The Truth about Faking

I read a lot of YA novels - mostly to read ahead of my voracious daughters.  I do enjoy a good YA novel though, so sometimes it is just for me.  I have to say that the title intrigued me about this one.  Of course it starts out that Harley ( the girl) is trying to get with Trent, but he's just not that into her.  She decides that the best way to get his attention is to make him jealous.  Enter the "fake" boyfriend, Jason. That's all pretty cliche but it certainly isn't the entirety of what this book is about.  

What Harley finds through the course of this book is that everyone is faking.  Everyone hides a secret - even her.  I really liked the surprising ways that this book moved and told a much bigger story.   I can't say more without spoilers, so I will just say, 4/5 stars.  

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

This book was, once upon a time, a free Friday nook download.  I had nigh hopes of it being the series of books that I used for my Trilogy for the PopSugar Reading challenge.  Turns out that it will most likely go under my book with bad reviews.  You see, on goodreads, it had many well - written reviews which were less than sparkling.  To be fair, it definitely has it's fans as well.   Since it was free, I thought - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It's a romance novel - essentially.  While the writing style is good, none of the characters are ever particularly well developed. I never really felt like there was a single character that I could relate to. root for except for, perhaps, Will - the least developed character in the story.

 The plot was absurd, at best.   It was difficult for eve this sci-fi lover to suspend disbelief and that is saying something. There are so many aspects of the plot that completely defy reason but, on the off chance that someone still wants to read this book, I won't give spoilers here.  If you choose to read it, proceed with caution and see for yourself.  I won't be pursuing the remainder of the series.  On to other things.