Month: October 2016

October 2016 Wrap Up
THIS IS HALLOWEEN, THIS IS HALLOWEEN!

Now I can actually sing that.

The month of October was a pretty good one, and I feel like it’s going to be a good end of the year, too. I mean, not a whole lot went on, but it’s my second vacation week now, so I’m pretty pumped about that. Plus, NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow and I’m really excited to keep working on my novel!

I’m trying out a new format this month for the wrap up because I feel like it’s too boring, honestly, and I want to share more and do more things with it. I’ve been getting inspired by other’s wrap ups, so here we go!

Books I’ve Read

Click on the cover to be taken to its respective review!
- A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir – I loved this book so much! It was such an amazing sequel. 5/5 stars
- Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo – I thought this was a fun, strong sequel with plenty of darkness and turmoil. 4/5 stars
Books I’ve Gotten

Click on the cover to be taken to each respective Goodreads page!

Other Blog Posts
- Criticism vs. Cruelty – I talk about the differences between criticism in reviews versus being cruel/mean in them and why we should really notice the differences.
- Relating to Characters – Do you ever feel like you relate to certain types of characters, like you’re just drawn the them? Yeah, me too.
- Hobby Corner: October VIDEO GAMES Edition – My monthly little corner where I talk about my hobbies other than reading and this month I introduced some of my favorite video game franchises.
Writing Related
- Beautiful Books 2016| Introducing the Novel – A super cool meme hosted by super cool people and where I talk about the novel I’ll be working on for NaNoWriMo this year. Speaking of which:
- NaNoWriMo 2016 – I’m participating in NaNoWriMo! I talk a little bit about my plans, about my story, and what I hope to achieve in November.
Fun Things
- Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Movie Villains – Because book villains are too hard to think about, I decided to talk about some of my favorite movie ones! Lots of Disney in this post.
- Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I’d Name My Dog After – This is what I would name my fur babies after… IF I HAD ONE. (I have a feather baby named Yoshi, so he doesn’t count for this one.)
- Fairytales IRL Book Tag – All the fairytale tropes! This tag was actually more challenging than I thought, so you guys should try this one, too!
- Top Ten Tuesday: Costumes Characters Would Wear on Halloween – As this was a Halloween freebie, I figured I’d talk about costumes I think some of my fave book characters would wear. Featuring some fanart I drew!
I’ve officially met my goal of 30 fantasy books read for the year! It’s incredible how well I’ve been doing so far this year. I’m having a great time and I know I’ll be reading more fantasy books as the end of the year draws close, so I’ll still keep everyone updated on the amount! Right now I’m at 31/30.

I’ve also have been doing a buddy read with the lovely Erica @ novelink_erica on Twitter and we’ve been reading Stalking Jack the Ripper. It’s really interesting so far and we’ve got a lot of speculation going as to who did what and what we think will happen. Expect a review up soon!

I’ve read 40 books this year! It’s crazy to think that I’ve read more books in the last two years that I have in my whole life. And I absolutely love it. ❤

Instagram

So if you didn’t know, I do have an Instagram where I focus on books 99% of the time. I’ve been participating in two challenges this month and I haven’t missed a day, so there’s lots of photos to check out! I feel like I’ve been greatly improving, which really makes me happy, and I’ve been having a lot of fun doing it. Here’s some of my photos I’ve posted this month:

Around the Internet

This is a feature I’ve seen in several other blogger’s wrap ups and I think it’s a fun way to show what else I’ve been reading/seeing around the internets!
- Cait @ Paper Fury talks about how hard names are to pronounce. #truth
- Angie Thomas is releasing a debut novel, The Hate U Give, that’s about the Black Lives Matter movement and the first two chapters of the book are INTENSE. I need this book in my life, thanks. (Set to release Feb 28, 2017.)
- Filming for the film adaptation of Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon just wrapped up this month and the author posted a cute picture of the two main actors.
- Mental Illness Awarness Week was from October 2-8 and Emma @ emmmabooks did a whole week of videos around this week! I loved all of her videos for the week, so I’m just going to recommend all of them.
- Maggie Stiefvater went around while she toured and dropped off her books with a note to random places and it was so cool to see her doing that! (You can view more on her Twitter page.)
- The Hamilton documentary from PBS happened and it was beautiful and I cried. You can watch the stream for a limited time, so join me in my fangirling!
Life Updates
- I’ve been getting more into Instagram, as I stated above, and have learned that the Dollar Store is my friend. Book photo supplies are expensive, yo.
- I’ve been thinking more and more about getting some tattoos that I really, really want but I’m waiting because reasons (and money), and also because I haven’t completely laid out a design yet for one of them. In case you’re wondering, one’s a quote from ACOMAF, the other is a bit of lyrics from Hamilton. I mean, is anyone really surprised? No? I didn’t think so.
- I went to my workplace’s charity event to raise money and awareness for kids and young adults with mental illnesses, and it went really well! I couldn’t hear/understand the guest speaker the whole time he was talking, but there was a lot of inspirational moments and a lot of people there.
- I’m on vacation this week! Which I’m glad for considering it’s the first week of NaNo. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a lot of writing done.
Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

