Please Note: I am part of the Amazon Affiliate program. If you buy the book through the links on this page, I will get a small fee. This did not influence the opinions of my review in any way.
Synopsis (From Goodreads):
"When I met Oliver Perry, I had no clue he was the lead singer for
The Heartbreakers. And he had no idea that I was the only girl in the
world who hated his music."
Stella will do anything for her sick sister, Cara—even stand in
line for an autographed Heartbreakers CD...for four hours. She's totally
winning best birthday gift this year. At least she met a cute boy with
soft brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes while getting her caffeine fix.
Too bad she'll never see him again.
Except, Stella's life has
suddenly turned into a cheesy love song. Because Starbucks Boy is Oliver
Perry – lead singer for the Heartbreakers. And even after she calls his
music crap, Oliver still gives Stella his phone number. And whispers
quotes from her favorite Disney movie in her ear. OMG, what is her life?
But
how can Stella even think about being with Oliver — dating and laughing
and pulling pranks with the band — when her sister could be dying of
cancer?
Review:
I started out reading this series out of order. First, I read Paper Hearts, which focuses on Alec's life. Once I read and really enjoy a book, I like to learn more about the author and the series (if there is one). That is how I learned about The Heartbreakers and that is was a sensation on the Wattpad platform. I really enjoyed both books for the love stories and looks into the lives of a popular fictional boy band. Can someone famous have a relationship with a regular person? How will that person handle the weirdness that is celebrity? I loved how Ali Novak explored all these situations.
What I Liked:
Characters:
I love Stella. She comes off, at first, as a tough girl with a Punk vibe. With a nose piercing, and a blue streak in her hair, she is a far cry from the usual teeny-boppers who worship The Heartbreakers. And she kind of hates their music! She's not exactly winning points with Oliver, the lead singer of the band, who she meets at Starbucks. She doesn't know who he is, so their meeting is without the awkward expectations a fan might have.
Stella's passion is her photography yet she is very insecure about the quality of her work. When the band's publicist hires her to work full time photographing the band, she must face her fears or risk passing the opportunity of a lifetime.
Oliver is also a fun character. While he is living his dream of making it as a singer, he compromises significantly to make it to the top. He can't play the kind of music he wants, and he must behave himself at all times. I like that he has some insecurities that motivate him to submit to this manipulation. He is not all about fame, but is very concerned that he will lose his band "family" if things don't go well.
What I Didn't Like:
The boys in the band are a little too good to be true. I find it hard to believe that four young male rock stars aren't hooking up with groupies or doing other wild things on tour. The most they do is drink a lot of alcohol. There is a reference to a crazy party, but it all seems like innocent fun. A lovely fantasy for fans, but I think the reality would be far different. Most highly successful musicians are under intense pressure, and often, they need to escape. Many do this with alcohol, others do drugs. It is a dark side of the music business and I wish the author had delved more into this aspect of being superstars.
Cliches:
At times, the book was like a fun, but predictable, romantic comedy. Girl gets boy, girl loses boy, girl gets him back. Some of the misunderstandings that lead to heartache are things that would not have been an issue if they had talked it out.
And I really didn't like that Stella's twin sister has Cancer. Here come the scenes with Stella feeling guilty that she is healthy and Cara is not. Then Stella doesn't want to leave home because she is worried that Cara will die. Have we heard of Skype? Telephones? Airplanes? I just felt that this was a bit melodramatic. I was surprised Stella's parents weren't doing more to ensure that Stella and her brother Drew didn't wallow in misery because Cara was ill. It's what most parents would do.
Rating:
Release Date: August 4th, 2015
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Page Length: 336 Pages
Source: Public Library
Format: E-Book
Recommendation:
Despite
the overused tropes, this book was light, fun and entertaining like a catchy pop tune.
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Please Note: I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence the opinions of my review in any way.
Synopsis (From Goodreads):
Felicity has her entire
future planned. Ever since her older sister ran away, she's had the full
weight of her mother's expectations on her shoulders. So she works hard
to get straight As and save for college.
Except sometimes the
best things in life are unplanned-like when Felicity meets a handsome,
masked stranger while she is volunteering at a charity masquerade ball.
She never thought he'd flirt with her. And she certainly never thought
he'd turn out to be a member of the world-famous Heartbreakers band,
Alec.
Then Felicity uncovers a shocking family secret. Suddenly,
she, Alec, and her two best friends are off on a road trip to find
Felicity's missing sister. And she's about to discover that unexpected
turns have a peculiar way of landing her right where she needs to be...
Review:
Isn't it fun to think of what would happen if you actually got to meet a famous musician like Harry Styles or Shawn Mendes (or John Travolta or Michael Jackson in their prime for someone my age!)? Are heartthrobs actually like regular people, or are they impossibly full of themselves?
That's the premise for Paper Hearts, by Ali Novak. This is a fun, sweet romance that was hard to put down. I enjoyed the characters, situations, and the romance. What was even better was that I didn't even realize (until halfway through reading it) that this is part two of a series! I think it's a sign of good writing when you can jump in with any book in a series and not be confused. There were hints about other characters that make me want to go to the first book and read more.
What I Liked:
Characters:
Felicity is a hard-working teen. She makes good grades, works part-time to save up for college, and even does volunteering to look good on her college applications. Since her dad left, and her sister ran away, her mom has had to struggle, so Felicity is very aware of how much things cost and is careful about money. She definitely has her feet on the ground.
I really liked Felicity and appreciated that she was so hyper-aware about money. This was so realistic! I am always amazed by how teens in books don't seem concerned with how much things cost. Many teens (as I was myself at that age) are very concerned with affording clothes, gas money, and spending money. They can't ask their parents for these things.
This was a great contrast with Alec (the teen heartthrob) who never concerned himself with money matters. While he could take out a card and buy whatever he wanted, he was still a very normal person. I also liked that Alec was very reserved. He was so used to people wanting to know him because of his fame that he didn't let his guard down easily.
Felicity also had a wonderful friend named Asha. Asha was great because she was the superfan that Alec would try to avoid. It was fun to see Asha freak out over things like seeing the inside of Alec's bathroom, and wanting to jump on social media to tell everyone about her good luck.
Situations:
I love books with road trip in them! It was the perfect opportunity for Alec and Felicity to get to know each other better. Plus she gets to meet his band mates, as well! It was also fun to see Alec's playlists for Felicity at the end of the book! There was also a different playlist that the author used as inspiration for the book. I went ahead and (re) created Alec's playlist for Felicity on Spotify:
Romance:
I enjoyed the romance in the book (although it fits a pretty standard formula). After the initial surprise of figuring out that Alec is a famous heartthrob, Felicity does get to know him and see him in less than picture perfect moments. I
liked that while Alec is used to girls falling all over him, Felicity
must do some soul-searching about whether or not she can be with someone
famous. I also liked that his band mates were also pretty normal guys when it came to love (I loved that Oliver is clueless as to what to get his girlfriend for their anniversary!).
What I Was Mixed About:
Formulaic:
As much as I liked this book, I kept seeing many of the cliches that the Twitter account Brooding YA Hero parodies.
They include:
Masquerade ball ✔
Rich Dude, Poor Girl ✔
Bookish Girl ✔
Missing Parent ✔
Misunderstanding that could easily be cleared up ✔
Evil Dad ✔
It's saying a lot that I still found the book charming even with these silly tropes.
Rating:
Release Date: July 4th, 2017
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Source: NetGalley
Format: ARC E-Book
Recommendation:
Like a catchy pop song, Paper Hearts is a fun read. It may not be deep, but it would be a perfect book to dive into by the pool this summer.
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