Friday, April 6, 2018

Black Sheep Reviews - Volume 1


You ever read a book, and have an opinion that seems different from the majority of readers? That is exactly why I created Black Sheep Reviews.

Freefall Summer
Tracy Barrett
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Charlesbridge Teen
Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
Fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman's emotionally-charged novels will laugh and cry with Clancy Edwards as she learns about taking chances and letting go during one unforgettable summer at her family's skydiving drop zone.

Sixteen-year-old Clancy Edwards has always been "the good girl." Ever since her beautiful, daring mother died in a skydiving accident, Clancy's father has watched her like a hawk. Between her dad's rules and her boyfriend's protectiveness, she's longing for an escape.

Then Clancy meets Denny, a college freshman and new skydiving student at the drop zone where she works. Clancy lets him think she's the same age. But the lies snowball over the summer and suddenly Clancy isn't the person she wants to be. If only making choices were as simple as taking a leap out of a plane. Before Clancy can make things right, one last act of rebellion threatens her chance to do so--maybe forever. 1
Clancy had been tiptoeing through life. She "colored between the lines", because she knew how deeply affected her father was by her mother's death. She could not do anything that would put her life or future in jeopardy. However, in her 16th summer, Clancy was through being treated like she would break. She was through letting other people make decisions for her. She was through having no voice in her own life, and she was ready to start living on her own terms. This was her coming-of-age, and I found Clancy's story to be quite enjoyable.

Who knew I would be saying something like this, but I really enjoyed learning about skydiving. A good chunk of this book takes place at the drop zone. I got to mingle with novice and seasoned skydivers, and I must say, I thought it was so interesting. I also got peeks at entries into Clancy's book, The Whuffo’s Guide to Skydiving. These entries were both informative and entertaining.

I also really appreciated the setting. I am doing a 50 states type reading challenge, and what I am noticing, is that the bulk of the books I have read take place in New York, California, or another coastal state. I was so delighted, that Barrett took me to Missouri. I feel like the middle states never get any love, and I enjoyed seeing some of them getting a little attention.

This father-daughter relationship needed a total makeover. Clancy's dad wasn't just overprotective, he also underestimated his daughter. Although Clancy went about it in the wrong way, she was able to show her father that there was a lot more to her than what he thought. Clancy was also able to open a line of communication between her and her father, that had not seem possible prior to this summer.

There were some wonderful and colorful characters at the drop zone too, many of whom were part of Clancy's defacto family. I loved meeting them all, and liked the support they gave to Clancy.

The book was a fairly quick paced read, with some action, romance and family drama, but my heart was won with the ending. There is nothing I love more than a jump-ahead ending, and Barrett's was so lovely. It gave me a ton of closure and put a huge smile on my face.
What I did know was that from now on I'd be in charge of my own life - the good parts and the bad parts - and if things didn't work out the way I planned, I'd pull my own serve and land on my own two feet. 

Overall: I really enjoyed this story of a girl trying to find her voice and come into her own.


No Filter
Orlagh Collins
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
This poignant, sweepingly romantic contemporary YA debut is perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Jenny Han.

Anyone who follows Emerald on social media only sees a perfect life—a loving, wealthy family, a tight-knit group of friends, and a devoted internet following. But the truth hides behind the scenes of her perfectly framed, filtered photos . . . Emerald’s family is far from happy, and when she finds her mom unconscious on the bathroom floor, she can no longer keep it a secret.

Sent to stay with her grandmother in an isolated, wi-fi-free beach town while her mother recovers, Emerald fears the long, lonely summer. Then she meets Liam, an aspiring songwriter with his own troubles. But with secrets and lies all that they’re used to, can they really fall for each other—brave and true—with no filter?

The fresh, romantic debut novel is perfect for fans of Everything, Everything and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
Social media has trained us to "filter" our lives. Picking the parts we want people to see, and carefully projecting the desired image. Emerald had become an expert at filtering her life, but when her mother almost died, Em learned that she was not the only one in her family, who was hiding things.

