Top 10 of 2016: Favorite Fictional Couples

So, I am participating in at least a little bit of Top 10 of 2016. This is hosted by @Fiktshun

This is a week-long event but I may not participate in all of them. Monday's was the Top 10 Best Books of 2016. Yesterday's was the Best Book Covers of 2016.  Today's is a freebee so I chose my top 10 fictional couples from books that I read in 2016. Don't have to be 2016 releases. Let's get into it. 

#1: Cress + Thorne from Winter by Marissa Meyer

#2: Warner + Juliette from Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

#3: Cleo + Magnus from Frozen Tides by Morgan Rhodes

#4: Kiaran and Aileana 

#5: Daemon and Katy from Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

#6: Louisa and Will from Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

#7: Inej and Kaz from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

#8: Chaol and Caelena from Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

#9: Darkling and Alina from Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

#10: Elias and Laia from Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Weekly Update: 12/19 - 12/25

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.

Christmas has come and gone and now I'm not sure what to be excited for. [Well, besides 2016 to be over].

I did finish up Blogmas this week which was fun.  And Christmas and Christmas Eve were a success. I went to the 11 PM service, which was good and opened presents on Christmas. I hope that you all had good holidays.

New Books

Purchased:

Not going to put all my Christmas gifts that I got, I will do a separate haul. 

Library: 

Received for Review: 

In Case You Missed It

Blogmas Days 11, 12, 13 and 14: Stocking Stuffers for Girls
Blogmas Days 15, 16 and 17: Christmas Playlist
Blogmas Days 18 and 19: 12 Days of Christmas Tag
Blogmas Day 20: Christmas Tag
Blogmas Day 21 and 22: Winter Break Goals
Blogmas Days 23 + 24: 2016 Movies

This Week I Read

  

  

Next Week I'm Reading

 

Upcoming Reviews

Upcoming Posts

Monday:  Top 10 Best Books I Read in 2016 + Moana Movie Review

Tuesday: Top 10 Covers Of 2016 + Rogue One Movie Review

Wednesday: Top 10 Couples or Villains of 2016 + 2016 Mega Survey

Thursday: Top 10 Best Book Boyfriends of 2016

Friday: Top 10 Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2016

Saturday: TBD

Sunday: TBD

Around the Blog Community

Tracy over at Cornerfolds did the 2016 End of Year Mega Survey

Nereyda over at Nick and Nereyda's Infinite Booklist did a bullet journal post

Cait over at Paperfury did the worst bookworm logic

Top 10 of 2016: Best Book Covers of 2016!

So, I am participating in at least a little bit of Top 10 of 2016. This is hosted by @Fiktshun

This is a week-long event but I may not participate in all of them. Yesterday was the Top 10 Best Books of 2016. And today's is Best Book Covers of 2016. These are all 2016 releases and they will mostly be for books that I actually completed. Let's get into it. 

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#1: The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

This cover is so pretty. I love the city in the distance and how the whole bottom is just a sea of stars. It's gorgeous. 

#2: The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

I love how the designer decided to make Russia into a crown, it is so pretty and it is on a clear lake. Sigh. 

#3: The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

This cover is a lot different then the others in the trilogy. I am so happy that they decided to have Lia holding a sword and looking like the strong young woman, she is. 

#4: The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May

I love this, with the ruins in the background and her facing away from us. And she doesn't look so put together, in fact her clothes are ripped. 

#5: Firstlife by Gina Showalter

I like how there is an hour glass showing that the two places are similar and the cities are each in one. 

#6: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Music is my thing and I love how there is a violin with the city inside of it and the font is honestly so pretty. 

#7: Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen and Glass Sword honestly have the prettiest covers. I love the crown on this one with the blood dripping from it and the line at the bottom. :) 

#8: Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey

I talked about this cover in my review. But I love the keys around the title and how she is running after a carriage which shows her personality. 

#9: Ash and Bramble by Sarah Prineas

I like how she is running from thorns. It shows the book very well. 

#10: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

I like how she is smirking and we don't see her full face so we are still wondering what she looks like. And I like how the city is blurred into her dress. 

COVERS NOT RELEASED IN 2016

#11: Rook by Sharon Cameron

#12: The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas 

#13: Jackaby by William Ritter

#14: The Winner's Curse by Marie

Movie Review #7: Moana [Spoiler Free]

Finally, I am getting another movie review up. I am such a bad person in terms of promising reviews and then never giving them. Today, I am going to do a review of Moana I loved this movie a lot. This is gonna be structured differently. I am structuring it more like my Zootopia review.

Title: Moana
Director: John Musker and Ron Clements
Main Cast: Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson
Rating: PG
Runtime: 113 minutes
My Rating: 5 Crowns
Release Date: November 23, 2016

If you haven't heard of Moana, you must have been living under a rock for the past month. [Sorry] But really. Moana is the new Disney movie and it really earns the hype.

PLOT

Moana is based on stories about the Polynesian seafarers, which I thought was really cool and interesting. I had never heard of them before but I knew that this movie would be new and different and it was but I loved it.

I do not want to spoil this movie so I will just give some basics. Maui is a demigod, who stole the heart of the goddess Te Fiti but then he loses the heart as well as his freedom and his magical fishook while many other gods and monsters want the heart for themselves.

