Wednesday, December 17, 2014

I'm Drenched.

Hi, friends.

They say when it rains, it pours--well if so, I'm drenched.  Soaked.  And I need a little sunshine. 

We've had a major leak issue in our new house that left us in an undesirable situation.  Luke has a kidney stone that landed us in the ER one night (where our van was hit in the parking lot).  I. am. soaked.

So I'm taking a break for the rest of December so I can just re-group.  I'll be back in January with my normal posts--I have a line-up of book reviews ready to go!

Thanks for understanding...I just need some time over the holidays to relax and enjoy the moments.

Friday, December 5, 2014

REVIEW--To Be Perfectly Honest

Wow, what a few weeks!  

You know what happens when you let your three-year-old watch train videos on your phone?!  You run out of data!  So blogging from home has been VERY challenging lately, which leads me to my two-week hiatus.  Plus we had Thanksgiving--ours was fantastic and relaxing and I hope yours was, too! 


Our sweet little family on Thanksgiving--all 3 of my guys are in plaid!

My first pecan pie--it was DELICIOUS!

Today's post is a review for To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones.  This is a novel in verse (I feel like such a speed reader when I read these!) about a big fat liar.  Well, maybe she's not big and fat--just a liar.  Let's jump right in!


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Such a sweet face--but she's a liar.  Don't trust her!
  • Standalone novel
  • Realistic fiction, novel in verse
The Gist:
Colette is a liar, and she'll tell you that she is (that's pretty much the one thing you can trust her on).  Her lying probably comes from the fact that her mother is a HUGE celebrity, which often puts Colette and her younger brother on the sidelines.  Lying gives Colette something to do and allows her to escape her feelings of being left out.
When Colette's mother takes the family to the middle of nowhere so she can film her next movie, Colette is completely annoyed.  Until she meets Connor--a sexy motorcycle rider who also shares feelings for her.  Colette hides her mother's identity so Connor won't ditch her for an autograph...but then starts to wonder if Connor will still like her once he knows about her lies.

What I Loved:
  • The title.  So clever and cute.
  • Colette's younger brother has the CUTEST lisp...it's so fun to read all the "thweet" things he says.
  • I loved that Colette was such an unreliable narrator.  Maybe it's the English major in me, but I loved having something so literary like that to discuss with my students.
  • As a novel in verse, the book is a quick read, but it's also pretty light; despite some heavy issues that pop up, I didn't feel overwhelmed and felt it was overall a little "fluffier."
What I Didn't Love:
  • I knew every time that Colette was lying.  She didn't fool me once.  She'd tell a story and then say something like "Aren't you shocked that everything I just told you wasn't true?!"  Um, nope.  I knew it all along.
  • A trick that Colette and her family play on someone near the end of the book was over-the-top and completely unrealistic.  I think I even rolled my eyes as I was reading.
  • There's a little twist at the end with Connor that I saw coming from the start.  Just sayin'--if you're a liar, you better be prepared for liars.
  • The cover--she's a pretty girl, but the cover just doesn't get much across.
My favorite quote:  
"Only idiots believe everything they read in the National Enquirer.  Unfortunately, most people are idiots." 

An ok read for me, but a bit forgettable.  I wish I'd had the audio version, though, just to hear the little brother's lisp!



Some outfits coming up soon!