I so loved this book! I laughed, I cried, I swooned, and I smiled a whole heck of a lot. There was a bunch of "weighty" stuff explored, but the two things that stood out for me in the story were the family dynamics and the romance.

Em was struggling with her home life. Her father actually did her a favor by sending her to stay with her grandmother, because Em finally had someone taking care of her. It was quite lovely seeing the bond between Em and her grandmother renewed, and Gran was a pretty special lady, who had been paying for the sins of her son for some time. I was really happy she and Em were able to find some comfort in each other.

Liam had a pretty decent home life. He had an incredible mother, a nosy, but loving sister, a baby sister, who he adored, and a dad, who eventually grew to understand his son a little better. Sometimes it was really intense in Liam's house, but this family had been through a lot. They lost a lot, but they always had each other.

Now for the BEST part - the romance. This was a first love romance, which is one of my favorites. There is just something about seeing people feel those things for the first time, and sharing all those experiences that are so new with each other. I swear, I was smiling like a fool.

I was so grateful that this story was told in alternating points of view, because it was fantastic being in Liam's head. He was just such a sweet cupcake of a boy, and I was instantly in love with him. I also enjoyed seeing Em drop the filter and be legit with Liam. Being with him gave her things that she was looking for and things that she needed - love, support, and the freedom to just be. She was able to bare her soul without judgement, and Em needed someone like Liam in her life more than she thought she did.

There were a bunch of other things I really liked too:
  • I love Ireland, and was happy to spend time in this Dublin seaside town. 
  • I was fascinated by the slang. I learned a lot of new words. 
  • I was pretty thrilled with choices Collins made for Em's family. I needed that more than I thought I did. 
  • A grand gesture!!! Anyone who knows me, knows I get all soft and mushy from a grand gesture.
  • The ending left me so happy and satisfied. 
Overall: A lovely story of first love, which left me drying my happy tears.

** ARCs received in exchange for honest reviews.









What are some of your "black sheep" books?
Let us know in the comments!

26 comments:

  1. I love the concept for these reviews - I find I also feel differently about certain books than the majority of readers.

    No Filter sounds so good! I love that lots of books these days are incorporating social media and how people try to portray this perfect life.

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    1. I was so shocked at how low the ratings were, because I genuinely enjoyed both books. No Filter was wonderful! There is a lot of pain, but so much joy too, and thought the theme of "no filter" was well placed throughout the story.

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  2. Yes! It does happen to me. Really like this concept. Both of these books are completely new to me so I haven't seen any prior reviews for them but No Filter especially sounds like something I may enjoy as well. I like the Ireland setting too and the romance sounds wonderful!

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    1. No Filter was a perfect "me" book. It had the romance, the family bonds, and friendships that I love so much. I also liked the direction the author took the characters. I don't mind adversity during the story, but I want the characters to succeed on some level, and I was happy with the ending she gave them.

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  3. No Filter sounds great! I love the the dual POV.

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    1. Dual POV is my favorite for a romance. I like to get into the head of both people in the romance. I want to feel all the feels.

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  4. I haven’t seen either of these books and your reviews are postiive so I am curious why others don’t like them? For me, I usually have the opposite problem, I don’t like a book that everyone else loves.

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    1. When I read some of them, and they were all over the place. I think people just have those little things that bug them, and they cannot see anything but that. I am more about the characters and how I felt when I read the story, and I was really elated at the end of No Filter. Never mind that I swooned, laughed, and cried a little too during it.

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  5. I can't believe I hadn't heard of No Filter before! It sounds so much like my kind of book. The bond between Em and her grandmother sounds fantastic. I was incredibly close to my grandfather growing up so I love seeing positive grandparent/grandchild relationships. And the Ireland setting sounds fantastic as well. After reading Now A Major Motion Picture, I want to go there more than ever...so maybe this will help hold me over for a little while lol Freefall Summer sounds interesting too. I've been curious about Charlesbridge Teen's books in general because they're a relatively new press. Great reviews! :)

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    1. One of my favorite trips was to Ireland, so I always love "visiting" again through a book. Freefall Summer didn't knock my socks off, but I liked it. It wasn't perfect, but it had a lot of great parts, and left me with an overall positive feeling.

