Hey everyone! It’s Wednesday once again, which of course means, a WWW Wednesday post! The biggest news I have really is the fact that I read both Lady Midnight and A Gathering of Shadows, both of which I absolutely loved! Though agh, I’m still reading Illuminae. Oops.
Alright, let’s get to the actual books!
WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On a World of Words), where we answer the following questions:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Okay, yes, I realize I have been reading this for almost over a week now, and yes, I realize that I have been giving priority to other books instead of this one BUT I swear, I’m actually going to focus on this now. (Well, I’ll try. And that counts for something, right?) I really do want to finish this book!
I (shockingly) managed to find time to finish the rest of the Tales from Shadowhunter Academy ebooks! I couldn’t help it; I really wanted to move on to Lady Midnight, but I wanted to finish the tales first. And I’m glad I did–I really enjoyed them!
A Gathering of Shadows was so, so, SO good. But that cliffhanger! Aghhhhh it’s too painful. My emotions were all over for this book, my heart got stomped on, I had some near-screeching moments where characters made unintelligent moves, my heart got stomped on–you know, the usual. It was such a great sequel to the already fantastic ADSOM–It was amazing!
Okay, so my last read for this week was the hugely anticipated Lady Midnight! *Cue fangirling shrieks* Once I finished the Tales from Shadowhunter Academy, I decided I couldn’t wait and dived right into Lady Midnight. And oh. my. god. I cannot even express my feelings of love right now since they’re so intense. I literally devoured this whole book and it was so amazing, just simply fantastic. If you’re hesitating about reading this, I’m telling you, READ ITTTTT. NOWW.
Red Rising is on my list once again this week–and I’m hoping to get to it soon after finishing Illuminae! I’ve been looking forward to jumping on the Pierce Brown bandwagon for a while now. 🙂
The Rest of Us Just Live Here has been one of those books I kept telling myself I’d read, yet never got around to. I’ve put off putting it on my Read Next list for some reason? But now I’m finally going to try and read it. It’s not that I don’t want to.. it’s just I’m scared of my expectations? So.
I’ve been meaning to read The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (woo, that’s a mouthful) for a while now, due to its intriguing synopsis and the things I’ve heard about it. I doubt I’ll actually be able to read this, but I do plan on reading it sometime!
Unlike the rest of the above books I mentioned, Vicious isn’t technically part of my March TBR, but I’ve decided that I most definitely want to read it this month! It’s been on my TBR FOREVER and now, having read ADSOM and AGOS, I’m craving for another novel by V.E. Schwab.
Alright so that’s it for this week’s WWW Wednesday! It’s been a busy week, though not as much as usual, but I’m still quite shocked I managed to get through so much! Lady Midnight and A Gathering of Shadows both were quite long novels, haha. Though totally worth it!
What books have you been reading recently? What do you think of the books this week? Anyone else out there who’s read Lady Midnight or A Gathering of Shadows? I’d love to chat, so leave all and any of your thoughts in the comments! ❤ Hope you’re enjoying your day!
Sorry, that song has been stuck in my head for some reason. But hi, hello! I know it’s Tuesday, and I swear, I had really meant to do a Top Ten Tuesday post, but it’s felt like a while since I posted the last discussion, so I thought, why not write up another one? I promise I will be doing Top Ten Tuesday posts once again sometime, but today is not that day! As the title dictates, for this post, I’m going to be talking about things I wish I knew or did back when I was a newbie blogger. In many ways I still consider myself to be one, to be honest, (there’s new things I learn everyday!) but I suppose technically, since I’ve been blogging for a year now, I’m not as much of a newbie anymore–at the very least, I have the basics of the whole blogging thing down. 😉 But back in the day, when I first started blogging, there were many things I didn’t know! So, now, to walk down memory lane, I’ve decided to think about those things and reflect on the things I know now–that I wish I had known before. Oh, also, warning: this is a no judgement-zone! Mine is a fragile ego. XD (LOL jk but entertain me, why don’t you.) If you judge you shall get no chocolate. And that’s a horror you don’t even want to consider, right? Right. Exactly. *nods*
Alright, now that we got that cheerful little thing out of the way, let’s get on to it, shall we?
1. I don’t have to post everything on one single day.
Erm, I hope I’m not the only one who thought this? Back when I first started blogging, I was under the impression that I had to write several posts in one day. And can you guess? I wrote many posts, for one day. Uhhhh, nope. I was most definitely mistaken! Firstly, there’s no requirement for anything. If I wanted I could post nothing on a day, or 10. Who knows. Secondly, there’s really no point in posting everything in one day (though if you wanted to, of course, that’s all your choice). So. Once I noticed that I was just wasting time posting so many posts in a day, it became much better, yes yes. Which brings me too the second point:
2. There’s this magical thing called a scheduling button.
Okay, so I knew I had the option of scheduling posts, like, many weeks (perhaps months, I dunno really) after I started blogging? (Hush hush, no judgement here, remember?) But I (in a move that boasts of utter ridiculousness, to be honest) kind of ignored it for.. oh, I dunno. Months, definitely. Lots of months. I don’t even know why? Maybe it was just paranoia that it wouldn’t work, or… I really don’t know. Once I actually took the big step and used it (like, 10 thousand years later. Well, slight exaggeration, but whatever.) it turned out to be great and quite useful! So yeah, I most definitely would’ve wanted to have use it before. XD Again, I don’t even know what kept stopping me from using it? What can I say, I’m a confusing person. We’ve established this.
