BADASS, STRONG, SMART WOMEN IN FICTION | THE BLOGGER EXTRAVAGANZA

I got my picture from @https://aimalfarooq.wordpress.com 

Get Up Offa That Slump: A Blogging Extravaganza was created by the lovely Rachel over at Beauty and the Bookshelf, and it is a blogging “challenge” that attempts to get bloggers to post bookish content outside of just reviews, memes and tags. It’s a way to showcase the many ways to blog about books without it getting repetitive and monotonous. It runs from March 9th to March 30th. There are three posts scheduled in a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). On many days, you’ll get the option to choose between two topics! And yes, I am a day late but stay with me. 

Today’s topic is an ode to women, in honor of International Women’s Day which was on March 8th. In this post I will showcase some of my favorite female characters. I may include a couple from movies or TV series because I can't leave them out. 

TO ANNABETH CHASE, WHO TAUGHT ME THAT KNOWLEDGE IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPONS!

The Percy Jackson series is one of my all time favorites partly due to the hilarious banter and jokes and plot. But also due to the strong female character, Annabeth Chase. I might not have even read it if I didn't know for sure that one of the main characters was a strong, kickass female. Annabeth isn't only a total badass with a sword but she's also extremely smart who often gets herself and her friends out of tough situations using her intellect.  She teaches girls everywhere that you don't have to be good at sports or something like that to be strong. 

TO HERMIONE GRANGER, WHO TAUGHT ME TO ALWAYS FIGHT FOR WHO YOU LOVE AND TO STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN!

The Harry Potter series was introduced to me by my mom and I love the series to death. Part of the reason is because Hermione Granger is such a wonderful character. She loves her friends with all her heart and will always fight for them no matter what. From when she saved Ron and Hermione from a mountain troll, to altering her parent's memories just to keep them safe, she was always protecting and fighting for the people she loved. Hermione will also always stand up for what she believes in. She created SPEW to stand up for the house-elves. She helped rescue Buckbeak and she is never not willing to snap at someone who bullied one of her friends. Hermione's ability to stand up for others and to fight for the ones she loves has taught me to do the same. 

TO KATNISS EVERDEEN, WHO TAUGHT ME THAT BRAVERY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BEAUTY!

Katniss was never concerned about how she looked. She stood up for her sister and that was all she ever wanted. She never wanted to be a pawn who was dressed and primped at every occasion. She knew that standing up for herself and others was one of the most important things and she has taught girls all over the world that lesson. 

TO ALLISON ARGENT WHO TAUGHT ME YOU CAN BE PRETTY AND KICKASS!

Allison Argent is on the TV show Teen Wolf and she is very pretty but totally kickass with a bow and arrow. She never hesitates to stand up for her friends even if it could cost her, her life. She cares about her friends and is brilliant at fighting in order to help them. 

TO CINDER WHO TAUGHT ME THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO CONFORM TO SOCIETY!

Cinder is one of the main character in The Lunar Chronicles series and she doesn't care what people think. She's a cyborg who is disgraced by society but she stands up for what she thinks is right and is eventually rewarded for it but she didn't do it for a reward. She was just helping who she cares about. 

That's all for today's post. I may add more later but those were the main ones. There are obviously tons of other strong women such as Rey from The Force Awakens, Emma Swan from Once Upon a Time, Feyre from A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Adelina from The Young Elites, but the women above are some very obvious standouts. Let me know about your favorite strong, badass and smart women in fiction or link me to your post! See you all soon!

One Paris Summer by Denise Grover Swank Review

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is also spoiler free!

One Paris Summer

Written by Denise Grover Swank

Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary/Romance

Publisher: Blink

Release Date: June 7, 2016

Pages: 272

Source: NetGalley

Places to Get this Book: COMING SOON

Recommended Age: 13 and up!

Summary:

Most teens dream of visiting the City of Lights, but it feels more like a nightmare for Sophie Brooks. She and her brother are sent to Paris to spend the summer with their father, who left home a year ago without any explanation. As if his sudden abandonment weren't betrayal enough, he's about to remarry, and they’re expected to play nice with his soon-to-be wife and stepdaughter. The stepdaughter, Camille, agrees to show them around the city, but she makes it clear that she will do everything in her power to make Sophie miserable.

Sophie could deal with all the pain and humiliation if only she could practice piano. Her dream is to become a pianist, and she was supposed to spend the summer preparing for a scholarship competition. Even though her father moved to Paris to pursue his own dream, he clearly doesn't support hers. His promise to provide her with a piano goes unfulfilled.

