A Touch of Book Madness

I own most of Kelly Oram’s books but haven’t read any of them, I’ve heard great things about her authoring skills, so I really wanted to give her books a try. This is her newest novel and I’ve seen only praise about it, so I figured this was a great book to start with.

Well, it was an excellent decision. At first it was hard for me to get into this story because I honestly think the author didn't get the Chilean culture right, which as a Chilean was a huge turn off and the main reason I didn't give this book a full five Mad Hats rating. But it was impossible not to fall in love with these characters and their heartbreaking story.

I was not expecting that. I don’t know when it happened but suddenly I was hooked. I couldn’t put it down! I had to literally force myself to stop reading so I could get some sleep, and was even a bit late for work the other day. If I didn’t have to work, I would’ve definitely finished this book in one sitting.

It is so emotional and sweet. I feel so much stuff for Ella. I really really like her. She is sooo cool. What happened to her is awful and all the hardships she’s had to endure were indeed tough, but she was so strong and with the help of her support system, I have confidence she will be ok, She feels so real too. I love that she is a blogger! And a witty, sarcastic one! I think the author truly captured the essence of a book blogger and most importantly of a book worm. The same goes for Cinder. He was charming and funny, although a little over the top with his passion. 

I honestly thought this was going to be a corny clichéd story, but I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I’m truly glad I was. Even if you can predict where this is going, it is a re-telling after all, I was still surprised, and anxious, and nervous and touched by so many things that happened. This book has so many emotions people! I even liked this story better than the original. Much more exciting, heartbreaking and sweet at the same time.

I don’t want to extend too much, so I’ll just say that I love Kelly Oram’s character building skills. You have so many diverse characters in this book, and they have so many shades of grey. It is hard to stereotype any of these characters, because even if you don’t approve of them, you can understand them and feel a bit of empathy. Even for the mean characters, who were so hateful! I love when authors nail their villains. I also think it was very clever and funny that she included one of her previous titles as a book to movie adaptation in the book.

Overall, it is an awesome book with the perfect fairy tale ending. I hadn’t been caught up in a book so hard in a long time.