3. I don’t have to be worried about putting my personality out there.
I think it’s kind of natural, at the very start of blogging, that our personality isn’t, perhaps.. as clear? Okay, okay, I know that explains nothing whatsoever, but like, I mean.. aghhh sorry excuse my moment of utter failing-at-lifeness there. Basically what I’m trying to say is that I feel like when I first started blogging, in the back of my mind, I might’ve been more reserved in terms of letting my voice and my personality show through my writing. Now, as I am more comfortable with blogging and everything, I think I make more of a conscious effort to be ME in my posts, and show more of who I am than before. And I love it? It makes the blogging experience so much the more genuine and I wish I hadn’t been so worried about my voice and personality and what other nonsense had been going through my head back at the start, lol. 😉
4. Creating graphics is nothing to fret over!
Back when I first started blogging, I had been in awe of all the amazing graphics I saw on other people’s blogs. When I saw that the blogger himself/herself created the graphic, I was in even more awe! Yes, I know I know. Hush children. No judging, remember? XD Come on, I can’t have been the only one in this situation, right? But anyway, yes, I was in awe. And then I became confused as to what I would do in terms of graphics. I love design and appreciate art (though I’m terrible at art like drawing, music and the like) After all, pictures always make everything so much the more interesting! But as I discovered later on, creating graphics is not too difficult! After searching online (because duh, Google has basically all the answers. LOL) I found many helpful graphic design websites, like PicMonkey, Canva, among others. My only wish was that I took the initiative to find out how to make graphics much earlier! It’s not that difficult, really, when you have the right tools.
5. It takes time to get successful stats and followers.
Although the definition of success depends from person to person, the universal key to remember is that everything takes time–especially stats and followers. Building up a successful following takes a while (most of the time). Having the types of expectations that you’ll get 100 followers in a day sadly holds no weight and will get you nowhere. For me, I wouldn’t say I had such an expectation, but it did take a while to accept that I won’t be receiving tons and tons of likes, comments, and followers in just a little bit of time. 😉 I did end up accepting it in the end (it might’ve been hard to find amusement in blogging if I hadn’t) but I do wish I knew this when I first started blogging! The first couple of weeks can be tough (lol), when you kind of find that no one is actually reading your posts and you’re talking to yourself. XD But the important thing is not to be worried or stressed out! It’ll happen eventually.
6. It’s okay if I have to go on hiatus.
This is something which I still don’t like to do very much, LOL, but it is especially something I wish I knew back when I first started blogging! I was in grade 11 when I first started, and at times (lol, who am I kidding, almost all the time) it became tough to juggle so many things at once; school, reading, blogging, there’s only so much time you have to spend for each. And sometimes taking a break is what we need to balance everything, you know? I know that now, but it would definitely have helped if I had known that before. 😀 I think, it felt like if I took a hiatus and didn’t blog, for, I don’t know, even a week or something, I’d lose followers, and people would forget about my blog, and whatnot. It’s a worry that’s long gone now, but as a newbie, I couldn’t help but think that way, lolllllll.
7. Other bloggers don’t bite!
As a newbie in the book blogging community, where I was surrounded with a bunch of other bloggers who had so many more followers than my humble, like, 10 (lol I don’t actually know how much I had back then) it definitely could be intimidating to actually find the courage to talk to them! Now, I know it’s ridiculous to think that way–bloggers don’t bite! They’re just as human and just as friendly as the rest of us, and it’s 100% okay to talk to them. Thank goodness I ended up talking to other bloggers in the end after all; or else I’d be quite a hermit and quite lonely, lolllll. XD Talking to these bloggers back at the start, and even now, created such lovely friendships and it’s the greatest. Truly. ❤
8. It is impossible to read each and every single blog post that appears in my blog feed.
Truer words have never been spoken, if I do say so myself. I mean, have YOU been able to read every blog post that arrives in your Reader? Didn’t think so. But back then, I tried quite hard to do so (and comment too!) which, proved to be quite futile in the end save for the posts I actually did manage to read and comment on. I followed quite a lot of blogs back then (and even more now!) and there were SO MANY posts appearing all the time. It’s impossible to read them all! Don’t fret if you can’t read/comment on each post; I doubt it’s even possible unless you follow, like, less than maybe 10 blogs. Which I doubt is the case? I did (and still do) put an effort into commenting and reading at least some of the posts that appear in my Reader, but it would’ve definitely saved me a lot of time had I not attempted to read all, or almost all, of the posts that I find. 😉
9. It’s okay to be different.
Whether it be in terms of what you post, what your blog looks like, how you talk and how you fangirl, it’s okay if it’s not like everyone else. Normal is overrated! Be unique, be yourself, and that’s all that matters. I think, when I first started blogging, I wanted more to be like the other bloggers? Kind of? A smidge? Not that I was afraid to be different, but more that I felt like I should be like everyone else. Wrong! Totally wrong. There is no need whatsoever for you to be like everyone else, and when I accepted this, it became so much more fun for me and more, I don’t know, free. It’s partly the reason why I’m still holding on to the theme I currently have (light text on dark background), despite thinking about changing it. It’s a lot more uncommon, as far as I’ve noticed!
10. I’m blogging for MYSELF first and foremost.
Perhaps one of the most important things I wished I knew as a newbie blogger, this is one that I still remind myself about. When blogging gets tough and we get caught up in the stats game and it becomes, you know, less of a hobby and more of a job, this is the best thing to think of! We blog for ourselves and no one else, and that’s what matters. (LOLLLL notice how all the other ones I ramble about FOREVER yet this one I spare three sentences. This says nothing about importance or anything! I’m just lost at what other things to say. :P)
Alright, so that’s it for this post! The 10 things I wish I knew as a newbie blogger. Don’t leave me hanging; do let me know your thoughts in the comments! ❤ I’d love to know which of the YOU wish you knew as well, when you first started blogging. Feel free to let me know all and any of your thoughts! I’d love to chat. Oh, and just a little note; I might be disappearing, in and out for the next couple of weeks! It’s getting super busy and it’s incredibly difficult to keep up with blogging sometimes. But I will still be around!
Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying your Tuesday! ❤
Hiiii! Not so long ago (or was it long ago?? I don’t remember. Roughly 2 weeks ago?? Maybe? Whatever. You know what I mean) I reached my 1-year blogiversary, and mentioned a giveaway on the way, am I right? Well, I’m here to keep good on that promise! I cannot stress enough how grateful I am for all your support; you guys have all become my friends, and I only want to give you guys something back for all the things you have given me! Okay, yes yes I know I’m sounding extra cheesy today—but hey, don’t judge. I’ll be back to the fangirling-yet-unemotional chocolate bar you all know soon enough.
Point is: I’m celebrating with a giveaway! And it happens to be my birthday near the end of this month, so I guess I’m celebrating that too, lol. So. My birthday isn’t till the 24th of this month, but whatever, right?? My blogiversary was a couple of weeks ago anyway. I know you’re all eager for the giveaway, but there are a few things I must mention first…
Blog Survey
This is totally optional, but I’d love to get some feedback on my blog! I created a survey, and I’d appreciate it so much if you guys took the time to answer. You can also get a few extra entries for the giveaway by doing so! Only some of the questions are mandatory, but, of course, I’d love it so much the more if you completed the whole thing! Here it is:
(If that doesn’t seem to work for you, you can get the link to it here.)
Thank you SO MUCH in advance!! ❤
Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt?? You ask. Why yes. Basically you just have to copy and answer the 5 questions in a comment below. To find the to the questions, you’ll have to scavenge around my blog! You don’t have to do it, of course, but you get the chance for more giveaway entries if you play the game.
Though, just a little disclaimer: this game can’t be credited as my idea. I actually scavenged it off from other blogs who’ve done something like this before, like Cait @ Paper Fury and a few other bloggers. (Haha, get it? Scavenged? Scavenger hunt? Okay, okay, I’ll stop.)
Some of these questions may have more than 1 right answer, by the way. You all know how bad I am with questions requesting only one answer! Are you ready for this? Okay, here they are:
A book I read in 2016 that I rated 5 stars?
A book that released 3 days ago (March 8th) that I can’t wait to read?
One of my favourite genres?
One (or more) of my 2016 bookish/bloggish resolutions?
A book I often fangirl about?
*Bonus: Something I’m scared of (it’s an animal, by the way.)
If you’re able to answer these questions without scavenging too much, good for you! Though I think they’re pretty easy to answer? Kind of? Either way, good luck! May the force of books and chocolate be with you. (I haven’t ever watched Star Wars, btw *cue gasps of horror*—yes, I know—so I hope that reference makes sense?)
*This actually will only be having one answer? I mentioned this A LONG time ago, in a post–so maybe if you’ve been here for awhile you might know it? Otherwise, you can always scavenge for the answer! 😛
Aaaaaand, the giveaway!
So, what you’ve all been waiting for! But before you guys go clickety-click and start entering entries, here are a few rules and things to remember:
One winner gets to choose a book from The Book Depository up to a value of $25 (in Canadian dollars).
Open internationally as long as Book Depository ships to your country. (Details here.)
Giveaway begins today (March 11th, 2016) and ends in around 3 weeks on April 1st, 2016 (Don’t worry, if you’re the winner, this won’t all be an April Fool’s joke. XD)
After the contest time I will be randomly choosing the winner through Rafflecopter. (On April 2nd, 2016)
Winner has 48 hours to respond before I choose another winner.
You must be 18 years of age to enter or have parental consent to provide me your mailing address.
Winner’s personal information will be kept private and will not be publicized or used in any way other than to ship the book.
Entries will be checked and deleted if they’re don’t qualify—so no cheating please!
Now, time for the giveaway! Here it is. Gobble it up, guys. You’re welcome. 😀 Now talk to me in the comments: what book would you like to receive, from TBD? Oh, and here’s some chocolate if you participate in the scavenger hunt or do the survey. ❤ Hope you guys are all enjoying your Friday!
It’s Thursday and I decided it was time for another discussion! Though this time it’s more along the lines of my other post I did a couple of weeks ago, I think, about Types of Book Bloggers, instead of my usual Book Snacks Babbles posts–this time about Types of Readers!
It was so much fun the last time, so I thought, why not? After all, some more categorization can’t hurt. Better get comfy, because this time I have quite a bit. 18, actually. Woo! All of us are most probably more than one type.. let’s see which of them we are!
The Procrastinating Reader
Ah, what a positive one to start off with. ;D The procrastinating reader is the one who, true to the name, PROCRASTINATES. Uh, yeah, no duh. This type of reader, although has the intention to read the books on their TBR and such, never gets around to it due to some reason or another–usually made up. “Oh, I have to clean my room,” says the procrastinating reader to the already-neat-and-pristine bedroom. “Oh, I need to cook dinner.” says the procrastinating reader at 4:30 PM. You know the deal. Kind of the equivalent of the anti-reader, yet not…? The intention is there, the will is not, I guess.
The Fast Reader
These are, (obviously) the readers who seem to be able to devour books in one bite. Or the readers who just simply have the capability of, well reading fast! I like to think I’m a relatively fast reader, myself, though there are people who are much faster than me. 😉 Kudos to you if you’re a fast reader! It can definitely be useful for finishing books faster, am I right? Haha.
The Slow Reader/The Absorbing Reader
Naturally, with the fast reader, there is also the opposite, the slow reader, or, the softer term for it, the absorbing reader. This reader, takes his/her time to absorb the words he/she is reading, you know? It takes them a longer time to read a book, sure, but they get the chance to savor the writing and the story. 😉 So don’t feel bad if you’re a slow reader! It doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
The Any-Book-Or-Genre Reader
This reader reads all and any books or genres! Nothing is off-limits, everything is a possibility. Whether it be a big book, a small book, a fantasy book or a non-fiction book, this reader is open to everything. Pretty straight-forward! This type of reader has it pretty easy in terms of finding a good book; after all, since this reader is open to so many possibilities, there’s bound to be at least one that he/she will enjoy. So, if any of you are this type, good for you! You’re very open-minded, which is good. 🙂
The Picky Reader
Basically the polar opposite of the above type, the picky reader is incredibly.. well, picky. He/she has special requirements, or only a certain type/genre of books that he/she likes to read. It can generally become quite difficult to find something satisfying or a book that meets the requirements of this reader because they’re either so specific or there aren’t many that exist! For all of you picky readers out there… good luck getting the exact type of book you want! (You know what they say though; if there isn’t the book you want to read already written, write it yourself!)
