WOOT or BOO: Mid-year edition

Welcome to the first edition of WOOT or BOO :)

RULES

I decided to start this meme on my blog to highlight the best and worst, in my opinion, books I read over a period of time.

You can choose to w00t or b00 first time reads, as well as rereads. 

I think one or two books for either woot or book will suffice, otherwise you will just end up recommending (or not) your whole reading list. You can also divide your woots and boos into categories, e.g. YA, Adult etc.

Additionally, you can add other things you really enjoyed or really hated, like music, TV, movies, anything really.

Keep in mind that this is a new meme. I may have to tweak it a bit=a lot before it's a 100%. I am open to suggestions, so feel free to leave a comment.

Please give a shout out to my blog if you use this meme, thank you 😊

Now, I'm well aware we're well into July and this post is a little late, but since I have done a lot of rereads this year I thought I'd give me more time to read new books to even the playing field a little bit. 

Unfortunately so far I haven't read as many books as I would have liked. Life is getting in the way of everything right now and it sucks. So since the beginning of the year I have read 40 books,  13 of them rereads.

WOOT 

The first w00t of 2019 will have to go to Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen, a great YA fantasy that came out this year.

Dark Shores ticked all the boxes for me, and I have to say I am very particular about YA books and more critical of them as I grow older. However, Dark Shores had everything:  

-a great and intricate plot which did not bore me to death and was not just another version of what’s out there already.
-strong and solid characters, whose physical appearance did not get pointed out all the time, characters with actual personalities who I found interesting and wanted to read about.
-a sweet and slow burning romance, with the guy pining after the girl for a change, which I much prefer to the opposite.

Dark Shores was an amazing read overall and I’m surprised that it was not hyped more. If you love YA fantasy, I’d highly recommend you give it a shot  ⚔

Another w00t goes to Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. 
I am a huge fan of historical fiction, especially when it’s paired with an epic romance. Tea Rose delivered in both aspects and it did it so well. Donnelly’s writing is beautiful and manages to immerse you in that era, making you experience the pain and devastation of poverty, loss and heart break, along with the joy of family and new found love. 700+ pages of a whirlwind romance that will bring to tears even the coldest of hearts. Adult romance lovers get right on it if you haven’t already.   😢

Speaking of adult romance, I would be remiss not to mention my new adult historical romance discovery: Tessa Dare. I have read two books by this wonderful author and I absolutely fell in love with both of them. Her writing is so light and fun but at the same she takes such care with her characters which immediately sets her apart from all the other HR authors. Short and sweet, beautifully written HRs, will definitely put a smile on your face on a dreary day.

Finally, where would I be this year without these guys? 

An huuuuge w00t to Schitt's Creek, a sweet, heartfelt and funny as hell (without being obscene) little gem of a show, created by Eugene and Dan Levy who also star in it. I'm currently on my second re run and if it's possible I love it even more than the first time around. Everyone who enjoys good, genuine comedy and guys in leather sweaters all year round, should definitely watch it! 

🤓📺

BOO 

The b00 is strong with this one 🙅

This is clearly an unpopular opinion seeing that this book has a 4,26 rating out of 13,892 ratings 😲

To me, it was just another overhyped YA book that appeals mostly to readers who enjoy very simple, polished books, with a clean-cut, extremely handsome guy, and a geeky, but secretly very pretty, young girl. I thought this kind of set up was the latest fad 10 years ago, but I can now see that not only it still exists, but that young kids go gaga over it. Hm.

Well, with poorly constructed world building and non existent characters stretched out in almost 500 pages, this book was definitely not for me. 

I regret to give this one a b00 but I feel I must.

The Gentlemen's Guide not only failed to deliver as an LGBTQ+ book, but as a YA historical as well. It was very convoluted and the plot not very well thought out, putting more emphasis on a mediocre telling of an "adventure" rather than focusing more on the romance and the characters' relationships. Again, too long  (😏) for such a poorly written story. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it was all bad or to not read it. I just expected way more out of a hugely successful, diverse book.🤷