Jaded Little Lies by Christina Channelle | Book Review

(Four Letters #1)

Published: May 15th 2015

Synopsis:

What do you do when the love of your life is halfway across the world?

If you’re Jade Reamer, you fill that void with writing depressing song lyrics, hanging out with asshole exes, and re-reading your dead best friend’s diary (morbid, anyone?). But she’s got a lot to deal with—getting to know her biological family, for one. Not to mention getting through her first year of university without her best friend, Nina, by her side.

Then there are the men in Jade’s life. Her ex, Connor, has baggage coming out of his ass since the car accident. Her brother, Bryn, thinks stifling who he really is while pretending everything’s okay … is okay. When that’s far from the truth. And Reed? Reed decides the best way for Jade to deal with his absence is to get her a dog. And when he finally comes back?

Well, things aren’t exactly the same.

Deciphering between love and hate is the least of Jade’s problems …those four letter words are getting more and more complicated. Especially when she and Reed are keeping secrets from each other. Because as she forms new relationships and rekindles old ones, an unexpected surprise has got Jade’s mouth spewing lies on top of the usual curse words.

But little white lies won’t hurt anybody, right?

Note: This full-length novel follows the novella, Those Four Letter Words.


Jaded Little Lies_bookcover
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My Rating: 3.5 stars 3.5/5 (Liked it)

Book Information

Genre(s): Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Page Count: 191

Format: e-book


Note: I received a free digital copy of this book from Xpresso Book Tours via Smashwords in exchange for an honest review.

Hi! Today I have a review on Jaded Little Lies (in case you haven’t guess already). This is the full-length novel that follows the prequel novella, Those Four Letter Words. Like TFLW, this book pleasantly surprised me. I’ve been reading a lot of YA, so I thought I would try to broaden my horizons by trying this book. As a NA novel, it was an enjoyable book full of raw, gripping emotion, alongside a tumbling romance and life struggles.

Quick Summary

Jade Reamer’s life is pretty messed up. Again. Having to deal with her boyfriend deployed, another family to deal with, things haven’t been exactly pretty. Especially when her boyfriend comes back, and things aren’t exactly the same between them. Will Jade ever get a reprieve from all the heartache and drama?

My Review

The plot was pretty good, I have to say. Again, I can’t say much without giving away spoilers, but this book definitely took me on an interesting ride. The plot incorporated several matters we see in real life, without sugar-coating it, and instead kept it real and authentic.

What I really appreciated in this book was how the author, Christina Channelle, kept the characters true to themselves. They were familiar, and the way they thought, or, in particular, how Jade thought, was fun to read. I enjoyed Jade in a way I didn’t think I would, I rooted for her, laugher with her, and overall really liked her. Sure, she had her faults, and sure, she made mistakes, but that only makes her human, not a bad person. All the characters really, were intriguing, and paired with the great writing style, felt real and emotional.

Which brings me to the writing style which really got me into the story as if Jade was talking to me. Not only that, it was comfortable and easy to read, without being too unnatural for the mood of the story.

Overall…

If you like NA, this is definitely a good book to pick up. I haven’t read that many NA books, but from what I’ve read, this books seems to be pretty mild as far as NA books go. I will mention that for readers a bit more strict with the content they read, this book does include coarse language, and some steamy scenes. However it also includes an authentic protagonist with an engaging and realistic storyline. It deals with realistic matters, overall an enjoyable NA contemporary romance and if you can deal with the above, it’s an enjoyable book.

Want to eat this? Don’t want to eat this? Your pick.

-A

Note: You don’t have to read the novella before reading this one, but I think it’s better that way.

Those Four Letter Words by Christina Channelle | Book Review

(Four Letters #0.5)

Published: July 3rd 2013

Synopsis:

Eighteen-year-old Jade Reamer is a tough girl with a reputation to prove it. She loves three people and three people only: her brother, her boyfriend, and her best friend. Everyone else is irrelevant.

That is … until Reed enters the picture again.

Suddenly things start to spiral out of control and things aren’t as they seem. Life is no longer simply black and white, love versus hate. Suddenly, it’s hard to figure out which of those four letter words is true.

