Review: Roomies

Title Roomies
By Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando
Genre New Adult
Pages 279
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Elizabeth and Lauren correspond with each other during the summer before they start college and will be roommates. What starts as a casual pen pal situation deepens into these girls confiding in each other...maybe too much.

First Sentence
Sometimes there are signs




(Here we go with my new review format! Tell me what you think!)

• I love Sara Zarr's books. I was a little worried going into this one because she co-wrote is so it wasn't one hundred percent hers. However, these two authors wrote similarly enough I had a hard time telling who wrote what! 

• I like new adult books. It's fun to see this transitioning in characters who are young adults becoming adults. This book was particularly fun because it takes place the summer before college and has an array of issues and feelings from these characters about growing up. 

• I liked Lauren better. I'm sorry, but Elizabeth was a bit of a spoiled little brat. She seemed to have no real connection to her mother or friends and did not handle things well. I get where she was coming from but, come on. Not that I minded reading about her.

• Very fun unputdownable book! It wasn't perfect or anything, and I prefer some of Sara's other work better but it was very engaging and I kept turning pages. 

• Now I might have to try some of Tara Altebrando's other books...see what I think.

Should you read it?

If this is your type of book then yes, read it. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to people who don't like contemporary. It's not going to convert you or anything. 

Book Banter #7 Plot v Character

We're back! Did you miss us?! Sure you did. It's time for more Book Banter. This week Suey and I will be discussing plot vs character. You know what we mean. Are you a plot or character reader? Well, I'm a plot girl and Suey likes characters. Obviously we like both characters AND plot but if we had to choose...well here you go!

Suey
I remember at one point if someone were to ask me if I was a plot person or a character person, I’d fret and wring my hands and hum and ha and stress about the answer. That was years ago and since then I’ve learned that I lean much more toward the character side of things over the plot side of things. (Not say one is more important than the other… because as we all know, a story needs both.)

I’ve noticed that when others complain “but nothing is happening!” I’m like… “really? But stuff IS happening… the characters are talking, right?” So I guess my first reason is so what if nothing is happening as long as the characters are relating… meaning… they are bantering, talking, discussing, interacting, figuring stuff out, thinking, worrying, pondering. All those things ARE something. Which means… something IS happening! Was that a clear reason? Let me restate: Characters interacting is something happening!

Me

Of course something is happening but it's like a day at the DMV. Sure, there's crazy people to see but it's not like you'd want to hang out there every day. See what I mean? There needs to be something going on. 

Suey 

Characters make me happy. Sometimes plot goes over my head. Sometimes I miss the details and the ins and outs and the complicated nature of what’s going down… but I GET the characters! They fascinate me. They seem like real people. They are awesome, cool, vulnerable, crazy, swoony, and so many other things. They are the heart of the story and the part of the story that make me interested, much more so than the plot ever does.

Me

Ah, but with out the brain the heart is just a lumpy red mass of muscle sitting there...doing....nothing. It even stops beating with out it's better parts! AKA plot. 

Suey

The questions that often arise in plot… where did that dead body come from and who killed it? Or who’s going to win the war and how? Or why is he going on this journey and will he get there? Etc etc. If those questions start being discussed in too much detail I get bored and start skimming to see if I can find where it “gets back to the story” which for me is when the people show up again!

Me

Ha! All I have to say to this is when I'm reading and characters just start talking and carrying on, I flip ahead to see when things start happening again! 

Suey's Last Word
Of course, I enjoy a fast paced, moving, crazy good plot! Of course I do! BUT… the people are where it’s at! 

My Last Word

If the plot's racing you through the pages...who cares about some whiny character?

Hmmm, I think all we really proved today was that books need both plot AND great characters. Agreed? Don't forget to check out my more detailed feelings on plot on Suey's blog! 

Top Ten Tuesday

It's time for another Top Ten Tuesday! OK, it's been awhile and I wasn't going to participate today but I was actually going to post about my New Years Resolutions anyway so why not link up, right? If you want to join head on over to The Broke and the Bookish and link up.

