| Title | : | All Ive Never Wanted |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 626 |
| Publication | : | First published June 1, 2013 |
She almost succeeded, until an ill-advised outburst on her part put her right in the Scions' path. Just like that, one became her fake boyfriend, one her unwanted matchmaker, one her guardian angel, and the one she couldn't stand the most? Yeah, he's her new housemate.
What happens when a girl gets everything she never asked for, including a puppy, a new wardrobe, and, possibly, even true love?
All Ive Never Wanted Reviews
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This book is a straight ripoff of the extremely popular Japanese manga series Boys Over Flowers. The manga has since been made into numerous live action dramas in Japan, Taiwan (Meteor Garden), and Korea. That is but a few of the live-action versions which it has inspired.
I have nothing against retellings. I love them. I absolutely adore retellings of fairy tales and alternate versions of classics, but there has to be a fucking point to the retellings. You can't just replace the characters in a new setting and call it a day, and yet that's exactly what this book is.
1. Poor girl lucks herserf into getting admission at a super-prestigious, pricey high school attended by rich assholesHe pulled some strings so I could apply for late admission, and not only was I accepted, I also received a hefty scholarship, which was how my family uprooted itself to settle into one of the richest towns in the U.S. I mean, the only school there was private and cost $100,000 a year to attend.
2. Said school is ruled by four incredible handsome, rich guys whom everyone worships and fears. Hello F4!
Unfortunately, it was also filled with the snobbiest, most superficial, and most materialistic people I've ever met in my entire life.The Scions is the nickname given to the four hottest guys in school: Zack Perry, Carlo Tevasco, Parker Remington, and their leader, Roman Fiori. Their families, some of the wealthiest in the world, actually founded the town and the school, which means everyone is terrified of them. They usually keep to themselves, unless they are terrorizing some poor kid who looked at them the wrong way.
3. TheF4Scions pretty much do whatever the fuck they likeAvoiding them was actually quite easy, considering the Scions had their own classroom, where they came and went as they pleased; their own private nook in the dining area, and a mass of students surrounding them whenever they went. It was a wonder they learned anything at school.
4. The grand entrance of the Scions are as ridiculous as they were in F4Everyone except me waited with bated breath for the Scions to emerge, and when they finally did, the ensuing swoons and screams were a million times louder than before. As if the scene couldn't get anymore sickening, the clouds decided to part at that moment, and a golden beam of sunlight highlighted the quartet like they're really the gods everyone thinks they are.
5. There's the standard F4, Tsubasa Doumyouji orRoman Fiori the leader/asshole/love interest #1.The sole heir to the world's largest fortune, which encompassed shipping, oil, electronics, telecommunications, textiles, and sports franchises; an athletic prodigy hailed as the second coming of Michael Jordan, Pele, and Joe Montana rolled into one; the single hottest specimen to ever walk the face of this earth.
Rui Hanazawa or Carlos Tevasco, the strong, silent type.The towering, dark Colombian, though equally gorgeous, was nowhere near as overtly smooth and charming at his friend. In fact, he looked a little annoyed at all the ballyhoo that greeted him. I shouldn't be surprised; a black belt in five different types of martial arts and the son of a multibillionaire real estate developer with rumored ties to the mafia, Carlo seemed to be the quietest and least attention-seeking Scion. Even his car, a simple but sturdy black Range Rover, reflected his personality.
Akira Minamasa, or Zack Perry the cheerful, nice one.The grinning Greek-god-look-a-like hopped enthusiastically from his bright yellow Porsche, his golden hair gleaming under the sun like a halo. In my opinion, the eternally good-natured Zack seemed to be the only one who's even remotely human in the group.
And Soujirou Nishikado or Parker Remington, the playboy.Slamming the door of his red Lamborghini shut, I felt like the renowned playboy should be moving in slow motion as he raked a hand through his wavy, golden brown hair. The son of the most powerful figure in the international finance and banking world leaned against the side of his car, his eyes shielded by a pair of aviators, and flashed a disarming smile into the crowd, causing more than a few girls to nearly faint.
6. Main character absolutely hates the asshole lead.As far as I'm concerned, Roman Fiori is the biggest jerk alive and as arrogant as they come.
The rest happens as planned. There's an unfortunate encounter, she meets the guys, they fall in love. There's a love triangle. There are bitchy girls.
There is no point to this book, when the original manga exists, when there are a multitude versions of the drama available to watch. It's a reiteration of a well-known classic, and it is a completely pointless one. The book turned out to be an overblown teenaged drama that doesn't translate well into a Western school setting. It was dull. It was repetitive. It leapt from POV to POV and that annoyed the hell out of me. -
“I like you. No matter how hard I try not to like you, no matter how hard I try to erase you… my efforts are so fruitless to the extent that I get angered by it.”
