Month: January 2016

January 2016 Wrap-Up
Guys, it’s already the end of the month. How is time flying so fast? Staahhhhp.

Alright, so I think that the month of January was pretty fruitful, if I do say so myself. Starting off the year strong, woo!

So here’s how my month is going so far and some updates as well:

Books I Read
- The Dream Thieves by Maggie Steifvater. The second book in The Raven Cycle, this book was so good and really drew me further into the world. I highly enjoyed getting to know the characters better, and the ones that didn’t really rub off on me well before I actually turned out to really like and understand. I’m really excited for the next installment and to see what happens next with this group. I gave this 5/5 stars and highly recommend it. Check out my review!
- Saga volumes 1-5 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples. This comic/graphic novel series is fantastic. Not only is the art style beautiful and realistic, the story itself is intriguing and engaging. I really love this series so far and I think that it would be a good read for sci-fi and fantasy lovers because it mixes the two genres really well. I gave each 4.5-5/5 stars respectively. Check out my review!
- The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski. This book wasn’t as good as I was hoping. The characters seemed distant and cold, and a lot of plot I found to be boring. The parts I enjoyed were the romance parts because those were the times the characters felt like they were coming alive. I’m going to continue on with the next book, so I’m hoping it’ll be better. I gave this 3/5 stars. Check out my review!
- Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone. This book, guys. This book touched all of my feels and it just made me so happy to read. This book doesn’t glorify mental illness, but instead shows how it can encompass a person’s entire mind and how it can affect them in daily life. I loved how it was handled and just the romance and everything about it. I gave this 5/5 stars and highly recommend it. Check out my review!
Resolutions Galore
- Bookish Resolutions for 2016 – All of my bookish and blog related goals are set out here and I’m excited to think that they’re all actually achievable. I’m hoping that 2016 will be a good one and that I can come back next year and say that I actually completed everything on my list.
- Top Ten Tuesday: Resolutions for 2016 – This was a different set of resolutions that went into further detail regarding my bookish goals, but I also went into a bit of personal ones that I really want to achieve this year. I think that they’re important and that I need to actually stick to them.
- Writing Goals for 2016 – I have three major goals that I want to complete for the year and I really hope that I see to it that they each get done, or that I at least have progress on them.
Challenges and Other Fun Things
- Flights of Fantasy 2016 – A fun year long challenge to read as many fantasy books as your heart desires. My goal is set to 15 books this year and I think that I’ll definitely accomplish it.
- Let’s Talk | Shadowhunters 1×01 – Pilot – I talked about the first episode of Shadowhunters based off of Cassandra Clare‘s series and it was so full of cheese that I didn’t know what to do with myself. You can check out my full review details through the link, but yeah. It was okay, and I’m holding on for the rest of the series.
- Rayna Recommends: Manga Favorites – Yes! I got back into my recommendation posts and I’m starting off the year recommending some of my favorite manga series. Check them out if you get a chance!
- Favorite Books of 2015 – I talk about my top thirteen favorite books that I read last year and why they were my favorites.
- Rereads for 2016 – I haven’t read all of these books in years and so I really want to read them again and see if I still love them as much as I did back then.
- Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Buzzwords – Some words in or about books can just set you off and you NEED them, right then and there. These are some of my words.
- Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Best Friends – You know those characters who are best friends with the main character and you just can’t help but love them? Yeah, these are some of my favorites.
- Top 5 Wednesday: Disappointing Eye Candy – These are the books that you loved the covers on but weren’t exactly thrilled with the content inside of them. Yeah. These are some of my disappointments.
- The Disney Princess Tag – This tag was made for me. Seriously.
Updates

So I wanted to include this little update section in each of my wrap-ups this year as I go about doing the Flights of Fantasy challenge as well as anything regarding writing and anything else I may find important. So here’s how I’m doing so far:

Flights of Fantasy: I’ve read seven books this month that involve some form of fantasy and I’ve enjoyed the majority of them, so yay for that!

Writing: I’ve actually picked up my poetry since reading Every Last Word. It’s not a lot, but I really enjoy it and forgot how much I did enjoy it. Check me out on Hello Poetry to see some of my poems. Otherwise, I haven’t really worked on anything else just yet, but I plan to soon.

Bible reading plan: So I kind of failed at the Booktube Bible-a-thon, but I’ve picked back up reading the Bible every day following a chronological plan on an app I have. I haven’t missed a day yet, so hopefully I keep up with it!

