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

Stalking Jack the Ripper | Kerri Maniscalco

Goodreads Synopsis:  Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.  Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world. 

This book was a recent release (September 20..same day as my birthday, yay!) and I felt like it would be something good read so close to Halloween...well, one thing is for sure, I wasn't wrong. I'm a major wimp when it comes to thrillers or horror books, I like to give myself anxiety attacks to the point where I get next to zero sleep. I loved the Shades of London series so I thought that this would be a safe subject for me to read. I was correct. NO NIGHTMARES FOR SAMMEH!! Which was AWESOME. So, this book is set in London around the time that the Jack the Ripper murders were happening. The MC, Audrey finds herself in the middle of the murders. This book has it's own take of who did it and why, and it takes sort of a Frankenstein/odd approach. I won't ruin the ending, but it was a lovely ending to a rather gruesome book.   One thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that some of the tag lines I've seen for this novel was something along the lines of "Jack the Ripper with a dash of romance" or something like that. I was under the strange impression that Audrey falls in love with Jack, and she goes stalker on him. Kinda like some sort of twisted Bellatrix love story. Lettme tell you right now.. This is NOT what happened!! The love interest is another character named Thomas who is supposed to be some sort of genius, and it was supposed to be sort of a love/hate relationship that I just didn't feel the chemistry for which is okay, I guess. Not everyone is going to get it.  However, this book will be great for people who love Maureen Johnson's Shades of London series while they wait for the final book. I loved it for the entertainment it gave me at work when I had downtime, and I do plan on allowing one of my friends to borrow my copy so she can read it as well, so I do recommend it! :)   4/5 stars 

This Adventure Ends | Emma Mills

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Sloane isn't expecting to fall in with a group of friends when she moves from New York to Florida—especially not a group of friends so intense, so in love, so all-consuming. Yet that's exactly what happens.  Sloane becomes closest to Vera, a social-media star who lights up any room, and Gabe, Vera's twin brother and the most serious person Sloane's ever met. When a beloved painting by the twins' late mother goes missing, Sloane takes on the responsibility of tracking it down, a journey that takes her across state lines—and ever deeper into the twins' lives.  Filled with intense and important friendships, a wonderful warts-and-all family, shiveringly good romantic developments, and sharp, witty dialogue, this story is about finding the people you never knew you needed. 

This book is a recent release, it dropped October 4th, 2016

I read this at work today (October 9, 2016) and it was a quick read and I really enjoyed it. What I really enjoyed was this: It was a gorgeous day outside and I was working outside, WHERE THIS BOOK IS SET. I always flip out when I've been somewhere a book is set at. This however was set in Panama City, Florida, and I LOVED THAT. She has the native kids to this area's attitudes set right. However, I would recommend that you do not read it right now. Wait until summer. Or you're at the beach like I was. This is a perfect summer contemporary. I feel like I can't explain a lot of what happens without spoiling but read this! The 30A setting is perfect and it's now my favorite setting for a summer contemporary. Just. Do. It. 

5/5 stars!

Love & Gelato | Jenna Evans Welch

I got this book from my local library the other day and I'm pretty glad I did. I finished Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins the other day and I needed something light and fluffy to clear my head. This looked like the fluffiest book out of my stack of library books so I grabbed it and went for it. 

I am so glad I did! I mean, no this book isn't anything amazing, but I really enjoyed it and it kept me entertained while I working on it.   

Goodreads Synopisis:  

“I made the wrong choice.”  Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.  But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.  People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more. 

Okay, first off, let me tell you right now..the entire book takes place in a time span of less than a week, and with all the things that happen, I tell like that makes it more than a little unrealistic. HOWEVER. I loved the descriptions of the scenery. It made me crave to go on a little adventure to Italy. Lina's mothers journal was a little off putting for me. Instead of reading it all the way through and then figuring some things out, she tries to figure things out beforehand, and it doesn't work out very well for her.  I hated the romance between Lina's mother, Hadley and Howard. The way that was laid out just broke my heart and shattered it into a million tiny pieces. This book also had some of the stereotypical two super hot guys are after the shy girl love triangle but I was able to simply ignore that and pretend that it didn't exist.  Its not the best book in the world by any means, but I would recommend if you're looking for a cute fluffy book that will make you crave gelato something fierce.  

3/5 stars.   Some of my favorite quotes out of this bad boy: 

“You may be slow to warm up, but once you do, you light up the whole room” 

“I needed to find The Dress. You know, the once-in-a-lifetime dress guaranteed to make anyone fall in love with you.”  

“It wasn't a little kiss, Not like your first peck or like the time you made out with your junior high boyfriend behind the movie theater. It was throw-your-arms-around-his-neck, bury-your-fingers-in-his-hair, why-haven't-we-done-this-before kissing”