5 REASONS WHY I LOVE TLTWSG.

Bare with me people. Here I am again with the never curing fever for this book. Why I am so freaking in love with Cynthia Hand's The Last Time We Say Goodbye? Well, there are a ton of reasons why so I thought of listing them here. I could not pimp this book hard enough and if only I am like a billionaire or something, I'll buy all the copies and send them to everyone. But unfortunately, social media is the only tool I have at the moment to spread my love for this amazing book. I hope this one convinces you enough to grab a copy and run over to the grocery to purchase ten boxes of Kleenex -- BECAUSE YOU'LL NEED IT.

5. These reviews said so much I couldn't say. They found the prefect words.

MundieMoms

"The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a beautiful, emotional, thought provoking story that will move it's readers in unexpected ways. You can't read this book, and not be changed by some part of it. There's something within this story that will resonate with each of it's readers, and it won't leave them same after they finish it.  This is Cynthia Hand's best book yet!"

Wendy Darling

"A simple, emotional tribute to those who leave us all too soon. And a small reassurance to the rest of us that we're not alone in our sorrow."

Shady Boots (My fave!)

"I don't know what it is about Cynthia Hand, but I've felt it ever since I finished her wonderful Unearthly series. She has this uncanny ability to make me feel so much for the characters she creates. She's able to deal with dark topics like death in an emotional way while still adding a certain lighthearted charm to it. There's no way of me saying this without sounding cheesy as fuck but there's a certain quality to her writing that's just so goddamn lovable and warm, at least to me. The way she depicted grief in this book really struck me. Even though I've never experienced that deep of a loss myself--at least not yet--I still felt for Alexis. I still could relate to her because she saw the logic in everything, and she was strong but still vulnerable at the same time."

4. Minimalist cover (for me atleast).

The cover at first glance, is something you would not double take on. True, it is plain compared to the crownish/gownish/leterrish covers we see lately. However, the simplicity of this one spoke so much to me, like, how it could probably connects to the story or what lies beneath it. It kept me asking what is this books about (I don't normally read synopsis to avoid spoilers) and then all feels drained me down. This cover, this simple cover is actually one of the highlights of the story. SO I WILL STOP TAKING ABOUT THIS COVER BECAUSE I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO STOP and also have you seen the Aussie paperback edition omg it is so puuurteeeey

My TLTWSG collection. I have an eARC and incoming Aussie ED Paperback. Need to hunt down a US pb!

3. It is by Cynthia "The Heartbreaker" Hand.

I've said it before and I believe a lot of bloggers could attest to this, Cynthia Hand is an expert when it comes to elaborating stories about grief. Well, grief isn't a nice feeling but she wraps it in her stories in a way that punches you straight in the heart One-Punch Man style. There's magic in between her words and ALL THE FEELS will just get to you at the right moments. Her words aren't forced and are all one hundred percent relatable. Truly, Kleneex will be your best friend during the course of reading TLTWSG.

2. Those heart-warming lessons.

TLTWSG taught me so much. It made me ponder on so many things in my life that I usually take for granted. Well I think most books under this theme implore to be a little sensitive and observant with people around us. It makes me want to say sorry to everyone I took for granted and to those special people I no longer give time to. Indeed, life is happening for all of us but if we just take a moment to look around us, we'll notice these small yearnings from others that they need us. Aside from that, this book taught me to not beat myself up anymore. I've experienced guilt a hundred times over on different levels and most of the time, it eats me. After reading TLTWSG, I learned somehow to let go, forgive myself and accept that there are certain things - no matter how futile for us - that we just can't change no matter what we do. After that, after I learned to embrace that life can sometimes fuck me over, that we can't always control things, I started feeling okay with myself.

My favorite quote:

"Don’t cry any more tears over me, Ash. I’m not worth it. But I want you to know, in case I ever do give you this letter and you read it first before you burn it or something, that for just a little while, you made me feel like I was really alive. Like I was special. Thanks for that. Thanks for picking me to be the one who got to stand in your sunshine for a while. I’ll carry that around with me for the rest of my life—that you saw enough good in me that you wanted to hold my hand and kiss me and smile at me like I was the only guy. Be happy."

1. It is a book that would help and push you to "LET GO".

This book not only left my heart bruised but truly, the feels on this one is SO MUCH I could hardly breathe. If you are feeling terrible and just been accustomed to keeping it all in.. well, I think this book is the one you need to loosen up all the bottled emotions IN there. Seriously. Try it and see for yourself. It helps so much in relating to other's struggles and in a way it helps to free us from anything we've been suppressing. Well, that's what it did to me.

What book changed you or impacted you the most? Like one book that is hands down your all time fave (except Harry Potter)? Let me know!

Thank you so much, HarperCollins International, Epic Reads, National Bookstore (for the discounted hardcover), Martin Szyndler for my incoming AU Paperback copy (WOOOOHOOOOO!) and Kai of Amaterasu Reads for the printed ARC.

HAPPY FIRST BOOK BIRTHDAY, THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE!!

REVIEW: THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE BY CYNTHIA HAND.

Title: The Last Time We Say Goodbye
Series: Standalone
Author: Cynthia Hand
Edition: Kindle (eARC)
Publication: HarperTeen / February 10, 2015
Source: eARC provided by the publisher though Edelweiss
Pages: 400
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary (Mental Illness), Romance
Trailer: Not available.

Synopsis:

There's death all around us.
We just don't pay attention.
Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:

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The last time I cried (really, really cried, like the ugly sobbing kind) was when I watched The Fault in Our Stars. I remember feeling so tired and empty after. There's this weird feeling in my chest, it was like my entire chest cavity was stuffed with cotton. I couldn't breathe well, I just stared at nothing for God knows how long and the pain lingered. It was like something in me died. After the movie, the only word that came out of my mouth was "beautiful" and I apparently, I kept saying it over and over. I thought nothing could top that raw emotion because it felt real to me. Only, I was so, so wrong. After I read The Last Time We Say Goodbye, I felt everything again. This time, the pain was almost unbearable. And the ugly sobbing lasted an entire night.

