Monday 28 November 2016

Music Monday #34

I got this idea from the blog Trust in the Words. 








Surrender the Throne by Krewella

This was on someone's writing playlist on 8tracks once and I became obsessed. Of course, I've been playing it on repeat for the last month or so, since I've been absent from this blog. AHH! I highly recommend that you give it a listen. You won't be disappointed.  [I hope you won't]

What's in your headphones?

Happy reading everybody! <3

Sunday 27 November 2016

Weekly Update: 11/21 - 11/27

I have decided to start doing a weekly post called weekly recap where I update you on my life, reading and watching. Plus any posts I have done or will do.

So, I had a four and a half day weekend, which is why I am back. I had such a great weekend. About a week and a half ago was my school's production of Hairspray which I was in!! Well, I wasn't in the cast. I was in the pit orchestra which was fun.

I also managed to do a lot of things this weekend. I went to the library and got some interesting books. On Thursday, I did mostly nothing. I caught up on Supergirl and had Thanksgiving with my family. On Friday, I went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which was AMAZING! Highly recommend it! <3  I also did Black Friday shopping online. I got some good stuff. I also caught up on The Flash. Eeep! On Saturday, I went to see the Nutcracker Ballet at the Kennedy Center which was fun.

I also started Legends of Tomorrow. I'm excited. It's good so far! I didn't get much reading done though. Yes, I am so behind on reading.

Also, if you didn't join my book club, go join!!



New Books

Purchased:





Library: 








Received for Review: 




In Case You Missed It


This Week I Read
  
  




Next Week I'm Reading







Upcoming Reviews



 



Upcoming Posts



Monday:  Music Monday featuring Surender the Throne by Krewella

Tuesday: NONE

Wednesday: Top Five Wednesday is Favorite Villains [Villains I Love]

Thursday: NONE

Friday: Shadow and Bone Book Review

Saturday: November Monthly Wrap Up

Sunday: NONE






Around the Blog Community



Rayna over at Reader Rayna did her Beat the Backlist Challenge TBR

Fiktshun did the top 10 of 2016 Signup [which I will participate in]

MINI REVIEWS: THE LATE ARC EDITION

 Idea from here!

Mini reviews are going to work differently from my normal reviews. I follow a different format for my normal reviews which is a lot easier when I have a lot to say. Mini reviews are for books that I didn’t enjoy as much as I wanted to or I don’t have a ton of stuff to say. This way, it is a lot more pleasing for you all. I don’t have to rant about what an insufferable brat a character is or just write random stuff and you won’t actually read it because it is so boring.  This is going to be an ongoing thing on my blog.

Usually, I will organize them into some system so I will group books that have something in common. But there is nothing in common for these. Sorry.

Let’s dive in.

Thank you to the publishers and authors for the review copies!


#1: Woe for a Faerie: Keepers of New York

Rating: 2.5 Crowns
Author: B. Brumley
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Paranormal
Publisher: Unknown
Release Date: September 2, 2016
Pages: 222
Edition/Source: eArc from Netgalley + Read on Kindle
Summary

I love fae and fairies and all that jazz. Back in seventh grade, I attempted to write a novel about fae and only got to like the sixth chapter with no fae in sight. AHH! So, I expected a ton from this book and it was not delivered.  
Beautiful Male Characters: #swoon
Interesting concept: How she just fell to earth and didn’t know what had happened. That was an interesting idea
The fact that there are fae: Fae are so interesting. I love them so much because you can have the bad fae or the good fae
The romance isn’t believable: There are two love interests and she is suddenly attracted to them.
Mentions of Rape or Drugs: This is a BIG No No for me.
The main character annoyed me. The main character annoyed me. She was kind of clueless and just ugh. I can’t even express my thoughts.
The plot confused me so much. I’m not sure why. Maybe, I just read it way too fast [which I kind of did] but for some reason, I was just confused throughout the entire thing.



#2: The Wrong Prince

Rating: 4 Crowns
Author: C.K. Brooke
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Publisher: 48fourteen
Release Date: June 17, 2016
Pages: 235
Edition/Source: eArc from Publisher
Summary
I originally got this for a blog tour but then I had no internet access or something on the day, the blog tour happened so I couldn’t post it. So, here is the review. Months late. I am sorry, but at least I am getting it up now. Can I have a pat on the back, guys?
Beautiful Male Characters: again, this is a good thing. It makes me happy and makes up for my non-existent love life. [It’s okay, it happens to the best of us]
It’s Fantasy: I love Fantasy so much. Fantasy books just make me ridiculously happy
The main female character, is not a wimp. She is strong and independent and I loved her
The romance is not insta lovey. Yay! Insta love usually makes me sick. I hate it when the characters meet and they are like “Awe he/she is perfect for me. I’m in love.” Gross. Not real life at all.
I generally liked most of the characters. This almost never happens. So, yay for me!
The plot is so intriguing.

