I liked this book just a tad less than I expected, but I really can't say that it was bad at all. I enjoyed it as fluff, but not really as an extreme substance read or anything. I mean, what can I say? It was enjoyable, but not the best book I've ever read or anything.

I liked Izzy, she was fun in a quirky way - but I wasn't really looking for character development in The Symptoms of My Insanity - what I was really looking for was romance. I've really been in the mood for a romantic read lately, and while this had a cute romance, it wasn't really what I was looking for at the time.

I shipped Marcus and Izzy, rather than the other guy that she tried to be with - Marcus was just so much funnier and nicer! The other guy (who's name I can't even remember) was actually a total jerk, and throughout the book I got the feeling he was using Izzy. But Marcus... he was freaking adorable. He was sweet and awkward and made the perfect love interest for weird (yet fun) Izzy.

And I have to say, straight up - I liked the solidarity of the girls in Izzy's high school - they cleared the name of the girl in the scandal no problem. I wish girls acted like that in real life, but in reality we rarely see such... compassion from teenage girls. Maybe one day that will change.

All in all, The Symptoms of My Insanity really wasn't a bad read - it just wasn't exactly what I was expecting at the time.

In all actuality, I have next to nothing to say about This is What Happy Looks Like. Sure, it was super cute and sweet, but it wasn't much more than that. It was an ultimately forgettable, fluffy kind of book. Which is totally okay, because I've been in a really fluffy mood lately.

Ellie and Graham were both okay kind of characters, but nothing really stood out about them. It was fun to read the alternating points of view, and to see how two completely different people handle their lives, but the reality is that neither of them was very unique.

I liked the romantic tone of the story, but I feel like most of it was just filler. There wasn't any real angst to speak of, and the story kind of trotted along on one hind foot. The ending was super sweet, but this is really all I've got. It reminds me of one of those chick flicks that are okay, but just don't live up to their full potential.

All in all, it was a cute read, but I didn't love love it like I hoped I would.

I'm in a book-tearing-apart kind of mood. And it's all The Infinite Moment of Us's fault. I want to paste every single line of the synopsis down into this review and state every single reason for why it isn't true. But I am mature. So I will not do that. Though I am, at this very moment, fantasizing on doing that very thing.

I WILL CARRY ON AS IF THAT THOUGHT HAS NOT ENTERED MY MIND AT ALL.

Let's start with the length. Normally, if the writing is good - length is not an issue for me at all. But this one was just ridiculous. It was like a hundred pages before anything even remotely related to the romance happened. And while that's okay in a lot of books, it is NOT okay when that's what the entire storyline is based around. I mean, really.

When something finally did happen on that front, it was like an instantaneous kind of love. No feelings developed, nothing. Suddenly they're just falling all over each other in love, with none of it being shown. All we got was a lot of telling, which as you all know is the worst thing you can do in a fictional relationship. Words mean little to nothing, actions mean everything. And their actions were screaming "we're not ready for a relationship".

I didn't think that Wren and Charlie were good for each other at all. They didn't communicate enough, and their relationship really focused more of the physical than the mental. Why couldn't they talk to each other? Really. Their relationship was... gah I promised I wouldn't do this, but here!

Sexy, romantic, and oh-so-true to life, this is an unforgettable look at first love from one of young adult fiction’s greatest writers.

<--- You read that, right? Well, none of those things is really true. I mean, I can't speak for the writer, because I've enjoyed some of her other books.

But oh-so-true-to-life? No. Just no. If anything, it was nothing like real life. (It wasn't romantic, either. But we're skipping over that for reasons.) In reality, teenage relationships don't work like the one in this book, unless both people are irrevocably screwed up and over, with no chance of redemption. This relationship read more like a new adult book - and we all know how those go. There are some true diamonds, but most NA is all sex.

And in reality, that is not what an entire teenage relationship revolves around. Teens talk and hang out too. Not to mention the fact that the ending was completely too-good-to-be-true. Real life doesn't work out like that.

All in all, The Infinite Moment of Us just wasn't for me. I didn't like the characters all that much, the ending was a grotesque parody of life, and really the romance was just ridiculous. I was conned into reading it by the pretty cover. Can you really blame me?

Other reviews at The Book Babe's Reads.

"I'm scared of her, and her army, and what she can do. And everyone expects me to be strong and brave, but I don't know what I'm doing. I have no idea how to overthrow her. And even if I succeed, I have no idea how to be a queen. There are so many people relying on me, people who don't even know they're relying on me, and now they're dying, all because of some ridiculous fantasy that I can help them, that I can save them, but what if I can't?"

I originally started to write this review last night, but I could think of nothing to say. Nada. I'm a blank book, and there is nothing written in the pages of my mind that could properly describe exactly how I felt about Cress. But I'll try, and maybe you'll think I have something interesting to say about it.

I went into Cress with some big expectations... I was expecting to be wowed, and to a degree I was. This book takes us deeper into the world of The Lunar Chronicles, with the introduction of new plot and a few new characters. And intermixed with all these new characters are the characters that we know and love, like Scarlet, Iko, Cinder, Kai and Wolf. It was fun to see them again, and I enjoyed their group dynamic, but most of this one was all about Cress, one of the new characters.

Do you recognize the name? You should, it's on the front of the book. Cress was... interesting. I didn't like her as much as I liked Scarlet, but she's right up there with the original main character, Cinder. (If you can't tell, Scarlet is my favorite main character, but that may change with the next book. The peek we got at Winter was AMAZING.) But back to Cress. She's cute, really.  She's very innocent, very naive, and very unsure of herself, but I liked her. She was very nerdy, very easy to identify with... but mostly the epitome of a shy, quiet girl.

Just to screw with us, Thorne is the complete opposite. Cress has built him up in her mind to the point of hero status, which was cute, but unlikely. The glimpses that we got of Thorne show that he doesn't think of himself as a hero. Sometimes, he was, but most of the time... Thorne is just an average, normal kind of guy. That doesn't mean that I didn't like him, though! I did like him. But I feel like their romance was a little bit insta-lovish. Kind of. Like, a little bit. I liked it and all, and I didn't think the romance between them was stupid or anything (I actually thought it was adorable while reading) but the more I think about it, the more I realize that it was just a tad not perfect.

I liked that we saw character growth throughout the book - Thorne definitely became a better person, and Kai grew up a little more. I think he's shaping up to be a great leader - and I respect his character. I didn't get the point of views mixed up, but I do kind of want to call Cress Cinder. I'm not sure why - their characters are nothing alike, but I JUST DO.

Cress was nonstop twists and turns and new plot points - sometimes I felt like I would never be able to keep up, but I managed quite well. I'm really excited to see how this last book will turn out - especially since Winter is SNOW FREAKING WHITE, and OMG. Winter is totally going to rock - she's crazy. Like, "the walls are bleeding, but they don't believe me" crazy, and I'm going to have fun with her. And Jacin! :D

The worst part of Cress? (I hear you all saying "what? Worst part? What are you talking about?") It was the ending. Because now, no matter what I read... I'm stuck waiting on the next book in this series for A YEAR. AT LEAST. All in all, this was a really good continuation of the series, and I'm DYING for Winter.