Queen of Books

Monday, 5 September 2016

The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson Review

This is a spoiler free review!

The Flip Side

Written by Shawn Johnson

Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Release Date: June 7, 2016

Pages: 309

Source: Library

Places to Get this Book: Amazon Barnes and Noble Book Depository

Recommended Age: 12 and up!

Summary:

Charlie Ryland has a secret.

She may seem like your average high school sophomore—but she’s just really good at pretending.

Because outside of school Charlie spends all her waking hours training to become one of the best gymnasts in the world. And it’s not easy flying under the radar when you’re aiming for Olympic gold…especially when an irresistible guy comes along and threatens to throw your whole world off balance.

Review:

The gymnastics just finished and I was seriously kind of depressed because of it. This book helped lighten my spirits because not only is it about an Olympic sport but it is also by an Olympic athlete/gymnast. I remember when I watched her games all those years ago. I'm kind of upset that it got such poor ratings on Goodreads because it was a fantastic book and a fantastic read.

COVER

I think the cover fits the book pretty well. I like how the girl is standing on top of the bench and about to perform a gymnastics move. Even though this scene very obviously doesn't happen in the book, it is still a nice fit for the book.

WORLD-BUILDING

There really isn't. I mean we get the background of the main character and a few of the side characters but it isn't a fantasy book so there isn't world-building.

Then there are the characters.

CHARLIE

"I'm going to be your biggest cheerleader at the Olympic Games, no matter what."

Charlie was my favorite character. I feel like she was a good role model even though she does do a couple things that would make you think that she isn't one. Charlie is a gymnastics champion who wants to keep her whole gymnastics life a secret from her friends and the people at school. Charlie was a fun character who led a double life and the fact that she hated government really made me connect with her.

GWEN

Gwen is Charlie's best friend at gymnastics. I felt like Gwen was a good best friend. She did push Charlie to do her own personal best and also supported her even if some of the things that Charlie did, Gwen didn't approve of.

BOBBY

Bobby was one of those nice guys who are so hard to find in YA Literature. I really liked him as a love interest and as a character. He was kind and compassionate. He took things that happened really well and I liked that.

FRIENDSHIP/FAMILY

The friendships in this book were very realistic and quite refreshing to read about.

PLOT

I really liked the plot. It wasn't a typical Contemporary that was focused on the romance. I really liked how it was focused on how Charlie really wanted to be in the Olympics and how that was her dream and she wouldn't let anything get in the way of it.

ROMANCE

The romance was your typical cutsey contemporary romance. It didn't take over the plot though and I found it to be extremly healthy. Bobby was actually the perfect gentleman and I really liked this romance.

WRITING

The writing was good for a contemporary and it kept me entertained.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It helped my post Olympic hangover and it was cute for summer. I really liked how it ended nicely and it tied things up without leaving it on the edge. I highly recommend this book for a good getaway.

Quotes from the Book:

To be added...

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Crowns

picture credit goes to original taker

THIS BOOK IN THREE GIFS:

Music Monday #28

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

All the Same to Me by Anya Marina

I heard this song on an episode of The Vampire Diaries and I became obsessed so obviously I am featuring it in my music monday post. I really like this song so go give it a listen even if you hate the show.

What's in your headphones?

Happy reading everybody! <3

Sunday, 4 September 2016

Weekly Update: 8/29 - 9/4

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.

Reading and blogging is not going well now that I have school. I will still try to blog at least twice a week and read two books a week but we shall see.

I started my first week of school and it went okay, I suppose. I also had to attend the first football game of the season which wasn't as fun. I was literally at school on Friday from 7:20 AM to 10:30 PM. This weekend is also a three day weekend so I am catching up on things.

New Books

Purchased:

Library:

SEPTEMBER BOOKS ON MY SHELF '16

September Books on my Shelf!

I got this idea to call it Books on my Shelf from http://cornucopiaofreviews.blogspot.com/

Today I am going to be doing my September Books on my Shelf! I narrowed this one down to just a few books because I am mega busy during the school year. I will try to get through most of these and maybe a couple more. These are just the main ones that I want/need to get through. I have seven physical books on this list, and two eArcs from NetGalley. Now, let's get on with my TBR.

The first book I have on this list is The Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. I finished the first book last month and I really enjoyed it and ended up rating it five Crowns. I also preordered the fifth book and I haven't even read the others so I need to get to them, which is why this one is on this list.
"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

The second book I have on this list is Firstlife by Gena Showalter. I have actually finished this one already and it was really good.

ONE CHOICE.
TWO REALMS.
NO SECOND CHANCE.

