Book Review: Archetype by M.D. Waters

Archetype (Archetype #1) by M.D. Waters
Publication Date: June 24th, 2014
Format: Physical book (my own copy).

In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men—one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which is which . . .

In the stunning first volume of a two-book series, Emma wakes with her memory wiped clean. Her husband, Declan—a powerful and seductive man—narrates the story of her past, but Emma’s dreams contradict him. They show her war, a camp where girls are trained to be wives, and love for another man. Something inside warns her not to speak of these things, but the line between her dreams and reality is about to shatter forever. 

The first thing I feel like mentioning about this book is that it can be incredibly confusing. It does sort of come together around the end but there are still many questions left that need answering. I'm hoping that the second book, Prototype, will help close things off pretty nicely. But if you're not the kind of person who likes being kept in the dark about a lot of information (after all, you first see Emma as a clean slate with no memory of what she was beforehand), this may not be the book for you. If you like a bit of mystery, then this might be the book for you.

All we know about Emma, at the beginning, is that she dreams of nightmares that she doesn't quite understand. She is Declan's wife, but she doesn't know why. She just is. Despite the luxury that she receives where she currently lives, she wants to leave. No clear reason why, she just does. 

On top of that, she hears something in her head- thoughts that aren't hers. She speaks of things she doesn't quite understand but, somewhat, realizes that they're important and knows they must be followed.

See how confusing this can be?

Some of her dreams involve, what just might be, her past. Things that she recall but can't quite remember why they're so important. But she can't talk about them. There is something about them that she knows she must hide, especially since it could mean her 'freedom' could be compromised.

I've said this a lot, but confusion is the main theme of this book. There's so much to learn about this world but because of how limited Emma is to everything, so is the reader, and it can be quite frustrating. I found myself ramming my head against the wall wondering what was going on. 

It is not a world that I would want to live in, that's for sure. Women are rare in this world so, because of this, they are very sought out. So much so that, apparently, they must be branded as a way to say that they are already owned by a man. Being able to bear children is a plus. I won't say anymore on that topic. It's not spoilers but it's certainly one of the things you'll be learning throughout this book.

This book works out for setting up everything for the second book. I can't wait to read the sequel, Prototype. I want to know what was going on beyond the walls that Emma's so accustomed to. I want to know just how life is for everyone else and not just for the rich. I want to learn more. Give me more!

Still, I love this book. It's not a book for everyone although it's not because it's good or bad. Some people just might not like this sort of book and that's fine. If you read the synopsis and it caught your eye, I'd recommend it. As long as you understand that a good chunk of the stuff won't make sense. It's not you, I promise.

Book Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.
Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.
Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Let me just start by saying that I really wanted to like this book because of all the wonderful things I've heard about not only Eleanor and Park but about all of Rainbow Rowell's books. The truth is, I didn't like it at all, so much that I had to DNF it and I absolutely hate doing that.

The main reason I didn't like it was because of what I expected when I started. I thought, from all the reviews I'd read, that this would be a fun, light story with a fluffy romance and some awkward teenage moments. I thought it would be another Anna and the French Kiss but in the 80's. Oh my goodness was I wrong.

I do not like reading about abuse, rape or anything in that area. To stop myself from ranting, the short answer as to 'why?' is that those kinds of things hit way too close to home for me. I feel uncomfortable and instantly put off when I read a synopsis and see that's what the book will be focused on. These subjects are a very personal matter and I refuse to read anything like that. I had no idea Eleanor and Park would have these kinds of deep, hard-hitting subjects in it's pages. The first time I read the line about the bruises on her mother's wrist, I read it fifty times over and then shut the book. After an hour or so of scrolling through Goodreads and Google for reviews, I picked it back up again determined to get past this bad feeling I had. Most people had said this was an inspiring story with a cute romance that reminds them of their first time in love. I did not see this at all. As I said before, I really wanted to like this book and when I knew it was going straight over my head I thought 'what am I missing here?' Was I not seeing something that everyone else saw? Had a section of my book not been printed or something? I felt totally disconnected from the characters and the story they were telling.

Also, the point of view literally changes on every page. Actually, we're lucky if we get one full page of Eleanor's or Park's POV. It changes so quickly and at first I didn't mind but then I just got confused as to who I was reading about. 

