Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday (9): Top Books I Want to Read: Summer 2017 Edition

Hello everyone!
I'm going to be honest here - this post was SUPPOSED to be a Top Ten Tuesday, but since I had a final exam today I totally forgot what day it is, so here's a Top Ten...Wednesday I guess?
This summer is going to be filled with reading for me, and since I have a very large stack of 10 very large books staring at my on my desk, I figured I might as well make a blog post out of it, because why not?

Image result for lady midnightRelated imageImage result for red rising
  1. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
  2. A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
  3. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Image result for the hero of ages bookImage result for throne of glassImage result for falling kingdoms

      4. The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
      5. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
      6. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Image result for three dark crownsImage result for song of achilles

      7. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
      8. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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      9. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
     10. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han



Monday, June 5, 2017

Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Image result for everything, everythingTitle: Everything, Everything
Author: Nicola Yoon
Genre: Contemporary
Age group: Young adult
Pages: 310 (Paperback)
Publisher: Corgi Chrildrens
Publication date: September 3, 2015


Madeline Whittier is allergic to the outside world. So allergic, in fact, that she has never left the house in all of her seventeen years. But when Olly moves in next door, and wants to talk to Maddie, tiny holes start to appear in the protective bubble her mother has built around her. Olly writes his IM address on a piece of paper, shows it at her window, and suddenly, a door opens. But does Maddie dare to step outside her comfort zone?

Everything, Everything is about the thrill and heartbreak that happens when we break out of our shell to do crazy, sometimes death-defying things for love.

THOUGHTS

I just want to start with this: I loved this book. It made me ugly cry, sad cry, and happy cry, and I never cry while I'm reading; the last time that happened was when I read The Fault in Our Stars.
When I first went into this book, I didn't have a lot of expectations. I knew there was insta-love, and I assumed the ending would be unrealistic. I definitely wasn't expecting what I found.
Everything, Everything is about a girl who is happy with where she is, but not with who she is. She wants to experience the world, and when a boy moves in next door, he gives her that opportunity, and she takes it and runs with it. It was a beautiful story that everyone who reads it will absolutely love.
Throughout the book, there are little drawings, pictures, and endless amounts of little snippets that let the reader see into Madeline's life. I've never been a huge fan of a lot of drawings, as I normally feel like they don't add anything to the story. However, with this book, the story couldn't have been told without them. They add so much to the story and to the characters, and they show parts of Madeline that you can't see in the story, and that she doesn't explain through words.
The plot is extremely well thought out, and even though I was worried it wouldn't be, it was VERY realistic. The doctors, the medical charts; the author doesn't try to hide the parts of the illness, she puts it out there and makes the reader feel for Madeline. Madeline also has accepted her illness at the beginning of this book, and she initially doesn't try to fight it or go against it, which is a refreshing thing in young adult books.
I don't want to say too much about the ending, but I'm ecstatic with it. It's painful to read at times, happy and pleasant to read at others, and real. I've never been happier with the ending to a contemporary novel before, and I couldn't see it ending any other way. It was unexpected, but I'm glad it ended the way it did. If you want more information than that, you'll have to read the book! I definitely recommend it!
Rating - ★★★★★

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Review: You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith

Image result for you are here book jennifer e smithTitle: You Are Here
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Contemporary
Age group: Young adult
Pages: 256 (Paperback)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: April 24, 2012


Emma and her neighbor Peter are both lonely in a way that only bothers them on occasion. They both come from families they don’t quite understand. They both feel like something big is missing from their lives—and they’re both about to search for answers. When Emma makes a discovery that shakes the foundations of her identity, she convinces Peter to join her for a road trip. Each of them has something to find: For Emma, it is a grave—a grave that may be her only connection to her family. Peter is seeking something harder to define, but perhaps easier to navigate—a freedom, a sense of something more than what he has. Together, they take to the open road, engaging in a universal quest to make sense of who they are and where they come from…and learning a thing or two about love along the way.


THOUGHTS

Firstly, I want to talk about the cover. I'm honestly not a massive fan of it, because of how much I completely love Jennifer's "theme" of covers. Even though I bought this book not knowing that it came in other editions, it was a good price and the yellow spine is pretty cute.
This was the first book that I've read in months, the first book of Jennifer's that I've read in awhile, and the book I was hoping would get me out of my reading slump. Needless to say, I had some pretty high expectations for this one.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. Both of the main characters were cute and quirky, and I saw a lot of myself in them. The main female character's family is obsessed with school and knowledge, and she doesn't understand anything and can't figure out why she feels so alone and isolated. Her next door neighbour, the main male character, is the perfect son for her family, but can't find anything in common with his own father, creating a tense atmosphere and a lot of awkward family talks, especially about his "unhealthy" obsession with maps and his desire to be anywhere other than where he is.
The main characters, and all of the characters, seemed realistic to me. Jennifer has a way of creating a story that seems like it couldn't happen, but as you read it, it makes perfect sense and it feels like you're driving across the country with the characters in the story. Everyone seemed like they were real people; they all had their secrets, their problems, their own backstory that had nothing, and everything, to do with the other characters in the story.
Although I really did like this story, I felt that it was missing something. It is a very short story, only 256 pages, and I feel like something else could have been done with it.
Overall, I gave it 4/5 stars, and it definately got me out of my reading slump, and I'm ready to read again!
Overall - ★★★★☆