The ocean manages to keep the heart safe for years until the time is right to find the chosen hero to find Maui and return the heart to the goddess. The ocean chooses Moana who is a young girl, living on an island. Oh and she's meant to be the chief of her island. When the ocean chooses Moana, it sets her off on a journey beyond the horizon, to a place that she's never been. She's basically clueless about sailing and anything beyond the island that she's lived on her entire life. She is trying to save her island and her people from the destruction that is coming. She goes off with a cranky demigod and a crazy chicken and she has to battle pirates, monsters and her own self-doubt during her quest.

ACTORS/CHARACTERS

I really enjoyed all the characters which was good and they are all way more complex than they might seem at the beginning.

Moana is the hero in this story. She is very complex, kind, feisty and brave. Moana has been drawn to the ocean her entire life but her father forbids her from going beyond the reef, as it is too unknown and dangerous. She really wants to make her father proud and be a good leader for her people but the when the ocean chooses her for the mission, she discovers that the ocean is in her blood. She has a sense of duty and love for her family which correctly guides her. Her journey is such an inspiration and her struggles are so humanlike. She seems like such a real character and I adored her voice actress, Auli'i Cravalho.

Maui is the second main character and he seems like he is really annoying and two-dimensional when you first meet him. But it turns out that he has a lot more layers and his journey is done really well.  Watching his character unfold and his journey move forward is a lot of fun and pretty hilarious. His character is brought to life with such charm and happiness that even when you don't want to like Maui, you can't hate him.

Oh and I can't forget the two animal characters. The pig and the chicken were honestly so cute and funny. I loved them a lot.

FRIENDSHIP

The friendship is so amazing. Moana and Maui do not start out as friends. She is sent to get him to go put back the stone and they both don't want to work together. But then their relationship develops into a friendship and they work together so well. 

ANIMATION + MUSIC

The animation is beautiful. Everything looks realistic and it is so bright and colorful and I loved it so much. 

The ocean is done so realistically, the waves and the way it moves against the shore. The ocean is also a character which is really well-done. 

The music was also really good. Lin-Manuel Miranda who did In the Heights and Hamilton worked with Mark Machina [Lilo and Stitch] to do the music. The songs were really catchy, the background soundtrack is gorgeous and the vocals were amazing. 

I am so proud of Disney making new movies that have messages and have strong females. 

I highly enjoyed this movie and I really recommend it.

Top 10 of 2016: Best Books of 2016!

So, I am participating in at least a little bit of Top 10 of 2016. This is hosted by @Fiktshun

This is a week-long event but I may not participate in all of them. Today's is the Top 10 Best Books of 2016. 

#1: Winter by Marissa Meyer

Winter is one of my favorite books because The Lunar Chronicles is such an amazing series and ugh, the characters are just so lovable and I just adore this series so much. [Time for a re-read next year]

[Not released in 2016]

#2: Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

I loved this book and heard so many good things about this book when I picked it up. It is full of fantasy, great characters, magic, and fighting. It is compared to a Young Adult Game of Thrones and I'm pretty sure that they got that right.

[Not released in 2016]

#3: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I am not normally into Paranormal Romance type books but seriously, this book. I am obsessed with this book and this book series. Katy is honestly so similar to me and then there's Daemon who is just like Damon Salvatore. Like the resemblance is almost uncanny.

[Not released in 2016]

#4: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan's books always make it onto my favorites lists every year. And this year, he came out with two books. Of course I haven't read the second Magnus Chase book yet. But, I did read the first one and yes, it is somewhere on this list.

[Released on May 3, 2016]

#5: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

I loved this book. It was so well written and heartbreaking. I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this one and the movie adaptation.

[Not released in 2016]

#6: The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

At the beginning of this year, I wasn't even really looking forward to this book but now it is on this list. This was a retelling of Hades and Persephone and it was so good. I am surprised that I haven't bought this book yet, to be honest.

[Released on April 26, 2016]

#7: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

Peter Pan retellings are my thing and obviously, I developed a soft spot for this book. It is compared to Once Upon a Time which is so true. Like an evil Pan and good Hook. [Oh and I got this for Christmas yesterday.]

[Released on February 2, 2016]

#8: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I did not want to read this one because I thought I would be confused since I hadn't read the first series but I loved this. Kaz Brekker guys. That's all I'm going to say. Oh, and go read this book.

[Not released in 2016]

#9: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

This is a series that I had to force myself to start. The hype is so strong with this book that I was honestly really worried but it lived up to it. Plus, a new favorite character was found in Chaol Westfall.

[Not released in 2016]

#10: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

This is one of the only New Adult books that I read this year and it is by far one of the best books. It has such an interesting concept. And all the hotties. Plus Feyre is such a badass.

[Not released in 2016]


HONORABLE MENTIONS


#11: Rook by Sharon Cameron

This had such an interesting concept and it was a standalone. I read it at the beginning of this year and I badly want to revist it.

[Not released in 2016]

#12: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I love this book and I love Juliette. I am however, not a big fan of the relationship in this book but otherwise it is amazing.


That is it for this blogpost. I'll see you all soon. [Probably with a movie review cause Rogue One and Moana and Fantastic Beasts]