Paper Walls by Nicole Feller

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 Synopsis: 
Cole MacHendrick is all mystery and gloom. And he’s about to change Leighton’s life…whether he likes it or not.

When Leighton Tucker goes off to college alongside her best friends, Quinn and Wesley, she isn’t quite prepared for Cole—her beautiful but rude psych project partner. As Cole lets his guard slip, Leighton finds herself caring for the broken boy with a secret past.
Despite Cole’s warnings, Leighton dives in blindly, hoping to heal him the way he’s healing her. But will she ever get to see who he really is? Or will the darkness Cole carries obliterate everything?


I thought that the story was good but I didn't understand the importance of having so many points of view in one book. I think that the other characters in the book could have had their own books because I don't feel that it added much to the main story between Cole and Leighton.

I felt that Leighton started out as an okay character but she became needy and a bit clingy after a short period of time. I also didn't appreciate her reaction to Cole's
past. She had no reason to react the way that she did. It made no sense after what I had learned about her character throughout the story.

I did enjoy Cole. I thought he was a tortured character that kept people at a distance because he felt he wasn't worthy of companionship. His reactions to things made since as well as his guilt that he carried because of his past. I feel like I read a lot of books where a characters reactions to their past don't make sense but his did. I enjoyed the fact that he was so flawed. It added a sense of mystery and conflict to the story that made me want to keep reading. I think that the book might have been better if the whole thing was from Cole's point of view because he was the driving force in the book.

The Gravity of Us by Brittainy C. Cherry

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Synopsis:
Graham Russell and I weren’t made for one another.

I was driven by emotion; he was apathetic. I dreamed while he lived in nightmares. I cried when he had no tears to shed.

Despite his frozen heart and my readiness to run, we sometimes shared seconds. Seconds when our eyes locked and we saw each other’s secrets. Seconds when his lips tasted my fears, and I breathed in his pains. Seconds when we both imagined what it would be like to love one another.

Those seconds left us floating, but when reality knocked us sideways, gravity forced us to descend.

Graham Russell wasn’t a man who knew how to love, and I wasn’t a woman who knew how to either. Yet if I had the chance to fall again, I’d fall with him forever.

Even if we were destined to crash against solid ground.


The Silent Waters will probably always be my favorite when it comes to the elements series but I think that The Gravity of Us just took second. This was such a good book! I don't know how Brittainy C. Cherry manages to make each book in the elements series so unique and moving in different ways. I love her for it!!!

I thought that Lucy was an awesome character! Yes, she was a hippie but I didn't find that annoying like I have in other books. It was probably because she wasn't the type to rub it in peoples faces. She was not afraid to show her emotions and I found her to be a very strong character with an optimistic outlook. I loved that she was so unique and not ashamed to be herself.
I also liked Graham. He may have been a jerk but I could understand why he acted the way that he did. I found his growth as a character believable and enjoyed his character arc.

I thought that the characters balanced each other well which I don't feel is done well very often. Brittainy C. Cherry is always able to do this and I appreciate that aspect of her writing style. Lucy allowed Graham the freedom to be the best version of himself and Graham grounded her and gave her a sense of home.

The story had an excellent flow to it and believable issues in it. I loved how none of the characters were perfect. They were each quirky in their own ways and had their own ways of coping with issues.

Too Much by Ella Miles

                                               🌟🌟🌟 1/2 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Synopsis: 
A romance that starts at the end, and ends at the beginning.

He's not coming.
He promised.
He swore.
He said he would always be here for me.
Except this time, when I really need him to be here, he isn't.
He isn't f**king here.

Quinn met Hunter five years ago at age eighteen. It wasn't love at first sight. In fact, it was the complete opposite. But they did make a promise that day. If times ever got sh**ty again, all either of them had to do was text each other for help. For five years, they had always been there for each other until...they weren't.


