I should probably introduce myself first hi
I'm Jaleesa okay that's that was weird
that was not even hi you guys welcome
back I'm Jaleesa your hardback highness
you guys are wondering where I got the
name from like a week ago I was taking a
nap and I was dreaming about something
book-related
ish kind of sort of and hardcover
Highness came to mind partially because
I'm a Leo and I have a thing for hard
covers I don't really like paperback
books
so it's your hardcover highness all right so
today's video pretty much is going to be
me diving into my favorite books so far
in 2020 of course they're YA romance a lot of
people don't like romance
I'm not really sure why because it's
hands-down the best genre I've ever known
to man or at least known to me this
choker is kind of tight so I'm gonna
really just be reviewing kind of not too
in-depth but just a little bit more in
depth in like a TBR or wrap-up because I
want you guys to know why I picked these
as my favorites so far in 2020 and I
really just I want you guys to know
about them because I want ya'll to read
them the first one is if he had been
with me by Laure Nowlin the synopsis does
not prepare you for what really happens
in this story like because honestly
synopsis just talks about these two
people who were friends they used to be
inseparable and then something changed
and they're not really sure what it is but
they just are not friends anymore and
you know one gets a boyfriend the other
gets a girlfriend and it doesn't
stop the way that one of them feels
about the other and so it says that time
passes and then the girl realizes she
might not get a chance to make things
right before it's too late
so like it really is very vague in
exactly what the heck happened in the
book if he had been with me is about two
people autumn and Finn Autumn and Finn grew
up together they were best friends in
elementary school and their mom's
actually were best best friends long
before autumn and Finn were even born
and when they were born they decided to
get houses side by side and how cute
like I think that's so adorable I've
always wanted that I'm getting ahead of
myself
I'm a backup so anyway and they do you
know everything together pretty much
their families are always together
the moms are always together they actually
call their moms the mothers that's what
they call them and yeah they up into
up until fifth grade they're pretty much
like glue so Finny actually ends up
kissing autumn and that changes their
dynamic of their friendship a lot so
they're not they're 10 years old so
after that kiss happens they stop
talking to each other the time goes on
middle school goes on they get different
friend groups high school is mostly
when this book takes place and pretty much
it just goes through autumns life it's
from autumns point of view so autumns
life and her new set of friends her new
boyfriend what it's like watching Finn
on the outside not understanding why
they aren't friends anymore
Finn is really popular he's playing
sports in high school he has popular
friend group he dates the super popular
girl in school and pretty much their
friend groups just don't really mix and
at some point Finn has to talk to autumn
so their housing arrangement it's really
a big part of this book because it kind
of sets the tone for their relationship
because their neighbors they often see
each other and like they spend all every
holiday together either at one of the
others house so they're always forced to
kind of be in each other's space and it kind
of opens up dialogue between the two of
them and so they become cordial in high
school so there's things that are at
play in the book that kind of bring
autumn and Finn together but never like
together together just in the same room
in the same space having a conversation
and that opens up the room and the floor
for them figuring out why they aren't
friends anymore and once they figure out
why they aren't friends anymore
they actually do you know romance
blossoms I'm not gonna go into how
that happened but when I tell you their
love was so not cookie cutter it wasn't
perfect it's a love I feel like a lot of
young adults can understand if I read
this book when I was like 15 I really
wouldn't have understood iit the way I do at
23 and so I want to go into the end of
the book
because so you're kind of introduced to the
end of the book in the beginning Laura
is brilliant I think this is her first
novel um if I'm not mistaken and she
starts the book off with the end scene but
you don't really know why that end scene
is so important and it really kind of
draws you in because you're like skrt hold
up what is this about like in the end
scene is very powerful and i'm not gonna lie
to you guys when I read the first
couple pages which was the end scene of
the book I I thought I knew what I was
about to read and get into but the end
the beginning of the book is the end but
it's not the end because I can't tell
you without spoilers but it is it's a
tragic love story it is and I'm not
gonna lie to you guys after I read the book
actually did like a live reaction not
live reaction but like a live photo
reaction of how I felt when the book was
over when I finished reading it and I
have picture I'm pretty sure on my phone
still of me crying I mean like I don't
mean like teary eyed I'm talking hard
down boohoo crying tears because of this
story tackles teen pregnancy mental
health infidelity divorce I definitely
rate this book uh five out of five and I
don't have that many books that I write
five out of five but that is definitely
one of them but you got to read it
because I'm telling you if you like
romance books but you don't like the
fluffy stuff this is it right here this
is the book you need to read okay so the
next one it was a very close race for
first place
that rhymed close race for first
place I should be a rapper
cuz I'm dapper her give me a hand clapper
okay that was really lame we have crave
by Tracy wolff you see I'm speechless
right
this is my first vampire book ever and
you see how thick this is actually the
thickest book I've ever read in my whole
life to be honest with you when I read
it in three days I devoured this book
