Month: May 2016

Reviews: Blue Lily, Lily Blue and The Raven King

Posted May 6, 2016 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments
Reviews: Blue Lily, Lily Blue and The Raven King

Despite the fact that this book ended up with the same rating as the first two, it’s definitely my favorite of the bunch. This is absolutely a series that gets better and more interesting with each installment. I spent most of the first two books confused and then completely enamored because of the ending. This book was actually opposite: I loved the entire thing, but was confused towards the end instead. I loved reading the Recaptains for the other books as I read, but this one didn’t exist when I read it 🙁 Regardless, I went surfing around Tumblr to get myself ~IN~ this fandom, now that spoilers aren’t an issue. It was a lot of fun and definitely helped clear up some questions! I don’t exactly know what to say about this series – or this book in particular – that hasn’t already been said by SO many trusted friends and reviewers. Some highlights? Blue + Gansey FEEEELZZZ Ronan + Adam (even though I don’t really like Adam) Piper – what an interesting, weird character Persephone 🙁 Some questions being answered or at least kind of explored  THE ENDING CLIFFHANGER WHAT EVENNNNnnnnnNNn I am overwhelmed. I felt overwhelmed through every single page of this final book. I don’t even know if there are other words to describe how I felt. I cannot think of a time in recent memory where I’ve been so emotionally involved in every single character – their feelings, actions, futures.. everything. I just felt things so […]

I’m a Fake Fantasy Reader

Posted May 5, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 60 Comments
I’m a Fake Fantasy Reader

It’s time I admit it. I’m a contemporary girl and I don’t know how to change that. In 2015, I read 93 contemporary books (51%) and… 18 fantasy books (10%). My breakdown is otherwise mostly even between genres, aside from contemporary. If someone asks me what kind of books I read, though, I always say “mostly contemporary but I like fantasy too!” It’s kind of true, but honestly? I read more mystery books last year. In 2016 so far I’ve read pretty similarly. I’ve got about half contemporary, and mystery + fantasy are tied for second with a low amount. My biggest issue with fantasy most of the time? The mix of world-building, action, and character development has to be just right for me to stay super engaged with the story. I seem to like lighter fantasy books, where the world is not too hard to understand, or the “fantasy elements” are kind of understated. I’ve read a few complex ones and enjoyed them, but I usually lean towards paranormal or lighter fantasy compared to high fantasy. I don’t even really know what this means. I just know it’s true, without fail, that I will get easily confused and disengaged if I can’t understand the magic system or world-building. There are some books (Truthwitch) that managed to keep me engaged even when I was confused. Some other element – like the writing style or characters – made me want to keep reading. Other books (Red Queen) were impossible to get through for a while […]

Blog Tour | Review: Where We Fall

Posted May 4, 2016 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments
Blog Tour | Review: Where We Fall

Review I mentioned this book back in my recent read-bait post. The synopsis called out to me because I love the stories about coming home, reuniting with old friends, and uncovering past ~secrets~ of some kind. I knew this book would need to be read immediately, so I’m happy to take part in the blog tour (they always give me a kick in the pants to read books I’m excited for, instead of getting bogged down in other things!). Honestly though, “For the first time in seventeen years, a trio of once-inseparable friends find themselves confronting past loves, hurts, and the rapid rush of a current that still pulls them together…” is so ridiculously ME; I can’t even deal. The book started off with a bang – it kept me interested right from the beginning. The main character, Abby, had hit an emotional rock bottom and was dealing with the consequences within her family. Her husband, Ryan, and daughter, Juliana, are very close; it weighs on Abby quite a bit that she can’t and doesn’t have the same kind of relationship as they do. There was a LOT going on within the first 50 pages of the book! As the synopsis promises, someone from their past returns home and derails everything even further. I liked when Lauren was introduced because she provided some more background about how the three of them shifted around and lost touch. Wondering about their backstory was the driving force for me. This is really character-driven story. […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #88: Revisiting Characters

Posted May 3, 2016 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 21 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #88: Revisiting Characters

Ten Characters I’d Love to Revisit in 10 Years Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. The very large, excellent topic idea for this week is Ten Childhood/YA Characters You’d Love To Revisit As Adults: {(ie a novella or something to see what they grew up to be) — you could always just pick YA characters you’ve read recently you wouldn’t mind revisiting in 10 years or so. Or you could pick 10 characters and guess what you think they’d be doing in 10 years or 20 years. OR you could go the other way and wish for coming of age stories for adult characters you love.} I love this topic! I decided to go with the idea of revisiting characters in 10 years.I split this into three sections because there are always questions you have about the future when you finish a book. Does your OTP stay together forever even though they met when they were 16? Does the world come to an end? Do people have more character growth? Someone give me some answers or a nice 10-years-later-novella. I am going to use spoiler tags when I have specific ending-related questions about the book. Everything else is vague enough! Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell | WHAT ARE THE WORDS? […]

Blog Tour | ARC Review: Down with the Shine

Posted May 2, 2016 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments
Blog Tour | ARC Review: Down with the Shine

Review Whew, what a fun ride! This book was incredibly unique and awesome. I had almost no idea what to expect. I don’t read a lot (or any?) magical realism and this was such an insanely cool “introduction” to the genre for me. The premise definitely intrigued me – magical moonshine that could grant wishes?! I was picturing all of these crazy consequences and that’s exactly what the book delivered on. Lennie decides to get some popularity at a party by bringing along her uncle’s moonshine. She repeats the usual protocol that they do, thinking nothing of it. They ask the drinker to make a wish, she repeats it back, and says “may all your wishes come true, starting with this one.” She has no idea that this is not just a way of enjoying moonshine with someone. It’s a secret power the family possesses where they’re able to grant wishes to the drinker. Of course, like most wishes, they can’t be undone. After a drunken night full of wishing, Lennie realizes something has gone horribly wrong the next morning. Her uncles explain what happened and Lennie is on a path to make things right. There were so many different, interesting characters in this story. For her family, Lennie has her three uncles and their tough love approach, Lennie’s wanted-by-the-FBI-murderer-robber father, and her mother who is a shadow of her former self. There’s her longtime crush Smith, who also happens to be the twin brother of her recently murdered friend […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin – April 2016

Bookmark Lit Bulletin – April 2016

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin was created to wrap up each month and prepare for the next. I share my life happenings, book haul, books I read and reviewed, posts I shared, challenge updates, and more from the previous month. I also let you know what may be coming up on the blog in the coming month. You can read past bulletins here and learn more about the feature here. Yet again, read more books than I planned! I was on a crazy binge this month for some reason. I couldn’t get enough reading, even though I’m super ahead on everything. I’m happy the ARC tour books have slowed down (my fault, I know!) but my final one for a WHILE is currently in my possession, and that’s it. Time to focus on Bout of Books and the Clean Sweep Challenge for May! Average rating for books read in April: 4.07 stars All book covers link to their Goodreads pages  Best of the Best  ‱  Pleasantly Surprised  ‱  Disappointed  All of the books read this month: Average rating for books reviewed in April: 3.42 stars My Secret Sister sent me a “cravings” package this month and it was soooo perfect! She gave my my favorite snacks that I’ve been craving lately – Junior Mints, BBQ chips, and Oreos. She also gave me this really cute sunglasses case, which I didn’t know how much I needed until I had it! I always throw my glasses in my purse and then get mad when they get scratches. This […]