Review: Midnight Blue

Midnight Blue by L.J. Shen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Life is full of secrets, and narrow-minded people, and sugar-coated, empty conversations that hold no weight. What’s real is what’s inside us. What’s important is what we feel.” -Alex Winslow (the rock god of our hearts, body and soul)

Characters and Oneliner of Story (sort of):

Indie -our heroine for this story and hanny (you'll know what I am talking about once you read this) to our rock god Alex.
Alex-our rock god who has been lately been spiraling out of control and needs assistance (not that he's willing)...
Lucas-Drummer, friend, and enemy of Alex for a time (again, read the story).
Alfie- Is our comic relief for this special story...a very interesting relief...
Jenna -Alex's manager and amigo (though not so friendly).
Natasha, Craig and Ziggy - Indie's family and they're not in good shape tbh...
Fallon-our rock god's obsession for the remainder
Will Bushell -Public enemy Numero Uno (Broken Knight reference anyone?) cause of our dear Fallon...

One-liner: Alex needs to get to his feet and his staff are going to help him in every way possible and no matter what, to keep him afloat in time for his latest tour "Letters to the dead". But you all know, love is hard to avoid, so is harsh reality, glaringly bright.

My opinion: Well this book has managed to highlight the realities and breaking down what it means to be a rockstar, their lifestory and how they manage to avoid obstacles and still be able to perform, not cracking the mask, and what it also means to live on the poverty line. Also teaching about love, how to battle your own demons and know what is worth fighting for.

Brilliant writing is executed making everything written be felt as real as it could be to the reader reading, amazing development of characters, I mean Alex has definitely grown a lot through his mistakes and finally made peace with his past while Indie has learned to confront the reality but also to help while making her brother realize his mistakes which would have cost his family a lot. There's defiinitely a ton of love and some interesting notions regarding the topic and some very out of this world scenes heh, but not that important to the plot unless you pay more attention to the dialogues in the scene.

But it is a very well done rocker romance and I love everything from the plot to the characters to the main messages in this story shared.

Definitely read this one you guys, it's worth it, trust me on it.

Until the next book,

-J.B

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Review: Broken Knight

Broken Knight by L.J. Shen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Make mistakes. Be free. Be bold. Treat teenage as a verb." -Rosie Le Blanc-Cole. (Not sure if it was her, and correct me if it wasn't her).

Yes, that quote is everything that Luna and Knight's story stands for, and what a chaotic ride that was, y'all moonshines.

Note: She included my favorite song Just my type by The Vamps! AAAAAAAH, that was just freakin wonderful!!!! I love this author and this book even more, my own personal souvenir for remembrance...

Back to the review board...

Storyline (Summarized)

They were best friends since childhood.
Boy and girl.
Wallflower and out-flower (my version of a non-wallflower).
And each other's crushes (though Luna (like, the girl she is) realizes this much later...).

Now Knight aims to make Luna his girl and to be her Knight in white, shining armor, despite the fact that Luna has changed and will no longer want him as a knight in white shining armor but just as she remembered him to be, her Knight without the armor, her Knight as her simple Knight.

But as you know Leigh Shen and her stories, they are anything but simple love stories.

My version of this story:

Unrequited love plays a lot of role in shaping up both Knight and Luna's love story and his chase of Luna the entire time.

I have to salute Knight for doing almost everything (be it wrong or right, damn the consequences) to win his girl.

Anyway we first follow along with flashbacks of Knight and Luna's childhood, and how she's always been silent the entire time.

Back to the present where Knight explains his crush on Luna and how in his three kisses he's been trying to convince her that they are meant to be and how she's rejected his advances each time.

Also getting a picture of his family aka the coles. Dean and Rosie and Lev. And a look at the Rexroths, with Trent Rexroth and Edie hehe. (I might get this wrong, because I have a short-term memory in some cases..)

We also get to see the Hotholes and the rest of their children, and their lives. WElCOME BACK Y'ALL SINNERS AND SAINTS heh..

And there's a lot of banter, emotions, hate, love, drama, vengeance, revenge, revelations, etc when looking at Luna and Knight's story overall.

