LeighAnn KopansRecensioni

Cute. Review to come.

It's more 3,5 stars rather than 4, but Goodreads doesn't allow half stars and I liked how Math was included in the book.

What I liked most where all the Math messages. At the end of each chapter, you can find a message written in Math. Some have the answer right there, with a comment by one of the characters. Others (just a few) don't have the answer, but you can solve them.

The one thing that I didn't like is that the difference between best friend and love interest wasn't really there. There wasn't anything in the book that showed that Ashley loved Brendan or that Brendan loved her. It wasn't instant sudden love, which was great, but I felt that there was something missing after I finished the book.

The plot was rather predictable, but I haven't read a high school romance where it wasn't, so I guess that this isn't that negative or even negative. Still, it was a light and entertaining book, perfect for those days when you want to read something that doesn't require a lot of thinking.

Solving for Ex is a fun novel that will have your inner math geek out. Well, unless you’re like me and do not like anything Calculus related.

I think Ashley represents the typical teenage girl, and I love that she is so easy to relate to. I mean how many of us, at one time, didn’t have those confusing feelings when you like some one but they are completely oblivious. Brendan is definitely not seeing how much Ash likes him, even though pretty much everyone else gets it. I didn’t care for Sofia at all. She’s a serious pain in the butt, and doesn’t seem to get the hint. Vincent is tolerable. I never feel like I would be completely at ease with him.

The course of the book is over a period of a few months, but it doesn’t seem like it at all. You’re caught up in the whirlwind that is high school politics, and trying to figure out what you want. Also, some things are worth standing up for, you just have to know when it’s appropriate. I did absolutely love when Brendan and Ashely would get all crazy excited about solving math problems. It had me giggling.

If you’re wanting something that isn’t too heavy, but it funny, and sweet, you should definitely give Solving for Ex a try.

If you are looking for a thoroughly entertaining New Adult Romance to read this summer, than The Broken Hearts Society of Suite 17C is the book for you!

Author LeighAnn Kopans weaves a sassy tale that follows three college freshman girls: Rion, Amy, and Arielle, who become roommates, and while they come from very different backgrounds, and have very different personalities, they share one thing in come: they all enter college after experiencing a broken heart!

Written in the alternating perspectives of Rion, Amy, and Arielle, the reader is easily drawn into the girls' newly formed Broken Hearts Society of Suite 17C, where they follow the suitemates' freshman year in college as their bond of friendship blossoms amidst the drama, romance, humorous antics, and growing pains that comes with entering college.

I really enjoyed reading the alternating yet interweaving stories of each of the girls. I found it fascinating that three very different personalities could form a bond of sisterhood and blossoming friendship based on their shared experiences of heartbreak. Rion is the resident street smart girl who cusses like a sailor, Amy is the small town Christian girl, and Arielle is a beautiful lesbian: each girl has her own story to tell, but the reader is in for a real treat as they follow the girls' journey as they grow and come into their own during the first year of college. I loved the mixture of drama, friendship, and romance that was interwoven throughout the story, as well as the blossoming bond of friendship and witty interactions between the girls.

The Broken Hearts Society of Suite 17C is a lighthearted fun read that will provide a lot of laughs and leave a smile on your face!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-broken-hearts-society-of-s...

Solving for Ex and I started off on a really nice note. I enjoyed that it stuck true to its maths theme throughout the whole story. I enjoyed that Ashley wasn’t just implied smart, but that we could actually see her being smart in math (the opposite of me, actually).

I liked that there were math jokes thrown in here and there. And despite everything, the romance between Vincent and Ashley was cute (until it wasn’t anymore, but more on that later).

Ashley’s character was developed pretty well, and I can definitely say her character grew throughout the novel. She starts off tolerable, turns completely annoying, and then matures somewhat by the end of the book (also, more on that later).

Everything in this book set up for me falling head over heels in love with a cute, romantic, contemporary YA novel.

