Monday, November 2, 2015

The Chapel Wars

Author: Lindsey Leavitt
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year Published: 2014
Pages: 294


Lenore: A $500 savings bond
James: A leather bomber jacket
Mom: An antique writing desk
Secretary Donna: An heirloom watch
Minister Dan: Grandpa's saxophone
Dad: Grandpa's decked-out golf cart

"Finally, I leave my granddaughter, Holly Evelyn Nolan, pause for dramatic effect." The lawyer furrowed his brow and read the line again to himself. "Oh, sorry. I think he was telling me to pause. Okay, I leave my granddaughter, Holly Evelyn Nolan"--this time he did pause, and it was clear he'd been in a courthouse once or twice and knew his pauses--"the Rose of Sharon Wedding Chapel. This place is all yours, Holly Bean. Now, keep me in business."

16-year-old Holly was her grandfather's favorite granddaughter. But nothing can surprise her more than receiving a wedding chapel in Las Vegas from her late grandfather. Not to mention that it was almost broke. Running a wedding business is definitely not a teenager's business. But because her beloved grandfather has told her so, Holly has no other choice than to find a way to keep the business running.

Along with the testament is a letter Holly must deliver to Dax Cranston, a grandson of Holly's grandfather's nemesis, Victor Cranston, who is the owner of Cupid's Dream, a wedding chapel located next to Rose of Sharon--the chapels even share the parking lot! Victor definitely wants Rose of Sharon to be closed down, so Holly doesn't understand why her grandfather wanted her to meet and give the letter to Cranston's grandson. But Dax is not like his grandfather... and suddenly Dax is everywhere in Holly's life. 

Fallen in love with the enemy is absolutely not a choice to be taken. But Holly can't resist Dax's cuteness and his presence around her. In this Romeo and Juliet Wedding Chapel War's version, will there be a happy ending for Holly... and Dax?


*******

The Chapel Wars had had me from the first time I saw the title on Goodreads and read the synopsis. It seems like promising one hilariously funny YA romance story. The reviews are not bad either. So, without hesitation, I put it on my to-be-read list and wait for the book to be offered at Betterworld Books (yeah, I am a fan of BWB!). When finally it appeared at BWB, I immediately bought it and read it once I received it.

But well... most of the time, the reality fails to meet the expectation. After reading a few chapters, I failed to feel the connection to the story and I struggled a lot to finish it. I did like Holly. She really loves her grandfather and put so much effort to defend Rose of Sharon, despite her family drama. Her friends are also hilarious and supportive. I enjoyed Sam-Camille drama. And I also love Holly's little brother, James. It's just the conflict which wasn't managed right. The Cranstons seems so black and white. Dax was pure angel while his grandfather was pure evil. And until the end, I don't really get why Victor can be such an ass like that.

And the romance aspect! I cannot say I enjoyed it. Holly-Dax's relationship seems too instant and too smooth. The conflict between their family didn't affect them much--only made Dax drunk some times.

I don't have any thing to say rather than I actually kinda have forgotten some of its details. Haha. Not so memorable, I guess. But hey, maybe you're different than me and more like other readers out there who enjoy this book more than I do. If you want to try reading it, go ahead please. This is just my opinion. Hehe.

I'm giving away my copy of this book, along with 2 other English novels I have (don't ask the titles. It is a surprise). If you're interested to read this book, please leave a comment with "I want this book (and what makes you want it). Answer in Indonesian is totally okay. 

This giveawy is for Indonesian domicile only.
This giveaway will be running for 1 week. 

Good luck!

17 comments:

  1. I want this book because the premise sounds hilarious as I read it on Goodreads. I'm assuming it is a chick-lit book and I do love a good chick-lit, chick-lit books are my guilty pleasure. I also haven't had any BWB books so if I won this would be my first BWB book with the iconic barcode I've only just seen on Instagram!! Hehe

    ReplyDelete
  2. I want this book!!
    I want to read this book because it sounds like an amazing book, "fallen in love with the enemy". Woohoo... can't wait to read it. So, wish me good luck and win this book :)

    Thhank you for this chance.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aku ingin buku ini karena aku ingin memperbanyak baca buku dalam bahasa Inggris, belajar biar fasih dan terbiasa, jadi nggak kesusahan kalau ada buku yang belum diterjemahin tapi pingin banget dibaca, soalnya bahasa Inggrisku masih kacrut banget dan perlu banyak berlatih, salah satunya dengan membaca novel :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello, there! Glad I found this blog of yours!

    I want this book because I loooove young adult contemporary books.
    And since I read mostly young adult contemporary, I actually have seen the glimps of the book's cover a couple of times already in goodreads as I read other books' reviews. But I never really bothered to read the review. However, after I read your review, I think I should give it a try. Even though your review says that the book isn't as good as your first expectation, at least I can prove it right or wrong after I read it, and maybe write my own review as well.
    And it seems like fluffy, light-hearted book, just the kind of book I'm looking for.