The ebook Reader
Exactly what the name dictates, the ebook reader reads.. ebooks! Now, it doesn’t have to mean that this reader likes to read ONLY ebooks, but mostly that they often or at least sometimes read ebooks–and enjoy it. They don’t mind ebooks, and they generally have either an e-reader (such as Kindle, or Kobo) or an app on their phone/ipad/device/whatnot that allows them to purchase and read ebooks.
We’re high-tech, bruh.
The Audio Reader
I cannot claim to know what this experience entails, but the audio reader is what I’m naming the people who prefer to read audiobooks over physical books or ebooks–or people who often use audiobooks. I’m most definitely not one of those people (there’s something about audiobooks that drive me nuts.. I’ve never actually completed one whole audiobook? I just couldn’t.) but there are definitely a lot of people who enjoy the audiobook experience! It seems to be pretty common.
The Constantly-in-a-slump Reader
I suppose this is kind of similar to the procrastinating reader? But not exactly. This type of reader, is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a reader.. who often finds herself/himself not in the mood to read. So, in a reading slump. Except the reading slump is almost always present. There’s no specific reason as to why or how this is caused, but oftentimes (I’m assuming, at least. I can’t speak from experience on this one) it’s due to either stress, school/work, or any other issues. And when you don’t feel like reading, well, there’s no point forcing it ’cause it ain’t gonna get you anywhere, really.
The Critical Reader
The critical reader is a bit more of a.. I dunno, different name, for the harsh reader. Analyzing even the tiniest thing, the critical reader often spots flaws and problems in a book more easily and faster than anything else. Nothing escapes their sight! Their critical eye and expertise in focusing on important details, or flaws, can prove to be useful, but may also lead low-ish ratings, and less-than-stellar opinions, if you know what I mean.
The Full-of-feels/fangirl(Boy) Reader
Again, pretty self-explanatory (tbh, most of these are, but hushhh. Small details. I like to talk.) but this reader is the one who’s often just full of ALL the feels. Most of the time they enjoy almost all of the books they read, whether it be because they single out the books in their comfort zone, or just because they’re always overwhelmed by the feels. 😉 When they’re reading a book, more often that not these readers are able to find many aspects throughout the novel to fangirl over, or aspects that they adore. Fangirling is a common occurrence for them! (Then again, I suppose this goes for most bookworms.)
The Re-Reader
The re-reader, of course, is singling out the readers who often re-read books, and really love doing so! If I’m being honest this was me, many, many years ago?? There’s just such an appeal to re-reading sometimes–it can be comforting to go back to a book you know you loved before. Nowadays this isn’t really one I’d say I can claim (not enough time to re-read, I’m afraid), but I do know there are many (or at least a few) that can.
The Late-Nighter/Sleepy Reader
I’ve never actually met a reader who fits with this type, but I’m assuming it’s a possibility? Basically it’s the reader who always, or almost always, reads at night, before going to bed–and almost always ends up falling asleep despite the promises like, “I’ll get to chapter 18!” or “I will finish this book tonight.” I might’ve been this type, actually, a few times, lol. Books are great and all, but… sleep is sleep, so.
So basically you’re reading, reading, but then you get so tired.. Though let’s be real, this gif represents basically everyone, almost all the time. Okay, fine. It represents ME, all the time. XD
The Mood Reader
The mood reader (lol, I know it sounds like a person who reads your mood, but that’s not what I’m talking about) is the type of reader who chooses what to read based on how they’re feeling. I am totally a mood reader sometimes! Following our moods can be so helpful in finding a book that goes well with how we’re feeling. It might be that we’re sad and we’re looking for a book to cheer us up or we’re sad/frustrated/angry and looking for a book to reflect our feelings–or anything else of the sort. You know what I mean!
The Easily Emotional Reader
Better get that box of tissues out! The Easily Emotional reader is someone who can often become very emotional (aka brings out the water works) very easily. Whether it be a contemporary novel dealing with cancer or suicide, or a fantasy novel that kills off one of the main characters, or a book with a super cheesy and happy ending, this reader has tears for them all. And this is not a bad thing! I can’t say I’ve been in such a situation before, but I do know there are many people who can become easily emotional while reading so I thought I should put in this category.
The Ambitious Reader
Omg this is totally meeeeeeee. XD This reader is one who sets incredibly high goals, and who just wants to READ THEM ALL. And by them I mean books, if you didn’t know. But obviously you knew that. Characteristics of an ambitious include (but are not limited to) having an incredibly large TBR (though this is kind of a universal bookworm one, but whatever), setting a very high goal for the number of books he/she wants to read throughout the year or during a month, etc. (So ME ME ME. Oops.)
The Binge-reader
This can be me? Sometimes? I mean, I occasionally (well, rarely, but still) binge-read a series or something, but that’s the extent of it. So in some cases the reader might simply find binge-reading a good reading method for them–in which case, great! I can’t do that myself, but good for you. Otherwise, the binge-reader just gets into the habit of binge-reading accidentally after spending a lot of free time on other stuff, and attempting to catch up with reading afterwards.