Even when trouble arises, love still wins at the end.

And that's my summarized version overall.

Overall: This novel is everything you need right now in your life!

I don't joke.

With serious messages shared, amazing cast of characters, brilliant writing once again, it is a novel not to be ignored or just thought of as not good enough.

So please, do yourselves a favor and pick this novel up right now!

Until the next page,

Javelyn Bond

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Review: Pretty Reckless

Pretty Reckless by L.J. Shen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Nobody wants to be a bad person but some people like me just can't help ourselves." -Daria.

Mhm, so so right.

Definitely defines Penn and Daria's relationship in such exact detail.

Storyline (Summarized):

They were best friends, each other's first loves. But then shit hit the fan, and the tables turned.

Now he loathes her guts and she wants to be his last memory in every way.

But not every love story -turned to a revenge hunt remains that.

This is their story.

My version of the story:

So much drama, so many secrets. So many lies, so much hate. But yes, so much love.

We follow the plot first with Jamie and Melody's daughter in flashback mode to when her life was hell, aka Via, the one her mother seemed to love more than her real daughter.

Fast forward to Penn Scully and her first kiss. And the seaglass necklace.

Again fast forwarding to present time, where we get introduced to the rest of the hotholes children, aka Vaughn, Knight, Luna, and Daria, all grown up.

Guess who's who? Hehe.

Anyway, Penn shows up back in town. He's recently become her housemate, but he's not empty handed. He's come back with vengeance and revenge to wreck everything Daria.

They both have their fair share of Cat and mouse war, but lady and tramp are meant to be, don't you see? So there are some lovey-dovey moments as well.

Then some more shit blows up in the Followhill house and everything secret comes out in real and full detail.

But in the end, you guys, love just can't fail.

And so this summarizes Penn and Daria's story overall.

Overall:

This has brilliant writing, plot-twists that confuzzled my brain right over, angst, hate, love, drama, all the perfect elements to make a messed up but with an awesome ending highschool love story.

This is an author, who you need to read if you want all the perfect elements for a young adult story and plot twists as well, haha.

High thumbs up!

So Talk. (Hehe, if you read this novel, you'll know).

-J.B

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Review: Vicious

Vicious by L.J. Shen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Note: I had finished this novel a few months before but for the life of me I could not find the time for it, so here is the review, finally.

"He was in my veins, but I still managed to get under his skin." -Emilia.

Yup, in every way possible. Such a love story. Anyway.

My version of how this story goes:

Vicious, Baron Spencer (but don't tell him I told you his full name, he will slaughter me for sure) is a notorious block of ice that's been known to play and push his limits and raise hell, stretching them thin and wide, that spells trouble for the rest of his group.

Emilia Le Blanc aka Cherry Blossom, is the cheap help's daughter, who goes to school alongside Big Bad Wolf, and is the one despised the most (She doesn't deserve her place in that school, cheap help and a scholarship, what horror to come across!) especially by Vicious, him raising hell for her every time.

Good times.

Moving along...

At the time, she's been dating Dean (another Hothole) from their group.

Guess who's not happy.

Yup, you got it. Vicious.

So he sends her away, approximately 10 years. Doesn't care where, as long as she ain't in Todos Santos, near their untouchable group.

10 years later, fastforwarded, she's grown and has balls. He's grown and is still the same retarded block of ice but with sophistication.

He wants her. She wants nothing more than to stomp on his manhood and tongue.

But you know, love has no boundaries and is shameless. So there ya go, all Vicious and Cherry Blossom summed up...

Overall:

This book deserves all the 5 stars in the world. The plotline, damn me is just executed so perfectly. The plot twists too (Just can't stop the plot-twists -a-comin... are so fiiiine. The characters, so damn relatable, witty, smart, intelligent, and sexy as hell, and the introduction to other hotholes and their girls is damn wonderful and so nostalgic. (Specially Jamie with Melody, bless their hearts!)

So pick this novel up, RIGHT NOW if you want everything I just described in a messy love story!

Until the next time, my cherry blossoms...

-J.B

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