    So, if you would give me the book (bonus two other surprises *yeay), I'd be really glad :DD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Selamat, kamu menang buku The Chapel Wars beserta 2 buku bahasa Inggris lainnya dari koleksi pribadi saya. Tolong email ke martina.s.daruli@gmail.com dengan nama, alamat, dan no telp yang digunakan untuk pengiriman hadiah selambat-lambatnya tanggal 13 November 2015 ya.

      Thx

      Delete
    2. Halo, karena kamu belum menghubungi saya, jadi kamu gugur sebagai pemenang ya. Saya pilih pemenang lain.

      Delete
    3. Wah, aku bara baca komennya dan baru kirim email. Ternyata sudah gugur ya, hiks... hiks...

      Delete
  5. aku pengin buku ini karena pengin belajar baca buku english lagi. dulu sering baca fanfic english sih biar englishnya lancar, tapi udah lama gak baca. lebih suka baca yang lokal2 aja. karena itu agak kagok dan gak pede kalo nulis english. takut salah grammar :v padahal kalo dibiasain pasti gak sulit nulis english tuh hehehe. semoga dapet bukunya deh biar membiasakan diri baca buku english :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I want this book because I was curious how the ending of Holly family problems.
    And of course the story of love-hate is so romance and very very very ~ interesting where you are in the match of ur enemy and then suddenly fall in love. geez I wanted this book and most importantly ....
    Dax character Im describe he like Alex Hirano one of the characters in Sunshine Becomes You lol xD forget it please give the book to me ~

    ReplyDelete
  7. I want this book!
    Komennya pake bahasa indo saja ya hehe.. Aku tertarik dengan sinopsis bukunya, dan meski review kak Martina kurang namun siapa tau pendapat kita berbeda nantinya :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Aku mau buku ini karena aku memang sedang cari bacaan bahasa inggris selain buku teks pelajaran. sebenarnya banyak ya di toko buku tapi karena kebanyakan impor, harganya terlalu mahal untuk kantong anak sekolah. *duh melenceng gini
    jadi, karena aku sedang dalam proses belajar bahasa inggris dan ingin lebih lancar bahasa inggrisnya, aku menginginkan buku ini terlepas dari ceritaku diatas. terus kalau baca buku bahasa inggris langsung dari penulis aslinya kan bisa tahu bagaimana gaya bahasanya, cara penulis menggambarkan tokoh, sudut pandang atau hal-hal lainnya, asli dari penulis aslinya bukan dari penerjemah yang kadang berbeda.
    semoga beruntung^^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Halo, kamu pemenang dari giveaway ini. Segera email ke martina.s.daruli@gmail.com dengan nama, alamat, dan no telp yang digunakan untuk pengiriman hadiah selambat-lambatnya tanggal 18 November 2015 ya.

      Delete
  9. I want this book because..
    Ingin belajar baca buku bahasa inggris guna memperlancar dan memperbaiki bahasa inggrisku. Karena jujur aja, bahasa inggris ku masih belum fasih dengan grammar yang acak-adut. Apalagi nih ya, cita-cita ku itu masuk universitas jurusan sastra inggris. Jadi aku harus memperdalam belajar bahasa inggris dari sekarang. Maka dari itu, aku berharap dengan memperbanyak membaca buku bahasa inggris, kemampuanku dalam berbahasa inggris akan menjadi semakin baik.

    Alasan lainnya, karena aku suka buku-buku luar negeri! Cover aslinya rata-rata terkesan elegant dan bahasa yang digunakan masih original. Jadi lebih nyaman dan asik dibaca jika dibandingkan dengan terjemahannya.

    Thankyou for giveaway. Semoga beruntung :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. Aku pengen buku ini karena:
    1) pertama, seperti peserta kebanyakan aku ingin belajar baca novel yang langsung berbahasa inggris. Jadi sekali mendayung, dua tiga pulau terlampaui. Baca juga, dapat ilmu karena belajar nerjemahin juga.
    2) Pasti ada sensasi tersendiri kalau langsung baca dengan bahasa inggris. Kadang suka ada novel yg terjemahannya nggak nyambung atau gimana, meskipun belum mahir bahasa inggris, tapi kayaknya seru deh kalau baca sambil belajar
    3) Menurut kakak konflik dari novel ini kurang mengesankan ya? Tapi beda orang beda tipe juga kan dalam menilai, jadi pengen tahu konflik apa aja yang hadir dalam novel ini.
    4) Terakhir kali baca novel berbahasa inggris adalah bulan lalu, tapi itupun nggak selesai karena pusing nerjemahinnya, tapi aku coba mau nantang diri sendiri utk menyelesaikan membaca novel ini kalau menang nantinya.

    Udah itu aja deh. Wish me luck *^▁^*

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ditutup. Tunggu pengumuman pemenangnya yaaa

    ReplyDelete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

What is your thought?