Still, no one is immune to Paris’s charm. After a few encounters with a gorgeous French boy, Sophie finds herself warming to the city, particularly when she discovers that he can help her practice piano. There’s just one hitch—he’s a friend of Camille’s, and Camille hates Sophie. While the summer Sophie dreaded promises to become best summer of her life, one person could ruin it all.

Review:

I went for this book mainly because I thought I should be reading more contemporary books and I didn’t go in with high expectations.  

I like how the book starts and how the main character isn’t happy with having to spend summer in Paris which was ironic since most people would be thrilled.  

PLOT

The plot was creative. The main character: Sophie, didn’t want to go to Paris to spend time with her father and soon-to-be wife. Her stepsister is totally rude and disrespectful towards her. She is also forced to be a ‘tourist’ with her stepsister as a guide. Can you imagine?  

SOPHIE

We first meet Sophie when she is on a plane flying to Paris with her brother. She is mad at her dad for leaving her a while back and mad at him for wanting her and her brother at his wedding. I liked how she is not a glamoured up person and how she has feelings and thinks like a normal person. For example, she can’t figure out directions which is totally relatable. She doesn’t pick up French like she’s been speaking it all her life, because no one can do that. And she has faults just like everyone else. I also love her growth throughout the book.

MATHIEU

Mathieu is Sophie’s love interest who seems to not get along with Sophie at all when he meets her. Part of the reason is he has a past with her stepsister and she is kind of influencing his decisions. I really didn’t like how it seems like he couldn’t think or feel for himself. But I loved how much he seemed to care for Sophie. He even taught her french and let her play his piano. Aww <3

ERIC

Eric is Sophie’s brother. He seems to not really care about her at the beginning which bothered me a little but brothers and sisters often don’t always get along so it should have been normal. I loved how he was so protective and kind towards her later in the book which showed how much he grew.

DANE

Ugh. I can’t begin to express how much I hate this character. Sophie used to have a crush on him but seriously, I can’t see why. He’s so rude and treats her as more of a possession than anything else. I just wanted to kick him sometimes.

CAMILLE

Camille is Sophie’s stepsister. As I mentioned before, she is totally rude towards Sophie but she was jealous of her and annoyed that she was staying in her home so I don’t blame her. But I still didn’t like her that much.

I also really liked Sophie’s new stepmother. She was so kind and sweet and I’m glad Sophie warmed up to her pretty quickly.

ROMANCE

The romance in this book wasn’t too insta-lovey which made me so happy. I like the types of romances where it is slow-burning and I have to crave it so much before it actually happens. Sophie and Mathieu were so adorable and I loved them a lot.

Final Thoughts:

This book didn’t make it to 5 Crowns because of some things that had me cringing but otherwise it gets a pretty high rating. I recommend this book if you want a cute, short read that should leave you satisfied.

Quotes from the Book:

Coming Soon!

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Crowns

Top Five Wednesday: March 9, 2016

TOP FIVE WEDNESDAY

TOP 5 WEDNESDAY IS A WEEKLY MEME HOSTED BY LAINEY. YOU BASICALLY GET A NEW TOPIC EVERY WEDNESDAY, AND YOU LIST YOUR TOP 5 BOOKS RELATED TO THAT TOPIC. HEAD OVER TO THE GOODREADS GROUP, AND ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LIST OF WEDNESDAY-ERS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING!

Today’s topic is “Time Travel Books,” and I know this means time travel books that we have read. Unfortunantly, I went through all the time travel books and I only came up with about three and I don't even remember two of them. Luckily, I have a lot of time travel books on my TBR!

5. Ruby Red (Precious Stone Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier

I actually read this book a while back and thoroughly enjoyed it but I don't remember most of it so it made this list. 

Gwyneth Shepherd’s sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon–the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

4. Passenger by Alexandra Bracken 

This was such a hyped book at the beginning of 2016 and I've heard great things about it. Supposidly it includes both time travel and pirates which is really intriguing to me. Plus I own it, so I should start reading it. 

Goodreads Synopsis:

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever.

3. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This is such a hyped book and I finally bought it at a sale. I can't wait to read it but that might happen when I'm just a little bit older. 

Goodreads Synopsis:

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord…1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

2. Timeless by Alexandra Monir

This book sounds amazing as it features time travel, secret societies and love in another time. Ugh. I want to get my hands on this book. 

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor's family, she is forced to move from Los Angeles to New York City to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she has never met. In their historic Fifth Avenue mansion, filled with a century's worth of family secrets, Michele discovers the biggest family secret of all - an ancestor's diary that, amazingly, has the power to send her back in time to 1910, the year it was written. There, at a glamorous high-society masquerade ball, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life. And she finds herself falling for him, and into an otherworldly romance.

