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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The Bet Between Us - Brandon Moore

The Bet Between Us by Brandon Moore
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Image result for the bet between us
Blurb (on back of book): Donald Cerlino only cares about three things: money, getting girls, and gambling. His friends are so impressed with his abilities with women, they start calling him Don Juan. When senior year starts, he’s got a list of girls he wants to add to the growing number of notches on his headboard. So when his best friend, Thomas, bets Donald that his skills aren’t enough to nab the school valedictorian, Alaina Pizzo, Donald is up for the challenge. What Thomas doesn’t know is that Donald has had a crush on Alaina since kindergarten. Problem is, Alaina hates his guts. 
When Donald’s feelings for Alaina start to show, Thomas begins to turn against him. Thomas wanted Donald to see the error of his ways when it comes to women, not abandon their friendship for yet another girl. The deeper Donald gets, the more he wants a future with Alaina, but that means revealing why he started talking to her in the first place. When Thomas starts threatening to tell Alaina the truth, Donald has to decide if he wants to lose the love of his life or his best friend. 
Donald realizes he took a bet he can’t win. The great Don Juan may lose everything. 

MY OPINION: ****

I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up liking this book. I read it via the Kindle app on my phone (that's a first for me!) and found that it went by much faster than I thought it would.

For a little book, I was slightly confused by what was going on in the book but once I sat down and concentrated on it, I understood the basic premises.

Donald "DJ" Cerlino is known for his Don Juan-playboy-manwhore ways. He's had a crush on the same girl since kindergarten, Alaina Pizzo. They started a friendship in freshman and sophomore year but he reverted to his bad boy ways and Alaina didn't like who he was becoming. DJ's friends make a bet with him that he can't sleep with Alaina before December. They make it worth 200 bucks, which slightly angered me because girls are not worth money. THEY ARE PRICELESS.

Tee Pee, DJ's best friend, was the most annoying and awful character I have ever had to deal with. He made everything into such a big deal, ruined his best friend's relationship and life, and claimed it was because he was jealous of DJ's life. Rell (I think his name was Rell), DJ's other best friend, was a lot nicer and definitely the decent guy that Tee Pee should have been.

Donald and Alaina form a sort of tacit friendship through their anatomy class and the sneaky teacher who pairs them up together because he knows that there's definitely something going on there. (I need a teacher like that lol). After a lot of confusion and longing and awkward conversations, they start to date. Alaina admits that she's liked him since kindergarten and it's unsatisfying to realize how much sooner they could have gotten together.

I ended up loving this book. The characters were hilarious and had honest dialogue that I could imagine being real. I didn't like the slut-shaming/fat-shaming that was going on in here but it wasn't made as prominent as it could be and nobody got hurt. The writing was simple and easy to understand, making it quicker and a lot more interesting.

I didn't see the amount of chemistry between Alaina and Donald that I was hoping for, but Donald's speeches about how much he loves her (especially at the end) made my heart break and my stomach ache for them.

Something I liked about this book was the fact that it was told from Donald's point of view. I don't know if it's just me but I feel as if the protagonists in straight romance novels are never told from the guy's perspective so that was interesting for me.

This felt vaguely like a cliche Wattpad story but that's fine with me because I eat those up every day. I loved how it felt so easy and almost cheesy because I was looking for one of those light easy reads. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a quick and interesting romance novel about two similar but different characters and an unlikely relationship.

Main Character: Donald
Sidekick(s): Alaina, Rell, etc
Villain(s): Tee Pee (let's be real, he was not a sidekick), etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was very real to life.

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