Thursday, June 30, 2016

June 2016 Wrap Up


This month was a sad reading month for me because of exams, so I'm really hoping to kick it up a notch for next month. I'm also leaving for vacation in a few hours so hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of reading done on the drive there.
This month I read:
  • ★★★★☆      The Fray Theory #1: Resonance by Nelou Keramati
  • ★★★★★      Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall
The first book I read this past month was Resonance by Nelou Keramati. The author contacted me last month asking me if I wanted to read and review her book in exchange for a free copy, so it was the first book I read this month. I really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to the next book(s) in the series. I have a full review here if you want to read more of my thoughts!

The next book I read was Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall, and I absolutely loved it. I read her first book, A Little Something Different, back in 2014, so when I saw this book on the shelf at the bookstore I was ecstatic! I picked it up and read it in one sitting, and I loved it. Her books are so cute and light, but they have the perfect amount of humour and the love stories are absolutely adorable. I was literally blushing from the cuteness and second hand embarrassment at points. I highly, highly recommend her books, and especially now because it's officially summer for me and they are such wonderful contemporaries.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Mid-Year Book Update

I saw this tag on https://btbpd.wordpress.com/category/booktube-tags/ so I figured I'd give it a go! They got the idea from https://nutfreenerd.com/2014/08/08/mid-year-book-freakout/
1.  What's the best book you've read so far in 2016?
          It was a reread, but my favourite book was definitely The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. I absolutely LOVE her books, and I have read The Raven Boys multiple times and love it more every time I read it. I have a full review of it here.
2.  The best sequel you've read so far in 2016?
          I have only read two sequels this year, and since one of them was in The Raven Cycle (and I've already gushed about it) I have to say it would be Prodigy by Marie Lu. I loved the entire trilogy, and I fell in love with the characters so much throughout the trilogy I was sad it was over so fast. I'm definitely going to be rereading this trilogy soon.
3.  What's a new release you haven't read yet but want to?
          Ruined by Amy Tintera. It just came out this past May, and I`m so excited to get my hands on it and read it. I love her Reboot duology, and I`ve been waiting for her to write another book ever since.
4.  What new release for the second half of the year are you most anticipating?
          Tales from The Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare. The physical copy is coming out in November, and I have been waiting for it for so long, and I'm forced to wait a bit longer. I'll be buying it as soon as it comes out and reading it the day I get my hands on it.
5.  Your biggest book disappointment so far?
          Nothing by Janne Teller. I was so excited to read it because I thought it was such a good idea, but I ultimately ended up not being a massive fan of it. I found some parts to be shocking and a bit disgusting as well. I have a full review of it here.
6.  Your biggest surprise?
          We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates. I had to read it for school in order to write a report on it, and I was amazed at how good it was. It's definitely a new favourite and I'm going to be rereading it and reading many other books by her as well. I have a full review of this book here.
7.  Favourite new author (debut or just new to you)?
          Marie Lu. I read her Legend trilogy earlier in the year, and I`m addicted to her writing now. I can't wait to read her Young Elites series!
8.  A book that made you cry this year?
          Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. I found so many parts of it so insanely sad, but I also loved it so much. I think it would be a great book to read during a break up, to try and get through certain things.
9.  Favourite book-to-film adaptation you saw this year?
          I actually haven't seen any book-to-film adaptations yet this year. But I will be reading and then seeing Me Before You very soon, and I am very excited for it!
10. What book do you need to read by the end of the year?
          I NEED to read Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas by the end of this year. I`ve been putting it off for so long and all of my friends have been trying to force me to read it. Hopefully I`ll get to it by the end of the summer!

Friday, June 17, 2016

Review: ARC: Resonance by Nelou Keramati

The Fray Theory: Resonance (The Fray Theory, #1)Title: Resonance
Series: The Fray Theory #1
Author: Nelou Keramati
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Age group: Young Adult
Pages: 332 (PDF)
Publisher: Finch Hill
Publication date: August 31st 2016


The author kindly provided me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.