The Book Polygamist/Multi-Reader
This is another type that applies to me as well, at times. Basically it’s a reader who reads several books at once. A polygamist, if you didn’t know, means being married to several people at once. Hence the term book polygamist was born. But I kind of prefer the term multi-reader, or multi-tasking reader? I’m fine with saying a book polygamist, (it’s a creative term, at least!), but since polygamy is typically looked down upon in real life, I’d prefer not to promote, however indirectly, the same idea when it comes to books. 😉 But anyway, this reader, is simply one who reads several books at once! This is something that I used to struggle with before, but I’ve gotten quite used to and quite good with juggling several books at once, so it’s not quite as confusing or difficult as people would imagine.
The All-Nighter/3 AM Reader
What is even sleep?? asks the all-nighter Basically the opposite of the late night reader, the all-nighter is, as the name suggests, a reader who sacrifices their night, in favour of reading. Lol, I make it sound so much more ominous than it is, oops. Although I’m a total advocate for sleep (I love sleeping, guys. Almost as much as books and chocolate.) I can totally understand this! I become an all-nighter/3 AM reader (which, by the way is basically the same thing, except that perhaps they get at least a bit of sleep. :P) when it comes to really good books, soooo. Come on don’t deny it, you’ve been guilty of staying up super late before, or even pulling an all-nighter, to finish a book. 😉
Phew! That took a while. XD I did a lot more than the amount I listed for types of book bloggers, haha. And these aren’t even the only types of readers, I’m sure. But I’m going to leave it at that for now; I think 18 is more than enough, don’t you think? So tell me: what types of readers do you consider yourself to be? Do we have any in common? I’d consider some types I am to be the the multi-reader, the ambitious reader, the ebook reader, etc. What types would you say I am? XD Let us babble in the comments!
Okay, sooo firstly, let me just freak out over the fact that Lady Midnight came out yesterday!! *Dies* Ahhhh I’m heading over to buy it soon, definitely. I’d have pre-ordered it but eh. For some reason I’m not a big fan of pre-ordering? Call me crazy, but yeah. I can’t wait to buy it, omg. I still don’t have it though.. SOB.
BUT that’s not the point of this post, ah yes. Apart from Lady Midnight news, I started A Gathering of Shadows! I posted my review of the first book on Monday and I started the second book now, I’m so excited!! But let me share the rest of my bookish on-goings…
WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On a World of Words), where we answer the following questions:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
I started Illuminae several days ago.. but I haven’t made much progress with it? I know, I know, I really have to get going with it but in between I started Frozen Tides and I finished that and then so I unintentionally went on a pause from Illuminae, and then.. well, point is, I still have a lot to go on this, agh. But it’s not bad so far!
After writing up my review on A Darker Shade of Magic, I didn’t waste any time starting A Gathering of Shadows! In hindsight it might’ve been better to have finished Illuminae first, but… temptation bit hard. So far it’s really good–and I can’t wait to read more of it!
The Accident Season was SO GOOD! It was so entertaining to read, not to mention I loved the writing and the characters were very well-written. Ahhh. And there were so many little things that I loved! The whole magical realism thing going on was super cool too. Definitely recommend for those who don’t mind a little creepiness and are looking for a contemporary/magical realism crossover-type book!
I started Frozen Tides while in the midst of reading Illuminae, as it was the last book to read for the Falling Kingdoms read-along (the next books in the series haven’t been published yet) and it was amazing. I could not put it down and it was absolutely addicting! I found myself loving the characters and everything a lot more (although critically, it wasn’t as good as how much I enjoyed it.)
Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy and The Lost Herondale are both books part of the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy series, and *gasp* I hadn’t read them yet, so with the release of Lady Midnight, I decided to read them! I absolutely can’t wait to read Lady Midnight, but I’m hoping to finish the 10 novellas in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy first. (Apparently there are characters in it that will appear in Lady Midnight too?)
I ended up taking off Lola and the Boy Next Door, which was on my list last week, to add again another time. Right now I’m too much in a fantasy and action-type mood to pick up anything else, though I might change my mind.
So, after The Lost Herondale comes The WhitechapelFiend followed by Nothing But Shadows! I’m hoping to get at least those two read, and maybe even more so I can start Lady Midnight as soon as possible. 😉
Red Rising has been on my TBR for quite some time, and although I doubt I will be getting to it this week, I’m adding it to the list, just to make sure I remember to read it at least some time soon. Hopefully. I can’t wait!
And of course, Lady Midnight is on my list once again. I know I mentioned I’d read the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy before I read LM, and I’m hoping to do that, but I might just give in to the temptation and read this as soon as I get it. Lol. Do I even need to say I’m excited? It would be an understatement anyway.
Alright, so that’s it for this week! I’m still crying over the fact that I still don’t have Lady Midnight, but I’m calmed (like, by 0.000000001%) because I started A Gathering of Shadows—which I’m so excited to read!! I’m hoping to complete Illuminae as well, I’ve heard so much about it and I feel bad for kind of neglecting it in favour of other books, haha.
How has your week gone? What books on here have you read? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! ❤
Hi everyone! Does anyone happen to have some chocolate on hand? Because we must celebrate!! Why, you ask? THIS BOOK, is why. (!!!!!!!!!—yes, let us put ALL the exclamation points) This book is so amazingly amazing and I’m asking myself why I waited so long to read it??! So many people have been screeching in my ear to read this, and I’m so thankful I finally did!! If I had missed out on this book… I don’t even want to think about that because it would be too terrible.
Alright, for further rambling fangirling nonsense detail, read on!
Publication Date: February 24th 2015 Publisher: Tor Books Genre(s): Fantasy, Adult Series Status: Shades of Magic #1 Page Count: 398 Source & Format: Owned, ebook + Hardcover Critical Rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.
Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London—but no one speaks of that now.
Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her ‘proper adventure’.
But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—trickier than they hoped.
Erm, I might have to warn you here; I probably will not make any sense whatsoever—but then again, what else is new, right?? I don’t even know how to form proper words right now, ahem. So I’m going to be a list-but-not-really-type review–and hope it makes sense. Here we go!