I thought that the author chose an interesting way of showing the passage of time in the book. The book was backwards and ended with the present. I haven't read a book quite like it before. Usually, authors will just use flashbacks once in a while to explain a characters actions.
I'm not sure that I liked either one of the main characters. I found it hard to connect with them because I didn't find them relatable. Too much was a solid book and a good story. I found it to be frustrating because I didn't really receive any answers until the end. It was a bit of a slow burn in that way. It also felt a bit fractured and I would have to review certain parts of the book before continuing on because I would get confused.
I would still recommend it simply for the creative way that it was written and how it is so different from other books out there right now.

Slip of the Tongue by Jessica Hawkins

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Synopsis: 
Sadie Hunt isn’t perfect—but her husband is. Nathan Hunt has her coffee waiting every morning. He holds her hand until the last second. He worships the Manhattan sidewalk she walks on. Until one day, he just…stops. And Sadie finds herself in the last place she ever expected to be. Lonely in her marriage.

When rugged and sexy Finn Cohen moves into the apartment across the hall, he and Sadie share an immediate spark. Finn reveals dreams for a different life. Sadie wants to save her marriage. Their secrets should keep them apart, not ignite a blistering affair. But while Sadie’s marriage runs colder by the day, she and Finn burn hotter.

Her husband doesn’t want her anymore. The man next door would give up everything to have her.

Slip of the Tongue is a stand alone forbidden romance. Please note it contains adultery themes that may be triggers for some people.


This book was difficult for me to read. I had to continuously take breaks while I was reading it because not only was the relationship between Sadie and her husband painful to read but also the relationship between Sadie and Finn seemed inappropriate and wrong to me. However, I found myself sympathizing with Sadie and wanting her to be happy with her life. It seemed like Finn made her happy which made me feel conflicted as I read it. I had already read another book that of the author's that has ties to this one so I already guessed how this book would end. I was still able to enjoy it though. 

I didn't fall in love with any of the characters like I would with other books but I think that made me appreciate it more. All of the characters in this book were flawed  in such a way that I wasn't really sure that I was rooting for anyone. I wanted the conflicts to be resolved so that different characters could have closure. I thought that Nathan's actions were suspicious during the majority of the book so I wasn't able to call him innocent in everything that happened over the course of the book or root for him either.

 It was an interesting book and very different from other things that I have read. I feel that I was able to understand why the characters made the choices that they did even if I felt that they made poor ones. I have read other books that involve cheating and this was not the case. In those books, it seemed as if the characters had an extreme case of lust and "can't keep it in their pants syndrome".  

This book is a lot to take in and it makes you think about the topic of marriage and the things that might need to be worked on in your own relationship. To be honest, I'm still digesting it.

A Sky Full of Secrets by Briana Pacheco

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Synopsis: 
Months after getting kicked out of college my senior year, I made a split decision and moved in with my best friend and his roommate, Nix.

I never thought I'd try the whole 'friends with benefits' thing with Phoenix, but he didn't seem to mind when I offered up the idea.

We promised no feelings would get involved.

We lied to each other, to ourselves.

In his eyes, I wasn't just the deaf girl or the family burden. I was beautiful and smart and a bit crazy with some anger issues which he overlooked because to him, I was normal.

We were never supposed to be more, but you can't fight that pull when the stars align.

We are fire and water.

Stars and the moon.

Phoenix and Luna.

This is the story of how a man who loves everything showed a girl how to love herself.
  

I feel that I should start off by saying that my first taste of reading a book that had a deaf main character in it was Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover and I loved that! I feel that this book is just as good as that one but in a different way. I believe that this book talks about a difficult subject matter that includes the treatment of people with a disability. 

The author delves into what makes Luna, the main character, tick. Her life has not been one filled with sunshine and roses. She has been ostracized by the majority of the people around her including her own family because she became deaf when she was a young girl. I hated how she was treated and could not for the life of me figure out why people would be so cruel to such a wonderful person. I was able to connect with Luna because I think we all know what it feels like to feel alone but also yearn for love. Luna was amazing to me! I don't know if I could have gotten through half the things I did in my life without my family. She got through so many things on her own...the fact that people were so cruel over something she couldn't control...argh!