----Jan Di, Boys Over Flowers
Based on popular Japanese manga series Hana Yori Dango or the Korean action drama series, Boys Over Flowers, Ana Huang, an American author, has penned her young adult/romance book, All I've Never Wanted , that traces the story of a high school girl named, Maya, who wants to pass this phase of her life without drawing much attention towards herself, until the day she becomes the apple of everyone's eyes and the best boy gang, The Scions, becomes a part of her popular life.
Synopsis:
The Scions were the four richest, most powerful guys at Valesca Academy, and they ruled the school with iron fists. Everyone wanted to date them or be them...everyone, that is, except Maya Lindberg, who just wanted to avoid them until she could graduate.
She almost succeeded, until an ill-advised outburst on her part put her right in the Scions' path. Just like that, one became her fake boyfriend, one her unwanted matchmaker, one her guardian angel, and the one she couldn't stand the most? Yeah, he's her new housemate.
Honestly, I'm not into Japanese manga world, so I never before heard of the original title on which this book is based, so being impartial, I would say that I enjoyed the story but somehow it couldn't left an impressionistic mark upon my mind. And also I couldn't relate much to the story.
The writing is okay and pretty strong but after a detailed research I found out that the author have not included any originality of her own in to the storyline, which is a very bad thing, or at least in the synopsis, mention that you've written your story based on some previous work, all I can say that it was more like a fan-fiction. And unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of those! The narrative is fine, the prose is lucid with a very slow pace.
The characters are very much copied from the original title, Boys Before Flowers and it was difficult for me to distinguish the demeanor of each boy from The Scions. Maya is a bold and strong character and although she didn't evolve as a character still I liked her a lot with her determination. The boys felt all the same, rich, posh, hot!
The cheesy chemistry lacked a bit of compassion and I felt if a bit of emotions were instilled while describing those romantic scenes between Roman and Maya, it would have been much more better to read. Otherwise the whole storyline revolved the central theme of the book- friendships, which the author have depicted strikingly. Anyhow, the story is good and funny and apparently quite longer than a normal YA novel's length.
Verdict: Close your eyes and look elsewhere! Otherwise, do give it a read if you liked the original manga series or if you enjoy a light-read!
Courtesy: Received for a blog tour! -
I almost never rate a book without reading it first, but this time I feel obliged to do so after reading
Khanh's review and learnt that Ana Huang ripped off the Japanese manga series Hana Yori Dango/Boys Over Flowers.
Ana Huang claimed she based her novel, All I've Never Wanted on Hana Yori Dango. However, I must remind you excuses such as 'based on', 'retelling' and 'adaptation' cannot cover up the ugly truth of plagiarism.
And even if it is an 'adaptation', you still need to get permission from the author and/or the publisher before you can touch the original material, for Goodness's sake!
If Ana Huang's book is a fanfic and she's sharing it for free, I wouldn't have said anything against her, but ripping off someone else's creation and sell it as a profitable novel? There's no excuse.
It's writers such as Huang give fanfictions such a bad name. *sighs* Here I would be frank and say this: Dear Miss Ana Huang, I don't know you, but I still hope you get sued for what you had done. -
Let me just start out by saying that I've read fanfiction. I think that people genuinely have the creative license to publish what they want and create alternate storylines to their favorite settings and characters... AS LONG AS THEY'RE NOT MAKING PROFIT FROM IT.
This isn't a retelling. This isn't a "based off of." This is a straight up "let me take your shit and sell it as my own."
What happened here was the author decided to do an OC insert in a universe that was originally a Manga based in a prestige school with 4 very influential members. It was called Boys Over Flowers. All the author did was plop that same setting in some rich, backwaters part of the U.S. and call it a day.
That... is absolutely terrifying. NOTHING IS BETTER IN THE U.S. AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN TO MULTIPLE COUNTRIES, WE ARE OVERRATED. WE OVERRATE OURSELVES.
And hey, that's our right. I like to hype myself up too. When I get dressed in the morning, I pose in my mirror and I say: "You are a glorious unicorn of a human being and let anyone of these weak, m@!!$#%@!%rs try and test you." That's within my right too. But that doesn't mean I think I'm such a great person that I'm gonna steal an Asian baby and raise it.
And that's what Huang legitimately did. She stole someone else's child and tried to raise it as her own.
Honestly, this story is so popular and has been adapted so many times (including a poorly received American version hint, hint) that I have no clue how it got passed all of the editors, managers, and business people that it had to get through to become something that I had to pay to consume.
Now aside from the horrifying plagiarism, there are legitimate concerns when it comes to the Korean version of this story. In the Chinese one and also the manga, I feel like these aspects were a bit dumbed down. But to say that this work didn't glorify bullying is incomprehensible to me. Sure, the male lead does come to our main character's defense but that's only after he decided that he doesn't hate her he just has a massive hard-on for her.
In this retelling (rip-off), Roman... Actually, let me just let him speak for himself.
Roman's blood boiled until he thought he would explode. "God, you're such a bitch!"
"Bitch. How original. Is that the best you can come up with?"
Roman's hands clenched into fists before he raised one arm, causing Maya to flinch.