Reasons why you should read ADSOM
So much blood. And stabbing! And many near-deaths, might I add. (Notice how this is the first thing I mention, aha I’m totally not crazy or psychotic, psh.) Though, I must say. It. Was. AWESOME. I mean, tension! Conflict! Danger! So much was going on, and then in the midst of it, of course you had to have some blood and, of course, stabbing (omg so much stabbing). I don’t think the descriptions were too graphic, though, so if you’re easily squeamish about these things, you should probably be fine.. then again, I read all of this so quickly I probably didn’t bat and eye so I guess I’m not the best consultant for that. But still. You should be fine. Point is: there was no holding back on the pain in this book! If that’s something you don’t mind, well, this is perfect.
The world is made of ALTERNATE LONDONS. That is Analee-approved right there. If you didn’t know already, I’m kind of mildly obsessed with London?? Or England in general, but LONDON. ❤ And so a book where we have alternate Londons is.. simply perfect? (Though tbh it could’ve been ANY country that isn’t in North America and I would’ve been fine–erm, I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of different countries so.)
Which brings me to how the world-building was so perfectly perfect. Or maybe that’s just me blinded by how amazing this book was, but really, apart from the few parts where I was kind of lost as to how it all worked (which was mostly my fault for being slow at grasping things, I think), the world in this book was so intricate and so finely done. Eep, my praise is endless. It was just so easy to fall into this world V.E. Schwab created, and I loved it.
KELL. My love. Not to mention HIS COAT, omg it’s so fabulous. XD I want one! Ah, yes, right, we were talking about Kell. Right. Kell is just as fabulous, of course! Such a great mix of the tragic, gloomy hero-yet-not, as well as very flawed, but so lovable. Oh, and his comebacks were just on point? Three cheers for sass, guys! It was so easy for me to love his character, eep.
Lila will most probably become one of your favourite characters? Maybe. I mean, I can’t say this was the case for me exactly (I did like her, don’t get me wrong, but it took me some time to warm up to her? More on that below.) but she had so many of the characteristics I (and most other people) love, so yay! (Erm, I doubt I’ve ever came across a thief with aspirations of being a pirate, sooo.)
Rhy: Charming. dashing and sassy, all in one! I loved Rhy, really. I only wish he appeared more in the story! I loved his and Kell’s brotherly relationship and his character. ❤
Holland was just such a well-written character! He did such terrible things and I hated him, but at the same time I found myself sympathizing with him? Ah, the conflict. Morally ambiguous characters are the best aha.
SO MUCH SASS. From Kell and Lila, but also from other characters too—and it was amazing. 😀 I had so much fun reading the banter and all the snarky comebacks tossed back and forth!
The magical coat (with lots of sides and pockets) is soo perfect. It was literally making me jealous. I want ittttttt (yes, I know I already said that before). And yes, that’s a valid reason as to why you should read this book. Because of a magical coat, yep. Why are you questioning this?
The writing was SO PERFECT. Concise and specific yet detailed—and not info-dumpy whatsoever (or if it was, it sure didn’t feel like it). The descriptions, the world, everything seemed to come alive due to the fantastic writing, so I LOVE IT. Definitely making me want to pick up more of Victoria Schwab’s novels! ❤
The itty-bitty-little things you might want to be aware of
It takes a while to really get the story in motion. I don’t blame it, and truthfully it didn’t bother me that much because I hardly noticed, but depending on the type of reader you are, you might get impatient with the pace of the story! I assure you, it’s totally worth it to keep going with the novel, because it progresses really quickly once you get into the story.
Lila, although a good character, wasn’t someone I loved right away. I wasn’t the biggest fan of her at first? I mean, she’s totally a character I tend to enjoy (sass? check. stubborn? check. rebel?–well, thief, actually–check.) but it actually took me some time to actually like her? At best I tolerated her during the first few parts. The thing is, I can’t even pinpoint what made me feel this way? Argh. But like I mentioned above, I warmed up to her well enough by the end of the book. So that’s good!
Rhy doesn’t get as much spotlight as I wished. 😦 I loved his character and he did appear many times, but it didn’t feel like that much? Or at least not as much as I would’ve liked. I dunno. Maybe that’s just me. I just wouldn’t have minded seeing more of him, haha.
Overall…
This book is completely worth your time and commitment, I tell you. The hype around this one most definitely did not disappoint (for me, at least) and I’m 98% sure that most people would agree with me when I say this book is amazing. Great writing, great world, lots of stabbing, amazing characters and lots of sass–what more could you ask for, am I right? So better go gobble this up soon if you haven’t already! 😉
Umm, I think that’s it?? Basically, I loved this book. It was just so good. (Again, we must get chocolate to celebrate this amazing novel!) It had so many amazing components to it that I loved, and I definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a fantasy novel with great world-building and amazing writing (and everything else, really)!
I’m kind of sad I didn’t read this sooner, but I’m kind of glad because now I have the chance to go straight away to A Gathering of Shadows! I would’ve started it already, but I wanted to write up my review of the first book before I read it, so now that I’ve done that, I will most definitely be continuing with AGOS. So excited!
Alright, now tell me what YOU think! Have you read this book? What did you love? What did you dislike? Am I the only one who liked the stabbing? XD And I sure hope I’m not the only one who took time warming up to Lila, aha. Oh, and would anyone like to give me a magical multi-sided coat? Seriously, someone needs to make this happen. I’d totally buy one. If you haven’t read this book yet, let me know what you think! Do you plan on reading it? What are you looking forward to the most? Is there other London-obsessed people out there? (If so, you should definitely read this book. Just sayin’.) Leave your thoughts below, I’d love to chat! ❤
The first discussion of March! Welcome, bookish chocolate bars. Welcome. I had been thinking of doing another blogger-related post, but since I’ve already been doing several blogger-related posts, I decided to change things up and bring out more of our bookwormishness (yes, that’s a word now) with this post. 😉
So, from my title, you obviously know what this post is about, which is: Do you let reviews sway your opinion before or after you read a book? (Lol. Yes, I know, I state the obvious. Your point is?) As part of the book blogging community, most of us, if not all, sometimes or often reads reviews of either books they’ve read, books they’re anticipating, or just a plain book they’ve never heard of. Right? Most plainly put, often reviews are to help the readers reading the review decide whether they want to read a book or not. And if a person has already read the book, well, then it’s because they want to see what the other person has thought about it.