MINI CONS

The plot may or may not have happened before. I’m not sure but I did get some vibes from some other fantasy YA books. Not gonna lie.



#3: The Summer Before Forever

Rating: 3 Crowns
Author: Melissa Chambers
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary
Publisher: Entangled TEEN
Release Date: August 22, 2016
Pages: 304
Edition/Source: eArc from Publisher
I got this from Netgalley way back in the summer and I never bothered to review it because my thoughts were all over the place. I'm still not sure where I stand with this book. I rated it three crowns but I am still wary of that and I'm not sure if I should have rated it higher or lower. Ugh #bookworm problems.
Cute contemporary: I like cute stories, which was a pro for me.
Likable main characters: The characters were generally likable and easy to relate to. [well most of them]
Tackled important issues that many YA Contemporaries don't.

The romance was not to my liking. Most people liked it. I just didn't.
Love at first sight? Yes, that was an element in this book. Sadly. :(
Chloe wasn't as strong as I wished she had been.  In fact, she was constantly dependent on others because of something in her past. Ugh!



Have you read these books? What did you think? Did we have any of the same thoughts?

I'll see you soon for another mini review post! :)


Thursday 24 November 2016

GOODREADS BOOK CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT!


Hello guys! I am back from my long hiatus. Sorry about that. School is just really hard to deal with, without the pressure of blogging.  But, I have been actively reading and I even made a book club on Goodreads which is still in the works but I am super proud of it!

The Goodreads Group can be found here

It is called Kings and Queens of Books but for short, I call it Kings and Queens Book Club. It is open to everyone but we are going to mostly read Young Adult books with the occasional Adult and Middle Grade book. 

The November Book Pick was Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. 

There is currently a poll to choose the December Book which can be found here

Please join me in reading some books together! It's fun, I promise. 

~Annette

OCTOBER WRAP-UP '16



So, it's the end of the month and that means another wrap-up! I read nine books this month which was really good considering, I was super busy with school and the musical and lots of stuff.

I also managed to watch some TV. There are a lot of shows on but I record some and prioritize Supergirl, Once Upon a Time and the Flash.

Anyways...

Time to talk about the books I read this month.


PHYSICAL BOOKS





The first book I read was Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. I heard so many bad things that I was very hesitant to read this book for the longest time but I finally picked it up. I must say, it was kind of slow. I won't lie. And some of the characters annoyed me to no end but I loved it anyways. I mean it is the Red Queen sequel which blew me away. I ended up rating it 5 Crowns.

The second book I read was Ruined by Amy Tintera. I hadn't heard much about this book but I saw it at the library and picked it up and let me say, I was not disappointed. It is kind of a generic story. She fakes her identity to get revenge and then falls in love in the middle of a rebellion but I loved it.  I rated it 5 Crowns



The third book I read was Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige. Four words: So many love interests! I don't know why. I also only really liked one of them and I hope she ends up with him but probably won't happen. But this was a Snow Queen retelling and it was beautiful and satisfying. I rated it 5 Crowns.

The fourth book that I read was Frozen Tides by Morgan Rhodes. This series is a favorite of mine as it is probably pretty obvious. I love this series so much, it has so many elements that are so interesting and I highly recommend it. Plus Magleo and they are one of my bookish OTPs. <3 I rated it 5 Crowns.



The fifth book that I read was Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. This book surprised me a lot. I didn't expect much from it because I didn't read that many reviews of it but it was such a good book. And I did surprisingly cry during the end which was annoying but it was so emotional and that plot twist that just shocked me. I rated this one 5 Crowns as well.

The sixth book I read was The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This was a nonfiction memoir and it was so interesting. I never pick up these kinds of books but my teacher had copies and it sounded really good so I read it and I was pleasantly surprised. I ended up rating it 5 Crowns as well.



The seventh book I read was I Am Malala by Malala. This book was really interesting and also something that I wouldn't normally pick up, and I ended up rating it 5 Crowns



ARC'S READ



The first ARC  I read was Omega by Lizzy Ford. Yes, I have had this book for over a year and I still count it as an eArc. [I have a problem, it's pretty obvious] This ended up being a pretty good book. I love Mythology and this had Greek mythology. I rated this 4 Crowns.

The second ARC I read was All Her Secrets by Kate Avery Ellison. This book wasn't quite as exciting as I was expecting it to be but I ended up rating it 3 Crowns. 