He noted this with smug satisfaction.
He's cute, right? As if this isn't disgusting enough, let me add some context. He's angry at her because she tried to fight back after he forced her into his car and drove her to some remote location. After a week of putting a rattlesnake in her locker and making sure that no one at school would talk to her. God, if only I had a boyfriend like this.
I honestly don't even know what kind of immature games were going on in this book but I was over it by the time that Maya started to play "ooohhh, chase me, Roman" games.
But good to know that at any time I could just rip off my favorite Korean Drama and make some easy side money. -
Rating 2.5
Believe it or not, I gave up a few chapters before the end. It wasn't that bad... I just didn't care.
From the first chapter I couldn't but notice the similarities between All I've Never Wanted and the Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango or to be precise it's Korean live-action drama series adaptation Boys Over Flowers.
I don't know if this is supposed to be an homage, retelling or just a copy-paste with different setting and names. The Valesca Academy Scions are perfect copies of the infamous F4.
If you call the female MC Maya and not Jan-di or Makino and the male lead Roman Fiori (what a stupid last name.. is that supposed to be a wink on the Flowers part of the original title) and not Gu Jun-pyo or Doumyouji... doesn't mean you have written a retelling.
I don't know maybe it's just me. If you have not read the manga or watched the Japanese, Korean or Taiwanese (Meteor Garden) television series, go ahead you may find it worthwhile ....
Well I almost finished it before deciding I'll leave it at that and breeze through the K-drama version on Viki.
Mind you, the drama is fifteen episodes too long to watch it a second time ... and there will be eye-rolling, but I'll have my few hours of fun, romance and all... even if I have to fast forward it.
Oh, and I swear that when The Scions made their first appearance in the book (same corny entrance as for the F4 in the drama), I could almost hear that damn Boys Over Flowers OST song Almost Paradise. Damn stupid song keeps playing in my head even now.
Two stars because I managed to stick almost till the end, and half a star because I was lazy to finish it.. who knows maybe the ending was the better part.
The End
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I've never heard of this author prior to participating in this blog tour, but you can be certain I'll be looking for future books, and prior ones too. I loved this story from the very first page. Yes, it was as cute as the cover indicates it would be, and the summary just screams cute, but it was so much more than just cute.
First, the characterization in this story was amazing. I felt like I knew each of these characters so well, and they were my favorite aspect of the story. I loved watching their interactions, their wordplay... the dialogue just brought them to glowing life. At first I thought to myself, okay, yes, we have a cliched group of rich kids here and the girl who tries not to be affected by them like the rest of the school, but these kids were anything but cliche. They had their own insecurities, their own issues at home. Life wasn't perfect for them, and I loved that the author gave them flaws, gave them issues that they had to deal with. So much of the time in books, these types of characters are very one dimensional, and there's always a girl who claims they don't affect her. Ana Huang handled this completely different.
Once Maya shows that she's her own person, able to stand head to head with them, they respect her. They open up their group to her, and by extension, her friend, Venice. And then the real fun starts, because she gets along famously with all of the Scions except for their leader, Roman. Yet, that is just who the rest of the group is determined to hook her up with.
The tension between these two was so fun to read. Their witty and angry, crackling dialogue was so entertaining, and the sexual tension just oozed off the page for me. These are definitely two people who are into each other but are doing everything they can to avoid admitting it for their own reasons.
Then there's the grandmother. OMG. The entire story was funny and had me laughing out loud, but scenes where the grandmother was a player, there were several of those that had me in tears I was laughing so hard.
This was just a really light-hearted, entertaining, funny, and wonderful book, all the way around. I love a large cast like this, if done well, and this author knew how to do it. I flew through this book, and the author had me hooked with every single character. I loved them all. This is definitely going on my 5 star and Favorites bookshelf. Loved it!!! -
4 "I won't leave you, because Iam in love with you" Stars!
Girrrlsssss, have you ever heard about Boys Before Flowers ?
Yes? Good for you!!
No? Well, folks, it's a VERY popular Korean drama with charming actors, and was soooo hype in its own years, back when i was in middle school.
I mean guyyyssss, look at the images below! How can you resist to watch that really really romantic and legendary drama? If you have a thing for Asian, mostly Korean, there is no way you're not drooling over this! I went gaga for almost a year, and because i was obsessed, i even studied some words in Korean language by myself (and failed LOL. I mean, gee, its so hard!). Anyway, isshhh, that was old times anyway, lets just move on from my failed-experiences to learn Korean.
(Can you believe she's thirty somethin when she took the picture? Gooddd i wonder how could Asian look so young???!!!)
Well so anyway, this book was kinda like BBF, but it WAS different. The common things between these two are only: A) There is a prestigious school, B) There are four members of a gang who rule the town and school. Those dudes are sons of the most wealthy family in the whole world. That's it.