And that’s it for this month! What a great way to start off the year. I’m excited to see what February brings me.
January 30, 2016
Disney Princess Book Tag
Hey guys! I was browsing around a few blogs yesterday when I stumbled upon the Disney Princess Book Tag on Alexa of Alexa Loves Books‘ blog. As soon as I saw it I KNEW I had to do it (because I’m a huge Disney lover). The tag was originally created by Soudha of Stacks and Cups. So without further ado, let’s jump into it!

3 Princess Facts
1. My favorite Disney princess is Ariel and I got to meet her when my husband and I went to Walt Disney World for our honeymoon in December 2014. Best. Day. Ever.
2. I was terrified of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves when I was a kid. That scene with the witch on the cliff at the end? Terrifying. But when I tried watching the movie as an adult I was extremely bored.
3. I have seen – and own – every Disney princess main movie (you know, the big name title movies, not necessarily the sequels or spinoffs) in either DVD or VHS form. Most are in DVD/Blu-ray.
The Questions

Snow White – What’s your favorite classic?

As I’m not super huge into reading classics, this one’s tough for me. I will say that I really love A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. It’s my favorite of his plays and to me, it’s a classic. I love the folly and the faeries and the jokes.

Cinderella – What book kept you up way past your bedtime?

I can definitely say that recently Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone kept me up past my bedtime. I mean, it wasn’t super late… well, 1:00AM – but I still had to sleep and stuff. But this book gave me all the feels and you can read about those feels in my review.

Aurora – What’s your favorite classic romance?

Again, as I don’t read many classics, this one’s kind of hard for me. But, I’ll say that I do enjoy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Okay, I know, cheesy, cliche, but it’s true. I really enjoy this tale of star-crossed lovers and how they dared to defy the world around them for love. It’s tragic, romantic, kind of sad, and just one of those ones that I can’t help but love.

Ariel – Name a book about making sacrifices and fighting for your dreams.

I really think that The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson is definitely one of those books that falls under this category. Here you have Lia, a princess, who doesn’t want to be forced into a marriage for politics, and so she, along with her best friend, run away to fight to live where they might possibly have some freedom. You can check out more of my feels in my review.

Belle – Name a book with a smart, independent female character.

$theirfracturedlight$

Well, where do I start? For this one I’m going to pick Sofia from Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. I love Sofia so freakin’ much. Though she’s got a rough past and she’s a con artist, she’s also very independent and extremely smart. I think that being able to read body language is a skill that people often taken for granted, and plus she’s just quick with her actions and her mind. Plus, she doesn’t need no man, but I mean, Gideon’s perfect for her, so… Yeah. Read more about how much I love her in my review.

Jasmine – Name a book with a character that challenged the social conventions of his/her world.

For this one I think I’m going to have to go with America from the Selection series by Kiera Cass. She challenged the social norms of the palace many times over because of her position in society and how she was often viewed during her stay there during the Selection process. Though she wasn’t super groundbreaking, she did have many great ideas for how things could be run and how things could change, which was nice. You can check out more of my thoughts here. (And look, Jasmine even matches the cover!)

Pocahontas – Name a book whose ending was a roller coaster of emotions.

I thought this was going to be harder to choose, but as soon as I looked over at my shelves I knew which book fit this perfectly: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. SO MANY FEELS. That twist! Those deaths! The magic! Ugh, there was just so much that happened at the end of that first book that I seriously just can’t deal. My mind is still reeling from what happened. Check out more of my blown mind thoughts here.

Mulan – Name a book with a kickass female character.

I mean, do I really need to say it? Celaena/Aelin from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. I love Celaena and just how much of a badass she is. She’s just one of those characters that I would not want to mess with if I ever crossed her on the street. She has her charming side, but she’s mostly a fighter – an assassin – and so I just think she’s really cool and powerful. You can check out more of my thoughts on her here.

Tiana – Name a book featuring a hardworking, self-made character.

I think that the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews features an eclectic group of characters who are hardworking and self-made. From Kate herself who was raised by a Warlord and thrust into the world to fend for herself days at a time as a child to when she’s an adult living on her own and fighting/killing beasts, to Curran who had a tough time growing up but he managed to win himself the spot of Beast Lord at the age of fifteen, to Andrea who holds a lot of baggage within herself but she’s one of the best sharp shooters in the city, let alone the state, and many other characters. I honestly just think it comes with the world and how dangerous it is. More of my thoughts are here.

Rapunzel – A book that features an artist.

I think that The Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor is a good one because Karou is a spectacular artist. She’s even going to school for it, if that says anything. Often in the first book it talks about her sketches of the chimera, and in general, and how detailed they are. She’s able to capture so much detail when observing something in front of her and I think that that’s an incredible talent. More of my thoughts on her here.