Especially when she can’t look away from those devil eyes.

I love you. I hate you. I love you. I hate you. Which is it? I don’t even know anymore.

Well, let’s find out.


Those Four Letter Words_bookcover
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My Rating: 3.5 stars 3.5/5 (Liked it)

Book Information

Publisher: Christina Channelle

Genre(s): Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Page Count: 102

Format: E-book


Note: I received a free digital copy of this book from Xpresso Book Tours via Smashwords in exchange for an honest review.

Hi! Today I have a review on Those Four Letter Words, the prequel novella to Jaded Little Lies. I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant in reading this book, as I am with most NA books. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this one, and it was a quick, enjoyable read.

Quick Summary

This is a short novella written as a writing assignment on love and hate for Jade Reamer, an 18 year-old who went through lots of heartache in the past, and whose life is getting no easier. When her brother’s best friend, Reed, comes back into the picture, things go even more out of control and Jade has to decide between love and hate. Which is it?

My Review

This is a pretty short novella, and there’s not much I can say about the plot without spoilers, but I will say that it was interesting and I enjoyed it! It went by pretty quickly, and I really liked looking into the mind of Jade as she went through difficult situations in the book.

Which brings us to characters. The author, Christina Channelle, I feel, did a great job at creating an authentic character. Jade’s emotions were just all so raw, so powerful, and the author handled them quite well, especially when her emotions were conflicted (which was most of the time). I really got to see who this sharp-tongued girl really was, understand her confusion, the difficulty of being angry and upset at someone, yet unable to express those emotions to said person, or the difficulty of hating someone yet loving them as the same time.

What I liked about the writing style was that it really spoke as the character. There are swear words mentioned throughout the book, and although I could’ve done better with a bit less swear words, I actually thought it was a needed addition, because it let me get to know how this character thought; what she was like, and how she spoke. It made Jade seem more like a real person, and that, I really liked.

Another thing I enjoyed about the writing style was that the author didn’t tell us everything right away, about the history between Jade and Reed. We get little bits of information at times, and we get to piece it together, which, not only made me more engaged in the book, it was intriguing to read about.

Overall…

A very well-written mature YA/NA novella! There is swearing in this book, and a few romance scenes, but overall, considering how most NA books are these days, this book was quite mild, and I liked that. It’s an intriguing novella that got me invested in the characters in a short amount of time, and has a nice writing style. If you’re looking to start somewhere in the NA genre, this could be a good start.

Don’t forget those four letter words! What is it, you ask? Why, it’s good and book, of course! If you want to eat something NA, you should try this out.

-A

The Write Those Reviews Party (June 13-20)

Hey there book lovers! ❤ Thanks to Amber @ YA Indulgences, I found out about The Write Those Reviews Party, which is a week long event hosted by Ashley @ Bookz4Nerdz and Xander @ Forever Bookish! Basically this challenge is to just complete reviews that you have been slacking on! (Find out a more detailed explanation here.)

If you’ve read my recent posts, you know that I have read a lot of books that do not have reviews posted, so I’m totally into this challenge! So, the reviews I’m planning to work on (not necessarily in the exact order):

  • Zaria Fierce & the Secret of Gloomswood Forest by Keira Gillett
  • Unknown Sender by Ryan Lanz
  • Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi
  • Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
  • Fire in Frost by Alicia Rades
  • Those Four Letter Words by Christina Channelle
  • Jaded Little Lies by Christina Channelle
  • Proof of Forever by Lexa Hillyer
  • Deception So Deadly by Clara Kensie
  • Deception So Dark by Clara Kensie

I still have a LOT more reviews to work on (if I want to do reviews on the books I’ve read so far, at least) but these are the reviews I’m focusing on this week. Obviously I’m not going to be able to complete them all in just 6 days (I’m a day late starting the ‘party’) but I’m hoping to get as many done as I can!

How are you guys with your reviews? If you’re behind too, maybe you’ll consider joining #WriteThoseReviews! 🙂

Happy reading (and reviewing)!

-A