Diary of a Book Maniac: July 2016

, by Alyssa

ARC August

ARC August 2016

4 comments

, by Alyssa

Lindsay Cummings

Review: Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings

4 comments

, by Alyssa

Agay Llanera

Review: Once Upon a Player by Agay Llanera

Title: Once Upon a Player
Author: Agay Llanera
Format acquired: Ebook

Source: Received from the author (thank you, Ms. Llanera!)

Publication date: August 9, 2014

Goodreads / Amazon / Print Edition / Smashwords

Summary:

Gorgeous college senior Val Fabian is a player in every sense of the word. She's the star spiker of her university's volleyball team, and she never runs out of dates. But it seems that this year, she has finally been bitten by the commitment bug. She sets her sights on an unexpected target--the unassuming yet ultra-cute Jake Clementia. Val is used to getting what she wants, and is sure she'll snag him before graduation. But in the process of winning his heart, she is sideswiped by a surprise move that sends her tumbling from her pedestal.

Review:

I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly don’t like reading books that are written by Filipino authors and you might wonder why the heck did I read this book? It’s because change is coming. I want to change that fact. For the information of everybody, I took a break in the blogging community and even in reading (experienced a year-long reading slump). And during that time, I contemplated a lot of things. One was that I should support first my local authors before the international ones. I promised myself that when I will get back in blogging, I will read a slew of books that are written by local authors. And Once Upon a Player is the first one on that list. I have mixed feelings about this book. I will list down the things that I like and don’t like about this book. Let’s start with the positive ones.

The love interest I won’t go into details because I don’t want to spoil you. But I absolutely like the love interest in this book. It was really unexpected because I thought the character that I like is not Val’s love interest but boy was I so wrong.

Focus of the story Have you ever heard of the saying that goes, “don’t judge a book by its cover?” Well, I’m guilty of that. I judge a book by its cover sometimes. I thought this book’s main focus is love. I expected to read cheesy and mushy stuff. But what I get was ever better. ;)

So those were the things that I liked in this book. Now let’s get on with the thing that I hated. Yes, thing. That means I only hate one thing about this book. Wondering what it is?

Main character I must say that I absolutely dislike the main character in this story. I hated her personality. She’s vain, pretentious, and the list goes on. I’m aware that she was spoiled when they were still well-off and maybe it was hard to let go of that but c’mon, she was still a kid that time. She had a lot of time to adjust. And the thing that she did to her best friend? That totally made me hate her more. Ugh.

I’m aware that the positive side outweighs the negative one. But the MC of a book is a make or break for me hence the rating for this one. To sum it off, Once Upon a Player is a deceiving book (in a good way). I suggest you read it without knowing anything about it. Don’t read the synopsis just dive straight in the book and I’m sure you’ll have more fun reading it.

About the Author

Agay Llanera is a Manila-based freelance writer for television and video, and a published writer of children's books. Her novellas include Vintage Love, Once upon A Player, and the YA book, Choco Chip Hips. Get in touch with her through the following:

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