This book really makes the reader think about the weight that words hold for the people that we say them to as well as the beauty of silence. Luna is able to affect the other characters in the book for the better when she is not even speaking.

I loved Phoenix as well! He has similar qualities to other male leads from other books that I have read but he is also very different in that he is a hopeless romantic. I enjoyed how that was explored throughout the book. It created an interesting dynamic in his relationship with Luna. I loved how sensitive he was because I feel that we don't see that side of men very often in books.

This was a beautifully told story about the damage that can be done when those around us are cruel and unsupportive but also the love of good people that can heal that damage and fill the holes that are left behind. I believe that it is also a story about gathering the strength and confidence to love yourself because every person has worth.

Who Needs Air by Cassie Graham

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Synopsis: 
They fell in love at thirteen.
He wrote a book about it at twenty.
She watched him walk away at twenty-three.
And he made the New York Times Best Sellers list at twenty-four.

Campbell ‘Cam’ Potter stood idly by as August Wyatt took over the world one word at a time. Chapter by chapter, people fell in love with the story he created – the events she lived. And now the book was being made into a movie, it was only a matter of time before August was back in their small hometown in Georgia.

The problem was, when August left five years ago, Cam made a promise to herself. The ending in his book would be the conclusion to their story. There was no sequel, no second chance, no possibility of ever seeing him again. He obliterated her heart and she was determined to never let it happen again.

That is, until Cam gets a late night text from the heartbreaker himself.
New chapters are written, fresh storylines are explored and Cam and August find a familiarity in one another.

I love the cover and the title of the book but I'm still not sure how either one fits with the story. Based on what I just read a better title might be who needs water because it is repeatedly said that Cam is August's air. I love how abstract the cover is but it seems like it is portraying two sides to the same woman which I don't feel that I saw in the book. I could also be over-analyzing it. Haha!

The book was good but I didn't connect with it the way that I wanted to. The characters were good and the story seemed to have a good timeline to it but something felt off about it for me. It could be that Colleen Hoover wrote a similar book entitled November 9 or that the conflict between the main characters has been done before in other books in the same genre. 

I didn't understand the motivations of the characters' actions if they claimed to be in love with each other enough to get married. Why did August leave in the first place? Was it part of his contract for the book to relocate to New York? I could have missed that when I was reading. Secondly, when their world/relationship is blown apart again, why aren't they communicating instead of drifting apart again?!? I found their decisions incredibly frustrating at times throughout the book! 

The Opposite of You by Rachel Higginson

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I knew when I immediately began reading this novel again the morning after I finished it the first time that I would have to give this book five stars! I loved every page of it!

It had everything on my checklist for a great book! The chemistry between Killian and Vera leapt off of the page from the first moment that they meet each other. The author was able to pull me in with that alone. She continued to add dept to the chemistry by helping the reader learn more about each character as they learned about each other during the book.

The characters were realistically flawed but both grew and changed as the story went on. There was a natural progression to the story which provided a good flow. There was never a point where I felt that the story lagged or was rushed. I also appreciated the fact that there was no unnecessary drama added to the story in order to progress the story nor was there any confusing plot points.

I'm not going to lie. I hated Killian in the beginning because he seemed like a huge jerk. He was rude and arrogant. I hated how he treated Vera because as the reader I knew more about her background than he did. I didn't want anyone to hurt her in any way and I wanted her to succeed in her goals. I kind of wanted him to be hit by a bus after he interacted with her in ways I didn't approve of!!! As the story progressed, I saw that there was more to him than met the eye. He could still be a jerk but he could also be kind and decent. I could appreciate what the author did with this character. He never completely changed but he had more depth as the story went on.