I think that my problem with this book was ironically Ashley. I couldn’t really understand her at times. She said she was madly in love with Brendan, but didn’t know why.

"I was in love with Brendan because he was Brendan, and I was me, and we were perfect for each other."

I could understand that Brendan was a good friend to her and helped her get out of her mayor depression, but I felt like Ashley was more fixated on him that anything.

Also, Ashley’s attitude was really uncalled for. You’d think that since she’s a victim of bullying, she’d be more careful of being judgmental (since she knows how hard it is to be judged). But, she’s judgmental throughout the whole book! She would quickly make up her mind about a person, and start forming opinions on them (when she didn’t know them!).

I think other than Ashley’s personality; I couldn’t seem to understand Brendan at all. I wanted to see why it was that Ashley felt the way she did about Brendan, but I never felt like I got a glimpse of his personality to fall for him just like Ashley did.

Vincent & Ashley’s relationship was… special. I liked that Vincent was there. I liked how cute he was with Ashley. Only problem? It was too perfect. Vincent always knew what to say and what to do, which is why when this big plot twist occurs, you’re not really that surprised.

However, don’t let my review discourage you. I did enjoy myself a bit, and if you’re just looking for a cute and fluffy read, then you might enjoy this book.

The Broken Hearts’ Society of Suite 17C by LeighAnn Kopans
Source: Author
My Rating: 4/5 stars
My Review:

What happens when a Bible thumper, a group home kid with a con mom and a lesbian share a dorm room? Exactly what you would expect to happen, they become fast friends in the face of heartbreak and spend two semesters supporting one another through all the BS the first year of college can bring.

Rion: Dating a douchebag can only lead to trouble and Rion found it in spades. After her boyfriend left her to take the wrap for a lot of pot, Rion lost her full scholarship and her ability to trust guys. Coming to college with a partial scholarship, an attitude and no job, Rion is determined to keep her head down and trust no one. With her record, finding a job to fill in the gaps the scholarship doesn’t cover isn’t easy so, despite her intense hatred of all things drug-related, Rion goes to work in a head/tattoo shop. Between work, her classes and, her roommates, Rion’s life is crazy full and so far removed from what she thought college would be. Oh, and there’s a boy.

Amy: To date, everything in Amy’s life has been planned . . . . by everyone other than herself. To date, Amy has never questioned the plan nor has she ever questioned those making the plans for her. Amy is to become an elementary school teacher (though she doesn’t really like kids), she’s to marry Adam (though he wants to see other people to be totally sure about Amy) and, she is to live in fear of losing her immortal soul. Within weeks of moving in Amy begins to figure out that planning your own life and making your own decisions isn’t just hard work, it also takes effort and commitment. As the weeks go by, Amy gets stronger and stronger and with the help and support of her roommates, she eventually begins to believe even she can stand on her own two feet. Oh, and there’s a boy.

Arielle: The card-carrying lesbian of the group is perhaps the saddest of all. After being waitlisted to her first-choice college, Arielle finally gets the call to enroll and she couldn’t be more excited. Her girlfriend already attends the school and once they can be together full-time, life will pretty much be perfect. Except, Ari’s girlfriend has no intention of being out in the open nor does she have any plans to continue seeing Arielle. Crushed, Arielle decides she will never again date a girl who isn’t totally committed and completely comfortable with her sexual orientation. Just like her roommates, Ari begins the semester on the bad side of sad but as the weeks move forward she discovers a strength within that allows her to trust again and be open to new relationships. Oh, and there’s a girl.

The Bottom Line: The Broken Hearts’ Society of Suite 17C caught my attention with the awesome title!! Seriously, I can be swayed by a title  This is a very, very long read with alternating chapters (Rion, Ari and Ami) that don’t focus solely on one girl but predominately on her and her growing relationships. Each of the roommates begins the semester in a really bad way but as the plot unfolds their support of one another grows and they are each better able to deal with their lives both past and present. The sadness and heartbreak allows three very different personalities to overcome their differences and respective backgrounds in order to be strong for one another. There is plenty of drama in this read but there are also some very nice and very sweet moments. Be warned, there are also some naughty bits which certainly puts this read at NA+ With everything that is thrown at the girls of Suite 17C, it is no wonder this read is so long. There are some slow moments throughout but overall, this is a pleasant read that does end with three HEAs. While I can certainly say I enjoyed this read, I can’t say I was blown away by it. It is a solid read that will appeal to NA+ readers.

My review:

This book reminded of all the things I hated about high school. Boys were stupid and girls were mean! Through these typical high school elements a drama filled story is woven. Forced to move high schools because she is bullied, Ashley meets Brendan at her new school and he makes things almost bearable for her.

Ashely has a total crush on Brendan but doesn’t say anything and the new school year brings new students. Brendan (stupid boy) falls for the new “hot” girl Sofia (mean girl) and pretty much leaves Ashley in the dust. Ashley spends a majority of the book trying to get Brendan to see that Sofia is trouble. Sofia not only takes Ashley’s love but she even jeopardizes Ashley’s spot on the Mathletes team! If you are looking for drama, this book definitely has plenty.

I spent most of the book upset because of how stupid Brendan is and I just wished Ashley would have stood up for herself. I wasn’t overall that happy with the ending either but I will let you read it before I spoil all the goodies!

I think my high school students would love this book. It just didn’t work for me because I wanted Ashley to be ok without Brendan and that just was not happening. Maybe it’s because I see this in real life every day!


Student Review by Izzy

Usually I don’t read books like this but I really enjoyed this one. I thought the main character had a great personality and I really connected with her. I would have like to hear more about what happened at Ashley’s old school thought. The ending was amazing, I just loved how it ended! I would recommend this to my friends. It was a great read and something that I could definitely reread again for fun.

Original Review: http://thepassionatebookworms.com/solving-for-ex-by-leigh-ann-kopans-plus-studen...

This was a cute retelling of Mansfield Park. I think I would have loved it more had I not already known the plot, but it was still very cute. Bullying is something that I truly despise, and this book deals a lot with how being bullied can affect a person. I enjoyed reading Ashley's point of view. It was nice to read about someone who enjoys the academic side of school, and not just the social aspect of it. Brendon was really sweet and such a good guy, but extremely oblivious (just like Edmund in Mansfield Park) for someone who is supposed to be a genius. I loved the geeky/nerdy side of this book and find myself wishing we knew more about how things went for these characters regarding their goals. (and not just their love lives)

This book is just so good. It's sweet and interesting and has a great bunch of characters. I loved it!

Full review can be found at http://goo.gl/KqA0kv

Solving Ex was such a fun, cute read! I read this delightful contemporary at just the right time, when I needed something addicting and adorable! All you have to do is look at the cover and you will start to see how fun this book was.

I loved how Solving for Ex incorporated awesome math into so many pages! While I hate math homework, I am a fan of math itself and it was so refreshing to read about the Ashley’s Mathletes team.

Also, this book managed to surprise me. Perhaps I am just not a good guesser, but I felt like the author successfully hinted at a false ending. I was pleasantly surprised about the events that unfolded at the end of the book. The ending definitely bumped up my rating of Solving for Ex to four stars!

Ashley was is no way a flawless narrater. She has realistic faults. However, I liked that she loved math. Also, I liked reading from her entertaining viewpoint. There were time I didn’t like Ashley’s decision making skills, but overall I though that Kopans has created a pretty cool main character.

Overall, math fans and people in a contemporary mood will gobble up Solving for Ex. I cannot wait to see what Kopans publishes next!

*I received Solving For Ex for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not bribed with money, a free math tutor, or a fluffy chihuahua.*

4/5 Stars

Solving for Ex is such an adorable book. I love LeighAnn Kopans writing style and the book pacing was perfect. I don’t know if I can say enough good things about it.

I loved Ashley to death. I wanted to crawl into the book and punch anyone that was mean to her. I thought it was so cute that she was crushing on Brendan and trying to figure out how to tell him. It made sense that she didn’t ruin their friendship if he didn’t feel the same at the end. She was just so completely adorable through the whole book and I think that she was so dependant on Brendan that she didn’t even realize she is a tough chick on her own. I loved her reactions and how she handled things. Especially at the end, I wanted to stand up and clap and yell you go girl!

I loved when vincent starts pursuing Ashley. I didn’t want to like him and I was suspicious of him, especially since his twin was out for Brendan. I liked how he brought Ashley a little more out of her shell. Her whole life was revolving around Brendan as her only friend. I liked that Vince was able to get her to try doing different things. Even though they didn’t work out as planned and it wasn’t going to change who she was it was like he took her out of her comfort zone. Even though Brendan was a great support to her during her emotional trauma he shouldn’t be the only support. The situation with the twins and him were almost making her stand on her own more. I felt like she needed that. It made me happy seeing her character develop.

Brendan is adorkable of course but I wanted to slap that boy so many times. What are you doing! Why are you so clueless. Hello in there. Which really I think that he was in the same boat as Ashley. Didn’t want to ruin their friendship. He still acted like a total guy though.

With Sofia, well let’s just say she was the chick that I was most ready to roll up my sleeves and rumble with.

Another huge thing about the book that I really enjoyed was the relationship Ashley has with her Aunt Kristen. I like how they are actually super close and Kristen is really supportive. They might be home every second of every day but they are supportive and expect her to be back in her own bed every night. She’s not frolicking around town with no supervision. It’s just nice to see a strong grown up figure in a book every once in a while.

So I loved Solving for Ex book. I consider this one of my favorite contemporaries because it just felt so different and unique to me. If you are looking for something fun and not super heavy. Then definitely read this book.

Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 4 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Blog Tour
Reviewer: Sarika


One by Leigh Ann Kopans follows the story of a young girl, Merrin, caught in between two universes, normalcy and the supernatural world. Being a One, she fits in nowhere, consequently without any sense of community or belonging, until the day she meets Elias…

One of the things I believe the author captured extremely well was the entire high school experience; I personally felt like I could relate to some of the topics explored through the novel, the awkwardness of adolescence, the new relationships you build, and wading to the superficial to find the real you.

The romance aspect felt too rushed for me, however. Although I liked the idea of a supernatural girl falling for someone who makes her a better person, the key to unlocking her potential, I already knew what was going to happen to the characters romantically two chapters before they actually did. The routine of instant love, replicated through thousands of YA books, was not missed here. I just found it very unbelievable that one of the most good-looking boys in school would take a sudden interest in the new kid because “There’s a good energy coming off [her] or something”, further hindering the whole reliability-thing that the author had going on.

And although Kopans did touch on significant issues such as ‘unfriendly contact’ and harassment with the protagonists past, it was unsettling to see the quick and easy manner in which she discarded her history and fell head over heels in love with Elias.

Having said that, I believe that the book brilliantly captures the aspects of life teens go through every day; it puts into words what most of us are unable to express by ourselves. He’s jealous of his sisters, but the love is stronger than the jealousy; although these lines are certainly out of context with regards to the situation they are in, all of us must have felt like this at some point or another with our siblings; the author’s ability to capture human emotion and express them on paper is certainly uncanny.

Moreover, although the plot started a little slow towards the beginning of the book, it picked up towards the second half, throwing twists and turns that left me gripping the book, on the edge of my seat. The second half definitely made up for the lack of characterization in the first, and it wasn’t until the final stroke hit the canvas that the entire painting began to make sense. Overall, this was an enjoyable read; nothing to heavy, a perfect book for a bit of light, entertaining. reading. and I would recommend it to anyone interested in young adult fantasy/teen romance. Happy reading!

Review to come! Basically an enjoyable superhero story even if my inner scientist had to take a nap in order to enjoy it.

One by LeighAnn Kopans {3.5 Stars}

One by LeighAnn Kopans takes the idea of superpowers and breaks it down in an interesting way. Really, all superpowers combine a couple of different powers together, so what if some people were born with only one of those smaller powers? What if you had the ability to make fire, but not the ability to resist or heal from fire? That would kind of suck, huh? I loved the powers that One introduces along with the fight of the “ones” to figure out how to fix their powers and become accepted into the Supers’ society. One is an independently published book, which showed a bit here and there, but over all I still recommend it as one of the higher quality indie-books I’ve read.
Note: I received One from the author in exchange for an honest review.

One by LeighAnn Kopans (One Universe #1)
Published by Author on June 11th, 2013
Genres: Sci-fi, YA
Length: 374 pages
How I got my copy: Author
IndieBound - Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog
When having two powers makes you a Super and having none makes you a Normal, having only one makes you a sad half-superpowered freak.

It makes you a One.

Sixteen-year-old Merrin Grey would love to be able to fly – too bad all she can do is hover.

If she could just land an internship at the Biotech Hub, she might finally figure out how to fix herself. She busts her butt in AP Chem and salivates over the Hub’s research on the manifestation of superpowers, all in hopes of boosting her chances.

Then she meets Elias VanDyne, another One, and all her carefully crafted plans fly out the window. Literally. When the two of them touch, their Ones combine to make them fly, and when they’re not soaring over the Nebraska cornfields, they’re busy falling for each other.

Merrin's mad chemistry skills land her a spot on the Hub's internship short list, but as she gets closer to the life she always wanted, she discovers that the Hub’s purpose is more sinister than it has always seemed. Now it’s up to her to decide if it's more important to fly solo, or to save everything - and everyone - she loves.
Strengths:
The super power system in One is just so cool. The power to fly requires both the ability to lighten your body enough to float and the ability to direct air currents to move around! All of the one powers that we encounter while reading One clicked well for me and I loved how clever Kopans was at coming up with the sub-powers required for a superpower to work correctly.
I was a bit annoyed while reading One at certain coincidences, but have faith! One explains all those overly convenient coincidences in the end ;-).
One has the same high quality writing that I expect from traditionally published books, which I was quite happy to discover, so have no fear on that front.
One takes place a bit in the future and the technology that is introduced fit well into that timeframe. Everyone is using electric cars, our smartphones have turned into wrist cuffs that can do everything for us (I think watches like this are already coming out this year! Spooky ;-) ).
Superpower stories always have the trouble of how they emerged, but One has a pretty good backstory to answer this. There is an explanation involving radiation poisoning causing mutations, etc, and it was enough to satisfy the sci-fi cynic in me, haha.
Weaknesses:
One attempts to use epigenetics to explain Ones and the emergence of separate powers during puberty. It made me twitch since it really didn’t line up with our current knowledge of epigenetics.
The romantic element ended up feeling pretty forced to me. There are some reveals that make this make more sense, but I still felt like Mer was just kind of an actress pretending to fall in love instead of actually falling in love.
A lot of the tension and angst for Ones comes from the fact that they aren’t considered good enough to work at the Hub where the Supers generally end up working. I got a bit frustrated that Mer didn’t even consider the option of getting a Normal job at a science facility, there are a lot of genetics programs out there currently so it seems likely there are in the future as well.
One still succumbed to the problem of many indie books with typos here and there. It wasn’t enough to completely ruin my reading experience, but definitely more than you would expect in a traditionally published book.
Summary:
One does a great job of adding another layer to the typical superpowers story with the partial abilities. While the romance plays a pretty big part in One and didn’t completely convince me, I enjoyed the sci-fi elements and the adventure for the most part. If you’re okay skipping over some typos here and there and are interested in the premise, definitely give One a read!

