The Chapel Wars: Review and Feedback I really liked this book a lot. The romance was interesting and rather deep and I did not expect that going in. The book was not all about the romance and I like books like that a lot. It gave us a interesting premise that was based in the world of weddings and getting married. 
 
The lead character of Holly was so cool to because she felt like she was 30 years old when in reality she was only 17 years old. She had so much pressure and drama thanks to her grandfather request that I felt like it aged the book up and I enjoyed that. 
 
It was also more of a self discovery book to me and it basically asked the question what if your dream needed to end and how would you go on. I liked that because in life like what happen to Dax and Holly dreams change or need to change. 
 
I thought the romeo and juliet type romance was a tad predictable but It had enough of unexpected twists and the ending really made me enjoy that I gave it such a high rating.
 
If you like a cute romance with dynamic characters that is more then just a romance book check out this book!
 
Check out my non-spolier video  review below!
 http://youtu.be/pjO6J6ZBNA4 ( )

The Chapel Wars: Review and Feedback I really liked this book a lot. The romance was interesting and rather deep and I did not expect that going in. The book was not all about the romance and I like books like that a lot. It gave us a interesting premise that was based in the world of weddings and getting married. 
 
The lead character of Holly was so cool to because she felt like she was 30 years old when in reality she was only 17 years old. She had so much pressure and drama thanks to her grandfather request that I felt like it aged the book up and I enjoyed that. 
 
It was also more of a self discovery book to me and it basically asked the question what if your dream needed to end and how would you go on. I liked that because in life like what happen to Dax and Holly dreams change or need to change. 
 
I thought the romeo and juliet type romance was a tad predictable but It had enough of unexpected twists and the ending really made me enjoy that I gave it such a high rating.
 
If you like a cute romance with dynamic characters that is more then just a romance book check out this book!
 
Check out my non-spolier video  review below!
 http://youtu.be/pjO6J6ZBNA4 ( )

To come. But it could have been so much more.

This was just an okay book for me. It’s a romance with a Romeo and Juliet theme, which is even acknowledged by the characters, Dax and Holly. If Ms. Leavitt had really run with that, I feel like this could have been so much more. There are a lot of characters, most of whom are given just a bit of page time. Some of them could have been cut to allow for more character development. Older sister Lenore, is just there to show how dysfunctional the family is, and to provide a car ride; she could have been sacrificed to give more info about Camille, the girlfriend of Sam, Holly’s best friend. Holly has three other guy friends, Mike, Grant, and Porter., who are kind of interchangeable. I wanted more info on Victor, the competition, and James, Holly’s younger brother. Perhaps I am being too picky, but I wanted this to be one of the ones that would fall into the better than it looks category. ( )

Oh, wow. THIS is what I love to read in YA contemporary. I adored this book. I read it while on a trip and stayed up way later than I should've just so I could finish it in one setting. It was so cute and had unique qualities in it that just made me love it to pieces. I really, really loved it! ( )

For more reviews, gifs, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.

Dahlia Adler, Recing ball and author extraordinaire (Behind the Scenes/Last Will and Testament/Under the Lights), wins again. She told me over and over to read The Chapel Wars. I wasn’t sure, not having heard all that much buzz about Leavitt’s books. The time came, though, when I had to read this book, mostly because I checked it out of the library and then proceeded to rack up $1.20 in fines (oops), so obviously I had to at least read it now that I was paying money for it. Yes, I know that I am marvelous at life. Enough about that. The short version is that The Chapel Wars turned out to be quite fantastic.

The Chapel Wars took a bit of time to grab me, I’ll admit. The voice is unique, but not in a way that jumped off the page for me. This did result in a lack of emotional connection, but, by the end, I loved this book in a very intellectual way. I can’t really explain why I wasn’t feeling all the feels; it seems as though I should have been. Part of my struggle at the start was that Holly has a few really odd descriptions, which I can’t help not sharing so here you go:

If looks were America and ugly was Los Angeles, this boy was comfortably Kentucky. West Virginia when he smiled.

Seriously? What does that even mean? Also, poor LA.

“If hate were a person, we’d be second cousins.”

I’m amused, but also a bit confused again. Holly doesn’t do this stuff often, but it really stood out to me as strange since she’s of a more mathematical mind most of the time. I did really love her thing with counting and her mathematical predictions of marriages’ success.

The Chapel Wars takes place in Las Vegas, but in a way that was totally new to me. The book is both very Vegas-focused and not at all like I expected something set in Vegas to be. I’ve never been and don’t have much interest in going, since the casinos and shit I’ve seen in the movies don’t really interest me. In this case, though, Vegas is Holly’s hometown. For her, it’s not casinos and “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” There are some ways in which it’s very much not any other place, but it’s also a much more beautiful portrayal than I’ve ever seen. Holly’s attempts to make Dax love Vegas made me want to visit it too. Ironically, Leavitt’s fiction made a real place seem less fictional to me.

The book opens on the funeral for Holly’s beloved Grandpa Jim. When his will is read, everyone’s stunned by the revelation that he’s left the chapel to Holly to run. Even more shocking is the news that, unless she manages to drum up a whole lot more business, the chapel’s going to be closing for good. This, too, is very unique YA novel territory, but I love the way it was handled.

Holly may not have the experience of an adult, but she brings an open-mindedness to bear that none of the adults would have. I also love that The Chapel Wars delves into whether this is a good thing for Holly or not. Yes, Holly seems to be good at it, and she does love the chapel. However, that doesn’t mean that setting herself up to do nothing but this without considering other options is a good thing. It could have just been a quirky story about how she got to run a chapel, but The Chapel Wars gets into real consideration of the future. The way things resolved was also perfect: While it sucks that big business screwed them over, it’s realistic. Plus, it’s much better for Holly to have the chance to go to college and do all of that stuff, while Donna sets up a new chapel. Holly can probably take over from her later if she wants…or not.

At first, I thought Holly was going to be one of those girl-hating heroines. She’s friends with a bunch of jocks and doesn’t always have the nicest thoughts about her best friend’s girlfriend, Camille. Holly doesn’t really now how to be a girl and doesn’t feel all that comfortable around them. As the book goes on, though, Holly and Camille become good friends, and it ends up being really positive all around.

What I love super duper the most about The Chapel Wars is the ways that the romance defies traditional gender roles. It’s not just Holly and Dax either. Sam and Camille’s relationship also doesn’t subscribe. In both cases, the guy is more romantic, more focused on commitment, and more emotional. The issues that Holly has with understanding and expressing emotion are the sort of thing that I almost never see women deal with in pop culture. I love love love every bit of this.

“Look, Dax. I love that you are super in touch with your emotions and can share all these things with me. I’m serious. It’s great. But I’m not like that. I wish I was.”

While I definitely do ship Dax and Holly, they never reached that epic shipping level. I really should have been intensely into the ship, because they do exchange some most excellent banter. It’s also really nice that Dax and Holly actually get time to be a couple. The romance feels way more rooted in real life than most novel romances do. They meet, they date, they DTR, and they have to work through normal couple issues.

Friends who seek out the banterfluff, hie thee to thy local book procurement place and seek out The Chapel Wars. I don’t know why I went all Shakespearean. Bono or Elvis would have been more apt, but oh well. ( )