Book Review: Destria Waves

*Full disclaimer*: The author Lily Raine is a personal friend of mine. She has asked me for an honest review of her first book.

Anastasia's life has been marred by the memories of the brutal murder of several of her family members while she visited Russia as a child. She is haunted by the image of the murderer who calls her "Aria" and worse yet, she has instances where she disconnects with reality and sees a woman in a white dress who tries to feed her blue flowers. But when she's lured to the woods by a man in a mask who refers to her as Aria, warning of danger coming, Anastasia discovers there's something far greater than visions and the memory of a murder that make her different. 

Destria Waves (the first book of the Anastasia series) is a book that I mulled over long after completing it. There is a lot that happens in the first book, so much that at times I had to go back and reread certain sections to make sure I didn't miss something. Details that might seem insignificant in one part of the book come back in full force later in the book (like the chocolate! Read this book and then dare to tell me that the chocolate wasn't a freakin' awesome detail). The plot and pace was clearly planned out significantly which for me, instantly places this book at a higher calibre than many YA fiction series currently out there. 

Book Review: Before I Fall

Earlier this year, I read a list created by my good friend Katie over at Paperback Planes that details the 10 books she believes everyone must read at least once. Luckily for me, I have read the majority of books on the list, save for two, one of which was Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I decided to pick this book up first namely because 1. the premise sounded really interesting and 2. Katie strongly recommended it to me and Katie's recommendations have always been spot on.

I'll admit that it took me a while to get really far into the book, but that was largely due to work and other real life obligations. But, once I got past the first 100 or so pages, I couldn't put it down (regardless of whether or not I should have really been heading to the bank...). Samantha Kingston is part of the most popular group of girls at her high school. She's also a mean girl that laughs at and torments others with her friends, actions they believe don't cause much harm. On a Friday night, Sam and her friends go to Kent Mc Fuller's party and the night ends with a car accident that leaves Sam dead. Sam is then forced to relive her final day a total of 7 times, each time changing certain aspects in order to try to save herself. It's only until she reaches the seventh time, does she come to realize that the point of reliving her final day was not what she believed it to be at all.