I enjoyed reading it, since i was not in mood to watch some Dorama (drama from Japan) or Korean Drama. I was in mood to read, and it's perfectly just what i needed! This book was light, funny, and enjoyable. I didn't expect some swoon worthy moment or more characters development, but that was okay. I just wanted some YA entertainment, and i got it. Though i found some things were so ridicolous (Rome's house was bigger than taj mahal and some biggest building in Italy which i forgot to remember. I think that's just silly and overrated.)
I REALLY dont recommend it for readers above 18. Why? Because, guys, you won't like it. (well iam 19 but i want to read some silly books with light humor and HEA, so i liked it, just because. LOL!). This book is soo...i don't know, manga-ish? It's like reading some comic books/ manga stories which had been turned into a novel. There are lack of character developments, unlogical stuff, plot holes, etc. So for all of you who like realistic romance, this is really not for you.
*** -
Another hidden gem rises to the top! All I’ve Never Wanted by Ana Huang is a fresh look at the world of the rich and powerful offsprings of, of course, the rich and powerful while attending THE best and most prestigious high school in the country. Of course every haughty high school has its own misfits and Maya is it, but only because she doesn’t bow from the ankles to THE SCIONS. Here’s one of Ana Huang’s best twists, the Scions aren’t plastic, rich and angst ridden girls, they are boys and when they walk in you can almost feel everything move in slow motion from the moment they pull into the parking lot. The crowd parts, girls primp and simper and every guy wants to be just like them. The only person not impressed? Maya, so naturally she manages to come under their radar when her mouth cuts loose on one of them, which draws the rest in and Maya’s high school career has just veered off straight down the diamond encrusted rabbit hole.
Ana Huang has filled each page with fabulous dialogue, wit and attitude as the down to earth Maya becomes the object of curiosity, protectiveness, snark and even a 24K cupid has gotten involved! We have clichéd little rich boys, full of themselves, almost to the point of excess, and it is priceless. Ms Huang uses humor and even clever characters to round out this tale. Imagine in the midst of all of this glamor, having Grandma there to make things real, grounded and to not care who someone is, but what their intentions are! Low on angst, high on attitude, overflowing with charming scenes, and even real friendships, All I’ve Never Wanted is quirky twist on teen life, love and cupid’s keen sense of humor!
I received an ARC edition from Ana Huang in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: June 9, 2015
Publisher: Ana Huang
Genre: YA Romance
Print Length: 626 pages
Available from:
Amazon
Reviewed for:
http://tometender.blogspot.com
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This book need serious editing, it's 1st person in one page and 3rd person in the next and the writing, I feel like she published whatever she wrote on wattpad without editing it.
But moving on.
These five are the loml.
This books is based on Hana Yori Dango and I absolutely LOVE the manga, i might watched boys over flowers at least over ten times now. This is supposed to be a retelling ig idk because this was definitely not a retelling. This is like the english version of Hana Yori Dango. I watched the Korean, Taiwanese, Chinese and Japanese version of it and it felt I was reading it's english version now.
the poor girl ✔
four rich boys ✔
the love triangle ✔
the grand entrance ✔
This was more of a fan-fiction bc it's not a retelling and neither is it based on HYD, like i said before this is the english version of the book and some scenes were just so similar 😭 Ykw leave the similarities aside, the writing, the switching povs, the grammar and the typos?? These just made it worse.
nothing can replace these humans
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I am really really faltering on my choices. I needed a YA sweet romance novel. This story is from wattpad, I guess because the writing style is quite similar. I mean similar to the few stories I read on wattpad. And it is LONG.
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The book is so bad I cannot get past 50 pages it is totally a report of the famous k drama flower boys and God it is the boring thing I ever read in my entire life.
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Actual Rating: 3.5
Same Review Posted Here:
Dreamy Addictions
OMG! It was truly a spectacular read that I've enjoyed every part in it.The book is actually based from the Japanese manga series named Hana yori Dango or Boys Over Flowers.I'm huge fan of the series and I've watched the drama in Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean Version.When I came across this book I was totally in fangirling mood and I was so excited to read it because it was based on my favorite drama which I've loved it a lot.
I pretty much loved every character in it especially Maya and Roman.Maya is a strong character who's got a spunk, humor, wit and lots of courage.It was easy to connect with her and she is very much amusing to deal with.Well coming to the other character Roman Fiori *cough**cough* who is rich, arrogant, Jerk, anti-social, first class A-hole, he emits an aura that speaks of terror to the other students in the school.He hangs out with his three childhood best friends and always thinks high of himself and he also thinks that everything can be bought by money.
Maya Lindberg is the only scholarship student in Valesca Academy so she was always ignored and not given much importance. In the school she kept a low profile and always avoided the encounter with the "scions" the four rich guys who ruled the school.Unfortunately due to her act of righteousness, she becomes an enemy to the scions only because she stood up to them where no one ever dared to do.Now everyone is aware of her and shows sympathetic glances towards her cause they know what standing upto scions means.Every action has its consequences and that's what happens to Maya after she stood up to scions, because before she just have to worry about her studies and grades, but now she is struggling for the survival in the school without giving up.
