Book Review: Love Heals All
Katie 
I have to preface this by saying I am well aware that I am not the demographic that this book is going for. But I was curious when I saw this book was “featuring” Hayes Grier, who I believe is a Vine star. I’m not much of a vine user and I don’t really “get” these kids that are famous for just making videos on Vine and Youtube (read: I’m too old) but either way the book sounded somewhat interesting so I gave it a go.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past 25% of the book. I did try, several times, to continue it – but my rule is to not waste time forcing myself to get into books so right around the time when our main character decided that she was “handicapped” and wanted to kill herself seemed like a great time for me to bow out – since I am permanently handicapped and this girl just fell off a trampoline…
The book was a bit of a throw back for me too – it reminded me of the fanfic that my friends and I used to write when we were 14, 15 years old. The only difference is we didn’t try to get published and I’m not sure anyone would have published it anyway. But you always had a boyband – say NSYNC – which had 5 guys and you’d be the main character and then you’d write in ALL your friends so they could be dating a band member. Had more than 5 friends? Oh hey, maybe LFO or Backstreet Boys showed up too. This book definitely had that going on – and on top of it all – it jumped from ones person’s point of view to another and each time they had their first chapter they’d start it off with a “Hi, I’m soandso and I look like this and blahblahblah” instead of having it written from one point of view and some character development. I typically don’t mind books that jump between two points of view – but this one was just out of hand.
I have to hand it to the author for getting out there and writing and getting published but this book just completely missed the mark for old me.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
A modern love story for the social media generation featuring Vine superstar Hayes Grier!
Autumn moves across the country and struggles to fit in as the new girl in school. When she crosses path with a fellow teenager, Hayes, and falls hard for him, it seems that her dreams have come true. But what happens when Hayes skyrockets into social media fame with his brother, Nash? Suddenly immersed in tours, YouTube, Twitter, and Hollywood, Autumn and her friends have to deal with online drama and the life-altering issues daily pressure that teens face with today. Can her and Hayes’s relationship survive?
Every now and then I need to take a step away from the romance novels and dive into a YA or Children’s Fiction book. Dead Girls Society was that book for me recently and it did not disappoint. Even though I keep saying that I should not judge a book by its cover, I was intrigued by the wax seal on the front cover as that is my latest craft obsession that I am trying to figure out how to work into my scrapbook pages. Fortunately for me, I did not end up with a bad book with a good cover – but rather a great book with a good cover.
Carly Taylor took over her grandmothers bakery in a small town of Haven. One morning she sees what she thinks to be a rockstar outside the door waiting to come in. But why would he be in her small town? She was listening to his album as she was baking that morning so maybe her imagination just got the best of her. But then she realizes that Sam Weiss is really in her bakery. Later that day he calls and asks for her to make a delivery of some of her sweet treats to him. An ice storm is about to hit and she thinks that she can make it to his place and back, but the weather comes in earlier than expected and the two end up stranded at his place for a couple of days. Sam hasn’t been able to write any new songs, which is why he is in Haven, until Carly arrives. Then he can’t seem to do anything but think of lyrics. (ok, that’s not true. He can do a few other things too ;)) Will their couple of nights stranded result in Sam’s next hit song?
Up at the North Pole, Santa isn’t so sure he believes in Harold any more. He thinks Harold’s Mom writes his letter to Santa each year and that Harold’s Dad leaves out the cookies and milk. And that Harold that sat on his lap at the mall? Doesn’t even look like Harold!