But does reading these reviews affect our opinion, when we’ve already read the book or have yet to read it? Let’s babble!
‘Before’ Scenarios
Reading a positive review on a book we haven’t read
This usually leads to: building up hype and personal expectations. Obviously. Oftentimes this is the case, when I read a review on a book that either has yet to be released, or simply a book I haven’t read. Lately it’s usually the former that occurs most often for me? Though the latter occurs too. It’s kind of natural, when I read a glowing review talking about all the things this person liked in the book, all the amazing things that are all things I love to read about… well, it’s just something that happens subonciously, sometimes for me; I’m intrigued, and as I read more reviews on this book sharing these positive sentiments, I have expectations set! Behold, the power of the hype.
But you already know that, of course—I’d bet most of you can agree that you’ve felt this way before as well! 😉 This, in turn usually ends up going at least one of these two ways:
1. Having super high expectations…that ARE met.
Ahh, this is one of the most satisfying feelings, to be honest. When you have really high expectations of a book, and they actually met them (or even, surpassed them), it’s just SO AMAZING. Seriously, it’s just so nice and comforting to know that there are books that actually can live up to the awesomeness you build up in your head, especially when you think they won’t. Most of the time, having such high expectations leads to disappointment, which brings us to the next possibility (which isn’t so amazing):
2. Having super high expectations… that AREN’T met.
While the above one is absolutely amazing, this one is terrible, really! After having such an awesome idea of the book in your head, having to find that the book doesn’t meet this expectations at all really sucks. Believe me, I know. Even though you know it was a possibility, seeing how having such high expectations definitely makes it hard for books to meet them, you’re still super disappointed, you know? Or at least I am. *SIGH* (Reawakened, I’m looking at you. You could’ve been so much better, gah.)
Eeep, I’m rambling again. Basically my point is: reading a positive review on a book we haven’t read can be both great and dangerous! I guess it all comes down to hype, and expectations, really. Wicked things, our expectations. (Why does that sound like it should be said with a British accent??)
Reading a negative review on a book we haven’t read
This kind of goes the opposite of the above, really! Especially if we read several negative reviews on one book. It creates expectations, for sure… though, let’s just say they’re not that high. For me, personally, I have to say I tend to add many books-with-bad-reviews on my TBR, though oftentimes I don’t actually prioritize them? Well, I don’t prioritize them at all, really. Which isn’t actually a good thing, because, hey. Maybe it’ll end up being a book I like a lot more than the person who didn’t like it, right? But if I don’t really prioritize it, chances are I won’t be getting to it soon. Obviously. Though maybe it’ll be someday?
However, sometimes what happens is that I forego putting the book on my TBR at all, which, although basically leads to the same result as the first, just shows I don’t even really consider the thought of reading it. This doesn’t happen to me often, but I’m sure it happens a lot more for other people, perhaps? Again, it’s not a good thing either way—but what to do? Just like reading a positive review created high expectations, reading a negative review might lead to low expectations—or foregoing the book completely.
‘After’ Scenarios
Reading a negative review on a book we loved
Soo the other day I was eating chocolate—of course—and reading a review of Made You Up by Francesca Zappia, which happened to be a book I loved. The review, however didn’t share my sentiments—in fact it was the complete opposite. Let me get this clear: I, LOVE reading negative reviews. They’re always so interesting to read! And I’m not saying it wasn’t the case for this book, believe me, it was. Interesting to read, that is. But as I read it, (what later became the inspiration of this post, actually) it made me re-think of all the things I previously praised.. that this person is suddenly pointing out as a flaw.
And I’m not trying to say this was a bad thing. I mean, it’s great to see a new perspective on something, especially a book we’ve read. But at the same time… this wasn’t necessarily a good thing? At the back of my head, yes, of course I was intrigued on finding a perspective so different from mine, but first and foremost I was subconsciously picking out all the flaws in a book I previously loved. So. Kind of awkward. I guess it’s kind of similar to falling out of love with a book, or at least close, because really, if it’s possible for us to start concentrating on flaws of a book that we previously ignored, then what’s stopping us from changing our minds completely based on these newly found flaws? Right? It’s something to keep in mind, at least.
Reading a positive review on a book we hated
In theory, it makes sense why this scenario would result in us falling in love with said book. Seeing how it seems possible to fall out of love with a book based on a review, the opposite would be true, right? But to be honest, I kind of feel like in practice, this wouldn’t actually work out? I mean, if you go searching for reviews hoping to suddenly fall in love with a book (that you disliked before), it’s almost 100% assured that it won’t work. But even if you read a glowing review on a book you disliked, just, you know, by chance, I feel like it would be much harder for it to sway your opinion? (Sorry for all the question marks, I’m really just going by ear on this. I’m kind of totally rambling here, soo. Please bear with me!)
I don’t know. I’ve never actually fallen in love with a book I hated by reading a review, so maybe it’s that which is affecting my opinion on this. But correct me if I’m wrong; I feel like it might be easier to fall out of love with a book based on a review rather than falling back into love? Maybe it’s because for the former, we’re already aware, when we’re in love with a book, that it DOES have flaws, no matter how much we end up sugarcoating them, so when we read a review pointing out these flaws, well.. it’s more easier to be swayed, you know? For the latter, we’ve picked out all the flaws already so we’re less likely to be swayed by a glowing review when we already hated all or most of the things praised in the review, I guess. Lol.
