Heartless | Marissa Meyer

I am SO thankful because my best friend allowed me to ship my copy of this gem to her so she could get it SIGNED FOR ME. I have a slight obsession with signed books but that's okay. I saw a copy at walmart and oh my goodness. I took the dust jacket off and that thing is gorgeous! GORGEOUS. 

I downloaded an ebook copy so I can go ahead and read it because I have no patience and I have problems.

Okay, so update. I got my copy in the mail from my friend and I am now obsessed with this book and it holds a lot of meaning for me now. I opened it and there was a Marissa Meyer/best friend BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT. What the heck. Seriously, I screamed and I'm really excited and I feel like this is the way to tell your reader friend you're having a baby.

ANYWAYS. On to the actual book thoughts. Like every other Marissa Meyer book I have had the pleasure of reading, I LOVED THIS. I loved the story of Caath and how all she really wanted to do was open a bakery and how in the kingdom of Hearts she wasn't allowed to do that and everyone wanted her to marry the king that she had zero feelings for. I'm trying to not spoil it, but at the end, I really felt like I understood why Cath did the things that she did. The way things happen.. you feel terrible for her. 

Also my owlcrate for novemeber was totally Alice themed but I'm keeping both copies I have because look at this exclusive cover!? It's so pretty! That, and I think I'm going to collect a another or two from other countries because I loved this book and it does hold now special memories for me.

4.5/5 stars. 

Trapped in Silver | Emily Sowden

Okay, so first let me start this review by saying I have the flu and I'm supposed to be going to work right now but instead, I'm in bed writing about THE BEST DAMN YA FANTASTY I HAVE READ IN QUITE SOME TIME.

Let me start with a good ole fashioned goodreads synopsis:

Courage comes from a shadowed place in our hearts; a blurred line that straddles love and sheer stupidity.

To seventeen-year-old Ava, wild woodcats, hungry stragglers, and simple-minded townsfolk are the evils she’s grown accustomed to. But when Ethan, an unusual man with eyes of smoke and fire opal, enters her world she quickly understands that there are worse things out there than drunken men and carnivorous forest creatures. She’s a specialised liar and a hell of a fighter, but against a group of animalistic men called Berserkers she struggles to survive the encounter as the desperate swing of a dagger is all it takes to change her life for good.

Half-dead and hunted by the Berserker’s leader when he forms a monstrous obsession with her, Ava escapes his pursuit in an unfamiliar land full of impossible creatures, unlikely allies, and the man she doesn’t know whether to kiss or kill.
But after dreadful news of her missing brother surfaces, Ava becomes more involved in the centuries-long war and begins to unravel the reasons behind her relentless nightmares, discovering truths long-buried in a violent history of love, loss and betrayal.

Okay, so I am planning a much more spoilery blog post for when after this book releases in February, because I have to talk to someone about certain events that go down. I'm going to try to avoid them spoilers. That, and not knowing much about this book besides that you need to read it as soon as it's released, is the way to go into it.

This book does follow a YA trope that I usually find annoying but it was done so different in this book, that I didn't mind it at all. One thing about the ebook formatting that I loved was before each chapter you get a blank page with the characters name that the chapters perspective is written from. That made it much easier to follow unlike some high fantasy books that I have enjoyed but could have enjoyed much more (example: Game of Thrones) I've noticed a lot more YA books doing this lately and I am so not complaining about it!

Ava is an AMAZING main character. There were some things that she does that I didn't agree with but I loved the fact that in a world where women were expected to act a specific way, she was like "Um, no, I don't think so, I'm going to do this instead."

The creatures in this book are something else. I love my high fantasy to have something a little different that really makes it stand out in all the others books I go after and this book DEFINITELY did that for me! I just love the authors writing style, mainly because it reminds me of other authors that I absolutely enjoy such as Sarah J. Maas and Susan Dennard.

Now, let me tell you a little story that has to deal with this book. I was reading this book on my phone at work and I finished it right around the time of shift change, and I kind of started freaking out to the point where one of my coworkers (who shall remain nameless) offered to tranquilize me. Obviously, I didn't accept their offer but that should let you know just how invested you will be in this book. <3

5/5 stars

Release date: 02/07/17
(I don't want to wait for the second novel in this series, may I please have it now? PLEASE?)

Also, if you preorder this bad boy, be sure to email your receipt to oftomes@oftomes.com for some sweet looking preorder swag.

