the perfect parallels. There are people with powers, and in this world they're called EOs (standing for extraordinary). Part of the fun of reading this book is finding out everyone's different powers and how they got them. 
Between Victor and Eli, I can't help but like Eli better. I have no idea why, because they're both horrible choices. But I just sided more with Eli in this book, maybe it's because his character is more appealing to me. Or maybe it's just because I dislike Victor more. I really don't like Victor that much, like he has some redeeming moments in the novel but overall just from the start... He's not a character that I find appealing. Eli's horrible, he really is, but for me, Victor is just worse. 
There are plenty of other characters in this book, but all in all the only thing it comes down to it Eli and Victor. While there is a connection between the "side kicks" it started with E and V, and that's how it ends too. 
All in all, I'd give Vicious 7.6/10 stars. It was a really good novel, well-written with very unique characters, some of which I still think about and have no idea how I feel about. That's the thing with Schwab... Her books stay with you for a long time after you finish them. It's impossible to stop thinking about them. I hear there's a second book coming out... And I'm eager anticipating it-- this book couldn't have ended the way it did. My biggest problem with the story is the ending. It irks me how it ended, but if there's a sequel... Maybe it can help redeem the book in my mind, because that ending.... It's hard for me to see past the ending. Not saying that the ending is bad enough to make you not read the book at all, I really recommend it, I had a lot of fun reading this one, and I wouldn't want you to miss out on the experience. 

Anyway, here's the official synopsis: 

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. 

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

SPOILERS BELOW 

As I said earlier, I really don't like the ending of the novel. It irked me so much I had to rant to my father, who was driving us to see my cousin's christening. I expected so much out of this ending, I expected these two great forces to both level each other, that one wouldn't come out on top. I thought it would be a balanced ending. But Victor won, and that irks me. Like I said earlier, I don't love Victor. Not that I love Eli, I was just hoping the ending would be fair for both of them. And yet I do get the ending seems poetic. It ends the way it ended ten years ago, with one sending the other to jail. 
I don't know the exact ending I was expecting, but I know I wanted slash thought it would be even, as I keep repeating. I thought either somehow they'd find a way to both die or they'd make up somehow, I had no idea how but I thought that's how it would work out. Because when two great forces collide, shouldn't it come to a standstill? 
Also I regret Serena dying, that irks me. Just Eli's side in general lost this one (how is he gonna get out of jail? He's not like Victor who can pain his way out.) But Serena.,. You see her redeeming quality in her telling Sydney to get to safety. I would've liked to see more of her. She irked me at times, but everyone in this book did. I wish we had more time to get to know not just the main characters, but the side ones. All these forces combined? I wish I would be able to see that. 
Anyway, that's all. My small rant-ish thing about the end. 
Anyway, thanks for reading! 
​-Anj

"Corsai, Corsai,
Tooth and claw,

Shadow and Bone
Will eat you raw.

Malchai, Malchai,
Sharp and sly,

Smile and bite
and drink you dry.

Sunai, Sunai,
Eyes like coal,

Sing a song
And steal your soul.

Monsters, monsters
Big and small,

They're gonna come
and eat you all."

Imagine a world that's so dark that crime isn't an uncommon occurrence. And I don't mean petty little crimes, I mean real ones. Where people are murdered or beaten to the verge of death on a daily basis. A time when crime is such a common occurrence that people's sins have given birth to monsters.
For a long time I heard about Victoria Schwab this, Victoria Schwab that. She's a big deal, and it seems like everyone loves her. So of course, eventually I gave in and decided to try one of her books. This is the first one.
Overall, I can't exactly explain how I felt about it. Schwab's writing style throws me for a loop. Though it had a slow beginning, the book just suddenly pulled me in and I was intrigued, and yet I still somehow felt distanced from the writing. I'm writing this review after reading three of Schwab's books, and I feel the same way about the writing style in all of them.
The world building in this story is very unique, it's kind of a dystopian novel, but kind of not because it takes place someone that is not here. Though, it is in the future where everything is destroyed so maybe it is dystopian, I just don't like the assumptions that come along when someone says "dystopian" these days. NO NOT ALL DYSTOPIAN NOVELS ARE LIKE THE HUNGER GAMES. It's a whole genre, not just one template. This book takes place in a city called Verity. It's been split in half, North and South.
North V-City is kind of like normal life, you can still do your job and go to school. The only difference is that it's ruled over by an evil, kind of mob boss type man who controls monsters. The people who live there have to pay a steep price, and still, they don't dare venture out at night. Because that's when the monsters come out to play.
South V-City is more of the dystopian feel, it's completely destroyed, but the people there aren't living with a self applied blindfold. They're the ones who know how terrible the monsters are, and are fighting to keep their freedom and to stay away from Callum Harker's terrible reign.
It's not often you'll find a book so dark and violent, and yet so enjoyable.
This is kind of a twist on Romeo and Juliet, minus the intense romance. Kate Harker is like her father, or, at least, she tries to be cunning and cruel. She longs to be a vicious monster, not the kind that haunt the streets at night, but the kind that has humanity, but choses to ignore it. While August Flynn is the "son" of the leader of South V-City. He's a real monster, and all he really wants is to be human.
"But the monsters-- real monsters-- didn't look like the stupid little hood ornaments. No, the real monsters were much worse." 
I lived for the interactions between these two. It took a while for the two's path to actually cross, but once they did, the book sure got a whole lot more interesting. 
All in all, I'd give this book 7.5/10 stars. Like I said before, I can't exactly put my finger on how I felt about this book, I know I enjoyed it, but I can't really place the extent of enjoyment. I was having a great time reading it, yet I was kind of distanced from the story. I would recommend it, but I didn't absolutely love it. I think it's a fun, different read, though. If you're tired of classic tropes, Schwab's books are definitely for you. 
"People are users. It's a universal truth. Use them, or they'll use you."

Here's the synopsis: 

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

Anyway, thanks for reading, 
​Anj