REVIEWS IN SEPTEMBER:

NONE


OTHER POSTS: 

MUSIC MONDAY:




WEEKLY WRAP-UP:




DISCUSSIONS/OTHER:







FAVORITE COVER OF THE MONTH:




NEW FICTIONAL BAE'S: 


Maven Calore from Red Queen

Thomas from Stalking Jack the Ripper

Magnus from Frozen Tides

Jagger from Stealing Snow



TV SHOWS I WATCHED THIS MONTH:



WHAT BOOKS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:




NEW BLOG FINDS


SONGS ON REPEAT








[the graphic at the top belongs to me but the background picture was taken from someone's tumblr]



Wednesday 23 November 2016

ARC REVIEW: All Her Secrets by Kate Avery Ellison

I received an eArc from Netgalley and the publisher. That has in no way affected my thoughts and opinions in this review. This is also a spoiler free review.


All Her Secrets
Written by Kate Avery Ellison
Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction/Thriller
Publisher: Kate Avery Ellison
Release Date: October 18, 2016
Pages: 327
Source: eArc provided by NetGalley
Places to Get this Book: Amazon Barnes and Noble Book Depository

Recommended Age: 14 and up!


Summary:
Nothing is as it seems in this psychological YA thriller set in a not-too-distant future.

A GIRL WITH SECRETS

Eighteen-year-old Victoria, the daughter of inventor and visionary-genius Bill Faraday, was almost murdered by a stranger four years ago. She's been trying to forget the incident ever since.

When Victoria discovers something that might explain why she was brutally attacked, she heads home from college to uncover the truth. Then, she’s kidnapped.

A GUY FROM THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS

Sam’s just a poor kid from Valley City, but he knows who Victoria is as soon as his cousin Craig drags her from the trees. He doesn’t want anything to do with what appears to be a revenge kidnapping, but Craig has a gun and needs someone to take the fall if things go wrong.

A DESPERATE PLAN TO SURVIVE

Craig and his buddies imprison Sam and Victoria in an abandoned mountain cabin to await ransom. Putting aside mistrust for tentative friendship, Victoria and Sam conspire to escape together, and the close quarters ignite a startling attraction between them. Then they discover strange tunnels beneath the cabin. And what they find inside the tunnels proves more bizarre.

With a plan in place to escape, freedom seems within reach. But Sam and Victoria are both keeping secrets about their past.

And secrets can be deadly.

Review:

This was not an easy book to get into. I will be honest with you guys. I was stupid and forgot that Sam was supposed to be a guy and I spent like forty pages thinking so and then I freaked out and had to reread the synopsis and the first forty pages because I thought he was a GIRL. My brain is weird, okay. I thought that I might rate this one four crowns but to me, it didn’t deserve four crowns. There were some things I liked and some things I was not okay with.

COVER

The cover is a little too lovey-dovey for me. This was not a book centered around romance. It was a book centered around escaping from a horrible situation which actually horrified me. And yes, i read this around Halloween but still.

WORLD-BUILDING

There isn’t too much of a world to build. It isn’t set in this time period though. I believe it is either set in an alternate universe or it is set in the future because there are robots that are so realistic. That part just freaked me out.

Then there are the characters.

VICTORIA

She wasn’t a wimpy character by any means, but that doesn’t mean that I liked her all that much as a character. In fact, she was a little annoying. Sure, she was priviledged and I guess that gave her certain thoughts. But to be honest, for bragging about her being smart and all, she should have been a little smarter in her situation. Yes, she wasn’t entirely clueless but she did act a little pathetic. Overall, she didn’t strike much emotion in me at all.

SAM

I actually liked Sam. I pited his situation and knew where he was coming from on some thoughts. He didn’t annoy me by any means and I actually found myself wanting to give him a hug. Near the end, however, he was a little unusful to the plot but I still enjoyed his character.

FRIENDSHIP/FAMILY

Family was a main focus. Though, it wasn’t like the “oh perfect family setting #goals” NO! This was more of, I envy your family, I hate your family or I want to kill you because of who your family is. Yeah, scary huh. There also weren’t many friendships that struck me in this book. Sure, there is Sam and Victoria but that is more of a romantic relationship.

PLOT

The plot was interesting. It was a thriller so it did touch all of those types of aspects. There could have been a little more depth to this one, however. It could have been more elaborate as it had all the makings to be a more complex story and yet, she didn’t expand on the storyline. The “secrets” weren’t too hard to guess and weren’t as complex as I had hoped/expected them to be. There were a few surprises which were nice and I enjoyed.

ROMANCE
This is almost insta love but not quite there yet. The romance wasn’t toxic so that was nice. I was fairly happy with the romance despite what I might have said before. One thing, I didn’t quite like was the fact that Victoria suddenly mentioned she loved him and it hadn’t quite developed at that point. That could have been worked on but otherwise it was good.

WRITING

The writing was good. It wasn’t childish and the characters talked better than I had thought they would. Overall, the writing was what impressed me the most.

FINAL THOUGHTS
If you like thrillers, go for this one. It isn’t perfect but it works. It is a standalone so it has to all be wrapped up pretty fast and it did a good job of that.



Quotes from the Book:

NONE AT THIS TIME





My Rating: 3 out of 5 Crowns