How was your month of October? Did you do anything fun or go to any Halloween parties? How do we like the new layout of the wrap ups? I’m kind of really digging it! Tell me all the things!
October 31, 2016
NaNoWriMo 2016
It is that time of year again, my peeps! I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month once again and I am SO excited for this year because I am so excited for the story I’m writing and the characters I get to learn about and so much more.

If you don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it’s a yearly, month long writing extravaganza where you have thirty days to write 50,000 words, which is the length of a short novel.

Now, 50,000 words might sound very intimidating – and it is! – but it’s a very fun month and there are a lot of people who participate, encourage others, and provide awesome support. There are even NaNoWordSprints that are hosted every day by individuals and the official Twitter account for said sprints and they really help to push individuals to reach goals.

I’m also very excited for this year because the awesome people in charge of NaNo created some new, helpful tools for writers this year which I am SO GLAD they finally implemented because we’ve only been waiting a million years for them. And that is they’ve introduced 1) a word sprint tool on the site, which is cool, and 2) they’re making it so we can add to our total word count by what we’ve typed, instead of trying to calculate the total on our own. So say you’re already at 5,678 words and you’ve written another 1,392 words. You don’t have to try to calculate that total, but rather there will be an option to add what you’ve typed (the 1,392) into the bar and it automatically calculates it. I love it.

SO, how about I actually talk about the novel I’m going to be writing this month? I mean, that is kind of the whole point of this post.

I’m not going to lie: I did start writing early. I COULDN’T HELP IT. I was too excited for my story, my characters, and everything that I just had to at least start it and see where it went from there.

I did talk a bit about my novel in this Beautiful Books post a few weeks ago, but I figured I’d talk about it a little more here and how I hope my month of November will go.

Here’s my working synopsis:

Nara is a thief of the Rising City, and she’s been one since she was a little girl, trained and abandoned by her father. Now, as a twenty year old, she is one of the most infamous thieves in all of the Rising City. But when one mistake almost costs her her life, she is thrown into a life debt by someone she never would have thought she’d ally herself with: a Magician.

Mikail is a Magician, a rare breed that is seldom seen in the world anymore, and he is still honing his skills. When his powers manifested at a young age, he didn’t expect to be in the eye of every powerful person in the Rising City – especially that of the Queen. But when one day his magic goes haywire and he saves a thief from most certain death, he thinks that maybe she is his ticket to freedom.

Though the two cross and their lives mix, neither one could be prepared for what happens to them – or their hearts.

I love these characters and I didn’t realize how much until I was writing my responses to the Beautiful Books post. I had started writing this story for Camp NaNoWriMo back in April of this year, but I just couldn’t write any good chapters. I was seriously getting so upset with how my writing was turning out that I tried writing at least two or three different kinds of stories before giving up. I would sit there and write a chapter, hate it because it didn’t feel or sound like who I envisioned the characters to be at all, and then rewrite the ENTIRE chapter the next morning, surpassing whatever I had written the previous time so I could up my goal.

It was horrible and I don’t want that to happen again.

As it turns out, when I started writing this story early, I tried a new method and I’ve found that it’s worked for me so far. Instead of writing in third person past tense, I’m writing in first person present tense, keeping the dual perspective, and I’ve found that I like it so much more for these characters.

To me, their voices are distinct, their mannerisms their own, and I just need to learn so much more about them through this story – their story – and I can’t wait to see where they take me.

