Friday, February 5, 2016

Did I mention I love you?

For Christ's Sake, I need metal care! This book just blew my mind. I'm feeling... I don't even know how I'm feeling. The ending wasn't supposed to be like that! I thought everything was fine and then BAM... I've got so many feels about this book but I LOVED it! I'm talking about Did I Mention That I Love You by Estelle Maskame. It's the first in a series and can I please get the second one... like now?! 

Eden goes all the way from Portland to Santa Monica to spend the summer with her father. The man who left her and her mother three years ago and never let anything hear of him. Then all of a sudden, he called her and gave her the opportunity to spend the summer with him and his new family. Eden accepted to offer, but not for her dad. She thought it could give her a way more awesome summer there than in stupid, boring Portland. 
But as she arrives there and meets with one of the three stepbrothers, she isn't as convinced this is going to be as awesome as she thought. Taylor is short tempered, has an ego to big for his head and drives her completely insane! Yet she can't deny that she doesn't find him interesting. Soon Eden gets caught up in a lot of drama and the masks eventually fall, revealing all sorts of secrets but also creates a whole lot of new lies and secrets... It might not be an awesome summer, it is at least an interesting one. 

Can I just go and cry in a corner? Someone bring me a box of Kleenex! This ending was so NOT what I had expected to happen after lingering on every word in this book! I just need the second book like right now... Who agrees?! And then another thing, please look. at. that. COVER! How can you not fall in love with it?

Actually it's because of that cover that I found this book. I was looking around on Goodreads, as usual and then I saw in 'recommended to you by Goodreads' this pretty cover. I was already sold! When I read what this book was about, I needed it pronto! 

Eden Munro was such a great character! From the beginning you get to know that she is a little more scared of life and its surprises but is insecure as well. From the moment she sets foot in LA I was connected with her, this all due to the fact that she was listening music. She. Liked. Music. Now, I know that isn't that special, a lot of books handle the fact of teens listening to music. Yet this was something different from me, it's how it was written. 

Other things we get to know about Eden is that she's really angry with her dad. Her parents are divorced and her dad just walked out on her without seeking contact for 3 years. And then all of a sudden he comes with this? Spending the summer with him and his new family? Eden doesn't really know what to think about it but chooses to go only to maybe find a more fantastic summer. I couldn't agree more with her! 

I hated her dad the moment we got to see him in the book. I didn't see it coming that he'd be like this. In the beginning he's trying but I didn't feel like he wanted it. I didn't understand what his intentions were and if they were all so meaningful as he tried to make you think they were. I just didn't like his character and it only became worse during the development of the story. I felt anger toward him and was so disappointed in this character but I think that really were the intentions of the author, so she did a great job on that! 

But with her father comes a whole new family. Consisting of a wife and her three sons. The wife, Ella was even trying harder than her father did! I didn't really knew what to think of her in the beginning but she did grew on me. That is because we get to see so many various sides to this character. I really enjoyed to discover this character and really get to know her! 

As for Eden's 3 stepbrothers, I have on all another remark! Let's start with the youngest Chase, I wished we saw more of him! I'm just going to say it like I think. We just don't see that much of him and I thought that was pretty sad because he looked like such a great character to discover! The first time Eden meets him, he seems really shy and insecure and we see that characteristic coming back a few pages later in Chase. But after that we don't really get to see so much of him. Sad! 

It's basically the same for Jamie. Though we see him more than we see Chase, I just missed him too... He's the total opposite of both his brothers. He's only 14 but he's pretty mature and really tries to make this as less awkward as he can for as well him as Eden. I think, just like Chase, he'd be a very interesting character to discover. Especially to find out how his bond with Eden would be coming around. So I'm a little disappointed to not see those two characters that much. 

As for the third stepbrother... he was just impossible! The first time the reader gets to see him, he's just the most arrogant bastard I've ever read about! It's like a mix of Kai, Daemon and Travis but all in one. I didn't really know how I felt about him in the beginning, Taylor seemed to have some SERIOUS issues. 

And then he started irritating Eden and then I felt even less about him. But it is very clear that he's hiding stuff, secrets. And our Eden starts to notice too, especially when we see with what he's all involved. I can already tell it isn't that good! And Eden tries to help him, even though he's being the most impossible person on the whole earth. He bites and snaps at everything she's saying. Even when one of his guy friends takes a step toward her and tries to get to know Eden. Which made me suspicious... did he want them to back of because he was jealous or to be irritating Eden? Because then I still didn't know how to feel about him but I did feel it for another character... 

Eden's character and Taylor's character keep colliding together but you get the suspicion that there might be more to these two than just stepsiblings! In fact to many characters there is more than they try to lead on. There are secrets I didn't even thought were possible and we also get to see many sides to some characters that made me feel disappointed in them. I was so hooked about that character and then it just does something like that! So the author really plays with your emotions toward all the characters. You either hate them in the beginning and love them afterwards or hate them even more. 

I just loved each and every character in this book. There's just so much around them that makes them really realistic and also makes sure you can connect with them. What I find the best about them is that they had sides and secrets they didn't show to others. It's either for their private life only or if they get caught that they show that side of them. I was really intrigued about it because I feel like that's also in real life. People have so many sides and secrets! The author really surprised me with her many characters in this book. 

Now, the plot I'll be crying over until I get the second book. It's a book filled with drama, a lot of laughable parts, romance and secrets. You can expect so much about this book and it still might turn around differently than you thought. I never thought Taylor would be impossible! I thought he'd be hard to get maybe or someone you needed to avoid but he was just the toughest, most irritating guy ever. That was a surprise, and the plot is filled with these sort of surprises. 

These surprises of course lead to drama but it also leads to the author dropping major bombs on me! I could go from laughing out loud to a part I could start crying because I so not expected THAT! It really gives you all sorts of feels, even the frustrating ones but it was such a good book! So good, I lingered to every word in this book.

Because I was so into the book, I really could get 'irritated' at my environment because they disturbed me. It was only 5 pages until the end, please just let me read. It really grabbed my attention from the beginning to the ending and I never thought I'd like it as much as I did. I'm usually the kind of reader that either thinks the drama is overrated and dreadful or is really hooked on it, and this book was the latter sort of drama. 

I still can't believe how this story turned out! Especially the relationship between Eden and Taylor. If he wasn't being impossible and finally turned around, then it was Eden who was the impossible one. But I did look forward to the scenes between those two, those were the most funny! 


But the plot isn't only drama and funny, it's also about secrets. Eden raised suspicion in me too, there was just something that she was hiding and you also get to know it on an unexpected moment. Although not only her secrets are revealed also those of Taylor and many other secrets. Even her dad has a secret and when that one is revealed, it just drops a bomb of anger in yourself. This story makes sure that masks fall and secrets are revealed and that's a factor that really contributed to my feelings toward this book! 

Yet the biggest surprise to me was the secret that was created during the development of the story. I didn't expect it was going to be a secret. Hell I didn't even think it was going to turn out like this! I still can't believe it, especially after the end! This book was just full of surprises and I'm just so happy about it! 

As a first read written by Estelle Maskame, I'm left speechless. It blew my mind as hard as it dropped a bomb at the end. I felt so connected with each and every one of this characters, I felt so many thing during this read and I lingered on every word there was to read in this book. You won't be left untouched with this read. It breaks your heart one moment, heals it the other by a laughable part... Only to tear it apart and stab it a hundred times until you bleed to dead later on. And rewind that process! It was so realistic to me and I can't wait for the second book that looks just as promising as this one. I recommend this book to everyone who wants to good dose of all the aspects above! 

"Who the hell is this jackass?"



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