Synopsis from Resonance's Goodreads page


Neve Knightly lives in an ordinary world. Where déjà vu is nothing more than a mind-trick. Where premonitions are dismissed as mere coincidence. Where no one thinks twice about the glitches in their reality.Neve Knightly is living a lie. But when her nightmare of a tragedy comes true the very next day, she can no longer seek solace in self-deception. The glossy enamel has been shattered, and she has caught a glimpse of what slithers just beneath the surface.
She now has the opportunity to decipher the enigma that’s been haunting her since childhood. But her quest soon becomes deeply entangled with the last two people she could have ever imagined: the love of her life, Dylan, who mysteriously vanished three years ago, and his estranged best friend, Romer, who seems to be guarding a secret of his own.
Romance, rancor, and redemption plummet as priorities, as their lives become riddled with peculiar happenings lying just outside the realm of science. And in search for salvation, they emerge at the brink of unveiling the best-kept secret in human history.


I want to start off by saying that the author, Nelou Keramati, so kindly reached out to me out of the blue and offered me an ARC PDF copy, which I was and still am so thankful for. I had never heard of this book until she reached out to me, and I am SO glad that she did.
The cover for this book as well, is just...it's just beautiful. And the author did the artwork herself!! (Can I be like half as talented as you? You're amazing and I love your work so insanely much!)
This novel stars off with one kick-ass main character, Neve. I loved her. I thought that she was just the right amount of intense, bad-ass, but also still very sweet and her humour? I loved it. She actually made me laugh out loud.
The two other main-type characters are Dylan and Romer, of whom I love both. (I'm not sure who I would pick though if I'm forced to). They both have strong back-stories that connect to each other as well as to Neve, and I thought that the connections were very strong and held a lot of power in the novel. Some novels make relationships between characters feel forced, but I didn't feel like this at all while reading this novel.
As well as a kick-ass, strong protagonist and two well developed (and very cute) possible love interests, the plot of this story was well developed. The writing was well done, and although it did feel like some parts dragged a little (it's the first in a paranormal series - it dragged a bit because of setting everything up, which is totally normal and it was well done in this case) I enjoyed this book, and I feel that the rest of the books in this series should be just as good if not even better!
(Please send me the next book?!)
Overall - ★★★★☆

Sunday, June 12, 2016

My Summer 2016 TBR

Hello everyone! Since I have exams at the end of this month and I still have a lot of school work I need to do, I've decided that I'm not going to write a June TBR for this month. That way, I can focus more on studying and doing well on my final high school exams instead of worrying about keeping up with my reading for the month. So, with that in mind, here is my summer 2016 TBR, and the books I want/need to read this summer.

  1. Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana Gabaldon
  2. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
  3. The Blood Red Road trilogy by Moira Young
  4. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
  5. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
  6. A Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin
  7. Leviathan Wakes by James S.A Corey

Friday, June 3, 2016

May 2016 Wrap Up

As I said in my book haul for this month, it was VERY hectic. The first weekend of the month I was touring my future university (I'm SO excited for this fall!) and I ended up badly spraining my ankle. I could barely read or post on my instagram or blog, so it was rough. Just as I got off of crutches, I had my graduation dinner/dance, and then that week I left for New York City for five days. I've caught up on all my school work, I'm prepared for the fall, and my school work is starting to wind down as exams are approaching. So I'm back!


This month I read:
  • ★★★★☆      Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
  • ★★★★☆.5   The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
  • ★★★★☆.5   The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
  • ★★★★☆      The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • ★★★★★      The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater
The first book I read this month was Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. I picked it up last month, and it really intrigued me, so I figured I would give it a go right away! I really enjoyed the story, although I found it to be very slow at times. The story line was very depressing, as it is about a woman who has been sentenced to death, but I also found it to be sweet and light-hearted at times. The novel was very well written, and the descriptions and the characters were wonderful to read about. I personally found the ending to be very abrupt as well, but I know that it was planned to be that way. I really enjoyed this novel, and I know that I'll be re-reading it eventually.