The relationship; all I'm going to say is that their relationship is not the stuff of dreams. I didn't see the transition from being indifferent to each other and becoming friends because it happened so fast and in such a strange way. I didn't read far enough to see them become more than friends unfortunately. I was hoping this would be the thing that redeemed the entire book but I just couldn't read that far.

So... against my better judgment, I read on. I got 60(ish) pages in and knew I couldn't read anymore. The racism was another thing that bothered me. I understand this book is set in the 80's and all but apart from the offhanded Chinese comment about Park, Eleanor was the one who bothered me the most. She was kind of casually racist, as in she thought it was okay to think that about the boy. Does she have no conscience or common sense?

I made the mistake, just before writing this review, to skim through the book towards the end just so I could see what happened. What I read was absolutely vile and it turned my stomach. Notes from someone who I wont mention in case I spoil it. These notes... I can't even begin to explain my horror. I absolutely will not be picking this book up again as I do with many of my past DNF books. Safe to say I never made it to the end pages. The book is in my drawers so I wont be reminded of the disappointment it was and what the story held.

The one and only thing I liked about Eleanor and Park was the short chapters. I'm one of those people that have to finish the chapter I'm on before closing the book to take a break so having 60 pages in one chapter isn't my cup of tea. I felt like I was reading two different stories too, like I would be reading about how awful her stepdad is and them BAM, she's back on the school bus and thinking about why Park wont look at her.

I'm kind of sad now that I didn't get the experience everyone else seems to have had. I thought about not even doing this review because I don't want all the fans to torch my house down or something but this blog's reviews can't all be sunshine and happiness because there will always be a book I don't like. No one likes everything they read, so I wrote the review. I'm happy I did as it gave me a chance to write down all my feelings on this book and I bet Nicole from daysofbooksandstarlight is suuuuper relieved because now she doesn't have to listen to me rant on and on about this book or have 30 messages sent to her in the space of a minute. Thanks for putting up with me, lovely;)

So, did anyone else not like the book? I feel kind of alone on this one so hearing how you felt about it would be awesome! (Oh and please, E&P fans, do not come and torch my house down. I'm rather fond of it.)

Book Review: #Forfeit by Caroline Batten (Spoiler free!)

Getting divorced at twenty-five sucks. Teaching over-confident rich kids instead of designing handbags for Mulberry sucks. In fact, every single aspect of Daisy Fitzgerald’s life is one big fail.
Enter Xander, a veritable Knight-in-Shining-Cricket-Pads, who knocks her off her wedge heels and into his world of It-girls, players and Michelin stars.
Buoyed up on cocktails & escapism, Daisy agrees to play Forfeit, the ultimate game of dares, where a simple kiss sparks her relationship with Xander. But £25,000 is up for grabs and the game's called Forfeit for good reason.
Blackmail, betrayal, revenge... Move over Gatsby, there's a new bunch of bored young things in town. 

Daisy Fitzgerald is just trying to get through life and make ends meet. She's going through a separation with her hot hollywood movie star husband, soon-to-be ex husband and to top it off, her job sucks. All she wanted to do was to design handbags for Mulberry, not be stuck in a classroom all day teaching snotty, entitled rich kids how to paint. It's safe to say that Daisy is not living the dream. She needs a lot more fun in her life. It seems as if her wish has been answered when Xander, the local heart throb, sweeps her off her feet (literally) and he quickly becomes her Knight-in-Shining-Cricket-Pads. To get over the HMS she plans to get under Xander, little does she know that she'll want to stay there.

During all of the Daisy/Xander shenanigans is another story entwined with the first; the game called Forfeit. Pay the stakes, roll the dice, do the dare. But soon enough, things start to slip out of her control as she slips further and further into a drugs and alcohol induced oblivion. What is she willing to do to win £25,000? Apparently, anything because now the players have no choice. The game is getting dangerous but no one can back out now, no one wants to either. What would you do for that kind of money?