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  6. I feel like that a lot of times, so much that at the beginning I wondered if there was something 'wrong' with me. The truth is, there is NOTHING wrong, that is just my opinion. Although I do feel sometimes that some of the reviews I read are not entirely genuine, and they give 5* just to suck it up to the author, so to speak.
    In my opinion, I don't care if the author is entirely unknown, or a best-seller, or a millionaire. I will share my honest opinion no matter what it is. :)

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    1. I just was surprised by how low the ratings were for these books, and I honestly enjoyed them both. I am laughing to myself a little, because there is a blogger I follow with an average 5-star rating. Every book is 5 stars. I am good at picking books I will enjoy, but they are not all 5 star reads, mostly 3.5 - 4 stars. That is probably why there are so many people, who prefer to read the negative reviews, to see why the people didn't like the books.

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  7. This is a very cool concept for your reviews! And these two sound lovely!!

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    1. I liked them both. No Filter was an especially good read for me. Different books for different readers. Everyone cannot like them all.

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  8. What a fun idea for book reviews! I'm usually someone who likes most books so I'm sure I'd be a black sheep in many regards. :) I'm glad you enjoyed both of these - I haven't read either of them.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. I don't normally finish books I didn't like, but there are some out there that people LOVE and I just couldn't get into. Every book isn't going to fit every reader, but I am pretty good at figuring out what I like.

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  9. Gah, I'm SO excited about No Filter, which is weird for me since I only heard of it now. xD I love the reality of "filtering" life, and the romance sounds super, super adorable, which I'm ALL for! I'm not sure how anyone could dislike this, based on your review!

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    1. The romance WAS so sweet. I liked the book a lot, and there were a lot of other ways Collins wove the No Filter theme into story, but I would be revealing too much if I shared it all. When I read some of the things people didn't like, they were things from the beginning of the story, which were addressed and resolved in some way later in the story. I guess some readers don't believe in growth and change.

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  10. I had no idea that Freefall Summer was set in Missouri. I love finding books set in my state. These both sound like great reads with really wonderful endings. Great reviews!

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    1. You see, I live on the coast, where all books seem to be set. Not a ton in NJ, but I am from NY, so, same thing. I love seeing our middle states being featured, because I have not visited out that way much, and love getting a peek into some of the sites they have to offer. And yeah, endings carry a lot of weight with me, and I really enjoyed both of these endings.

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  11. Yes, sometimes your opinion goes completely against the status quo. Can't wait to see your black sheep reviews when your opinions are negative, ha!

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    1. If I have really strong negative feelings about a book, I tend to DNF. I can only think of one book (Kulti) that I finished and gave a fairly low rating (for me). And that is a book everyone loves. I tend to know what will and won't work for me, so I don't run into that too often.

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  12. I haven't heard of either of these! Love finding new books. I sometimes have black sheep opinions too!

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    1. I'm an Android user in a sea of iPhoners. I don't always swim with the crowd, and it's ok to have different opinions. That doesn't make me like anyone less than I did before.

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  13. I think there are always some books folks are black sheep on and it's cool you're making a point to tell folks differing thoughts. Freefall Summer sounds good, a perfect YA but I think No Filter is the one I'm most interested in. I'm always hating how everyone is trying to put their best self on social media and so seeing it looked at in a book is really cool. Also, I saw that the romance was a highlight and I love romance in every shape and form.

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    1. The "no filter" idea spans a lot of things in the book, and I though it was well done. This book came out by you a while ago, and I was reading a bunch of the reviews from that release. Some of the complaints were about the use of slang. This was sort of an #OwnVoices thing, so I found the backlash about the use of slang odd. And other complaints were about things that happened in the beginning of the book, but the characters worked it out later in the book. So -- growth is good. That's just how I look at things.

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