I Wish You Would by Eva Des Lauriers
This book isn’t for everyone, well not according to its ratings, but I devoured it in one sitting. It’s fast paced and the whole story takes place over just one day. But this can have its setbacks. I often find when I read a book in one sitting everything blurs into one and I struggle to form an opinion, which I said in my review, but I did it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have finished it.
If you don’t enjoy books with teen characters that always seem to make bad choices, this isn’t for you. However, I actually really liked the characters. They were fairly complex and while they struggled to communicate at times, you actually see a lot of development from them in a short period of time.
Synopsis: It’s Senior Sunrise, the epic overnight at the beach that kicks off senior year. But for Natalia and Ethan, it’s the first time seeing each other after what happened at junior prom—when they almost crossed the line from best friends to something more and ruined everything. After ghosting each other all summer, Natalia is desperate to pretend she doesn’t care and Ethan is desperate to fix his mistake.
When the senior class carries out their tradition of writing private letters to themselves—what they wish they would do this year if they were braver—Natalia pours her heart out. So does Ethan. So does everyone in their entire class. But in Natalia’s panicked attempt to retrieve her heartfelt confession, the wind scatters seven of the notes across the beach. Now, Ethan and Natalia are forced to work together to find the lost letters before any secrets are revealed—especially their own.
Seven private confessions. Seven time bombs loose for anyone to find. And one last chance before the sun rises for these two to fall in love.
My Salty Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows
This is a fairly recent read and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. For some reason this having three authors was a bit worrying, but you honestly can’t tell. I’m assuming each author wrote a different perspective, but I’m not actually sure.
My Salty Mary is genuinely funny. There’s something about current day pop culture references in a book set in the past that’s hilarious. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of these jokes were a little forced but that almost made them funnier. Maybe? Not really.
Anyway, this is a very loose The Little Mermaid retelling and is a great option for those that love books about pirates. Which is me, apparently. Who knew?
Synopsis: Don’t call this mermaid “little”—call her “captain,” unless you want to walk the plank.
Mary is in love with the so-called prince of Charles Town, except he doesn’t love her back. Which is inconvenient. Since she’s a mermaid, being brokenhearted means she’ll—poof!—turn into sea-foam.
But instead, Mary finds herself pulled out of the sea and up onto a pirate ship. To survive, she joins them. But Mary isn’t willing to just sing the yo-ho-hos. She wants the pirate life, all of it, and she’s ready to make a splash . . . by becoming captain. But when Blackbeard dies suddenly, Mary has a chance to become so much more: Pirate King . . . or Queen. She won’t let anyone stop her—not Blackbeard’s cute son, not her best friend from back under the sea who’s having a bit too much fun with his new legs, and certainly not everyone who says she can’t be a pirate just because she’s a girl.
She may not be the best man for the job, but she’ll definitely prove that she’s worth her salt.
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