okay because oh my gosh it had everything I
love it had romance it had action it had
vampires and witches and freaking
werewolves crave has two main characters
Grace and Jaxon her parents died and
so she lived in California so she has to
move to Alaska to stay with her cousin
at this Academy this school she moves to
Alaska and things are just like kind of
all out of whack when she gets there and
so she gets to the school and people are
even weirder if people are staring at
her they're giving her these these
glances and these stares like and she's
trying to figure out what's wrong with her
because she doesn't really know and so
she ends up meeting her cousin for like
the first time in years so Macy pretty
much shows her the ropes of the school
and the first day that she's there she
goes and explores the school grounds and
she meets this guy named Jaxon so
Grace is looking at this chess table and
she can feel somebody like breathing on
her like first of all you too close okay
and so he's like talking to her but he's
like mad close to her and she's like in
her mind she's talking to herself
talking about how close he is to her but
like she kind of likes it but Kinda is
kind of freaking her out and he came for
her and she wasn't even checking for him
so she just is not feeling this right
now you know she feels super
uncomfortable so that's her first
meeting and he basically tells her you
need to watch her back at this school
blah blah and she's like are you
threatening me or whatever so over time
Grace starts to notice some really odd
things the fact that she goes outside
with like all these layers of clothing
on and Jaxon and his friends go
outside with like t-shirts okay you're
in Alaska so I can't remember cuz I read
this book like a month or well maybe
like two months ago so I can't remember
exactly how it came about
but grace does find out that the school
holds witches werewolves vampires and I think
that's it she also learns a secret about
her parents which i'm not going to tell you guys what it is
yet
actually yes I dan so if you don't want to
here the secret about her parents you might want to skip like ten seconds or I'll tell you
or I'll write in the description when
you should skip forward but the secret
about her parents is that her dad was a
witch her mom was a mortal so in the
midst of finding out her dad was a witch
and her mom was mortal grace wants to
ask Macy about her life and so she was
like am I a witch it and so
Macy tells her she would have been had
your father not fell in love with this
mortal but because he did he gave up his
powers and now you're just a human being
technically her dad wasn't a witch he
was a freaking um I'm trying to grab the word out the sky
what's the dang word called Oh warlock I knew
I would get it he was a warlock not a witch
it's really hard to take this book and
tell you guys all about it without
giving away so much detail I have never
read um Twilight before like never I've
never read The Vampire Academy books
none of that but I would imagine that
Crave was kind of along the same lines
um and it was just so good and let me
tell you the freaking ending of this book
had me shook okay
Tracy has a book in the works for a
sequel for this book and listen I need her
to drop it tomorrow because the ending
to this story reveals a lot about grace
and her part in all of this and why
everybody wants to mind you people want
to kill grace like I didn't tell you all
that I forgot I'm sorry
people want grace dead okay and
there's a reason for that that I can't
even go into the story unfolds as to
what she is is she just human is she not
human and the thing with Jaxon and
grace there's romance there I mean is
it's the whole story is really pretty
much Jaxon meets grace kind of like in
Twilight the imprinting situation it's
something like that
whew the whole thing is about their
romance him protecting her from other
people and a lot of like constant like
them fighting because of certain reasons
and them coming back together this epic
love um this tragic ish kind of ending
but very revealing ending that answered
all your questions that you had from the
beginning and oh my gosh it was really
good I just really enjoyed it
and makes me want to read Twilight but
I'm afraid that I'll be disappointed
so I don't know let me y'all let me know
should I read Twilight like let me know
because I will invest and I will read
Twilight if it is worth it now as far as
the characters are concerned for this
book
Jaxon's very broody he's very dark um
he actually kind of has like a mean
streak towards grace for like but for
certain reasons because he understands
why she's in danger and why he wants
protect her so he he's kind of mean to
her in in the beginning but it slowly
fades as the truth you know comes out
for grace and so he doesn't have to be
quiet so harsh with her you know and
grace she's very strong-willed she
doesn't really take crap from anybody
like she's not like a roll over and just
let people do whatever they want to do to
her at all she's curious and she's not
afraid to find answers so I appreciate
that she's not something like a damsel
in distress you know what I mean yeah I
talked myself silly and I just want you
guys I really wanted you guys to see
like my favorite YA romances so far
that are not like cookie cutter
beautiful perfect prissy cloud9 rainbow
candy cotton candy books like none of
these books were really like sweet all
of these books are pretty much circling
around romance but they're all pretty
dark I mean they're all pretty dark
they're all pretty tragic in one way or
the other so hope you guys enjoyed my
little review also just a quick little
you know something I change my hair
like often so if you guys notice that my
hair is always different in every video
I get bored fast with my hair so you'll
see it change quite a bit
but yeah so don't forget to like this
video guys subscribe don't forget to
tell me if I should read Twilight or
honestly if you have any other
vampire type stories and books drop them
in the comments below and let me know
because I want to I want an excuse to buy
some more vampire books alright guys
I'm going to go now
I will see you guys next time