The love and hate relationship between Maya and Roman was really adorable. I've liked the funny banters between them and also the sarcastic comments .The chemistry and the sexual tension between them is intense and hot.
There were some changes in this when compared to the original but there isn't anything lacking in the entertainment and the fun.The most hilarious character in this plot is Maya's grandma who made me laugh out loud with her broken English and also her hate for the mickey mouse is very funny.The plot also got wonderful supporting characters which made the whole journey interesting.The story is obviously predictable if you have already read the manga or watched the drama and there are also some twists and turns in it.
The story actually first appeared in Wattpadd so you can say that the author isn't a pro but her writing style is pretty much easy to understand.It was both funny and romantic read that you don't want to part with it.I can't say it was perfect because it has little bit flaws in it and there were also some parts that seemed rushed a bit nonetheless it was an entertaining read. If you haven't read the manga or seen the drama version of it then you'll definitely enjoy this book. -
There's homage, and there's just straight up rip off.
I think the author really loved the premise of Hana Yori Dango and all its iterations. The thing is it's one thing to actually take the best parts of a series you love and write about it (or as in this case, write your own version of it), and quite another to transport its most 'iconic' aspects to your novel.
The scene with the cars? All in the four HYD versions (anime, Taiwanese, Japanese live action, Korean). The way they walk on campus? Check. The way how people carried on about them? Check. The Scions? F4. F4.
I didn't finish the book (because Holy Lord, it begs a very thorough edit), but was there a red card somewhere when the students were torturing the main female character?
Apologies, but this really didn't sit well with me after all the scenes that I remember from the series pop up (in chronological order) in this book.
This isn't just 'based on' the series -- it's the actual series (if it were sort of set in the US) in book form -- plus very few minor tweaks. -
DNF @ around 50%
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here.
**I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review as a part of the blog tour hosted by YA Bound Book Tours.**
This book was soo freaking good! I can’t explain how much I loved it. This book is actually based from the Japanese manga series named Hana yori Dango or Boys Over Flowers. And you guys should know, I’m obsessed over Boys Over Flowers. (I haven’t watch it yet but I have watched all the clips available in YouTube and I think I know every single details about it.) So I’m always ready to read or watch anything related to it. I first read a review of this book on a friend’s blog and I immediately went to add it to my tbr, and there I found that a blog tour was going to happen soon. So from Goodreads I jumped there, and imagine my excitement when I got selected for this tour. And boy! It totally lived up to my expectations.
The plot was superb. All I’ve Never Wanted follows Maya Lindberg, a high school student who has no interest in the Scions, her school’s most popular guys- Zack, Carlo, Parker, and their leader, Roman. She has desperately tried to avoid them but during a party after an unintentional mistake, she comes face to face with Roman. Their face off turns quite ugly and Roman has every intention to get her out from the school. But Maya sternly resists everything and this intrigues Roman and from there begins an unnatural love story.
The characters were the best part of this book. I loved, loved each and every one of them. I could easily connect with Maya, she was simple, stubborn, witty and rebellious. She could stand up for herself. Roman *DREAMY SIGH* well at first look, he seemed arrogant and a spoilt brat but as slowly slowly his character is revealed, we come to know of the boy behind the hard mask. I loved the romance between them, it was soo sweet. Their confession was pretty awkward and funny and boy, Maya loves fainting!
I loved the other boys, Zack was seriously so cute! I felt like cuddling him. Carlo’s genuinely a good guy. He remained beside Maya in every step. Though he liked Maya a bit but I’m so glad the author didn’t introduce a love triangle with him. Parker had to play the role of Maya’s ex-boyfriend and omg it was so much fun. Maya in a sudden impulse to save herself from her grandmother (who was pretty weird and funny and hates Micky Mouse!) introduces Parker as her boyfriend, and that conversation was totally hilarious. I re-read it so many times and every time I ended up craking up. I loved Zack’s sister, she was sweet, supportive and indeed a good sister.
The writing was smooth, the pages flew by easily. I finished the book in one sitting, it was so addicting. I laughed so much, it was funny and full of humour. I will definitely be looking forward to her other books.
I usually don’t read much contemporary as I find it boring but I’m finally branching out to this genre. I’m so glad and happy that I gave this book a chance. All in all, this was a great complementary read. It was neither slow or fast, it moved along with a steady speed. The plot was great, the characters were awsome, the romance was so cute!
Recommend it?
If you like awsome characters and cute romance and definitely YES! -
I read Hana Yori Dango a few years ago, and I was instantly hooked. I watched the drama adaptations and for a while it was all I could think about (don't judge me, it was a weird fase.....). It was original (in my inexperienced opinion) and I liked that the MC gave those rich kids hell. Also, I laughed a lot reading it.
Anyway, I heard about this book, an american adaptation of the story, and I thought I would love it. After all, I still melt remembering Rui and Domjoyi and Tsukushi, even if the story was cheesy by modern standards.