As for the goals I hope to achieve this month, here are a few I definitely hope to achieve in my writing and overall:

Overall
- Reach 50,000 words and surpass it by at least 2,000 words by November 30th.
- Learn as much about my characters and world as possible.
- Make new friends as a result of this year’s NaNo!
- Enjoy myself and don’t stress too much over it. (I do work full time, even if I have this first week of the month off for vacation.)
Specific
- Write at least the average goal of 1,667 words per day, but personal goal: write at least 2,500 words per day.
- Let the characters tell the story, as usual, but don’t let the plot go wild.
That’s it! Oh man, guys, I am SO excited for this NaNoWriMo. I haven’t been this excited since last April 2015. I hope that this month proves itself successful because, damn, I miss writing. I want to make this my profession and I’ve pushed it away for long enough. Let’s get this party started!

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? What’s your novel about? Have you come up with an idea? Are you more of a planner or a pantser? Share all the things!
October 29, 2016
Siege & Storm Book Review

Title: Siege & Storm
Series: Shadow & Bone #2
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry, Holt, & Co.
Publication Date: June 4, 2013
Genre: Young Adult – Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 432
Format: Purchased Paperback

Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

As this is a sequel there may be spoilers.

This was a solid sequel filled with so much action, character development, romance, snarky responses, hope, creepiness, and darkness.

I wasn’t expecting a lot of the twists and turns that happened at the beginning of the book, as well as at the ending. I thought that the way the plot progressed I would’ve been able to see more foreshadowing, but a lot of it was a surprise to me, which I enjoyed. I thought that the action sequence at the beginning with the Darkling and Alina, Mal, and Sturmhond’s crew were all very tense, but at the same time curious because there was something about what was happening that had me questioning the motives of several people. Then it progressed into an escape, political calculations, angst, and more unhappy darkness in the end. Honestly, I enjoyed this book more than the first.

Alina, I felt, is starting to really grow more as a character and she’s really trying her best to hone her skills as the Sun Summoner, to not let her powers or her amplifiers control her. I find it interesting how she has those glimpses of darkness within her and only at the end does she realize that it’s because part of the Darkling became a part of her when he claimed her with Morozova’s stag antlers. I wished she had spoken her mind more, had made more mistakes, more slips when in the political settings because I felt she was becoming a very bland person in those situations. And outside of those situations, she still didn’t seem to know what to do, but I think she just had a better understanding of where she belonged in that moment.

Mal was kind of a little overprotective in this book, in my opinion, but I could understand and see where he was coming from in those situations. He was frustrated at the situations, frustrated that he doesn’t understand Alina and what she desires, but also he feels trapped like an animal. I have a feeling about him that maybe he has hidden Grisha powers (no spoilers, please!), but I’m not entirely sure. I didn’t appreciate when he pulled himself so far away from Alina and just went in a small downward spiral. He had a lot of control up to that point, and I understand that their relationship got complicated, but I don’t know why he didn’t try to talk it out with her (and vice versa).

Can we just talk about Nikolai because he’s my new favorite and I need him in my life and I’m adding him to my Book Boyfriend List. He has many masks that he wears, different personas for different moments of time, so you never really know if he’s being sincere or not, but every time he’d joke or say something snarky I couldn’t help but laugh aloud. I personally much preferred seeing him as a Privateer, but as a Prince he was also very much in control of the situations around him and I think that was definitely a strong point for him. I just need more of him, that’s all.

The Darkling… Oh man, he got all kinds of dark and creepy in this book. New powers unfolded from him and his obsession with Alina and power just keeps growing. I can’t tell if he actually cares for her or just wants her power, but dang. He’s kind of scary. There actually wasn’t as much of him in this novel as the last one, which was fine, but it does make me wonder just what he was doing to prepare himself for when he’d return for Alina.

The romance in this book was much more apparent and actually I wished it had developed a different way, but that’s only because I was upset that years of friendship and trust could be so easily broken because of misplaced words and hurt feelings and egos. But the small bits of it that were in there were well placed and I think that we’ll see a bit more in the next book.

The action sequences and the descriptions of the creatures in the book were amazing. I think these were some of the strongest points of the novel because they were all very vivid and fast paced. I loved thinking up the world in my mind, about Sturmhond’s flying ship, about the lands and everything in between. I think that there’s some sort of dark secret behind the creatures that live in the Fold and I hope to learn more about it in the final book.