FTC disclaimer: I was provided an egalley of this book from oftomes publishing in exchange for an honest review. #teamBERSERKERS

A List of Cages | Robin Roe

Goodreads Synopsis:
When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he's got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn't easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can't complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian--the foster brother he hasn't seen in five years.

Adam is ecstatic to be reunited. At first, Julian seems like the boy he once knew. He's still kind hearted. He still writes stories and loves picture books meant for little kids. But as they spend more time together, Adam realizes that Julian is keeping secrets, like where he hides during the middle of the day, and what's really going on inside his house. Adam is determined to help him, but his involvement could cost both boys their lives.

I don't think I will be able to recommend a more important to book for anyone to read ever. This is one of those books that will stay with you for the rest of your life. I am pretty sure that this will be the hit YA book for 2017. I read this book in one sitting last night and I don't think 10 minutes went by where my heart wasn't ripped out and stomped on into a millon little pieces. This is a debut novel by Robin Roe, but with her writing style, it doesn't seem that way at all.

Told from dual perspectives, I actually didn't do the whole "I don't care about this character, I can't wait until I get to read more the other characters perspective!" I cared about Julian and Adam equally. As a former guardian ad litem, what happens to Julian completely broke my heart and I felt so bad for him, I just wanted to give him a hug and tell him that it would all be okay. Adam on the other hand, is one of those friends who you are glad to have. His love for Julian so genuine and real. While there is a minor romantic interest with two character in this story, I am so glad that it took a backseat and focused on this wonderful friendship.

I don't want to ruin the plot of this book for anyone, but I'm going to tell you this: I feel like everyone and their moms best friend needs this book in their lives. I always do volunteer work for guardian during the summer, and I'm already planning to buy a few extra copies for the older kids that I help. Sometimes they won't tell you what's really going on in their lives because they're scared and I feel after reading this, they will be more perspective to me trying to find out what's really going on their lives so they don't get sent back to a unhealthy environment.

This book is going to change so many peoples lives, and I'm excited for it to hit shelves on January 10, 2017.

5/5 stars. Duh.

FTC: I recieved an advanced reading copy of this novel courtesy of NetGalley and Disney Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.

The Girls | Emma Cline

I have heard SO many people talking non stop about this book. This was the "it" adult book of the summer, if I am not mistaken. I joined Book of the Month Club on cyber monday because they had a super sweet discount code where you got a couple of extra credits for books. I had heard so much about it, and I am trying to get into reading more adult books, so I decided to give this one a chance.

This book takes place in northern Cali in 1969, and the main character is a 14 year old girl named Evie. I had heard before I got this book that this was  fictional retelling of the Manson Murders which peaked my interest even though I knew nothing about them.
This book takes place the summer before Evie begins high school, which for her, is going to consist of a baording school. The beginning of the book, Evie has several friends that are around her age, which is cool. Only problem is that they end up having a falling out. This is where she runs into Suzanne at. They never really give me Suzanne's age, but I feel like she is MUCH older than Evie. Anyways, Suzanne's involved in a cult that a character Russell is in charge of. I hate to say it this way but I feel almost as if Suzanne may be Russells main bitch during this time. Most of the book is about the things that Evie does to get on the good side of these people so they will come to accept her as one of them, this mainly involveds lying and stealing things.
One thing that caused me to almost put this book down several times was the sexual content between Evie, a 14 year old girl, and other characters that would be much older than her (I'm talking 40 plus). This bothered  me to the point where I felt dirty reading this book, and I'm not really a prude so if you decide to pick this one up, I would watch out for that.

I didn't really connect with this book until I was less than a hundred pages from finishing it. The murders were supposed to be the climax of this book but I feel like they were really rushed though and that disappointed me. One thing I didn't get it, is that Evie knew excatly who did it when she saw the murders hit the news but she kept her mouth shut, and months later Suzanne went to her boarding school to threaten her about them. OBVIOUSLY they find out about them, and how she was with them on that fateful night but she didn't say anything. I want to know why she wasn't punished for knowing but keeping her mouth shut. The book kind of just eneded adruptly without telling me why that happened the way it did.

I LOVED the writing style in this book and because of that it's a strong 4.5 out of 5 stars for me, and I'm probably going to pick up Helter Skelter next year so I can really learn about this gruesome event in history.

"That was the part about being a girl, you were resigned to whatever feedback you'd get. If you got mad, you were crazy, and if you didn't react, you were a bitch. The only thing you could do was smile from the corner they'd backed you into. Implicate yourself in the joke, even if the joke was on you."