Soon Michele is leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves - and to complete a quest that will determine their fate.

1. A Tale of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris

I am currently reading this book and I have to say that it is great so far. It is a Contemporary which I almost never read but I am trying to get myself into other genres. 

Alessandra D’Angeli is in need of an adventure. Tired of her sixteenth-century life in Italy and homesick for her time-traveling cousin, Cat, who visited her for a magical week and dazzled her with tales of the future, Alessandra is lost. Until the stars hear her plea.

One mystical spell later, Alessandra appears on Cat’s Beverly Hills doorstep five hundred years in the future. Surrounded by confusing gadgets, scary transportation, and scandalous clothing, Less is hesitant to live the life of a twenty-first century teen…until she meets the infuriating—and infuriatingly handsome—surfer Austin Michaels. Austin challenges everything she believes in…and introduces her to a world filled with possibility.

With the clock ticking, Less knows she must live every moment of her modern life while she still can. But how will she return to the drab life of her past when the future is what holds everything she’s come to love?

Waiting on Wednesday March 9, 2016

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about.

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court--but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms--and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future--and the future of a world cleaved in two.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas releases on May 3, 2016 from Bloomsbury USA Childrens

This is the second book in A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I am so excited for this book as the first one just blew me away. Wow! You all have to read this series if you haven't. And we get to see the Night Court which means more Rhysand. 

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters Everyone Loved But I Don't Get Or Ten Characters I Loved and Others Didn't

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

It was really hard for me to pick ten for just one side so I went with five from each. 

**Five characters I loved that others didn't**

1. Maven from The Red Queen Series

Please will someone explain to me why everyone is in love with Cal? Like I like Cal but Maven is evil and a little bit crazy but I still fell in love with him and no matter what, I will love him. 

2.  Kaden from The Remnant Chronicles

Kaden is freaking perfect. I loved him from the start and that might be partly from his mysterious demeanor and 'bad boy' attitude. He's the one who betrayed her (Spoiler!) but I feel as if he's perfect and I will love him forever.

3.  Wolf from The Lunar Chronicles

So, I admit that I understand where people are coming from when they say that they disliked Wolf but I think that no matter who he was, he's still a cutie and perfect for Scarlet.

4. Brenda from The Maze Runner Series

Brenda is the girl that I told myself I would hate but I just couldn't bring myself to hate her. She shows what girl power is like!

5.  Piper from Heroes of Olympus

Piper is kind of like the girl who seems like she should be totally popular and stuck-up but I really like her. She managed to hold her own even if she did hang onto Jason at first. 

**Five characters Everyone Loved But I didn't**

1.  Gale Hawthorne from The Hunger Games

I have something very against Gale. He's never been my favorite. I liked him as Katniss' best friend but as soon as he was shipped with her, I was done. 

2. Cal from Red Queen

So, Cal was perfect on his own. He's cute and would be totally perfect for someone else but just not for Mare and that's kind of why I don't like him now. Like, I'd totally date him but he needs to step away from Mare.

3.  Ash from The Iron Fey Series

Maybe, it's because I've only read the first book but I thought he was totally rude, cold and calculating. Normally I wouldn't mind but since Meghan likes him I felt like he should show more of an interest and kindness towards her. Maybe my opinion will change. **crosses fingers**

4.  Tobias from Divergent

I only read the first book and part of the second but I still did not like him. I'm sorry all you Tobias lovers but I did not find him attractive (talking in the book) and he bothered me so much.

5. Frank from Heroes of Olympus 

It wasn't that I had something entirely against him, I just somehow found him annoying. I don't really know what it is to be honest. 

Music Monday #8

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

Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers ft. Daya

So, I technically had two songs for this week's music monday but I narrowed it down to this one as it is one of my new favorites. I love this song 'cause it's really catchy. 

I also have a new found love for some of The Chainsmokers songs and Daya is a really good singer. 

Happy reading everybody! <3

Musing Monday March 7

Musing Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Books And A Beat

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

Up next I think I'll read....

Starling by Lesley Livingston. This book sounds so good and I need to read it because it is from the library. I love anything having to do with mythology so this book should be amazing! 

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Which characters (from which book) do you think deserve their own spin-off story? Why?

This is kind of a hard question for me but I have a couple of characters from different books that I think deserve their own spin-off story.  The first book is definitely Harry Potter. I would love to see a trilogy about The Marauders and what happened at Hogwarts during that time.  The second book is The Hunger Games. I'd love to see either the games Haymitch was in, the first Hunger Games, or maybe Finnick's story.  And the last book is The Remnant Chronicles series. I would love to see more about what happened before Lia's time as this series is so interesting. 

What are you musing about?