Does This Beach Make Me Look Fat?: True Stories and Confessions by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella | Rating: ★★★★☆

As a note, a printed galley of this novel was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

I’ll admit it, my initial interest in this collection of stories was based solely on the title. How could it not be? I’m weak! I’m sarcastic! I love it! Nothing says humour quite like “Does This Beach Make Me Look Fat?”–I was chuckling all day after reading the title for the first time and promptly requested a copy.

Fortunately the humour inside the book matched the title and perhaps put it to shame at times. There were very few misses in it and when there are, it’s easy to overlook it for the rest of its pages.

It’s just that it’s a very humorous read with a massive heart. It’s quirky, it’s warm, it’s observant, it’s a delight and it’s easy to slip into and out of if you are short on time. In all the topics we touch, there’s a certain level of honesty that balances out the humour which is always a massive plus and it’s interesting to see how they put their emotions into each thought.

Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick | Rating: ★★★★★

“I know!” said the prince happily. “You’re a national disgrace!”
“And do you know what else is interesting,” I replied. “In America, Prince is a dog’s name.”

I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review and my first thought was that the cover was really, really cute. And I found that thought to be rather silly of me to think when taking in consideration the title as well as the plot.

Which, speaking of the plot, I was really pissed off that people didn’t get the plot. Because I thought that the idea behind the story, the impossible nature and the borderline incredibly strange parts, was rather obvious.

While I do believe that not everything is bound to be someone’s cup of tea, I was disappointed that not everyone fully understood that it was meant to be exactly how it came across. I think if they’d seen what I saw in the novel, they wouldn’t have taken it so seriously and loved it for the enjoyable, slightly strange and charming novel it was.

For me the only way to describe it was: funny, impossible, warm and full of heart. Entertaining; thoroughly cute. Sometimes bordering on ridiculous but only in the most endearing of ways. Yes, in spite of any flaws, Gorgeous is genuinely a fun and light read that will having you laughing and wondering what else is possible in your world. By the end of the novel, some of you will be left feeling great and humorous.

She’s So Money by Cherry Cheva | Rating: ★★★★★

"…but hey, starting over is what college is for. It didn’t matter that I had nothing left here. I’d just leave. Forget everything. Start again. Right?" / "He was just having fun," Camden said. "Maybe you’ve heard of it?" "Heard of it. Enjoy it. At the moment, not having it." I turned to go.

Rewind to my sophomore year of high school, aka the first year I began to write book reviews. One day I decided to ask for donations of books for my school, as I went to an alternative school and the head teacher there is an absolute angel. Through the years, it was obvious the bookshelf in one of our classrooms wasn’t growing, so I figured I’d surprise my teacher and classmates with some new books.

Cherry Cheva was one of the first authors to offer a book to donate and thus began my lovefest with She’s So Money. After a week or two of it sitting on the shelf in our classroom, unread simply because no one was doing reading assignments until the end of the semester, I picked it up and began reading it on my breaks between classes and lunch. First, I fell in love with the colourful cover. Shallow, yes? Well — who cares, really. If something gets you reading, it gets you reading.

(I loved it so much, I soon bought my own copy and one for my best friend.)