I definitely enjoyed this book more than the first and I feel that the plot is only going to thicken more now that Alina and the others are in the situation that they’re in now.

I rated this book 4/5 stars and I highly recommend it if you’ve read the first book in this trilogy.

October 26, 2016
Top Ten Tuesday: Costumes Characters Would Wear on Halloween

Hey peeps and welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday as hosted by the lovely people over at The Broke & the Bookish. Today’s topic was a Halloween freebie, so we could talk about our favorite scary books, non-scary books that would get you in the fall/Halloween mood, etc, so I decided to talk about what I think some characters would wear as costumes on Halloween if they celebrated it.

I mean, this is a fun thing, right? I can picture some of these quite clearly, so let’s jump right into it! Also, all of my fanart can be found on my deviantART page.

1. Cath from Fangirl would go as Simon Snow. I mean, that’s kind of hands down, right? Or maybe she’d go as Baz and make Levi go as Simon. OMG YES. I SEE IT. Couples costumes FTW.

2. Aelin from Throne of Glass would probably go as Marie Antoinette, with the huge dress, ginormous hair, the fan, everything. She’d own and rock it. And then she’d make Rowan dress up in a really frilly outfit, too, because he can’t be looking shabby next to her.

3. Rhysand from A Court of Mist and Fury would go as something goofy or sensual. It can’t be both, he’d go as one or the other. So he’d either go as a ghost (like, a sheet over himself with holes for eyes cut out), or he’d go as a sexy male pirate or something. And then Feyre would probably be Maleficent, like the Angelina Jolie version.

4. Warner from Shatter Me would probably go as a vampire. And it would be immaculate and impeccable and he’d given Aelin a run for her money. I can see a fight breaking out between those two… Juliette would go as a countess to match Warner and she would just watch from a distance as he and Aelin fought.

5. Shazi from The Wrath and the Dawn I could see going as Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender because they both have fiery spirits and I can see her not putting up with anyone’s crap (while also amazing everyone with her own magic). Khalid would be Ang to compliment Shazi’s choice.

6. Simon from Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda would go as Harry Potter, because duh. And then Blue would go as Draco and it would be every fangirl’s dream come to reality. Yup.

7. Nikolai from Siege & Storm would go as a pirate. Like, an actual full fledged pirate with the hook, the big, the big hat, everything. And then Alina would probably go as some Final Fantasy character, like Garnet from FFIX. I could see Mal maybe being Spider Man or some other sort of hero.

8. Karou from Daughter of Smoke & Bone would go as an angel just to tease Akiva and then Akiva would just wear like cat or dog ears and a tail. It would be cute and hilarious and I need this in my life.

9. Laia from An Ember in the Ashes would probably be Wonder Woman because she is so strong on the inside that she needs to bring that to the outside. And then Elias would probably be, like, Iron Man. Or Batman. Either way.

10. The group from The Raven Boys would all be someone from The Wizard of Oz. Blue would hand make her own Dorothy costume, complete with red shoes and all. Gansey would be the scarecrow, Adam would go as the Lion, Ronan… well, they’d force Ronan to go as something, but he’d probably pick one of the flying monkeys just to piss everyone off.

I have such an urge to draw fanart of all of these costumes. These would be so fun to see and I think every person would have such fun going out to a Halloween party together.

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

What can you picture these characters going as? Do you think any of them would rebel against a costume? Tell me what you think your favorite character would wear out!

October 25, 2016
Fairytales IRL Book Tag

Hey peeps and welcome to another book tag! I find I don’t do these as often as I thought I did, and this one’s been going around very recently to a few people on YouTube, so I decided to join in on it because I LOVE fairytales! You can check out Jessethereader’s video here!

I haven’t actually read a fairytale in a while. I’ve read a few retellings and stuff, but otherwise I pretty much just watch the Disney adaptations (which is fine with me). I love the tropes and the hope that a lot of fairytales can inspire … when they’re, you know, not being told creepily and stuff.

So this tag was put out by Harlequin Teen inspired by the release of Something In Between by Melissa de la Cruz, a contemporary book about a Filipino girl who’s done everything expected of her, has gotten really good grades, and even gets a scholarship to her dream college – and then it all falls apart when a family secret gets out and she is no longer eligible for that scholarship. She then does what she never has before: rebel. She tries to do a lot of the things teens do before they graduate and that’s when she meets the son of a congressman.