It turns out, this book is not very well written, the plot is full of holes and mistakes, and the constant change of POV gets on my nerves. Also the MC is not how I picture Tsukushi. In the manga she is brave, and she has reasons for standing up against the F4. Her family has real problems, and she has to look out for them. She makes choices and she tries hard to be better, and true to herself. Here she is simply immature, judgmental and I can't sympathize with her situation at all. Even if it's just an adaptation of the manga, I thought they would write someone more likable than this.
And what I think is the very worst of this book; the grandmother. The stereotyped crazy Asian grandmother who has nothing to contribute to the story except absurd blabber that overly complicates the story. Why she was written at all, and written like this, I don't know, but the absurdity of the whole situation baffles me.
This book is really, truly, honestly bad written. It's like watching a train wreck, you just can't stop reading to see the next completely illogical, and ridiculously absurd plot twist coming your way. -
This is a looooong book and at times it felt that way so in fairness I think it could have been trimmed down a little bit. Considering this was originally fan fiction and the author started writing it when she was 16 I was impressed. I loved the characters, it just goes to show you should not judge a book by its cover, the rich kids were actually nice after all. I felt it got a bit off track towards the end with plot devices thrown in for drama's sake but the banter, fun and frolics that this bunch of friends got up couldn't help but have you in stitches at times. Overall an enjoyable read. (full review to come)
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5 Words: Money, school, control, lies, attraction.
Take the Number 1, Grade A douchebag with a God complex and bad parenting, add in a bet between a bunch of beautiful, stunning, amazing, overly rich and obviously spoiled kids, and then toss in a poor, innocent girl who is on a scholarship at their prodigious school.
It's a formula that's been done time and again, and this did feel a bit like a rehash of numerous stories I've read before.
That said, exclusive schools are one of my catnip tropes in YA. I love reading about luxury. And the descriptions in this book are certainly what redeemed it.
Honestly, I didn't connect with any of the characters. They mostly spent far too much time lying and being complete tossers. I did like how Maya stood up for herself, but I wish she had developed more as it didn't feel like she reached her full potential as a character.
The scenes with Maya's grandmother were quite hilarious. I read them with a giggle.
It was a good book, but with a little more development and polishing, a bit of a more original storyline, it could have been great. -
-- 3 stars --
*sigh* I really wanted to like this book... I've been a fan of the manga and k-drama Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) for years now, and it's basically the same plot line as this book - however I love HYD and this book was just meh.
Maya was kind of annoying at parts (a lot of parts) and I didn't like Roman's character as much as I did in the manga/drama. It was not as funny either.
If you're a fan of Hana Yori Dango, I'd still recommend this book to you because it was interesting to read the story in a book format, but it was definitely not as good as the manga. -
Okay this book was filled with awesomesauce. It has all the emotions throughout it and I laughed, cried, smirked and everything in between.
My parting shot has to be "Omg, puppy!"
Read it, it's good! -
cute, i can clearly see Boys over Flowers in it.
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this book was enjoyable but man that cover is ugly
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Funny read that reminds me others that I've read.
I'm the beginning it reminded me Bully by P.D. Later I thought about C.L. Stone's academia series.
In the end it was just too much with some open loose..
I enjoyed it a lot and laughed a lot. -
Before:
Those 600+ pages are making me worry.
After:
First I must say that I read this pretty much in one sitting. I read 80% of the novel from like 2am until like 8 am. Then since I'm such a great student I went to class at 9am then went to my sister’s graduation. Then I came back to finish this book without sleep. I call that an accomplishment considering this is a 626 page book.
Anyway. . .
This book follows the story of Maya, a girl attending her senior at the most prestigious academy in the country. Only the richest in the world attend, people with billions instead of millions in the bank. Among those students are the Scions a group of four totally gorgeous boys who happen to be the children of the richest people on Earth. The Scions are desirable, enviable and untouchable. They are the kings of the world and Maya has been trying to avoid them since she first transfered. Then thanks to unfortunate events at a party Maya and the Scions are about to collide and neither of their worlds will be the same.
So apparently this book resembles a Korean TV drama a lot and a lot of people have decided not to read it because of it. The way I see it if we stopped reading things due to resemblance no one would have read Divergent due to resemblance to the Hunger Games and no one would have read the Hunger Games because it’s nothing more than the Western version of Battle Royale. Also since I have not watched the TV drama that this closely resembles I went into this without any type of prejudice. And you know what? I liked it. A lot.
Other than the fact that this was a 626 page book, it was really enjoyable. The characters were all wonderful and the plot was very good also. I really liked how the author did not just focus on the main characters story but instead showed a bit into the lives of the other characters. That made all the secondary characters seem much more rounded and real since we all got to look onto their minds and feelings and know their wants and ambitions.