Tenley “Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she’ll live—after she dies.

There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.

In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn to isn’t home to the boy she’s falling for? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision…

The third book I have is Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I love the Lux series and this is the fourth book in the series so I am moving along pretty fast in the series. I can't wait to start this one.

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything.

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on?

And will they even be together?

The fourth book I have is The Last Star by Rick Yancey. I am actually terrified to read this book but I know that I should read it soon because otherwise I will forget what happened in the other two books.

The enemy is Other. The enemy is us.

They’re down here, they’re up there, they’re nowhere. They want the Earth, they want us to have it. They came to wipe us out, they came to save us.

But beneath these riddles lies one truth: Cassie has been betrayed. So has Ringer. Zombie. Nugget. And all 7.5 billion people who used to live on our planet. Betrayed first by the Others, and now by ourselves.

In these last days, Earth’s remaining survivors will need to decide what’s more important: saving themselves…or saving what makes us human.

The fifth book I have is A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnson. I am about halfway through this book and it is so good that I will finish it ASAP!

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.

Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.

Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.

The sixth book I have is Wendy Darling Stars by Colleen Oakes. I just bought this book because I got the second book from NetGalley. I am so excited for both of these books.

Wendy Darling has a perfectly agreeable life with her parents and brothers in wealthy London, as well as a budding romance with Booth, the neighborhood bookseller’s son. But while their parents are at a ball, the charmingly beautiful Peter Pan comes to the Darling children’s nursery and—dazzled by this flying boy with god-like powers—they follow him out of the window and straight on to morning, to Neverland, a intoxicating island of feral freedom.

As time passes in Neverland, Wendy realizes that this Lost Boy’s paradise of turquoise seas, mermaids, and pirates holds terrible secrets rooted in blood and greed. As Peter’s grasp on her heart tightens, she struggles to remember where she came from—and begins to suspect that this island of dreams, and the boy who desires her—have the potential to transform into an everlasting nightmare.

The seventh book I have is Wendy Darling Seas by Colleen Oakes. This is another eArc that I need to finish. I am actually so excited to read this though because I love Peter Pan retellings.

Wendy Darling: Seas finds Wendy and Michael aboard the dreaded Sudden Night, a dangerous behemoth sailed by the infamous Captain Hook and his blood-thirsty crew. In this exotic world of mermaids, spies and pirate-feuds, Wendy finds herself struggling to keep her family above the waves. Hunted by the twisted boy who once stole her heart and struggling to survive in the whimsical Neverland sea, returning home to London now seems like a distant dream - and the betrayals have just begun.

Will Wendy find shelter with Peter's greatest enemy, or is she a pawn in a much darker game, one that could forever alter not only her family's future, but also the soul of Neverland itself?

The eighth book I have is The Summer Before Forever by Melissa Chambers. This is a pretty good book so far. It is a Contemporary Romance and I received it from NetGalley so I am trying to finish it ASAP.

Some boys break your heart. Others teach you how to heal it.

Chloe Stone’s life is a hot mess. Determined to stop being so freaking skittish, she packs up her quasi-famous best friend and heads to Florida. The goal? Complete the summer bucket list to end all bucket lists. The problem? Her hot soon-to-be stepbrother, Landon Jacobs.

Landon’s mom will throttle him if he even looks at his future stepsister the wrong way. Problem is, Chloe is everything he didn’t know he wanted, and that’s...inconvenient. Watching her tear it up on a karaoke stage, stand up to his asshole friend, and rock her first string bikini destroys his sanity.

But there’s more than their future family on the line. Landon is hiding something—something he knows will change how she feels about him—and she’s hiding something from him, too. And when the secrets come out, there’s a good chance neither will look at the other the same way again...

The last book I have on this list is the Perustopia Book Club Pick of the Month. That book is Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi. I have not bought this book yet so I am unsure if I will actually read it but I put it on here nonetheless. Perustopia Book Club Link

There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it's been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she's about to embark on one to find the other.

But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she'll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is a boy named Oliver whose own magical ability is based in lies and deceit--and with a liar by her side in a land where nothing is as it seems, it will take all of Alice's wits (and every limb she's got) to find Father and return home to Ferenwood in one piece. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself--and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.

That is it for this blogpost. I'll see you all soon.

Saturday, 3 September 2016

August Wrap-Up

So, it's the end of the month and that means another wrap-up! I read fifteen books this month which was pretty good. I did have a couple books that I didn't really like however. But overall, this month was a good reading month. In terms of blogging, it wasn't as good of a month. I also went back to school this month so my reading and blogging has slowed down considerably since then.