Made You Up | Francesca Zappia

Okay, so I am so excited for this book I found it on a goodreads deal for 1.99, and I figured that it's time to read a little something different.
The main character in this book is named Alex and she suffers from schizophrenia hallucations. The first one happens when she is at a supermarket at the age of seven, I believe. This hallucation involves her and another boy named Miles and they set all the super red lobsters in the supermarket free and they make it to the ocean and live happily ever after. She tells her mom about this but she leaves the boy out, and she also mentions that the lobsters are bright red like her hair. Which of course, they only turn that color after you boil them. She ends up seeing a therapist, and going on to all kinds of drug cocktails. This book starts with Alex going to a new school and well, well, well, who does she see? Alex. The boy from her hallucation that she made up. Or she thinks she made up. I'm writing this review as I'm reading the book so I'm not currently sure of what is real and what isn't.
One thing I can tell is that some of Alex's halluications are just that as she mentions what she sees in the book. For example, at the beginning she talks about a bunch of security gaurds on a roof of the school. As a security officer myself, that is something that doesn't usually happens. Another one she mentions is that's she is in class and sees a lady bug and she herself knows it must be a halluication as well because instead of spots, well, this lady bug has stars instead. Because of this, at a quarter of the book, I am not completely sure if Miles is real or not. Is this made up? Is this all a little dream? I can't imagine a mother knowing that this is going on with her child and then proceeding to send this child on a bike to a school. Nor a mother not knowing that her child requires school uniforms that are 70 bucks a pop and then being fine with her child raiding a janitors closet for one.
Anyways, Alex is going to this public school and pretending to be normal when she knows she isn't. She goes to a party with a bunch of her new friends and has an episode. Come to find out, I was right! A lot of what she was seeing is a hallucation. I'm currently about halfway through and I am pretty sure that Miles is actually real, and he's a genius.

Okay, the rest of this has been written after I finished this book. Let me being that I'm probably going to be just gushing about this gem because this book was one of the best books I've read all year.

I absolutely loved Alex and her character. She is so smart and sarcastic and I felt like even though I do not suffer from this disease I could still relate to her. There are points in the book where Alex stops taking her medication, which I have done myself before. I have an autoimmune disorder so both of us deciding not to take our medication kind of results in dire consquences. Alex is also very mature, she realizes that her disease is getting worse and does decide to seek out the help she know she needs.

I loved almost all of the characters except for two. Alex's parents. I want to spoil this but I'm not going to because I'm not an asshole. But seriously. I want to knock some sense into those two. Just USGH.

ANYWAYS. As you can tell from the beginning of the post I thought I knew what was a hallucination and what wasn't.
Um, I was so wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong. There were parts where I literally screamed "WHAT THE HELL?" to my kindle and my raccoon so did not appericate that, but seriuosly..do yourself a favor and pick this one up. I feel like I need to get a physical copy after my move because I know that this is going to be one that I read over and over and over again.

5/5 stars

The Bone Witch | Ren Chupeco | ARC Review

** I received an ARC of this book from SOURCEBOOKS FIRE and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!** 

 This is one of my more highly anticipated book releases for 2017 and I am SO thankful to have been blessed with an ARC of this baby! I mean, seriously can we look at this glorious work of art that is the book cover? IT IS BEAUTIFUL. 

 Goodreads Synopsis 

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training. 

 In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha — one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice. Memoirs of a Geisha meets The Name of the Wind in this brilliant new fantasy series by Rin Chupeco!  

  

 I LOVED this book. It's descriptive which I really enjoyed, and I loved the entire idea of an geisha going bad ass. In this book however, they're referred to them as "Asha" and I loved learning about how they did their training with the dancing and schooling. 

 Unfortunately for the main character, Tea, things to start to go bad for her when she accidentally brings her brother, Fox back to life. This event is really what changes Tea's life, because she can do this, Mykala THE ONE OTHER BONE WITCH comes along and takes Tea and Fox with her so she can train Tea to become an asha and eventually a bone witch like herself.  

 I love this world that Rin Chupero has built around these kingdoms and something that's called a heartglass. This is how Tea can draw her power but literally everyone has one and it's part of your actual heart/soul. You can give it to someone but they can abuse that power. I haven't read any kind of fantasy book before with that kind of element in it so wrapping my mind around how these things worked was something that had the amazing ability to distract me when I was stuck on the side of the road today.  

 All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait for the sequel. I am now a fan of a new author and I am sure I am going to read whatever she decides to write next! The Bone Witch releases March 7, 2017 and I already have a finished copy preordered on the amazon!

5/5 stars!

