Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

Publisher: Harper Teen      

Publication date: February 18th 2014
My rating: 4.5 stars

Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plans for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick. Still, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her friend.

Even when she isn't sure what to say.

Even when Olivia misses months of school.

Even when Zoe starts falling for Calvin, Olivia's crush.

The one thing that keeps Zoe moving forward is knowing that Olivia will beat this, and everything will go back to the way it was before. It has to. Because the alternative is too terrifying for her to even imagine.

In this incandescent page-turner, which follows in the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars, Melissa Kantor artfully explores the idea that the worst thing to happen to you might not be something that is actually happening to you. Raw, irreverent, and honest, Zoe's unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

Everybody knows how much I love to read realistic stories. I can never get tired of them. At first I didn't want to read Maybe One Day because the first cover was giving me some fantasy/paranormal vibes. I didn't read the blurb so I ignored it altogether. And then one day, the cover was changed and I had to read the blurb. Once I did, I knew I would be reading it sooner of later. It turned out to be later because I didn't read the book for months. I'm not even sure why that happened. 

Zoe and Olivia were inseparable. They've been friends since they were little. They were thinking about being professional dancers one day and living in Manhattan together and then Olivia got sick. What seemed to be a simple case of flu, turned out to be leukemia. Now both girls need to find a way to stay strong despite everything that's going on. 

Maybe One Day was a hard book to read. I'm still not sure what to say about it. I did cry towards the end a lot. I was expecting it because Kantor did prepare us for the worst. I was waiting for it to happen a lot sooner but I'm glad it didn't. 

Zoe was impulsive and in the moment type of person while Olivia was usually the kinder person who was well liked in every circle. They complimented each other in every possible way. Their friendship was the center of this novel. Nothing else came even close. Not even the romance which was believable and hot despite the fact Zoe and Calvin not having a lot of scenes. He was suck a good guy I found myself wishing he was a bigger part of the novel even tough it was obvious he would be there for Zoe, no matter what. 

i'm glad I read this book even though it made me feel mad sad and mad at the same time because not everyone can win against leukemia. I'll be on the lookout for other Melissa Kantor books because she proved herself as a writer with this wonderful story about friendship. 

Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Book:The Fault In Our Stars.
Author: John Green
File type: Paperback.

synopsis:Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Review:

“May I see you again?" he asked. There was an endearing nervousness in his voice.

I smiled. "Sure."

"Tomorrow?" he asked.

"Patience, grasshopper," I counseled. "You don't want to seem overeager.

"Right, that's why I said tomorrow," he said. "I want to see you again tonight. But I'm willing to wait all night and much of tomorrow." I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious," he said.

"You don't even know me," I said. I grabbed the book from the center console. "How about I call you when I finish this?"

"But you don't even have my phone number," he said.

"I strongly suspect you wrote it in this book."

He broke out into that goofy smile. "And you say we don't know each other.” 

I have to be honest. I would have never picked up this book if not for the amount of rave reviews it has in it's bag and my amazing friend who spoke about this book everytime and kept on reminding me about it and finally led me to it. (I love you friend.)
This book , for whatsoever supernatural reason always popped up in front of me out of nowhere screaming 'READ ME NOW' every.single.time.But like always , I was still very hesitant.

John Green knows how to write his books. They are funny and they are in my opinion quite realistic.
But that's how far it goes.[[book:Looking for Alaska|99561] was a wonderful book. I remember laughing , loving and enjoying it. It was enough to get me excited about any John Green book that I came across and that's the reason why I had immediately ordered Paper Towns. After reading Paper Towns , I really did like John Green very very VERY much because Paper Towns was kind of fun and I like me some adventure.
I was so madly in 'like' with it until my brain started analyzing everything.

"... is it just me ? or is every female character in Green's book a big bitch with sarcasm flowing through her veins and that she's pathetically adventurous and just wants to live life king size ."
- My review of Paper Towns.

And..Is it just me or are the male protagonists come always with the same attitude?
Not that I'm saying that I hated both the other books because I actually liked them , a lot. (I'm a hypocrite , face it.)

In the end it was natural for me to NOT go into this book blindly.
However..

I liked it. 

But as always , I still have some serious issues.

I love that our characters are different. I love that there are things about this book that make me laugh. I love that this book me feels a little uneasy because hey, it is a cancer book in the end. And I also like the fact that I enjoyed it. The only things I loved about this book are Augustus Waters and that beautiful kill-me-now ending.

I'm not surprised by how this book turned out. I was kind off expecting it to be just like the way I found it. It is a cancer book in the end , so there is no question whatsoever in even parallel universes of the universe that somebody dies. I can't even blame Green because what else could you even write when your treading the cancer-terminal waters?

Here's what I know about Cancer books.
1.Somebody always dies.
2.But before she/he dies , there is always that EPIC journey to _______(Fill in the blank by referring to any cancer book that usually involves a journey. ) 
3.Death talks.

So do we have match?

YES.

Although, I gotta hand it to Green yet again because his writing is in the end of the day fantastic.
There were parts where I went like 'damn. I think that too.' to parts where I went 'Eh?'
Also , if this book was supposed to make me emotional then I didn't feel any. Here me out on this one , you can't expect me to cry in every book that has somebody dying in it. I did at first because they were my first reads but now? I'm bored.
Then there were these other characters that were so underdeveloped. Jeez , were they there just for the sake of it?

What saves this book?
The writing obviously. The funny banter between Hazel and Augustus and in the end , Augustus and also the end. (Did mention that?)

Now people may ask that why do I even like this boy?
Here's what I think.
I like that he's the kind of a guy who thinks about the genius therapy of get-over-your-girlfriend by throwing eggs on her car. I like that he's the kind of a guy who speaks about random shit in the most explainable and metaphorical way which totally screws with your brain but you just end up loving it anyway. I love the fact that he's the kind of a street smart guy. I like guys who rock the world on a single leg , literally . I like a guy who fears oblivion and is deep when he needs to be. I like a guy who never realizes how precious his support has actually been. I love a guy who saves and never needs saving.
I love Augustus Waters. And I like Hazel because she does too.

In the end , I have nothing much to say than to admit that the book according to me was quite enjoyable. But there's always this line between love and like and this just didn't make it. Some would even question my brain cells after seeing that I gave this book 3 stars even if most of my review sounds pretty negative. All I have to say is that I didn't expect it to wow me and even though it didn't , it certainly did make me like it even more than his other books. And also because I kind of like Nerdfighters and that I'm a tad partial.