The second book I read was The Shock of the Fall. I have been wanting to read it for quite awhile, and I'm glad that I picked it up this month. This story was also very depressing at times, but I feel like this story could not have been written any other way. I loved how the main character described their life and how they wrote their story. The novel felt like it was being told by someone who was describing their life, not by an author who had created it from nothing. I really loved the writing style as well, and although it was sad and depressing, I feel like it teaches the reader a lot of valuable life lessons.


The next book I read was The Darkest Part of the Forest. I LOVED this book, but I don't feel as though it was worth a full 5 stars. There was a little something missing for me, which is why I gave it a solid 4.5. This book is amazing for so many reasons. The characters are perfectly written, the setting was wonderfully described so that it feels like you are right there, and it is not only a fantasy book, but it is a stand alone fantasy book, which never happens. I loved how the ending tied everything up just enough but also still leaves a lot of things to the imagination, and I love how everything in the story worked so well together. I have read two of Holly Black's books, and I have loved both of them to a very high level. I'm looking forward to reading more by her!

The classic I read this month was my next read, The Great Gatsby. I needed to read this for class, and I really enjoyed it! I loved how all the characters connected (even though some were in very bad ways) and how the ending was beautifully tragic. I loved reading this book, as the chapters were shorter so it was an easy, power-through read.


I can't really say much about my next read because it's the fourth and final book in the series, but I can say that it was AMAZING. The Raven King is probably one of my all time favourite books ever, and it made me feel all of the things. I have a full spoiler free review, with more of my (relatively) coherent thoughts which you can find here.

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Review: The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven King
Series: The Raven Cycle #4
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Fantasy/Realistic Fiction/Paranormal
Age group: Young Adult
Pages: 438 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication date: April 26th, 2016


**The below synopsis may contain spoilers if you have not read The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves or Blue Lily, Lily Blue. My review beneath is spoiler free**


Synopsis from The Raven King's Goodreads page


Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.


For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.



I was so scared going into this book from what we learn throughout this series. This book came out a month ago, and it took me an entire month to build up the mental state in order to sit down and actually read it.
Maggie Stiefvater is an author that I would literally read her grocery lists, she's that amazing. So even though I was so scared, I knew that I would absolutely love whatever would happen in this book.
I found this book to be nowhere near as dark as I was expecting, which I was very happy about. I personally am not a large fan of the final book in a series being extremely dark and depressing, so I was very content with how this book was written. It did have its dark parts and people, but overall the book was not what I would consider to be depressing.
I love the characters in this series so insanely much, and I just love them all so much more after reading this book. All of the characters in this book lined up perfectly with who they were and who they have been throughout this entire series, and they all grew into very different people in the end, but in a good way. (I'm so looking forward to re-reading this series and seeing how much of a baby everyone is in the beginning compared to the end).
The storyline in this book was very all over the place, but in a good way. The whole series has been leading up to one single realization and find, and I feel that they way it was written and the way it was portrayed could not have been any better.
A lot of this book I found was very repetitive, but I also feel that it was necessary in order for the series, and this book specifically, to go where it needed to go. Other than being repetitive, the writing style in this was flawless - as is per usual for Maggie Stiefvater. Her writing is so beautiful and it flows so well, and it is amazing to read. (Especially for an aspiring author like myself, reading her writing makes me passionate about words and characters even more than I already am).
I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this series, and how much I want everyone to read at leas the first book. These books are amazing and I can't believe this series is over. Four years of my life have been waiting for the final book, and I am so content with how this series ended. Although, there was a slight hint of another series at the end of this book...Hopefully we will get more about the raven boys and about Blue Sargent!
Overall - ★★★★★

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

May 2016 Book Haul

This month was pretty hectic for me. I really badly sprained my ankle the first weekend of May, I had my grad dinner/dance, and I travelled to New York City for five days, so I haven't been updating as much (sorry everyone!). I did get a few books this month though, and I'm very excited for all of them!


This month I got:


Young adult
  1. The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater
  2. The Young World by Chris Weitz
  3. Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman
  4. Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan
  5. The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
  6. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas