Member Reviews

2.5 stars
It just did not interest me. I wanted to like it , it seemed up my alley but i ended up just uinterested and bored.

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Wow. I am actually really surprised at how much I like this. I've tried reading it several times and I just couldn't get past the first chapter. Not that it was terrible, it just didn't grab my attention and maybe I wasn't in the mood. But I'm really trying to read all my ARCs and this one was next on the list so I sat down and just read it. Then, I just couldn't stop reading it.

I love the writing style. It brings out the magical aspect of the book.
I like the characters. Their chemistry is undeniable. Questionable choices were made, especially on Oskar's part, but it can't be perfect. A character talking to another character thinking they don't understand them is always amusing.

Evie, her paintings, and the connection with Oskar and his family are all very intriguing. I really liked the chapters with Oskar's journal writings.

Overall, very unputdownable once you start reading it. It just has this certain charm that I don't think I'm capable of describing.

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This was magical, lyrical and just a bit if hauntingly beautiful story telling. The writing was engaging from very first meeting of the leads. I wish they had given some space and time to sort the lies but overall i enjoyed it so much.

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Unfortunately, I had not been aware that this book had been half-written in-verse. Because of that, I've made the decision to DNF it. I'm not the biggest fan of books written in-verse and do not believe I'd be able to give the most honest or true thoughts on it because of that.

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DNF
I tried to read this and lost interest. I ended up DNFing this novel; however, I do still want to try to finish reading it at some point in the future! I just don't think that now was the right time for me and this book.

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Sadly this didn't work out very well for me despite the lovely writing and the setting. This didn't grab my attention as I hoped it would.

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Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity!

The Language of Cherries is a YA novel, where we meet our heroine Evie, who has to move to Iceland for the summer and brings her piainting appliances with her. In the shadows of a cherry tree, she starts to paint a boy, with whom she never met before. Oskar is startled to discover a girl painting him in their backyard, even more so that the has no power to start a conversation with her.
It is a sweet story, but there was a certain element that made me hesitant to read further along. The writing style was superb, very lyrical and enchanting!

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Did not finish. There is nothing specific about this novel that caused me not to finish it, I had full intention of reading it, I just started and didn’t finish. I heard good things about this author so requested the novel and still plan to keep it on my TBR

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1/5 stars-DNF

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book sounded so promising, and it had received so much praise. I was sad that I could not get into it. The beginning was sluggish and boring, and the content was not clean. I DNF'd it pretty early on. If it was cleaner, I might've forced myself to see it through to the end, but it just wasn't for me.

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Genre: YA, Romance with Literary construction (I got an e-ARC from Netgalley)

If we take Bacon’s view, this book is to be chewed and digested. This is a very nuanced book, and not an easy read in the sense that it can be finished quickly.

“Words like late and early were terms relative to nothing in this strange foreign land. They may as well have been synonyms. Or tap-dancing chupacabras.”

My complete review is at : https://anups.net/2020/10/05/book-review-the-language-of-cherries-by-jen-marie-hawkins/

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This book was so heartwarming and cute! I went to Iceland a few months ago and this book really catches that Icelandic vibe. Iceland was such a beautiful setting for this story. The writing style was good, I had no trouble at all getting into this story. The plot was really gripping and I enjoyed it a lot.

If you are a fan of romance/YA, you should definitely give this one a shot!

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I loved this, I started reading it on a train and was so engrossed I almost missed my stop!
The magical setting of Iceland came to life and I found myself craving cherries and wanting to pick up a paintbrush and head into the woods myself, it was described so romantically.
The story holds many secrets that you as the reader will dig out along the way, I won't give any spoilers. Great book for teens, young adults and adults.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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An engaging and moving read. Definitely for older teens due to content, but enjoyable with that in mind. Characters took a while for me to connect to, but once I got into the flow of the almost magical writing I really enjoyed it

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I'd like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a copy of this book.
I enjoyed this.

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Couldn't get into this book. Tried to persevere. Just didn't grab me. I'm sure others will like to read it. Just not me.

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I like the idea of a romance in a fruit orchard and, a unique place, Iceland. But the story seems too depressing and somewhat common with the aches and pains of the couple's lives. I didn't really seem to get the poem like the structure of the male leads chapters.

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My Rating : 4
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Kindle/ Netgalley/ May2020
#mabookyardchallengeMay2020
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Thank you so much Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not infuenced in any way.
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This book follows our main characters Evie, who comes to live with her father in Iceland, and Oskar, who befriends her with his music instead of words. This story follows the relationship between Evie and her paintings, Oscar and his reluctance to reveal his secrets to Evie, and how both of them find a middle ground and enjoy their time together.
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First, I loved the characters and how they were portrayed so much. This book had very minimal characters in it and all of them had it's on place and contributed to the story. The slightly mystical setting of the cherry orchard and how it affects Evie was also really good. The way Oskar and Evie talks were sometimes hilarious. Even though you know his secret while reading the book, it has the mystery element to the character in the story and that was a different take.
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Second, I really liked the plot-line and how the story progressed as well. It's very slow paced and it takes time for the reader to get into the book at first, but I love me some slow burn romance where there is no inhibitions and a lot of open conversations. (Even if it was one sided, it was really good). I loved the aunt character and her as a personality. The father character was made to be distant, yet he makes a lot of difference when it comes to her life. The pressure of expectations, following your own dreams, and discovering identity seems to be a common theme in this book and was done quite well.
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Now coming to the pacing of the book, I would have loved it if there were less descriptions of few scenes in particular. At times, it dragged along and made me skim read paragraphs and I didn't quite enjoy bits. That ending had a light fantasy element to it and can be understood only when you consider it a minimal fantasy and not as a contemporary. I'm not sure what the author was trying to say by that ending, and why, but I quite enjoyed it.
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Overall, this book had very good writing, unique storyline, medium pacing, a slow burn story and romance. If you are a fan of contemporaries with light fantasy elements, then this can be your book !

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*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

I debate between giving this 3 stars and 4, so I'll settle for 3.5. It was well written and interesting, but because of some content (sex, marijuana, language), I just can't give it that half star. There was a subtle magical element to the story--very subtle. It worked really well, though, and was actually believable.

For the most part, I liked both Evie (17) and Oskar (17). They each had their issues, and I appreciated that they were imperfect but not stereotypically broken. Even though Oskar didn't speak to her and Evie assumed he couldn't understand her, their interactions were surprisingly rich. If you ever wonder how it's possible for two people to fall in love without one of them ever speaking to the other, I'd say this book makes it pretty believable. Yes, Oskar understood everything she said to him--but she didn't know that, and he had to communicate to her in ways that didn't include any language. They were good complements to each other, and I liked the way they assisted in each other's growth.

Parents/guardians in this book were a bit complicated. Evie was dealing with a mother who walked out on her family, a father who was never around (because of work), and a grandmother suffering through the progression of dementia. Evie's grandmother was only present in the book through Evie's thoughts and memories because she was back in Florida, but Evie's love for her was evident. Oskar's parents were both dead (not a spoiler--it's revealed early in the book), and he lives with his aunt, Agnes. I think Agnes was my favorite adult in the book, to be honest.

Note: Some language and several f words (courtesy of Oskar). One mild fade-to-black sex scene. Marijuana use.

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I really enjoyed the writing style of this book, which partially took place of reading the main character’s journal entries. It was beautifully written and I loved the scenic parts of Iceland. Thank you to netgalley for the ARC!

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I (sadly) found this book to be just okay? I wasn't really invested in the characters or the setting or really anything and found myself skim-reading, which wasn't fair to the book.

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