Mirror in the Sky | Aditi Khorana

Goodreads Synopsis
or Tara Krishnan, navigating Brierly, the academically rigorous prep school she attends on scholarship, feels overwhelming and impossible. Her junior year begins in the wake of a startling discovery: A message from an alternate Earth, light years away, is intercepted by NASA. This means that on another planet, there is another version of Tara, a Tara who could be living better, burning brighter, because of tiny differences in her choices. 

As the world lights up with the knowledge of Terra Nova, the mirror planet, Tara’s life on Earth begins to change. At first, small shifts happen, like attention from Nick Osterman, the most popular guy at Brierly, and her mother playing hooky from work to watch the news all day. But eventually those small shifts swell, the discovery of Terra Nova like a black hole, bending all the light around it. 

As a new era of scientific history dawns and Tara's life at Brierly continues its orbit, only one thing is clear: Nothing on Earth--and for Tara--will ever be the same again.



I actually managed to get my super awesome library to foot the bill for this baby! I requested it due to a Goodreads group that I'm in saying that this would be the fall book and (eventually) there would be a live show on it. So. I ordered it, waited forever for it to come, and now I have read it. It's not what I thought it would be. It really kind of reminds me of mean girls in a both a bad and good way. I just finished it a couple hours ago and I'm still trying to decide what I think.

There's a couple of different story arcs in this one.

The first one is that Tara's friend Meg is going to be in a foreign exchange problem and she basically breaks up the friendship with her on the phone.
They're another planet out there with another Tara on it who may make different decisions, oh golly, gee whiz!
Tara's Mommy runs away to Cali and joins a cult.

I loved the diversity in this one, Tara's family is from India and that does play a role in this book.

THAT ENDING! Seriously more people need to finish this on the Restricted Section book club because I'm DYING to talk about it!

4/5 stars!

October Book Haul!

These are books that I've actually bought in the month of October and I have one that my bestest best friend in the whole entire world bought me. <3

Replica

I had this preordered because I was obsessed with the idea of a flip book. I really loved this book even though the ending was a surprise it's not a standalone. :(

Diplomatic Immunity

I ordered this one but I have yet to read it. One of the main reasons why I got it was because Brodi Ashton was one of the lovely ladies who co-authored My Lady Jane and since I loved that, I wanted to check out some of this authors other works. This purchase is a product of that decision. 

Moonlight Brigade

I don't really read a lot of middle grade books. But. I found out about this series in a raccoon group that I'm part of on facebook, and I got the first one from the library. I'm excited to read it, but I'm waiting for when I have a bad day and need a good pick me up. :) The main character in this book series is a raccoon, and the main character in my house is a raccoon as well, so I needed it for my personal library. Speaking of raccoons...

Pumpkin: The Raccoon Who Thought She Was a Dog

This raccoon is pretty instagram famous. She's super adorable. This book is mainly pictures of Pumpkin. It's not mine, it's Sassy's..lets go with that. 

Triple Moon

I think I mainly got this one because I feel like reading something about witches. It'll be read pretty soon.

Gemina

This is the sequel to Illuminae, to say that I was excited to get this was an understatement. 

S.

This is written by J.J Abrams who is the same guy who wrote LOST. Now that I have it, I'm scared to read it. It's just really intimidating for me at the moment, but it looks damn good on my bookshelf.

Something Inbetween

LOOK. MY BEST FRIEND BOUGHT ME A PRETTY BOOK. LOOK. LOOK. LOOK. LOOK AT IT. HOW PRETTY.

Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets

This is the pretty illustrated edition. I found it a few days before it released at walmart, but look how pretty it is! You can never have too many copies of the Harry Potter books. 

**all links lead to the goodreads page for that particular book**

The Merciless | Danielle Vega

Okay, so. I bought an ecopy of this for 2.99 around Halloween because I wanted something spooky to read around this. I finished this rather quickly but I've been sitting on it trying to decided if I wanted to talk about it or not.


Buying this book was a mistake and a major waste of 3 bucks.


This book is like a super religious version of Mean Girls gone gross. That's the only way I can think of to describe it. I though the cover was different. I've seen the copy at my library and it doesn't have a dust jacket and it's pretty cute. That's where the things that I like about this book ends.


When I began this book I was sure it was a cute contemporary and I didn't understand why it was marked under the horror genre nor why it was on sale in the month of October. It begins with a main character named Sofia moving to Texas.


Goodreads Summary


Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned

Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.

Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.

Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . .

In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?