Merida – Name a book that features a mother-daughter relationship.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon features a mother-daughter relationship that at first seems loving and caring, but as time passes it becomes a bit more strained and difficult. I mean, I really enjoyed their relationship at the beginning; I thought it was strong and one that is rarely seen in YA books. But then it kind of fell away as the book went on, and though that made me sad, I understand it. More of my thoughts here.

Anna & Elsa – A book with a great relationship between siblings.

I think I’m going to have to go with Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. This book features twins Wren and Cath and it deals with their relationship over the course of the book. It’s rocky at times, very up and down, but the sisters would do anything for the other if it came down to it and I think that that’s the best part. I think that they definitely make a great duo. Check out more thoughts here.

And that’s it! You guys should totally do this tag if you love Disney princesses because, well, why wouldn’t you?

And this is optional, but I’m going to tag some people who I think should do this tag:
- Catia from The Girl Who Read Too Much
- Blaise from The Book Boulevard
- Panda from Panda’s Books
If you want to do this tag, then consider yourself tagged!

What are some of the books/characters you’d pick for these questions? Let me know!
January 28, 2016
Top 5 Wednesday: Disappointing Eye Candy

Welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday as hosted by Lainey of gingerreadslainey. Today’s topic is our top five more disappointing eye candy reads. What does that mean? Well, you know when a book has an incredibly beautiful or eye catching cover, but the content of the book disappoints you? Yeah, this is that list.

So here are my top five disappointing eye candy reads:

5. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

I really like this cover and how it represents each of the three important characters in this book. I love the colors and how it looks like cutouts and just the overall aesthetic of it. But the content inside of it really let me down. It had gotten a decent amount of hype last year and so when I read it I was left confused, annoyed, and just disappointed. Check out my review for more thoughts.

4. P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

I love the covers of this duology a lot. They’re beautifully photographed and the typography is lovely. And for this book in particular it’s not that I didn’t enjoy the story overall – it’s that the love triangle felt like a plot device and I just couldn’t jump on it. If that forced triangle hadn’t been there then maybe I would have liked it much more than I did, but yeah, that was the disappointing part of this book. Check out my review for more thoughts.

3. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Okay, honestly, these book covers are awesome. Featuring skylines of the city and their world, plus really cool looking symbols, I love these covers. But the content of this third book just brought all of that admiration to a halt. Not only was it near impossible to differentiate between Four’s and Tris’s voices in this book, but also the ending – though valid – was depressing as hell. And the plot of this particular book made no sense at all and didn’t really flow with the first two. So disappointing. Check out my review for more thoughts.

2. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

While this cover is simplistic in design, I love the minimalist feeling of it. The red dripping down symbolizes the importance of blood in the book, but the content of the book was just short of what I was expecting. This book was hyped through the roof last year, and many, MANY people were let down by its contents. I’m going to continue with the trilogy, though, and give it another shot, but upon my first read through, I didn’t enjoy it. Check out my review for more thoughts.

1 . The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

A recent read, this book trilogy has beautiful covers depicting Kestrel, the main female character, in her society clothes. Each cover is beautiful and really shows the overall mood of the story. But this first book was such a huge let down for me because I wanted to love it so much. I found it to be boring and lifeless, the only time the characters came alive was when they kissed or were near each other. So, so sad because I really hoped to love it. Check out my review for more thoughts.

So there you have it, my top five most disappointing eye candy.

Let me know what books you loved the covers of but thought that the story could have used more.

January 27, 2016
Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Best Friends
Hey peeps and welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday as hosted by the lovely people of The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic was a freebie and so I chose to talk about some of my favorite bookish best friends. You know these characters as the ones who never leave the main character’s side and who would go above and beyond for them. So here are my top eight picks because I had a hard time picking ten:
1. Simon Lewis from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. He’s always the best friend that everyone can look to and just think, “Yup. He’s my friend.” I love Simon and his witty humor and the fact that he tries to think like a rational person a lot of the time. He’s a great friend and I’d totally love to have him as one.
2. Zuzana from The Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor. Zuzana is pretty forceful in her friendship, but not in a bad way. She’s forceful in a way that she shows you her love in a blunt and honest way. I think I really like that about her and the fact that she doesn’t let a lot scare her; that she’s more curious than anything is actually really entertaining.
3. Pauline from the Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson. She’s such a sweet and devoted young woman with a secret. She’s very soft spoken and kind and I think that she really balances out Lia’s nature. I just thought that she made a great best friend given the circumstances that they thrust themselves into and that they balance each other out well.
4. Kenji from the Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi. I love him. He’s so funny, so sarcastic, and has such a big head, but he’s still lovable anyway. I want him to be real so he can be my best friend. He’s loyal, confident, brave, and smart. Just a perfect best friend character, seriously.
5. Andrea from the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. She’s a tough cookie, that one. A sharp shooter who is able to strike a target from a great distance, she also has a personality that cares about her friends, but she’s not going to sugar coat things if something needs to be said. I like her a lot, though she needs to accept who and what she is.
6. Marlee from the Selection series by Kiera Cass. I thought she was going to be a jerk for the longest time, but I actually found that I really like her. She’s very kind and charming, and though she makes mistakes I think that that’s what makes her special. I just think that though her time was short in the Selection process, she made an everlasting effect and that really translated into the rest of the story.
7. Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Oh you know, Ron is kind of a hot mess. He’s a goof, but he doesn’t always try to be. He’s loyal and devoted, funny and kind, but he can also have a fiery temper at times. I think that he, along with Harry and Hermione, make an amazing trio.
8. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. She’s smart and kind and doesn’t sugar coat her feelings or thoughts when she speaks. I think that’s she’s a very wonderful character and just how the trio acts around one another makes me smile.
So that’s it! Who are some of your favorite best friend characters? Let me know!
January 26, 2016
Every Last Word Book Review