I also watched some good television shows. I started the TV show, The Vampire Diaries which is really good. I also have been catching up on The Flash Season 2 in preparation for the next season which airs in October. If you haven't checked those shows out, I highly recommend them.

Now, without further ado, lets get to the books I read this month.

PHYSICAL BOOKS

The first physical book I read was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I really enjoyed this book despite some of the negative reviews that were on Goodreads. This book had a lot of different elements in it. I really liked how the author, used photographs he found in the book as well as on the cover. The characters were also different from what I usually know. I ended up rating this book 5 Crowns.

The second book I read was Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers. I actually didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped. I still rated this book 4 Crowns but I didn't find the story/world as immersive as I would have liked.

The third physical book that I read was Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes. This is the second book in the Falling Kingdoms series which was so good. This is one of my new favorite series. There are so many elements that make it a great series. I rated this book 5 Crowns

The fourth physical book that I read was Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. There is so much hype surrounding this series and I finally understand why. This book was phenomenal. It was written so well and had so many fantastic characters. And the plot was interesting. I rated this book 5 Crowns and plan to have a review up sometime soon. Rowan and Chaol are bae.

The fifth physical book that I read was Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell. I actually did do a review of this book. This is a Peter Pan retelling where the roles of hero and villain are reversed. I rated this book 5 Crowns. I loved the characters and retelling. But warning, the ending is really sad. And Pan and Rowan are my new fictional boyfriends.

The sixth physical book that I read was This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel. I have seen this around for awhile and I finally decided to pick it up because of how people said it was really good. It is a retelling of Frankenstein or rather a prequel to Frankenstein. I rated this book 4 Crowns.

The seventh physical book that I read was Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes. Gathering Darkness is another Falling Kingdoms novel. Gathering Darkness was another amazing book that kept my attention throughout. I also read it pretty fast because it was so good and had so many plot twists that kept surprising me. Magnus is my new fictional bae. Like Rebel Spring, I rated this book 5 Crowns.

The eighth physical book that I read was After the Red Rain by Barry Lyga, Peter Facinelli, Robert DeFranco I didn't know what to expect from this book. I just saw this in the library and I knew it was a post apocolyptic novel so I had to pick it up. It was really surprising and was so original. There were concepts included in it that I would have never thought of before. I rated this book 4 Crowns.

The ninth physical book I read was Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine This was a Phantom of the Opera retelling that was done so deliciously well. The characters and setting really surprised me. I highly recommend this one. I rated it 5 Crowns.

The tenth physical book I read was The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson. The Flip Side is a gymnastic book that I read after my hungover from the 2016 Rio Olympics. I ended up rating this book 5 Crowns which doesn't usually happen for a Contemporary book but I enjoyed it so much.

The eleventh and last physical book that I read was Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Leigh Bardugo was a new to me author so I have never heard about the Grisha Universe or the Grisha Trilogy which means that I could have been slightly confused in this book. But I quickly figured everything out and I ended up enjoying this book a ton. I can't believe I have put off reading it for like nine months. It was so good and I highly recommend it. The world is so immersive. The characters are so likable. And then the romance is so good. My new fictional boyfriend is in this book. I rated this book 5 Crowns.

ARC'S READ

The first ARC and twelfth book I read was The Duchess Quest by C.K Brooke. I read this book for a blog tour and I really enjoyed it. I was also pleasantly surprised by this book as I didn't expect there to be so many good elements to it. I thought it was a pirate book at first but then I realized that it was more of a quest to find the duchess. I am now patiently awaiting the next one. I rated this one 4 Crowns.

The thirteenth book I read was Pieces by T. Aleo. I didn't know what to expect when I requested this one from NetGalley but I enjoyed it. It had a good concept and really interesting characters. I didn't like it that much though as I rated this one 3 Crowns.

The fourteenth book I read was Summer of Irreverence-The Rock Star This book disappointed me a little bit but I think it was because I didn't read the description correctly. But I still ended up rating it about 3 Crowns.

The fifteenth book I read was Love Me Deadly by Alycia Linwood. I thought that this book was pretty good. Especially since there were a couple of plot twists that were done ridiculously well. I rated this 4 Crowns.

REVIEWS IN JULY

The Duchess Quest by C.K. Johnson: 4 Crown Rating

Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes: 5 Crown Rating

Starflight by Melissa Landers: 5 Crown Rating

Pieces by T. Aleo: 3 Crown Rating

Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell: 5 Crown Rating

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs: 5 Crown Rating

OTHER POSTS:

MUSIC MONDAY:

Starving by Hailee Steinfeld

Wiser by Madilyn Bailey

Haunted by Maty Noyes