It is always a good thing when you let books surprise you. As usual, I didn't know anything about this book aside from it's contemporary, that Epic Reads said it was good and that Cynthia Hand wrote it. This is my second Hand book, I absolutely enjoyed Unearthly. The Last Time We Say Goodbye magnified every single feels I never thought I would have towards a book. The story was well-written, the twists were plotted amazingly and placed at the right timing, the pacing was perfect, the characters were captivating. This book is so perfect I couldn't tell you how much I love every bit of it.

The Last Time We Say Goodbye encapsulates so many things: hate, pain, loss, hope, forgiveness and healing among other things. Its words act as a double-edged sword, you slice your heart page by page until tears is the only thing you know. Though it didn't focus much on how the loss part happened, it expounds the gravity of grief and regret. Its take on realities such as divorce and suicide is something that would leave a mark in your heart. The honesty of it, of how people deal with horrible situations, of how we could possibly cope with such was so compelling I can't find the perfect word to describe it. Am not saying it is amazing to go through this emotional and bumpy ride but this story is just simply unbelievably good. Our ability to see hope in amid of hopelessness is incredibly highlighted and our capability to feel in amid of numbness is amazingly crafted. This story is a story of regret that most of us hold on to, it is a story of healing that most of us long for and it is a story of undying love, a proof that "the people we love are never truly gone."

*cue tears.*

The Last Time We Say Goodbye is packed with heightened sense of grief. Not only immensely emotional, but it is thoroughly sensitizing and absolutely moving.

Thank you HarperCollins International for the eARC!

"Then he said, “All the best things are like that, though, Lex, the most beautiful things. Part of the beauty comes from the fact that they’re short-lived.” He picked up a bouquet of deep-red roses, held it out to me. “These will never be as beautiful as they are at this moment, so we have to enjoy them now.”"

"..because we hurt too much to forget."

"There's death all around us. Everywhere we look. 1.8 people kill themselves every second. We just don't pay attention. Until we do."

"..but you never know when it's going to be the last time. That you hug someone. That you kiss. That you say goodbye."

"Don’t cry any more tears over me, Ash. I’m not worth it. But I want you to know, in case I ever do give you this letter and you read it first before you burn it or something, that for just a little while, you made me feel like I was really alive. Like I was special. Thanks for that. Thanks for picking me to be the one who got to stand in your sunshine for a while. I’ll carry that around with me for the rest of my life—that you saw enough good in me that you wanted to hold my hand and kiss me and smile at me like I was the only guy. Be happy."

REVIEW: UNEARTHLY BY CYNTHIA HAND.

Title: Unearthly
Author: Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly #1
Edition: Paperback, International
Publication: January 4th 2011 by HarperTeen
Source: Bought from Fullybooked
Pages: 439
Genre: Paranormal, Romance

Synopsis:

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees.

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:

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After loving Fallen, The Revenants, The Mortal Instruments and disliking Hush, Hush series, I was skeptical about Unearthly. I thought I had too many angel-inspired books and I was actually afraid this would disappoint me so I kept ignoring it until one day, the book lover in me won and finally surrendered to the book store's cashier.

Unearthly tells a story about Clara, an Quartarius (quarter blood) angel-blood who needs to fulfill her only purpose here on Earth. She needs to save a young man in her fiery vision which then leads her and her family to move from California to Wyoming. When she gets to her new high school, she's drawn to Christian, a high school heart throb which happens to be the man in her visions. She needs to work and train to be ready for her purpose only to be side-tracked by another beautiful yet annoying young man, Tucker.

Unearthly was not what I expected it to be. It actually exceeded whatever I was so surprised with how much I got excited as I flip each page. The modern world where the story took place fits perfectly to the story and what I love about it is you could actually Earth Google it. The premise isn't too complex yet bizarre enough to leave you mad for answers. I loved how it made me my emotions change drastically from sad to happy and how I could easily relate to the situations the characters are in.

One of the so many things that made me proud of Hand is that she made a male character normal. This is the first time I've ever read something like this and I am so happy about it at least for once, I was able to know a normal male character. Clara, though an angle-blood, is your typical teenager going through normal things. Her feelings and attitude are definitely relatable and her eagerness to find answers about her being is also something you'd die to know. Hand did another outstanding job in cliffhanging a lot of things here. We are all in this limited understanding of what Clara's heritage is all about and good thing is, so does Clara. I love her mood swings, her hair (not the Carrots one) and my favorite part is the Glory. It's unique I guess and thrilling.

I know a lot of you who have read this would say that there's a love triangle. At first I thought there's a love triangle forming but when I finished the book, it turned out something different for me. I understand how Clara would feel for Christian but I never anticipated how she would feel for Tucker. Christian, aside from the fact that he's the one in her visions, is also a very handsome, sweet and respectful young man that every woman would fall for. Tucker on the other hand, aside from handsome, his personality is too strong at the beginning and you would appreciate him as a whole one you get to know him - another kind of guy you would fall for right? But definitely, there's no love triangle there. Because one isn't in love with Clara and I'll leave it like that.

Angel-inspired books are very common especially in Young Adults genre. I am just so happy that I picked Unearthly and completely have my mind blown over its compelling love story and sweetly-written premise that I wish I could have given justice to it through this review. But some good things are better left unsaid. I couldn't wait to get Hallowed and continue this exciting journey!

"So often we only do what we think is expected of us, when we are capable of so much more."