Basically the majority of the book takes place during this insanely gross exorcism and then a few pages of what happens afterward. If this book was trying to give me nightmares, it did a good job because of some the descriptive scenes did make me gag, but other than that, I did not like this one. Also let me give you some advice you decide to read this: Don't read it while you're waiting to get you some food from the Waffle House.


1/5 Stars.

October Wrap Up!

All the books I managed to read this month!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
So, I BOUGHT this from my local libraries bookstore for 50 cent. It kept me entertained for an afternoon but it wasn't anything super special. I don't really understand why people are so obsessed with this story. I just don't get it.

The Wild Ones by C. Alexander London
I got this from my library at the beginning of the month. My raccoon group on facebook posted and even though it's a middle grade and I don't really read a lot of middle grade books, I JUST HAD TO READ IT. Had to. Its a book about a raccoon, therefore it's a requirement for me to fall in love with it.

Love & Gelato
Library book. Already did a blog post on this. Lets move onnnnn

This Adventure Ends
Another one I did a blog post on, but let me fangirl about that setting <3 THAT SETTING IS MY SETTING.

Stalking Jack the Ripper
This was a perfect Halloween read and I loved it.

Replica
I already did a post on this..

Stealing Snow
& this, I wasn't the biggest fan of.

The Merciless
IN A FEW DAYS I WILL DO A POST DEDICATED TO ALL THE PROBLEMS I HAVE WITH THIS THING THAT CALLS ITSELF A BOOK.

Black Widow: Red Vengeance
This read like a movie which is something that the first book did that I loved. Can't go too far into it without spoilers but I can't wait to the third.

Obsidian
I have so many series to finish that it's not even funny. What do I do? Pick up a new series. Haaa. I seriously love this one though.

Onyx
ANNNNND book 2 of the lux series. I'm currently on book three but I don't think I'm going to finish before the end of the months. Which is disappointing. Who knows though, I might be able to get some time in tomorrow at work but tomorrow is also Halloween so who really knows.


All links lead to the Goodreads page for that particular book <3

My Current Preorders

I live in a town that is not blessed enough to have a decent bookstore. I do however, have access to drive through liquor stores if that tells you anything. I do a lot of my book shopping with amazon and books of wonder. Strangely enough, I have a FANTASTIC library so I can do some major reading damage on the cheap. Anyways, I'm not here to talk about that today, I want to go through my current preorders and why I've got THOSE particular books on preorder. )

A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray
Release Date: 11/1/16
I have this one preordered because way back when I picked the first one up from my local library basically because GIRL THAT COVER IS GORGEOUS. I however really like this trilogy and this is the final book in the series, and I'm not very good at waiting for things. I am so excited for that to come in this tuesday. I'm off and it's going to be the first book I go after when my mail runs.

The Diabolic by S.J Kincaid
Release Date: 11/1/16
I haven't read anything about this author but the premise just sounds too damn good to pass up! It's also really hyped so I'm kinda scared to read it because the last time I went after a hyped up book it was Stealing Snow, and I was so disappointed in it. However, I'm getting it off the amazon for less than 10 bucks so I'm willing to try it for that amount. If I don't like it, I'm sure I can find it a home where it will be loved. <3

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: 11/8/16
Okay, so I've LOVED all of Marissa's other books. The Lunar Chronicles is actually what got me really into fairy tale retellings, she has yet to let me down. This is one of my most hyped books of 2016, and because of that..I have two copies preordered. One will be going to my house in Florida, and I have employed my best friend in Utah

Dead Girls Society by Michelle Krys
Release Date: 11/8/16
THIS IS ABOUT A GIRL WITH A CHRONIC ILLNESS!!!! Seriously, I read that and was sold. Hope is in the south has cystic fibrosis and has to choose between life saving medication and college. If you take the cystic fibrosis away from the main character and give her addisons disease instead, you have my current situation. This is about her trying to do some kind of dare game to earn extra money for school so it's not exactly my life but I'm ready to read a book with someone elses perspective of dealing with a incurable illness.

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
Release date: 11/15/16
Technically I already own this in kindle format. However, I have a Shadowhunter shelf above my bed so I require this for my already extensive collection.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K Rowling
Release date: 11/18/16
Not gonna read this one until after I see the movie, but I need this the day it comes out, am I right? Don't answer that. We all know I'm right.

Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
Release date: 1/3/17
I was ready for this book as soon as I finished Passenger, and then I flew through her other series, The Darkest Minds, so I've been ready for this. This is another book I'm preordering two copies of, One from amazon so I can get it the day of, and a signed copy from Books of Wonder.