All of the boys were great. We got Parker, the playboy. Zach, the lovable goofball and aspiring musician. Carlo, the silent muscle of the group. Lastly we got Roman, the leader. There was even Adriana, Zach’s twin sister and the only girl in the group. At first glance all of them look like terrible people. They look stuck up and snobby but then you get to know them are realize that they are all really great friends. I mean, they are still a bit snobby but then again they are the kids of the richest people in the world and one cannot expect overnight change. But truly they were all really great friends who really did love each other. All except Roman. Everyone was great except Roman.
Then there was Maya. She was a nice and likable character. She was strong and fun and all around awesome. She had principles and even though she was scared she stood up for her friends and dared to face the Scion’s wrath. She was also one of the only people to ever stand up to Roman and always speak her mind. On top of it all she was witty and playful and a great friend. She quickly became close to the Scions but never forgot her other friend Venice, instead she brought Venice along for the ride. I hate in YA when someone becomes kind of popular they leave everyone behind. But not Maya, she never stopped being best friends with the girl who had remained by her side all those times and I really liked her loyalty.
The plot was another thing I enjoyed. It was like taking a duology and making it into one book. There was that before and after sort of feel. Half way through the book things started to change and new conflicts started to arise and I really liked it. The one problem I had was the revenge aspect of it near the end. I hate when contemporary romance books have to go there. Why? IT COMES COMPLETELY OUT OF NOWHERE! This is like the fourth contemporary romance that has pulled the exact same crap. I don’t like it!! The story could work without it. Like I get the revenge. It isn’t that what bothers me. It is what the villain does that is so not necessary!
In the end I really did enjoy the book. I laughed so hard while reading it. Like real laughter, I really laughed out loud. There were a lot of cute moments and funny moments and it was great. My only two problems were that little twist at the end and Roman. He was a jerk. All the other boys turned out to be really nice people and Adriana turned out to be a really great friend but Roman mostly remained the same. Sure he wasn’t as horrible and learned to be a bit more sociable but he was still, for the most part, a jerk. Still, I would recommend it to anyone who would not mind reading a 600+ page contemporary. -
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Little Miss Bookmark!
Maya is just a wallflower. At least, that's what she thought she was. Her mission was to make it through high school without drawing any attention to herself. She was so close to accomplishing her goal before everything blew up in her face, she became the center of attention and the girl every girl wanted to be or be friends with. The Scions changed everything.
I'm pretty conflicted on this one. On one hand, I really enjoyed All I've Never Wanted ... I enjoyed the back and forth between the characters and most of the storyline. But on the other hand, it was a little much in some places. The story felt bogged down by everything that was going on within these pages. Just when it felt like the story was picking up, it would start slowing down again. There was just so much going on. I don't want to get into everything that was happening because I don't want to spoil the surprises for anyone else but keep in mind that there are like 10 subplots going on with this main storyline.
I'm a big fan of Cinderella stories (like many other ladies) but I think that there is a point when it can be pointed out too often how rich someone is compared to their potential love interest. I get it. These kids (The Scions) are powerful ... they come from very wealthy and powerful families, they get special treatment at school, they fly private jets during their lunch hour at school, have yachts, wipe their asses with $1000 bills. They are wealthy. Got it. It felt like that piece of info was force fed to the reader a little bit. Was it important to the story? Absolutely. But there's no reason to beat a dead horse. They're rich. Got it.
All of that being said, I did find myself growing attached to Maya. She was a wonderfully written main character and I really enjoyed experiencing things with her. Most of the time, she balanced out the richy rich talk within the novel with her down-to-earth outlook and behaviors. The other characters were okay ... I wasn't nearly as attached to them as I was Maya though.
There are a lot of reviewers who are comparing this to another series ... I think it was some kind of manga ... and instead of reviewing just this book, they are doing a comparison of the two. Sometimes that isn't fair at all. From what I understand, there are some similarities or something and people are losing their shit over it. I've never heard of that manga series or whatever but if you're looking for a nice summer read, give this one a try. Don't worry about what others are saying, you should try it out for yourself. You just might find a new author to follow.
* I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review * -
Do you love fan fiction? Do you love the famous Korean drama, Boys Over Flowers? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you must (MUST I tell ya!) read All I've Never Wanted by Ana Huang. And even if you haven't read Boys Over Flowers, it sure will entertain you if you love amusing reads!
I'm not going to say that I'm an expert in fanfics, but with my limited knowledge, I'd say this one is pretty good because, despite that it starts quite similarly as the original story, it soon develops into a different yet equally entertaining story. You get the rich guys, the rich school, over the top gifts, and everything outrageous and fun from the drama. But, you know what? I actually liked this book's drama better than Boys Over Flowers' for various reasons:
a) The main character is not as annoying as Geum Jan Di. MAya is more normal and holds up her own. She's stubborn but not too much. I really liked her. And her interactions with the Scions, especially with Roman *squeals!*.
b) There's no evil mother anywhere. One thing that I didn't particularly enjoy of the kdrama was how awful and childish Gu Joon-pyos' mother was. But not in here. YAY.
C) No love triangle. There were a few potential love interests, but I'm so glad the author didn't pursue them.
