Tomorrow Is Today (Tempest, #0.5)

Title: Tomorrow Is Today
Author: Julie Cross
Labels: Fiction | YA
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: December 6, 2011
Contains: Profanity | Sexually Inappropriate Content.
Buy It: Amazon

My Rating: ★☆ ☆☆☆ (Wasn't thrilled, to say the least)
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Blurb From Goodreads: The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, throws lots of parties, is interested in a girl he can’t have, and oh yeah, he can travel back through time.But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
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          Yeah, I really hate writing negative reviews, but I really wasn't thrilled with this ebook. Tomorrow is Today is a prequel to the book Tempest, which I have never read, and after reading this bonus short story, I never will. Which is a shame, because I actually thought the concept of the time travel--especially with no consequences--was an interesting idea. It was cool that Jackson could go back in time, do whatever, and return to the present without messing up anything.

          What ruined this book for me was the things I consider to be inappropriate. The profanity was frequent, crazy parties and beer were made out to be a-okay (which they're not). I finally stopped reading everything that was including in this bonus--the first four chapters of tempest--when a sex scene appeared. Not. Cool. The concept of time travel was cool, but the story far to filled with junk to be worth the read. I cannot and will not recommend this.

          I bought this book, and therefore was not required nor asked to write a review, nor a positive one at that. I was not compensated for this review.

Bourne (River of Time, #3.1)

Title: Bourne
Author: Lisa T. Bergren
Labels: Fiction | YA | General
Publisher: Independently published
Publication Date: February 26, 2012
Contains: Awkward turtle borderline scene.
Buy It: Amazon

My Rating: ★★ ☆☆  (It was okay I guess...)
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Blurb From Goodreads: BOURNE, a novella (1/3 the length of a normal novel), picks up right where TORRENT left off...Find out what has happened to men returning from the battle, gravely wounded, to the Betarrinis, fighting for the men they love, and just who is hunting them next...
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         So, I wasn't crazy about this installment of The River of Time series. Bourne picks right up where Torrent left off, directly after the ending battle of the latter book. Unlike the first three books of this series, the point of view switches between Gabi and Lia....which is basically the only thing that saved it for me. In all honesty, I'm kinda getting sick of Gabi. When the series first started I really liked her; she felt real and relatable. Now I just wanna smack her upside the head.

          I guess I feel like all Gabi does now is get herself into trouble and drool over her now husband. And if she says "my man" again, I'm going to throw something against the wall (since this was an ebook, I can't really do that without hurting my Itouch....) And all she does is think about him....like lives, breaths, and drools Marcello. Her whole relationship is starting to get shallow. I get that originally she was all gooey, but now that she's married, it's time to grow up and get a life. I'm not saying that married life is boring or unromantic or anything, but I also don't think people are obsessing over each other at that point...it's time to get a grip.

          Now that I've voiced my displeasure with Gabi, let's talk Lia. I actually really like Lia, not to mention Luca (who was my favorite from the start). I feel like both of these characters have really grown up and matured through the first three books, and now, after much waiting, begin to move closer in their relationship. And even in getting closer, neither of them are really drooling or obsessive like Gabi. Even though Luca is always overly dramatic about his love for Lia, he still feels real to me because it's part of his personality. He was already dramatic and funny before Lia and Gabi showed up on the scene. Lia and Luca's relationship just slid together like just as it ought to have. So basically, the parts of this book written in Lia's point of view saved this novella from being a total flop for me.

          Besides Gabi, I have one other complaint. I have for the longest time loved Bergren's books because they're clean. But I'm starting to question whether she's going to cross the line.... Because right now, in this book, in my opinion, she's bordering the dangerous line of going to far. I get that the era this is written in could be pretty crude, but this is fiction. You don't have to follow exactly the way it went - especially when you decide to stick time travel in there. There were a handful of scenes in this book I thought was bordering on inappropriate, most of which I thought were completely unnecessary. If more details go into such scenes and said scenes keep coming up more frequently, Bergren just might lose my respect for her as an author.

          As for whether or not I'll read any future books in this series....we'll see. If there are future books written in Lia's point of view, I'll probably read them. If they're in Gabi's point of view, probably not.

          I bought this book, and therefore was not required nor asked to write a review, nor a positive one at that. I was not compensated for this review.