Happily and Madly By Alexis Bass

Cover Art From Goodreads.com

*I am grateful to have been given this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are mine.*

While reading this book, I went back and forth between loving and loathing the main character, Maris. I empathized with her frictional relationship with her dad, because I have one of those myself, but I didn't like her relationship with her step sister's boyfriend at all. I didn't trust Edison and I honestly thought he was manipulating her the way he was manipulating her sister, Chelsea. I was eventually proven somewhat wrong, because he wasn't trustworthy but he really did have feelings for Maris, and eventually stops two timing her sister to be specifically with her. 

As I've seen others mention, this book gave me serious We Were Liars  vibes, but I think I enjoyed that one more than I did this one. It wasn't a horrible book, it just took a while for things to build up and actually happen. Once the story started to move, I was more interested and couldn't put it down. I actually finished it in one day! 

If I would change one thing, it would probably be the blurb and the whole "fortune teller told me I was going to die before I turned 18" bit. It is mentioned in the blurb and the beginning of the story when the lady tells her that she is going to fall happily and madly in love, but that she might not live to see 18. It seems like the author almost forgot she included that in there, because it isn't really brought up again until closer to the end of the book when Maris thinks she's dying (but she isn't). I don't feel like that added anything to the story, and I think putting it in the blurb makes the reader think they're getting into a completely different story-- I know I did. 

All in all it was a pretty fast read that I enjoyed. 

4 out of 5 stars!