Top 5 Bookish Resolutions

1. I want to finish a bunch of series. Odd Thomas, The Lunar Chronicles, Vampire Academy...see the list goes on and on. I need to finish them!

2. Speaking of series...I want to START a bunch of series. Can you believe I haven't started Daughter of Smoke and Bone or The Grisha Series? Not to mention The Seven Realms and Starbound series. And that's just naming a few. I need to get going on some of these, right?

3. I want to read more adult books. I love YA but it's dominating my reads each year and I love adult books. With that in mind, I've already got an "adult books only" month planned. Remember last time? No? That's OK. There's not much to it. Just set aside a month where I read strictly read adult books. I'm planning on February if anyone wants to join me.

4. Read more! I used to read 75-125 books a year and in 2015 I barely manage 50. This is pathetic! I can read more than that! I set my Goodreads challenge at 65 for this year. Honestly, I hope to do better but I need to be honest with myself. It might not happen.

5. Plan each month ahead. I never plan on what I'm going to read each month but I think I'm going to try it this year. I think it will help motivate me to go into my personal library and pick out several books I want to read that month and then get excited about them! However, if it becomes a chore and makes reading work I'll abandon this goal with out a hint of guilt. I don't want reading to become a bother.

Top 5 Personal Goals

(I don't usually set New Year's Resolutions but I do ponder my life and habits at the end of each year and think about what I need to give up and what I need to gain)

1. I have officially named 2016  The Year of NO! What do I mean? I'm a horrible, pathetic people pleaser. I seriously can not say no! And if I do manage to squeak out a refusal to an outing or favor asked of me, I have this all consuming guilt that leads to anger and hate towards the invitee or favor asker. It's ridiculous! This has got to stop. So this year I plan on saying NO. If I say no to you, please don't get upset. Understand that I deal with anxiety and stress and depression and sometimes I just can't go out or do that favor. Sometimes I just need to say NO.

2 Cliche! I need to exercise again. I used to go running and haven't been for ages. I need to drop a few pounds before my poor joints can handle running again but I could at least go walking!

3. The whole house remodeling thing has sort of fallen to the wayside. Mostly it's just outside stuff now but there are some little things left inside that need done and my Library/Sitting room needs to get finished! I'm totally going to focus on it this year. I can't wait!

4. Go on Vacation. I know this sounds silly and vain but I NEED vacations. I need something to look forward to and I need that stress release a vacations offers. Now if I can just get my husband on board.

5. Blog more. My blogging is so sporadic. It's hard to work up the energy sometimes but I really miss it...even if it's not like it used to be. I still want to have somewhere to talk about books and movies and life!

There you have it! Think I'll manage any of these? I hope so.

New Year, New Review Format

I've been struggling with my book review format for a while now. I'm bored with it. I get bored easily. Sigh! Any way, I figured with it being a new year and all, I'd change my format. But to what? I couldn't decide. Sometimes I just have random thoughts about books and no over arching feeling. I love the way Kami and Kimberly do their reviews. They both just sort of bullet point some thoughts they had while reading the book.  I thought I'd steal their format, change it up a bit and try it out for the year. You'll have to tell me what you think. Have a Happy New Year!  

December Wrap Up

And another year is gone. I only managed 4 books in December but I reached my Goodreads goal of 50 book...barely! Phew! Here they are.

Ignite Me (Shatter me 3)
I'm glad I stuck with it. It was a satisfactory ending to the series.

Secrets & Lies
Total disappointment. Unnecessary.

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass 1)
A little late on this bandwagon but I liked it and plan on reading more!

P.S. I Still Love You (To All The Boys I've Loved Before 2)
Fun continuation of Laura Jean's story. I hope there's another book, though!




Favorites of the month were P.S, I Still Love You and Throne of Glass. Least favorite was Secrets and Lies.