The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m...
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My Life with the Walter Boys - Ali Novak

My Life with the Walter Boys by Ali Novak
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Image result for my life with the walter boysBlurb (on back of book): My Life with the Walter Boys centers on the prim, proper, and always perfect Jackie Howard. When her world is turned upside down by tragedy, Jackie must learn to cut loose and be part of a family again.
Jackie does not like surprises. Chaos is the enemy! The best way to get her successful, busy parents to notice her is to be perfect. The perfect look, the perfect grades-the perfect daughter. And then...
Surprise #1: Jackie's family dies in a freak car accident.
Surprise #2: Jackie has to move cross-country to live with the Walters-her new guardians.
Surprise #3: The Walters have twelve sons. (Well, eleven, but Parker acts like a boy anyway)
Now Jackie must trade in her Type A personality and New York City apartment for a Colorado ranch and all the wild Walter boys who come with it. Jackie is surrounded by the enemy-loud, dirty, annoying boys who have no concept of personal space. Okay, several of the oldest guys are flat-out gorgeous. But still annoying. She's not stuck-up or boring-no matter what they say. But proving it is another matter. How can she fit in and move on when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect?

MY OPINION: ****

I really enjoyed reading this book! I found the original book off of Wattpad, read all 50-something chapters there, and then sought out for the published edition because apparently there were changes (and I wanted to have something to review here).

While reading this book, I couldn't help but point out all of the differences from the Wattpad story. I did like this one though I'm not sure how I would rate it against the original. Parts of the original plot were completely cut out, including parts I loved. However, this book definitely managed to sum it all up and it was much more cohesive and put-together. If there was a sequel, I would definitely plan on reading it.

Jackie's entire family dies in a car crash and she moves from NY to Colorado to live with her mom's best friend and her ELEVEN sons and one daughter (who is a complete tomboy and counts as one of the boys).

Cue the chaos.

All the boys (and girl) were different but similar. Some were cousins but nine of them were brothers, I believe. There were three sets of twins, mature ones, annoying ones, little ones, and most of all, hot ones.

I LOVED how in this book, Cole was a little less of an asshole. In the Wattpad story, he's unbearable but in here, I really understood where he was coming from and I definitely liked him a lot more (though I always shipped Cole and Jackie). Cole was such a "god" as Jackie says, and I think that is whole being wasn't perfect but just a little marred from hurt and love and losing the girl. I loved Cole and his character and he was definitely my favorite Walter boy.

Alex. He's the "geeky" one and he's addicted to online multiplayer role-playing games. He's not the most studious but he's sweet and he's a really good friend. However, I did not ship him with Jackie because even though he's a great guy, he was more friend material. Also, to find out that they were both using each other, wow. That made me want to shake my head and scoff. Alex and Cole had lots of difficulties in this book and I thought that although it was a little extreme, it was realistic to the sibling life.

Nathan. He's younger but he's so sweet and my heart just went out to him. He's a freshman in high school and he's just so NICE. He and Jackie bond over early morning runs (I could never do that) and I just loved how he was always in the middle to diffuse situations with Jackie, Cole, and Alex. He was like the peacemaker. The whole seizure thing scared me because I didn't want the decent guy to die.

The other boys are all amazing in their own ways but this review would go on forever if I wrote them all out. Those were my top three, though we had honorable mentions like Danny, Will, Zack, Benny, and Isaac.

This book was a little cliche but the ending totally threw me off and I couldn't help but feeling a little bit let down. Like no, I did not go through that entire book only for you to tell me that Jackie doesn't end up with ANYONE. However, I really loved this book and I am hoping for a sequel (there is a Wattpad sequel but at the moment, it's been DISCONTINUED)

I would recommend this book to readers who are looking for a light fluffy romance novel full of spirit, drama, and lots of handsome boys!

Main Character: Jackie
Sidekick(s): Cole, Alex, Danny, Will, Zack, Isaac, Benny, Jack, Jordan, Parker, Nathan, Lee
Villain(s): Misunderstanding, love, wrong timing, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This was all very real to life.

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