Windwitch by Susan Dennard
Release date: 1/10/17
Sequel to Truthwitch, but I have an audiobook version preordered of this gem. I listened to the first one and I'm planning on doing it again with this.

A Court of Thorns and Roses #3 by Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: 5/2/17
I don't care if this ends up being a telephone book for the nightcourt. I will read it. Over and over and over again..

Lord of Shadows by Cassie Clare
Release date: 5/23/17
I wish I could have this book instead of today, but so far I only have one copy of this preordered. I'm sure I'll end up with more though. I'm a hoarder.

The Survivalist #8 by A. American
Release date: God only knows
My Dad and I read these books together, can't really go into depth about it because this book 8 but the first one is about how the world has gone to hell, and this guy has to walk from outside of Tallahassee to Ocala to get home to his family. That's all you need to know. Go read it. ANYWAYS this one I feel like I've been waiting years for because at least once a week I have my father asking me "Hey Sammy..has that book been released yet?" and it gets real annoying real quick!

**All links lead to that magical place that is goodreads, I obviously don't make money off them!**

Pushing Perfect | Michelle Falkoff | Book Tour

Stealing Snow | Danielle Paige

Usually I can read a book in about a day or so because of my job and I just perfer books to tv. THIS FREAKING BOOK TOOK ME FROM OCTOBER 5TH TO THE 19TH TO FINISH THIS DANG THING AND IT PUT ME IN A READING SLUMP. I was SO excited for this book. I preordered this gem from Books of Wonder so it would be signed, excited. It was so insanely hyped. 

Unfortunally, this book fell more than a little flat for me.  

I loved the idea of a modern day Snow Queen retelling. I love fairy tale retellings and I have been reading a lot of them in the past year or so.   Okay. So now I'm going to talk about what I didn't like about the book, so get yourself some popcorn and tea. 

In the book, Snow states that she has spent most of her life in an insane asylum when in fact, she's not insane but because of one thing that happened in her childhood. I HATE STRONGLY DISLIKE THE WAY MOST AUTHORS PORTRAY MENTAL ILLNESSES IN BOOKS. Give me something real. Don't just go google a few symptoms and then decide to throw it in your book. I'm not okay with that and I never will be. I have suffered through mental illness, and I was not put on this earth for your personal entertainment. Cool? Cool. Let's continue. 

I feel like there was next to zero character building in this story. I might pick up the next one from the library  when it comes out but I will not be preordering it. I feel for the hype and the hype let me down. 

2/5 stars. 

Replica | Lauren Oliver

Goodreads Synopsis:  

Gemma has been in and out of hospitals since she was born. 'A sickly child', her lonely life to date has revolved around her home, school and one best friend, Alice. But when she discovers her father's connection to the top secret Haven research facility, currently hitting the headlines and under siege by religious fanatics, Gemma decides to leave the sanctuary she's always known to find the institute and determine what is going on there and why her father's name seems inextricably linked to it.  Amidst the frenzy outside the institute's walls, Lyra - or number 24 as she is known as at Haven - and a fellow experimental subject known only as 72, manage to escape. Encountering a world they never knew existed outside the walls of their secluded upbringing , they meet Gemma and, as they try to understand Haven's purpose together, they uncover some earth-shattering secrets that will change the lives of both girls forever.. 

Okay this book is going around and it's really hyped up right now and that’s for a reason. This book is pretty cool. There are several different ways to read it. You can read either one of the stories straight through and then go and read the other one..or you can do what I did which was I read a chapter of Lyra's story and then I flipped over and read a chapter of Gemma's story and I just kept flipping back and forth until I finished both stories at around the same time.. I think this is the way to do it if you're planning on reading this book. However, if I could go back I would start with Gemma and then flip to Lyra. Lyra's an interesting character and while I did like her..I feel like I would have been happy with just Gemma. I LOVE Gemma. She's a more complex character. I'm not really sure if I want to call this book dystopian or not. I feel like it would fit the bill rather well with the "replica's" and all. The romance in this book felt rushed and I was much more invested in Gemma's health story and WHY they were doing what they were to the replica's. I feel like if the book was about a day or so longer in the timeline it would have been a better place to stop and then continue the book on in the sequel. I am 99.99 percent sure with an ending like Miss Oliver gave me there will be a sequel and unlike all the other Lauren Oliver books I have read, I have liked this one the most! Also, do yourself a favor and go to a bookstore and look at the hardcover edition. It is so pretty! :)  

4/5 stars