Title: Every Last Word
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication Date: June 16, 2015
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary, Romance, Mental Health
Pages: 355
Format: Purchased Hardcover

If you could read my mind, you wouldn’t be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can’t turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn’t help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she’d be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam’s weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet’s Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more “normal” than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

This book hit me right in the feels so many times. I loved it so much.

The story is one that starts off with Sam obsessively thinking negative thoughts with her friends over, ultimately resulting in an anxiety attack. Her mother is there to help her regain control and her sister also helps to distract Sam’s friends because Sam doesn’t want them to know about her mental health problem. She’s a different person when she’s on school vacation – often referred to by her and her therapist, Sue, as Summer Sam – in that she’s happier, more confident, not as obsessive, but still some of the urges take over. It’s when school starts up again that things start to get a bit difficult for her and she is having difficulty with her friends.

And then she meets Caroline and things just kind of go from there.

I thought that Tamara Ireland Stone really captured what it’s like to have OCD in this book because she didn’t glorify it but showed that, yes, sometimes it can suck and sometimes it can take over someone’s life. But it’s also something that can be treated and regain control over. Sam’s OCD was really heavy in the beginning of the book, but as the book continued and she found an outlet in which she could express herself without a total fear of judgement – the Poet’s Corner – her impulses and obsessive behavior became less and less. I found it to be a real portrayal of this type of mental illness.

Not only that, I found Sam to be very relatable. I understood a lot of what she was going through to an extent, and I found that she was dealing with a lot of what was happening to her and around her in realistic ways. The fear she had of potentially losing her friends that she’s had since kindergarten terrified her, and of those same friends learning of her condition scared her, too. She would obsess over the number three and would do a lot of things in threes: scratch the back of her neck in three when she was stressed or nervous, park the car when the odometer had a three in it, and so on.

I thought that she felt like a real high school student just going through her life trying to live as normally as possible.

Her friendship with Caroline was a blossoming one and one in which she had no fear of being herself in. She could talk and open up about anything and everything under the sun. Caroline even showed her the way down to the Poet’s Corner, where she ran into a few people who really didn’t want to see her, but she managed to grow on them over time.

She discovered what true friendship and what a toxic friendship looks like and that it’s okay to branch out and meet new people. I loved this part about her and the book, that she finally became brave enough to stand up for herself.

And then her relationship with AJ felt natural and progressive. It wasn’t insta-love in any way, and their relationship felt healthy. They both understood what it was like to feel like they needed an escape, a place where they could belong, and I think the poetry really helped them to open up to one another given their past circumstances.

Also the relationship with her parents, though subtle, was there and it was a positive one. Her parents and sister were not only there for her in her time of need, but they made her feel normal and helped her to ground back to reality when her OCD took over and would cause a panic attack. But they didn’t make her feel normal by ignoring the issue: they faced it head on and in a positive, effective way, and I thought that that was so important.

Honestly, I loved the poetry in this, too, and thought that this book showed that it’s okay to use your words and be creative. Writing poetry is a wonderful outlet for anyone, especially teens, to really talk about what’s on their mind without needing to speak at all.

I loved the message in this book, to not be afraid to use your words and be yourself. It’s okay if you’re flawed. If there are people who can’t accept you for both your flaws and perfections, then they don’t deserve to be in your life.

Such a wonderful, fantastic book. I read it in one sitting because I just couldn’t stop.

I rate this 5/5 stars and highly recommend it.

January 25, 2016