Title: Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries #11)
Author: Meg Cabot
Publishing Date: June 2nd 2015
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Diaries series, comes the very first adult installment, which follows Princess Mia and her Prince Charming as they plan their fairy tale wedding—but a few poisoned apples could turn this happily-ever-after into a royal nightmare.

For Princess Mia, the past five years since college graduation have been a whirlwind of activity, what with living in New York City, running her new teen community center, being madly in love, and attending royal engagements. And speaking of engagements. Mia's gorgeous longtime boyfriend Michael managed to clear both their schedules just long enough for an exotic (and very private) Caribbean island interlude where he popped the question! Of course Mia didn't need to consult her diary to know that her answer was a royal oui.

But now Mia has a scandal of majestic proportions to contend with: Her grandmother's leaked "fake" wedding plans to the press that could cause even normally calm Michael to become a runaway groom. Worse, a scheming politico is trying to force Mia's father from the throne, all because of a royal secret that could leave Genovia without a monarch. Can Mia prove to everyone—especially herself—that she's not only ready to wed, but ready to rule as well?

 CRYING RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THIS IS MY CHILDHOOD OMG OMG OMG

I read the 1st book of this series when I was just 9 years old and I literally grew up with this book, went through puberty with it and all those awkward years and this was like my bible!!! I can't even remember how much I loved this series until I started reading this and how time flies because I'm reading this as a 19 years old now!

To the series that got me into reading chick lit and romance novels, to the series that taught me it's okay for a princess to be clumsy, bad at math, crazy and completely neurotic but still be filled with so much awesome and coolness and spunk, to the series that got me through my preteen years, WOW JUST THANK YOU AND I WILL NEVER GET TIRED OF READING ABOUT MIA'S LIFE.

It's great because 6 years have passed yet the author flawlessly gets back into writing the characters we all know and love and the characterization is just spot on. It's great to see all these characters come back to life in Mia's writing, like Lily, Tina, Lana, Michael, Mia's mom, and even Gradmere, no matter how annoying she may be (though she serves as great comic relief). I do still think that character is the strongest point of this series, and it shines in this 11th installment. Although the characters are still the same, we see substantial character development in their adult versions, even in Mia's father Prince Philip!

It was also so good to know what everyone has been up to and what kind of lives they are leading right now after high school. It's like looking back at your high school classmates and wondering what they're doing now. There were some really funny surprises though - I did NOT see that coming for Boris (haha) and I definitely didn't expect a certain someone to actually be Mia's stalker!

The narrative is still brilliant, with Mia's diary entries still funny, sarcastic, quirky and nerdy, and her thought processes absolutely sharp, hilarious and relatable. There are a lot of great quotable quotes that I really loved, such as the following:

 “It wasn’t me,” Lars supplied, from the front seat. “I didn’t tell.” “Of course it wasn’t Lars,” Michael said, having overheard him. “Tell Lars no one is blaming him.” Seriously, if my life were one of those romance novels with a love triangle, Lars and Michael would be the sexy paranormal alpha males, but the two of them would be in love with each other and just ignore me.” 

Yep, presenting: Mia's imagination

“Why doesn’t the CIA hire your grandmother to interrogate terror suspects? She does a much better job than they do of getting classified information."

“I’m completely demanding an autopsy on my grandmother’s brain when she’s dead so I can see what I’m in for as I age.” 

Still the same old Grandmere.

Title: My Heart and Other Black Holes
Author: Jasmine Warga
Publisher: Balzer + Bray 
Publication Date: February 10, 2015
Format: ARC Kindle Edition
Rating: 5/5

Summary via Goodreads
A stunning novel about the transformative power of love, perfect for fans of Jay Asher and Laurie Halse Anderson.

Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.

There's only one problem: she's not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel's convinced she's found her solution—Roman, a teenage boy who's haunted by a family tragedy, is looking for a partner. Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other's broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together.

“Maybe we all have darkness inside of us and some of us are better at dealing with it than others.” 
“I once read in my physics book that the universe begs to be observed, that energy travels and transfers when people pay attention. Maybe that's what love really boils down to--having someone who cares enough to pay attention so that you're encouraged to travel and transfer, to make your potential energy spark into kinetic energy.” 
“You're like a grey sky. You're beautiful, even though you don't want to be.” 

Title: Landline
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Date: July 8th, 2014
Rating: 5/5 stars

WOW. I must say that Rainbow Rowell has done it again!

If written by any other author, this isn't the kind of book I would have picked up on my own (yes, even despite the covergasm) but since I completely adore Rainbow Rowell, I just HAD to read this.

What I appreciate a lot about Rowell's books is how diverse and different they all are. No two books are similar in its story, theme or even setting, and I wanted to point that out especially in the case of her newest one, Landline. Landline is NOT Young Adult like Eleanor and Park and Fangirl, but it is also not completely New Adult like Attachments. It's a mixture of both with a hint of paranormal in the story, and it's because of how these genres all mesh together into this wonderful book that I was able to appreciate more the careful prose Rainbow puts into every story she writes.

This book is a lot darker, sadder, more realistic and less happily ever after compared to her other books (though there is nothing sunshine and happy about Eleanor & Park). It's about Georgie McCool, a driven TV sitcom writer, who deals with the fact that her marriage is crumbling. She still loves her husband Neal very much, as well has her two children, but when she is forced to stay in Los Angeles for work, while Neal and the kids go to Omaha for the holidays, Georgie thinks that this time she has done it. Neal is visibly upset with her and goes to Omaha with the kids anyway, leaving Georgie alone during Christmas. When Georgie discovers a way to communicate with the Neal in the past, she grabs the opportunity to fix her marriage... but can she do it?

This book is first and foremost a love story, but it's not just that. It's a story about marriage, family, friendship, choices and happiness. I liked that the story does not focus just on Georgie falling in love with Neal, but also with how she falls in love with her career, her relationships with her best friend, her mother, her sister and her children, and finding the balance among your priorities in life. The book is well-paced and every single moment is important and necessary to the story. It was also a very realistic portrayal of married life and family, and I appreciated the honesty of it all. The characters are all so well-rounded, and we have to give it to Rainbow for her impeccable way of crafting amazing characters. Even the secondary characters are so distinct, the bit with the pizza girl and the puppies giving birth is one of the highlights of the book for me and these little tidbits make the book even better. The writing is also very crisp and fresh, nothing less expected from Rainbow's top notch writing and effortless narrative. Georgie and Neal's love story is of course the main focus of the book, and it wasn't difficult to ship them at all. Their story is told through bits of the present and the past intertwined together, and it was certainly a unique way to show their story.

Landline is the type of book you have to go into with open eyes. It's not easy to accept that things change and that life gets in the way, but that's the way it is. Sometimes you just have to hit the pause button and really think and try to remember why you chose to be the person you are now, and remind yourself why you wanted this. This is what Landline is about: making choices - whether it's about marriage, career, kids or whatever it may be. Georgie comes to terms with that realization towards the end, with a little help from the past. Which brings me to my favorite part of this book: the ending. I don't want to reveal much, but it was the story going full circle and it was just perfect!

Love is a choice, and I liked how that shone through in the novel. I loved how it was never perfect between Georgie and Neal, and even the ending does not assure us of the lasting relationship between them - but it was realistic, and I just know that they would continue fighting for each other and choosing to be with each other, even if it's hard. And that's what marriage - that's what love - is about.

So whether married or not, you just HAVE to read this book.