I was captivated to the end. The ending wasn't quite the grand finale I'd hoped for, but satisfying enough. ( )

Yeah ... so that's done.

Hmm. ( )

Sublime
By: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Reader
Released: 14 October 2014
Reviewed: KJ
The Word: a haunting vulnerable tale that puts you on edge – and maybe not in the good way.
https://birdslovewords.wordpress.com/...

Okay, well, hmmmm, I’m really conflicted about whether I enjoyed this book or not. It was the first Young Adult book by the dynamic duo Christina Lauren, and I have never read something quite like it. The setting was hauntingly beautiful, the characters were unique and vulnerable and the romance was… well it was sublime (see what I did there) but the ending… I’m just not sure what I feel about the ending.

Like other Christina Lauren novels we are told the story from two points of view. Lucy a wispy ethereal-like 17 year old girl ‘awakes’ in a silk dress and sandals unsure of how she ended up on the cold grounds of an isolated boarding school. She wanders the grounds looking for clues and stumbles upon the lanky, but handsome school daredevil Colin, and knows instantly she is there for him.

Colin the popular school daredevil known for his outrageous BMX stunts has always felt that something was missing – his parents died when he was young and since their death he has constantly searched for the next adrenalin high. When Lucy steps into his life he instantly connects with the beautiful ghostly girl and together they discover Lucy’s tragic past and try to uncover the truth behind her return. Yep that’s right – Lucy is a ghost! Lucy is restricted to the school boundaries and finds ordinary mundane tasks hard and is overwhelmed when people touch her.

When the Colin and Lucy fall hard and fast for each other – Colin is determined to find a way to be closer physically to Lucy. After Colin uncovers that during near-death experiences he can touch Lucy by meeting her somewhere between life and death, he begins a dangerous journey of nearly suicidal stunts that allow the two of them to be together. You can guess where this is going…..
Overall I thought the book was well written and Christina Lauren created a romantically gothic type world that was so incredibly beautiful and otherworldly. The characters had depth and intrigue. There were a few plot points that didn’t quite mesh up for me towards the end and it felt like a chapter had been cut from the book, tying up those few little bits and pieces.

The ending will cause controversy or anger from some readers and if you read the threads has already upset a few people. If more than anything, this book certainty put me on edge, I’m still not sure whether I like the feelings the book evoked from me but I can’t say I disliked them either. If you’re interested in a whole new realm of paranormal and don’t mind feeling a bit out of sorts then give Sublime a try. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Unfortunately, I found this novel mindless, plotless, and boring. Not to mention the horrible case of instalove.

Opening Sentence: The girl is bent into odd angles when she wakes.

The Review:

Lucy wakes up one day on the campus of a boarding school in the woods, without memory or direction. She is no longer alive, but a Walker, a ghost. The only thing holding her to the earth seems to be a boy. Colin lives each day full of unnecessary risks and adrenaline pumping activities that more often then not make him bleed and break. Collin is Lucy’s anchor to the world. But what is she to him? Guardian? Savior? Or certain death? Even amid the many mysteries surrounding her, the two begin a deadly romance. The only way to physically be together is to bring Collin to the brink of death, where their worlds overlap, but this will mean taking his favorite recreational dangers to the next level. But is it enough? And what will the consequences be?

Going into this book I was wary. I have seen a lot of not so complimentary reviews about this one. They didn’t like the characters and how they treated life. They felt that the risks Collin took were stupid and that he should have drawn the line far before he did. And I must say, I agree. I understand that he wants to be able to be with Lucy in ways other than long conversations and fleeting, painful touches. But at what cost? Is it really worth giving yourself freaking hypothermia time after time again so that you can kiss a ghost girl? Gosh. There were so many red flags, so many warning signs, before the not entirely unexpected ending. It annoyed me how little living meant to Colin. Is that really the message you want to convey, that life is worth nothing?

The main character Lucy does very little besides ponder and walk. She is often torn between wanting to be with Colin and stopping this nonsense before he hurts himself. I wish she had gone with the former and saved everyone in Colin’s life (as well as Colin) a whole bunch of grief. She doesn’t have many goals. I mean, she’s interested in her reasons for being on earth in the land of the living again, but for the most part she just thinks of ways to endanger everyone else so that she can get what she wants: Colin. She had weird characteristics, Lucy. Different people saw different things looking at her. Was her hair brown or blond?! I still don’t know for sure. It really threw me off and gave me a slippery grip on her looks.

I’m warning you right now, this paragraph I might get a tad bit sassy. Or more than a tad bit. Anyway, this book had very pretty writing and a not so pretty plotline. Nothing happened. Nothing. It was super slow, with no development in characters or romance. The only thing we discovered was just how annoying Lucy could be as a POV. And we sort of figured out what the walkers were there for. Sort of. The only thing that happened was an overwhelming case of instalove, dull personalities, and two main characters who make you want to shoot yourself while reading. I’m only slightly exaggerating. To tell you the truth, I’m very impressed with myself for pushing through every single page! I honestly just was curious about the ending, which turned out to be Stupid Thing that Colin Does #261. I think it was supposed to be tragic, but I could have laughed.

Okay, toning down the sassiness now. Sorry, I had to let it out. In conclusion: I would skip this book. The characters are cookie cutter, with annoying views on what is important. The romance is shockingly instant and doesn’t develop a bit. In fact, the two characters are horrific together, with Lucy deciding that Collin risking his life for her is fine and it’s worth the few moments they can steal while his body shuts down from hypothermia. Sometimes it was funny, but not in a good way. I laughed out loud when Colin described himself as a “mindless walking erection”. (The description was spot on, if you were wondering.)

Notable Scene:

Heading back to the lake, she sees Jay and Colin on the ice, zipping around.

“Wait,” she said, “You’re riding on the lake?”

“Yeah. It’s frozen,” Colin says, hopping up and down on his bike. The tires squeak against the ice as if in agreement. “Solid.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Absolutely,” Jay calls.

FTC Advisory: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers provided me with a copy of Sublime. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Before I say anything other about the book, I have to say that suicide is a serious and terrible thing. The fact that this book romanticizes suicide, is not only disturbing but wrong. There are so many people who contemplate taking their own lives and this book makes it sound like a good idea.

A tragic romance story from the POVs of both lovers. It's a YA novel, but it read more like a romance novel with all the raunchy scenes and vague details. It was like reading the movie Ghost but the couple are teenagers, and they never knew each other before our heroine died. I liked it, but I didn't love it. If you think about what I said above, it made it really hard to like this book because of how disturbed I felt.

full review: http://brittanysbookrambles.blogspot.com/2014/08/sublime-by-christina-lauren-arc... ( )