The characters in this book range from pretty normal to certifiably insane. There's Daisy Fitzgerald, the school teacher who wants to be making handbags for Mulberry. To begin with she's getting over her ex-husband, Finn (or the HMS as she refers to him), she's obsessed with her designer shoes and the contents of her fridge could rival a liquor store. Being a movie star's wife has brought her down to a size zero after being bashed by tabloid after stupid tabloid about being 'curvy'. Now she's drinking, smoking and snorting her way through life thinking that she's happy. Throughout the story we get to see her discover things about herself that she was blind to before, courtesy of Xander and her best friend Clara giving her a swift kick up the arse. 

Then we get to meet the wonderful Xander. He's confident, well spoken, rich and utterly charming but even the most swoon-worthy guys have their flaws. Like Daisy, in the beginning he's happy with drinking himself silly and smoking whatever he can get his hands on. He used to be a player, one who has left a mountain of broken hearts in his wake and one that has a lot of scorned girls rooting for him to fail when Forfeit takes a turn into the world of social media. He too comes to discover that he wants more from life; Daisy being that something. To have her he must change, forget about other girls and help Daisy trust him not to revert back to his old self.

The rest of the characters we meet are consistently part of the story. There's Clara, Daisy's best friend and ex-partner in crime who has given all of that up to marry the wonderful Scott and have their first child. There's James, Xander's best mate who for some reason despises everything that Daisy is. We meet Marcus and India, both related to James (I think). They take to Daisy much quicker and seem like much nicer people, Daisy has idolised India since forever so just being in the same vicinity as her is ground breaking. We also get to meet Xander's brother, Robbie and his lovely wife Vanessa. Rob is the poster child for turning your life around, he used to be just like Xander; a different girl in his bed every night, but now he's settled down and has three beautiful children with the love of his life. It's not long before Xander decides that's what he wants with Daisy. Oh and there's Daisy and Xander's rescue dog, Birkin. How could I forget that adorable little ball of excitement?!

Out of all the characters I think Marcus became my favourite. He told Daisy exactly what he thought of her and that's how she discovers that he is spot on. He calls her out on her bs and is entirely loyal to Xander even when he's been an idiot. When everyone got their final dare, Marcus's was to do something good (I won't tell you the specifics) and he tries as hard as he can to do the right thing. He's a changed man by the end of the story and I have really liked how his character grew.

This book is set in Gosthewaite, a quaint little town in the Lakes. The world building in this story is incredible, Caroline does a great job of painting a vivid picture of whatever scene we're in whether it be the hill Daisy climbs to work off a hangover or Skank Manor, her renovation project. Also, the place she is renovating is constantly changing and we get to see it happen just from the descriptions the author gives us.

At first, I didn't understand the title of this book and by that I mean I didn't understand the hashtag. But then I got it, it happened at around the middle point of the book but I got it and without giving any spoilers, let me just say that it totally makes sense! As for the cover, I love it. Don't get me wrong, I love those covers that have lots going on with an array of different colours but I adore simplistic book cover designs. I think it's the perfect cover for this book. I did find that the cover was relevant because we come to realise that Daisy is a sucker for boots, preferably the expensive, sell-your-car-to-get-them variety. All in all, I like the cover - it matches the content of the book well.

As for the pacing of the story, I do think it could have picked up a little especially towards the middle. Everything seemed to slow down when everyone decided to leave Forfeit alone and for a while the focus was on Daisy and Xander's crumbling relationship. However, when the anonymous texts start coming in, then the pace picked right back up! I had major trouble putting the book down and getting some sleep, especially the night when I only had 100 pages left. There are patches like this in every book but you know that when you get past that one point you're gonna get to the very best bit! That's exactly what happened in #Forfeit.

Now, this book is written by a British author and you can definitely tell. The words 'shag' and 'bloody' are consistent throughout the book and the British-ness doesn't stop at those two words. The entire story is just British, so if you don't like reading about brits, this book is definitely not for you. I, being from England, adored that about it. I generally read novels by american authors so it was a nice change to read something with my own dialect.