I'm not really trying to put Boys Over Flowers down because I seriously liked it a lot, but these few things certainly put me on edge when I was watching it, so I'm glad that the author took out these elements from her book.
I do have to say that All I've Never Wanted *is* a cheesy and highly improbable read, so if you don't like these type of reads, then maybe it won't be for you. BUT! Since I'm not really much of a fan of too much cheese either and yet this book had me grinning like a fool the whole time, you might be surprised and find yourself liking it too! Who knows?
All in all, I had a lot of fun reading All I've Never Wanted. I started reading it with high expectations and it did not disappoint me. It's a great read and perfect for when you just want something light and cute to lift up your mood. :)
*This review can also be found at
The Reader and the Chef! Huge thanks go out to the author for the review copy in exchange of my honest opinion.* -
Originally posted at
Fathomless Reveries
I got engrossed with this one pretty quick - I was even scolded by my mom because apparently she had been calling me for dinner three times already (and I didn't hear her.) YES. It wasn't intense, but it was definitely attention-catching. I just love the humor! Especially the parts where Maya's grandmother is involved - gotta love the grandma! <3
Actually, when I was reading the first few chapters of this, I thought that the story seemed very familiar. And whoa! I just read somewhere that it was inspired by Hana Yori Dango (I totally did not know about this one.) At first, my urge to continue reading lessened. It may be funny, but I didn't want to reread the entire Hana Yori Dango story again. I'm glad I finished this one, though.
While there may be similarities, there were also things that kept All I've Never Wanted different from Hana Yori Dango. It was refreshing, and a great break from the academic stress I am right now in. I just couldn't stop smiling! :D
I can't say that I exactly felt a connection between the characters and me (I didn't experience the same things as them), but it wasn't hard to find myself liking them, as each of them had their own personalities. I especially love their interactions with each other as friends. Although, I couldn't say the same for the romance. There were some, especially for Carlo's case, that I hoped was developed more. At times, it made me feel like they were able to find their love just so that everyone could have their own HEA, and it didn't really suit me that well.
Also, I just didn't like how the POV kept on shifting without any cue. It was confusing at most times, especially when I didn't really know who's POV it was. And while it was humorous and spirit-lifting (at least for me), towards the latter part of the story, I felt that it started becoming a little bit draggy.
Nevertheless, All I've Never Wanted is a great read, even though the story isn't really entirely new. While the romance may seem a little bit too perfect, it was still cute and fun to read, nonetheless. -
This book is long but somehow it didn’t feel like it. That’s how much I had fun reading All I’ve Never Wanted by Ana Huang. I’m really glad I chose to read this. Admittedly I had hesitations because it’s a retelling of Kamio Yōko’s best-seller manga titled Hana Yori Dango and my reading experience of its many other retelling I encountered previously had been less than savory.
All I’ve Never Wanted however, is far from that. Although the book follows the plot of Hana Yori Dango [scholarship girl Maya (main character) meets rich boys who are heirs to business moguls (F4), MC stands up to them, gets bullied by the entire school populace, endured her situation like a “weed,” became friends with them, became the gf, gets kidnapped etc.], the book still came out as an enjoyable read for me.
I loved the characters in this book, Maya’s grandmother being my most favorite. <3 Oh, she was hilarious, I tell you. That nickname she gave Parker (Peewee) was the best. :D
The main character Maya on the other hand, is a strong, intelligent, loyal girl who is not afraid to speak her mind. Her love interest Roman is lovable in spite of his shortcomings (jerk, snob, asshole, etc.) because the author was able to show Roman’s soft side and who he really is beneath the surface.
I thought the characterization is excellent, so much that I found myself rooting for Carlo as well. I loved the other characters too, Parker, Zach, Venice, Adriana, Rico, and yes, even James (at the start of the story at least).
Then there’s the, er, sex. I mean the characters were only seventeen (am I the only one who freaked out on this?). It was not explicit but it was mentioned so yeah. Suddenly I feel positively ancient lol. <3 I wish Daria was written more instead but other than that, I enjoyed every bit of this book. -
This book was really really good! It was fun, hot and cute. I liked Maya a lot. She was fun, cute, brave and kicked butt. I also liked Carlo a lot. He was actually my favorite male character. Sweet, cute and a good friend. Parker wasn't bad either. He was cute, fun and charming. Roman was a dickhead, jerk, asshole, insensitive hateful bastard. Doesn't matter how hot or rich, he was an evil, stupid asshole in the beginning and for a while. He got a little bit better later on in the story, but it's not until the almost end that I started liking him. Right around the time they got back from Hawaii and after he got his shit together and admitted he really liked her. Oh and that seduction/teasing scene in Hawaii was SUPERB! Really really HOT! Wow!
I also liked Adriana. Zack and Venice were cute and hilarious. Oh and talking about hilarious..... Maya's grandma cracked me up! She was funny and did and said some things so embarrassing!
The story was really good (although a little too long maybe) and I enjoyed reading it a lot. I'm glad I picked it up.
Totally recommended!