It sounds interesting and cute, and I’m just really interested to do this tag! In the tag you’re teaming up tropes with contemporary stories, so here we go:

1 . Fairy Godmother: a contemporary trope where a fatherly/motherly figure guides a misguided protagonist.

I had the hardest time thinking of someone for this one and then I GOT IT. Dr. Daniel Leed from Girl Against the Universe! He’s a really cool psychiatrist and I felt like he really did a good job of helping to guide Maguire down a healthy path by challenging her and allowing her to figure things out on her own.

2. Prince Charming: a contemporary character who takes on a quest for his or her love interest.

I think that Lara Jean from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before definitely fits the bill for this one because she wrote letters to each guys she’s had a crush on before, and even though it backfires on her, it’s still as though she’s on a quest to find that “perfect guy,” and all that. She’s a dreamer and adorable and I love her.

3. Forbidden Fruit: the contemporary trope of giving in to temptation.

I think that Maddy from Everything, Everything fits this description to a T because she was without everything in the outside world for the majority of her life. When the boy next door moves in, of course she’s interested and gives into temptation and discovers a lot about herself in that time.

4. When the Clock Strikes Midnight: a contemporary trope where the characters must fear an impending moment.

Okay, so this one is kind of just scary because, well, it’s a book about a school shooting: This Is Where It Ends. I know the kids in the school weren’t expecting it at the time or anything, but as the hour progressed, more and more people were just terrified of what would happen next. It’s truly terrifying.

5. The Big Bad Wolf: an antagonist so powerful that the hero feels helpless against it/him/her.

I’m going to have to go with the depression and suicide in My Heart and Other Black Holes because, speaking from experience, that antagonist is extremely powerful and you do feel helpless against it in those situations. I thought that Aysel did her best to climb out of that hole and I applaud her for it because it isn’t easy.

6. The Power Within: a contemporary example of unexpected power from a character who imagines themselves to be ordinary.

So I’m going to go with Sam from Every Last Word because she deals with a form of OCD that causes her to have obsessive thoughts that could potentially lead to harmful outcomes, but usually they’re just daydreams or harmless things. As she writes poetry and talks about her illness through that, she really takes hold of herself and I think that that is truly amazing.

7. The Grand Ball: a contemporary trope wherein a character faces a major moment of fitting in.

I’m going to say the same thing as Jesse and talk about Cath from Fangirl because she was so introverted and shy and scared at the beginning of the book that it was near impossible for her to make friends (even though Levi tried really hard all the time). As the book progressed, though, she began to open up more, to stand up for herself, and to really shine. I think she definitely faced that major moment and took it all in stride.

8. Fairest of Them All: a contemporary pressure for outer beauty that challenges the importance of inner beauty.

I think Eleanor & Park really hits this on the head because the two main characters are a red headed girl who lives in poverty so she’s pretty much wearing the clothes she makes herself, and the only half-Korean boy who likes to wear dark clothes and listen to “strange” music compared to the other kids. Though, I do love both of them because they don’t care what anyone else thinks and they each really bring out a positive outlook in one another when it comes to that.

9. The Evil Stepmother: a contemporary character who invokes anger or resentment for stepping into another’s role.

I think for this one I’m going to go with Kristin from None of the Above because she is really like her own evil stepmother. When she’s diagnosed as intersex she becomes so disgusted with herself that it’s like she wants to do everything she can to pretend she’s not who she is, and that’s not healthy. I think a lot of resentment formed as a result of that.

10. Happily Ever After: the contemporary belief in finding happiness in the end even when the road to get there had its struggles.

Have you met my friend Simon from Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda because he’s adorable and I love him. He also went through a crap ton of, well, crap, to get his happy ending and even though some of what he dealt with was hard to see, I’m glad he did manage to get through all of it and be happy.

This was a much more difficult tag than I was expecting for some of these questions, but I also liked them because they had me thinking about just what kinds of characters I’ve seen and read about, and how each of these different tropes really do play a part.

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

What are some of your favorite tropes in books? What are your least favorite? Who do you think of when you think of the Prince Charming or the Big Bad Wolf? Tell me all the things!

October 22, 2016