The main thing I liked about #Forfeit was that there was always something going on. The amount of twists and turns in this book must have given me whiplash because there is a lot. This is one of those novels where you have to pay attention, don't skim the words read them or else you'll miss something and the rest may not make sense. This wasn't a problem for me, I was so enraptured in the characters that I found myself reading every word. I like it when authors entwine two stories so whilst we read about one, the other is happening off the page but still developing so that when I go back to it, I get to carry on following the other situation. Does that make sense? Maybe. Basically, there was the Forfeit game and then there was Xander and Daisy's ever changing relationship. I really liked the game as it brought a lot of drama into the story. The stakes start off low, low enough that even Daisy is willing to play and the dares are easy. As the game goes on, the stakes are raised, the prize is bigger and the dares take a turn into Crazy Town.

Very realistic scenes and characters. The only slightly unrealistic thing was how well off these people were for their age. They were all in their early-mid twenties but pretty much all of them had their heads screwed on and seemed to know what they were doing 100%. I'd say it was a perk of being wealthy, maybe I'm wrong - maybe people as young as 22 can have a good life plan!

Loved the acronyms, it's the kind of thing me and my best friend would do; come up with nicknames so inappropriate that we had to make them less conspicuous. Sometimes there were so many that I'd forget what they meant if I didn't think about it!

Did all the problems get solved? YES! Thank god. The worst thing an author can do is leave me with questions unanswered, or when I have to decide the ending for myself. Especially when there won't be a book 2 so you know you won't get answers. Luckily, all problems were solved, all questions were answered. The trust between Xander and Daisy is going strong, the karma is all washed away with a heavy dose of forgiveness and it's clear to see that the two are not like they were before. The drugs, the drinking and the childish parties are over and Daisy barely misses her old habits which is major character development. They all totally redeemed themselves, bar a couple of the crazies.

I am totally happy with the ending and the happy ever afters and the not so happy ever afters for those who deserve it! I can't wait for the next book, so Caroline you'd better tell me as soon as Distraction is available for me to buy!

In the end I liked 90% of the characters, some were there to be disliked because, well, there's no story if there isn't someone to loathe, right? James ended up being great, I love Marcus, Clara, Scott, Rob and Vanessa were consistently awesome characters and as for Xander and Daisy I'm super happy with everything they got! I got worried and began to think they'd just kind of push everything to the side and move on without sorting anything out but those last few chapters were saviors.

Now for the very small list of cons; Daisy can be incredibly dense at times and indecisive. She also forgives Xander far too quickly - I'd make him grovel for some of the stunts he pulled.

Daisy's morals - especially in the middle of the book - are scary. The things she plans to do for a dare are crazy! The thing is though, is that there has to be some problem, something to overcome, some bad feelings to work through to make a story worth reading. This con was redeemable but I wont explain why, you can read and find out yourself!

There are so many ways that the author can go with this series, if she makes it into one. I'd love for James and Marcus to have their own stories so I can see how their happy endings take place. I can't wait for the next book to be published; the focus is on the sexy vet we saw at Clara's wedding, ooooh!

The absolute best thing about this book? Absolutely no cliff hanger! That's right, novels can exist without having to be in a 26 book series, crazy right?!

As I said yesterday in my mini Goodreads review, #Forfeit is a perfect example of a book that started on Wattpad and became a fully published book. I hope you guys will go and check out Caroline Batten, the author and her wonderful book. It exceeded my expectations completely, I never read these kinds of books but the dare game sounded intriguing. I'm so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone because, even as I'm writing this, I can't think of how to praise this book enough! I genuinely miss the book and the characters. I don't usually find myself missing books that much but my heart hurts a little. I want to read more about Xander and Daisy, Rob and Vanessa, Scott and Clara and even the Dowson-Jones'. I honestly miss it all, the drama and the antics. Most of all I miss the realistic-ness of it all, books like this are hard to come by.

I also assume Daisy's name isn't a coincidence. The Great Gatsby is mentioned in the synopsis and then the main character's name is Daisy Fitzgerald... Sneaky, Caroline!

#Forfeit will make you laugh, cry, question your sanity and wish for your very own Knight-In-Shining-Cricket-Pads. I 100% recommend it to all of you over 16 - there is drug use, sex and a lot of swearing but it's not overpowering. For those reasons though, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone under the age of 16.

Finally, thank you to Caroline for being so kind to me and for sending me a copy of her book. I can't wait for whatever you bring out in the future!

*This book was sent to me for review for free. All opinions are my own and 100% honest.*