kandisteiner's reviews
609 reviews

Having just debuted my first novel in October of this year, I know how scary it can be putting yourself out in the world and letting others read what you've written. Let me just say I am so glad Penelope shared this with the world!

Bully is unlike anything I've ever read before. I'm not going to lie, it took me a while to get into it. At first, I found Tate annoying and kind of whiney, but her relationship with Jared intrigued me, so I read on.

Thank God, I did!

There was a turning point for me in this book (hint - rain scene and whiskey is involved.) it was like after that point in the story, all the insane chemistry was released between Tate and Jared and we finally got to see him as more than just a bully. The more I learned, the more I loved Jared and his relationship with Tate.

But wait - Penelope hits us in the head with a few "oh shit no way did that just happen" moments and the story just gets better and better. Once I hit that turning point, I couldn't put the book down until I completely finished.

Bravo, what a great debut novel. Witty, well written and only a few very minor grammatical and typing errors. I look forward to more from this author!

Wow. Jamie McGuire certainly knows how to write a damn good book.

This is the first installment in the Maddox Brothers series, and holy canoli it was a fantastic read. I found myself swiping through my Kindle app so quickly my fingers were burning and my eyes threatened to kill me if I didn't let them rest. I was captivated!

Trent Maddox is just... sigh, so swoon worthy. I know many people said they loved Trent more after reading this, but I'm still a #1 Travis fan. Yes, Trent was absolutely adorable and so sexy, but I can't turn my back on my main man lol. Travis is still the guy for me! :)

Cami and Travis both have some rough pasts - family drama, deaths, sadness, and a will to work hard in life to get what they want. I loved their chemistry together, and throughout the first half of the book I kind of wanted to scream because they wouldn't just give in. Dang that stupid Cali boyfriend! But what's up with T.J. anyway? Well, I'll just say this... OMG THAT ENDING! No spoilers - promise - but seriously, that ending made it. MADE. IT.

I'll be adding another McGuire book to my shelf of favorites. I just love her writing style. The witty banter between characters is fun and the side character development is refreshing. So often there are one dimensional side characters that I could take or leave in a story, but Jamie makes me want to read about every single person in her little world. I want to go to the Red Door and hang out with them, get a tattoo and talk about their past, hang out with them in the cafeteria, root for Travis with them at the hottest fight of the semester. Jamie just absolutely sucks me into this world and I love it.

Fantastic job from an amazing author. Five stars from me and I'll be anxiously awaiting the next story - ESPECIALLY after that ending!

Wonderful book! This is far from what I normally read but I greatly enjoyed if. The characters are well developed and Hale really knows how to write great action scenes. Well done!

"I like pain. I like when it lingers. It reminds a person of what they've lived through."

Tarryn Fisher slayed me. She gutted me. She took my heart out of my chest by ripping it from my throat and then shoved it right back in - knowing it would never be the same, that my heart would be a little jagged, a little off, for the rest of my life.

I wish I could write as prettily as Tarryn does just so I could express my love for this book. I just want to borrow her ability for ten minutes - long enough to tell her how amazing she is and how beautiful, tragic, incredible Mud Vein is.

Going into this book, I had expectations - I knew it would be dark, I knew everyone was talking about it, I knew there was kidnapping involved and I knew that - from what I was told - I would probably like it. However, here are a few things I did not expect...

1) I did not expect to get pulled into this book so quickly and so completely that I found it hard to exist anywhere else in the world until I finished.
2) I did not expect to be feverishly highlighting passages, quotes, and scenes because I could relate to them, because they were beautiful, and because they were real.
3) I did not expect to see a little of myself in the "crazy" heroine - but I did. More than I care to admit, actually.

And most of all... I did not expect to cry. No one warned me. Sure, they warned me when I read TFIOS. They warned me when I went to see The Notebook for the first time. But no one - NO ONE - told me I would be wrecked, sobbing, gross ugly snot-filled crying when I read the last page of Mud Vein. But I was. I so, so was.

This book is a captivator. It's a kidnapper. It will take your thoughts, your heart, your mind, your soul - and it will take them all just long enough to change them. It will change you.

I loved this book. I hated this book. I was confused and angry and elated and sad. I loved, I hurt, I hated, I laughed, I cried - this book pulled more emotion from me than my first real relationship that lasted over two years.

I don't have the right words to describe why this book is so amazing because it just... is. Tarryn Fisher is a poet in sinister clothing. She is dark and eye opening and so, so damn beautiful. Her writing style will have you engulfed within the first few pages, and the deeper you go - the deeper the words will scar you.

Thank you, Tarryn Fisher, for sharing your incredible gift with the world. It's writers like you who make me want to try harder, be better, write more. You're an inspiration and a literary genius.

This book gets 5 stars, but I wish I could give it 10. Bravo.

"Why are you here?"
"Because you are."

God, I feel like I waited too long to write this review but I had to step away from this book for a second before I could accurately put my thoughts into words. Amy Harmon just... wow, she knocked me on my booty with this one. Phenomenal!

My five greats right now...

1. Amy Harmon's writing style.
2. Amy Harmon's genius mind.
3. Moses' beautiful eyes.
4. Amy Harmon's kick butt characters.
5. AMY FREAKING HARMON.

Seriously, this book is so wonderful and emotionally charged. I thought Amy had me with Making Faces but Moses blew that book out of the water for me and THAT is saying something. The beautiful thing about this book was that it wasn't perfect, it wasn't always amazing, and it hurt like hell in enough places to make my eyes wet a few different times. But that's the thing - Amy Harmon makes you feel. She makes you think.

* SPOILER ALERT * I'm a believer in mediums, having had a reading several times before, so this book was especially close to my heart. I plan on writing the medium story in my brain before long, and I loved seeing how Amy did it. Moses sees things that not everyone else does, but he's not afraid of it - he finds the beauty in it. He paints it. But, he does get himself into a lot of trouble along the way. ;)

And Georgia? Wow, what a spit fire! She was the perfect woman to kick Moses' butt into gear and get him to open up his eyes (and heart). Also, that prologue about having to let you know that someone didn't get to keep "him"? Yeah.... get the tissues ready when you realize what that is all about.

I loved the little moments in this book. The barn, their first time, the water well... all of it. Amy Harmon just blew me away. Fantastic job and I wish I had more stars to give. Thank you!

Some of my favorite lines:

Whatever it was, when Moses came to Levan, he was like water - cold, deep, unpredictable, and, like the pond up the canyon, dangerous, because you could never see what was beneath the surface. And just like I'd done all my life, I jumped in head first, even though I'd been forbidden. But this time, I drowned.

The problem was, I liked kissing her. I liked the way her hair felt in my hands and the way her body felt when she crowded me and got in my space, demanding attention and getting it, every damn time.

Crazy is subjective. You can be crazy with grief and not crazy at all.

Edgar Allen Poe said many beautiful things - and many disturbing things - but they often go together, you know.

But her mouth filled my mind with color. Just like it always had. Pink. her kiss was pink. Soft, sunset pink, streaked with gold.

Loved it! Thoughtless is still my fave tho. ;) Review to come!