My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Winter Romances

When I first saw this book I was really intrigued to read it, because the stories were written by some amazing authors. And then I saw this edition of the book. It has pretty pink pages. That is basically why I had to have it. Still I really enjoyed reading it, and it's just so beautiful.

Alright, the ratings are as follows:

Midnights by Rainbow Rowell - 5/5

Amazing, as always. In my eyes, Rainbow Rowell can do no wrong. I loved how this was a short story, but Rainbow found a way to make the romance work through years, and make it believable, as she does in all her books. This is definitely my favorite story out of all. 

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link 1/5

I actually manged to finish this one! But it was ridiculous to me, completely. It kept getting worse. The characters had no depth whatsover. They were just there. Really didn't like it one bit.

Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña 4.5/5

I have never heard of this author before but I really liked this one. I would love a full story with these characters and I will check out more of the author's work.

Polaris Is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han 3/5

It was okayish, but it was flat, and I just kept thinking Elf. I was kind of disappointed, because I heard great things about Jenny Han's books, but this was just... okay. And again, Elf.

It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown 5/5

Loved this one, it was sooo cute. I loved how the romance wasn't pushed even though it happened in a few hours span. It was believable. Which surprised me. Really great.

Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan 4/5

This one was really good, but it had a sort of melancholic/sad feel to it. And I was kind of bummed after reading for some reason. But nevertheless, I loved the writing.

Krampuslauf by Holly Black 2/5

It was fine at first, but the whole time I was dreading the twist, and when it happened I just hated it. It was so obvious to me, but I kept thinking maybe it won't happen. But unfortuantely it did. And it was bad.

What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman 5/5

This one was so good, I loved it. Haven't read anything by Gayle Forman yet, but this was great.

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire 3.5/5 

Liked it a lot, but I kind of lost interest towards the end a bit, it seemed rushed, and flat. It was still good.

Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White 5/5

Another author I haven't heard of before, and another story I absolutely loved. It was quirky and fun and still sort of deep. Checking more out definitely.

Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter 3/5 

It was nice, but the plot was stretched too far for me, especially the ending. It was so unrealistic and it put me off a bit.

The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor 1/5

I couldn't finish it. I was so over it by the third page. 

So all in all, it's a 3.5 rating, buuut I feel that because there were only 3 disappointing stories, and I enjoyed the rest, 4 stars seems more adequate.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door is the second book in the companion series Anna and the French Kiss. Lola is a somewhat quirky 17 year old, who doesn't wear the same outfit twice and loves to dress up in costumes. She has a boyfriend, Max, who is 5 years older than her, and plays in a band. And even though Lola thinks she is very much in love with him, things start to change when the boy she used to like moves back to the house next door.

I think my feelings for Anna and the French Kiss pretty also apply here. This is the same story basically, only reversed. Now, the girl has a boyfriend and she can't gather the courage to breakup with him, even though it's pretty obvious that she like Cricket, her neighbor. So once again, the story is quite generic and predictable, and again, Lola and Cricket dance around each other, have a lot of awkward moments, but somehow Lola doubts her feelings. I feel that the whole premise of the first book is the same. 

Lola can be pretty annoying sometimes. She can be childish and overly-dramatic, but I prefer her to Anna, because Anna really pushes my buttons for some reason. Also, Lola's whole quirkiness was a bit too much at times, it seemed pushed and came off as trying-too-hard.

Then Cricket. Oh boy, Cricket. I loooved Cricket. He really made me like this book so much more than I would if he wasn't in it. He is this cute, tall, geeky, smart and sometimes a little bit awkward boy. So yes, I did like him, even though he didn't really seem quite real, honestly.

Also, I felt the whole thing with Max was so obvious, as in how it will end. I mean, it's constantly stressed that he is this older, tattooed, jealous person, who hates Lola's friends and who always gets mad at her. And it's quite predictable how that relationship will end. 

Again, this book is quite stereotypical, like the first one, but again, it's CUTE. It's as every bit cute and fluffy as Anna, or even more (CRICKET). So once again, I have fallen under the spell of teenage drama and so called true love. But it's okay because I enjoyed it. And it made me feel nice and fuzzy when I read it. This book won't change the world, I know, but that's fine because it's...guess what? Frickin' cute. 

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I have mixed feelings about this book. I saw it all over Youtube and people seemed to be loooving it. So I had high expectations for it. But as soon as I picked it up, it became pretty obvious that it's going to be another stereotypical YA novel. And somehow I was under the impression that that wasn't the case.

This book is about a girl name Anna whose father sends her from Atlanta to study abroad in Paris, in an American school. So she has to leave her life in Atlanta, her best friend and a potential boyfriend and move to Europe. There she meets a girl name Meredith who (kind of) introduces her to this boy named Étienne St. Clair. He is this gorgeous, smart boy, and Anna instantly likes him even though he has a girlfriend. 

Draaama. As I said, it's a pretty typical teenage book. I had a couple of problems with it. First of all, Anna. I know. The main character. But I hated her. She really bugged me. A lot. She is just plain... ignorant. Yup, that's the word. For example, she is this self-proclaimed film addict and expert, but she is completely stunned that there are cinemas in Paris. Um, hello, it's frickin' Paris?!

Also, she couldn't talk to the chef in the cafeteria because she can't speak French. Boohoo. I mean, it's an American school, chances are he speaks English and isn't completely IGNORANT.

The male lead, Étienne St. Clair, is completely dreamy, yes. I mean he is beautiful, smart, funny, speaks French AND has a British accent. I mean what more can you ask for? But he is so generic. Cute, but nothing that hasn't been seen before.
The whole book they obviously like each other, but they are so awkward around each other and just dance around the subject. Sometimes they said and did things and I was just like...

Another thing that I want to address is the writing style. People keep saying that they love the way she writes, but I didn't get that. It wasn't bad, far from it. I even thought it was pretty good. But there isn't anything special or ground-breaking about it. It was nice, but again, nothing that hasn't been seen before. And I hated the title. It's so... girly and bad. Makes it seem like the whole time this girl is chasing a kiss. Which she isn't really. She doesn't mind it, but that's not her whole preoccupation. Not really.
But all that aside, I gave 4 stars to this book on Goodreads. And why? Because it's just CUTE. Yes. They are stupid teenagers and they can't grasp basic things but it's still cute. And fuzzy. This is such a feel-good book. The one you can read without really thinking about it a lot, or at all for that matter. And who doesn't need that? I know I do. I want to read about a stupid girl who chases love and catches it. Because it's nice. And it makes me feel nice. It's not going to change your life. It's not going to make you think. It's not even an epic love story. But Perkins shows us how they fell in love, it's not like instant, like in most books these days. It's gradual. They actually talk and become friends and all that stuff. And once again, it's CUTE. But Anna is still quite annoying. And Étienne is adorable, even though he is every other YA book boy. But sometimes that's fine. Sometimes it's okay, because sometimes we need it. Anyways, it's a quick, easy, fluffy read, and I give it 4/5 stars and if you're into this kind of stuff you should check it out, because it's one of the better ones in that particular genre. 

***I actually started reading the next book in the companion series, Lola and the Boy Next Door, in which there are appearances by Anna and Étienne and I actually like them much more in this book. Because I don't have Anna's annoying point of view and also, there isn't any drama, they are just this cute couple. So I enjoyed that a lot more. ***