DNF ARC Review – Twigs by Alison Ashley Formento

Title: Twigs
Author: Alison Ashley Formento
Series: No
Source: Received for review from Netgalley
Release Date: 9/18/2013

 Description from Goodreads:

One pint-sized girl. Ten supersized crises. And it’s high noon.

They call her “Twigs,” because she’ll never hit five feet tall. Although she was born early, and a stiff breeze could knock her over, Twigs has a mighty spirit. She needs it, as life throws a whole bucket of rotten luck at her: Dad’s an absentee drunk; Mom’s obsessed with her new deaf boyfriend (and Twigs can’t tell what they’re saying to each other). Little sister Marlee is trying to date her way through the entire high school; Twigs’ true love may be a long-distance loser after a single week away at college, and suddenly, older brother Matt is missing in Iraq. It all comes together when a couple of thugs in a drugstore aisle lash out, and Twigs must fight to save the life of the father who denied her.

Review

This book was received from the publisher for review via Netgalley.

After a friend of mine downloaded Twigs off of Netgalley, I read the description and thought it sounded pretty good, so I requested it as well. Unfortunately, i just couldn’t get into this book and only made it to 27% before I put it down.

I’m not totally sure what it was about Twigs that I didn’t like, but I just was not connecting to the story.

First, there’s Twigs, aka Madeline, who is the main character and narrator of the story. I just didn’t find her to be likable. She seems like a completely miserable human being who hates everything about life and doesn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities. And the other characters, such as her boss, mother, sister, and absentee father, didn’t really seem any better.

At 27%, I also felt like not much happened, aside from a lot of whining from Twigs, and one very uncomfortable incident in an alley. I really didn’t feel like much else was going on, and I was bored. However, that alley incident made me completely uncomfortable. I just had dread curling in the pit of my stomach over what may have happened in that scene or will probably happen in a future scene, and honestly, it was just something that I wasn’t prepared to deal with during this reading.

It’s hard to really say much about Twigs since I only made it to 27% before I gave up, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a horrible book. I think it would probably be good for someone who is looking for a darker, slower-paced, tough subject contemporary. However, it just wasn’t for me, and I decided not to force the issue.

ARC Review – Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

Title: Ten Tiny Breaths
Author: K.A. Tucker
Series: Ten Tiny Breaths #1
Next Book: One Tiny Lie
Source: Received for review from Netgalley
Release Date: 2/12/2013

 Description from Goodreads:

Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to bury the pieces left behind—all but one. Her little sister, Livie. Kacey can swallow the constant disapproval from her born-again aunt Darla over her self-destructive lifestyle; she can stop herself from going kick-boxer crazy on Uncle Raymond when he loses the girls’ college funds at a blackjack table. She just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and then they can get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But when Uncle Raymond slides into bed next to Livie one night, Kacey decides it’s time to run. Armed with two bus tickets and dreams of living near the coast, Kacey and Livie start their new lives in a Miami apartment complex, complete with a grumpy landlord, a pervert upstairs, and a neighbor with a stage name perfectly matched to her chosen “profession.” But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle all of them. What she can’t handle is Trent Emerson in apartment 1D.

Kacey doesn’t want to feel. She doesn’t. It’s safer that way. For everyone. But sexy Trent finds a way into her numb heart, reigniting her ability to love again. She starts to believe that maybe she can leave the past where it belongs and start over. Maybe she’s not beyond repair.

But Kacey isn’t the only one who’s broken. Seemingly perfect Trent has an unforgiveable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness.

Review

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ten Tiny Breaths was actually my first foray into the New Adult genre. I didn’t actually realize it was NA until I started reading it. However, I had seen a ton of people really like it, so when I saw it on Netgalley, I requested it.

I was actually surprised and a little confused when I first started Ten Tiny Breaths. The Goodreads description makes it sound like it would start off at Kacey’s aunt and uncle’s house, so I thought it gave a lot of the story away. However, the story starts with Kacey and Livie on a bus, and the description pretty much just gives away the backstory that we learn fairly quickly anyway.

Reading the description again now, it also makes it seem like Ten Tiny Breaths is mainly a romance with the sexy, mysterious Trent. However, if you’re like me, and not a huge fan of Romance novels, don’t be afraid. The romance is as big a part as it is in any regular story with romance in it (though maybe a bit more detailed in places than in YA, but I never felt like I was reading porn), but far from the main focus. To me, it centered on a broken girl afraid of forming relationships, as she tries to build a new life and realizes that she can’t keep everyone out. It was really interesting to me to watch Kacey meet new people and forge relationships with them, even knowing how hard it was.

I loved Kacey. Though she was broken, she was tough as nails and truly loved her little sister and tried to do the best she could for her. Livie was one of the coolest 15-year-olds I’ve ever read about. She was very mature and caring, and definitely a good contrast to Livie. Storm was great, and I loved how she wouldn’t let Kacey push her away. Trent was sexy and mysterious.

I also loved the way Ten Tiny Breaths was written. It was broken into different sections, and it was really interesting to see the path that Kacey takes throughout the story. I won’t spoil it, though you certainly can spoil it for yourself by reading the Table of Contents if you so choose. I will say that I really felt like we got the whole story, and I wasn’t left wishing for more.

My biggest complaint about Ten Tiny Breaths was Trent’s “unforgivable past”. What it was didn’t bother me. What bothered me was that I predicted it. I mean, I didn’t see it coming super early, but I did guess it before it came out, and I hate being able to predict things! However, I never could have predicted how it affected Kacey or the turn the story would take when she found out, and I thought it was really interesting.

Just as a little side note: Though different in many ways, Ten Tiny Breaths reminded me a little of Pushing the Limits, which I loved. It had a boy and a girl (man and woman, whatever), both with dark, broken pasts that come together in an amazing way. I really enjoyed it!

Overall, I thought that Ten Tiny Breaths was a great book and would highly recommend it. I think it was a great foray into the NA genre and will definitely read more from K.A. Tucker in the future!