Maybe it was life throwing me a curve ball but I struggled with this one. It just didn’t hold my attention like the first book. But the constant pining for “normal” that Elias did just got annoying, quick. Then I realized that Merrin’s pining for being Super was all throughout the first book. Maybe it was because it was the first book and it was all about Merrin trying to be Super that I overlooked it. Something about Elias’ constant desire to normal when the “story” seems more important just irritated me. It kind of reminded me of Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix where Harry was just a whiny brat the whole way through. I wanted to chuck that book too. :) But I powered through both and am glad for it…for knowing the story.

Another thing that I didn’t enjoy was his constant want to touch. I like hints, not in-your-face. romance. But that’s just me. I’m not normally a “romance novel” reader. I wanted to read the story, not the love affair. :) But, I imagine that’s what classifies it as Young Adult, right?

Anyway, the overall story was amazing. Once I got past the first half of the book and I could skim the parts that disinterested me, which were getting fewer and fewer in between, I really got into it and enjoyed the rest of the story. I love the sci-tech of it all. And when you cut out all the “I want to be normal”, the “But I want to be more”, and the touchy-feelies going on, the story flew by. I craved to know what happened and so I continued until the end. All in all, I did enjoy it, despite the slow start.

When I was younger, I had these recurring dreams of flight. Well, not so much flight as hovering, with limited ability to move any direction but up. This is what Merrin Grey can do, her one power, where two are needed to be considered Super. She's just a One. Leigh Ann Kopans debut is a fun read for anyone who enjoys superhero stories as much as I do. Give me humans evolving to have superpowers and I'm generally a happy girl.

Kopans puts an interesting spin on the basic superhero formula through the idea that one power alone does not a superhero make. Logically, I don't really see how one power is useless, but, conceptually, it's a neat idea, a sort of paradigm shift. At any rate, there's always the self-fulfilling prophecy side of it: since the Ones are told that one power is useless, they probably won't investigate enough to see if that's really true.

In fact, most Ones do give up on their powers. Not so Merrin. Even though she's transferring from the high school for Supers to one for Normals, she's still convinced she will fly someday, that she'll develop the second power she needs to do so, propulsion or the ability to manipulate winds. She refuses to give up, because she believes her dreams of flight will come true. Meanwhile, she channels all of her anger and sadness at not having developed properly into her studies of organic chemistry, the better to someday cure herself of One-ness, and playing the drums, which soothes her rage.

At school, Merrin is instantly befriended by a super cute boy, Elias, who brings her into his little group of friends. Skeptical at first, Merrin realizes these are her people, when they reveal that they are all Ones, and all determined to keep using their powers. On top of that, they put together that, much like Captain Planet, their powers combined can make great things happen. Kopans does not skimp on the action sequences or the use of powers, which tends to be the number one downfall of superhero stories. What's the point of powers that don't get used?

Kopans also peppers One with references to classic superheroes, which will be sure to delight comic book nerds, though I imagine many of them went over my head. For the most part, One is fairly light and comedic, but, towards the end, things get darker. I really liked the upped stakes as the novel progressed, the amount of danger everyone was in and how hard it is to tell who to trust.

Merrin and Elias are very cute together, if a bit sappy at times. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get particularly into their romance, since they seem to have fallen in love much too fast. Now, I will say that I'm not sure how long it actually took them to fall in love, because I found the pacing in the novel confusing. What seemed like three consecutive days would be hinted at as being actually much longer. Essentially, I couldn't follow the passage of time, so it was hard to tell whether they instaloved or fell in love over the course of a few months. It also seems a bit over-convenient that the four Ones all are paired up to fall in love and complete one another, so I'd like to see further complexities added to those relationships later in the series.

Fans of Heroes, The Incredibles, or classic comic books will not want to miss Kopans' One. Though the series is as yet untitled, I do believe Kopans is planning additional books in this universe, and I would be curious to finding out what happens next.