Last minute babbling…
I think I’m going to have to say a yes for this one! You know me, I usually make no sense whatsoever throughout the whole post, and can’t always come to a firm conclusion, but for this, definitely yes. It may be a positive sway, or it might be negative, but I definitely think it’s possible for a review to sway and influence our opinions, before or after we read a book! Whether this is a good thing or not is almost always determined by the situation. It’s too bad though if reading a review before or after we read the book turns out to be not in our favour!
Alright, so I think I’ve ran out of steam for now! Obviously I must re-energize on chocolate, yes yes. So I’m going to be heading this over to you guys! Tell me some of your thoughts on this, I’d love to chat. Have you ever fallen into a situation where you fell out of love with a book based on a review? Or, have you fallen BACK into love with a book, based on a review? What do you think of reading reviews before you read a book? Good or bad? Do you forego books with negative reviews? What are some books that met your super high expectations? What are some that disappointed you? Whoo, that’s a lot of questions. But I’d love to know your thoughts, so feel free to ramble! Heaven knows I did, in this post. (I hope it all made sense, lol.)
Early last month, I decided to make a monthly TBR, and it went pretty well! It has its pros and cons, at least. I liked it well enough, and it made my TBR seem slightly more manageable, haha. So I decided to try and do it again for this March. I thought I might as well add in the books I managed to finish off of my Feb TBR at the same time! Let’s do this.
Well, I got through half of my TBR, right?! I actually ended up reading a couple of other books though as well, that weren’t originally on my TBR. So I still consider it a success, as I was aiming for around 10 books this month. (I read 12, woo!) You can get a glimpse of what I thought of the books here.
BUT as much as I would’ve loved to, I didn’t finish all the books on here. So I decided to add a few of the ones I didn’t finish to my TBR for March once again!
I hope I get to these! Though I know I won’t, sigh. Positivism!! Right now I’m really wanting to read Red Rising, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, and Illuminae, though the others seem just as great. ❤ I’m no longer quite sure about The Love That Split the World, to be honest, I doubt it will be a priority read for me, but I’m adding it to the list anyway!
*I actually just finished this one yesterday night. IT WAS SO GOOD, btw. ❤ omg.
As for some new additions for this month’s TBR:
A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab: I finished A Darker Shade of Magic last month, and I can’t wait to read the sequel! I’ve heard from some that it’s even better than the first, sooo #squeal!!
Frozen Tides by Morgan Rhodes: The last book in the Falling Kingdoms read-along, I will definitely be finishing Frozen Tides sometime this month, eep!
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare: Omgomgomgit’sfinallyhereIwantitomg okay BREATHE ANALEE BREATHE. As most of you know, I absolutely adore Cassandra Clare, and more specifically her Shadowhunter books. So you can imagine my excitement for this one! It’s being released March 8th and I can’t wait omg.
Map of Fates by Maggie Hall: I finished the first book in the series, The Conspiracy of Us, last year and really enjoyed it! It’s actually so good. The cliffhanger though killed me and I’m dying to read Map of Fates, which is also releasing on March 8th, like Lady Midnight.
The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins: This book is releasing… guess when? Yep, March 8th. And I really want to read it! It’s like a retelling, fantasy thing? I think? It seems soooo good, and I can’t wait to see what it’s like.
Beyond the Red by Ava Jae: This, actually released already, on the first of March! Ahh, let’s just take a moment to gush over the cover. Despite its first impression of being in-our-faces and all, I actually really like it. You can’t say it doesn’t stand out! But anyway. This book seems really good and I really want to read it! ❤
Starflight by Melissa Landers: I’ve previously read Landers’ Alienated (the first in a trilogy), and although it was good, I was hoping for more, I think? And so now I hear Starflight is better than Alienated, soooo. #scaredtohope #buthopesanyway
The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig: This book sounds so deliciously amazing! Apparently it has all sorts of fabulous things that I tend to enjoy—diversity, adventure?, time travel, and maps omg yesss please. Also this book has been so hyped? (Kind of?) So naturally I want to know what it’s like. XD
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton: I found this the other day, in all it’s pretty cover glory, on sale, and of course I couldn’t resist buying it! I don’t know if I’ll actually read it, but, you know, I want to. Duh. It seems intriguing, though I’ve read mixed reviews on it?? I don’t know. I’ll judge for myself, I guess!
The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski: This is releasing at the end of March… *cries in sadness* *dies from anticipation* *stomps angrily in frustration* So I guess technically there’s no point in putting it on my March TBR, but hushhhh. I want to read it now, god. Why do books have to torture us by being released so late?
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: Everyone has been telling me to read this and Isla and the Happily Ever After, and you know me. After ten thousand people have been squealing in my ear, I kind of have to, no? Plus I want to, so it’s all good. 🙂
My Kind of Crazy by Robin Reul: This is an ARC I got on Netgalley, releasing… in early April, I believe? So I’m hoping to read it sometime this month before the release date as well.
So that’s it, I think for this month’s TBR! Aha, it’s ambitious as always, no? (21 books, uhhhh…borders on impossible for me but hushhhh.) Though I doubt, no, I KNOW I won’t be able to read all of these this month (thanks, school. Getting in the way of the most important things as always.) I hope to read at least a few of these. You can be sure that I will definitely be getting through Lady Midnight if nothing else, haha. XD
What do you have planned for March? Do you think my TBR is too ambitious? (LOL only one answer for this one!) What books do you think I should go for first?
Happy reading! ❤
Now if you excuse me, I shall go devour chocolate bars to distract from the torturous wait I have to go through to read Lady Midnight and the other unreleased books. Yes yes. I am smart. 😉 Also chocolate because I started Illuiminae!! I must celebrate.
Ahhh I honestly wonder sometimes; will it always feel like a month passed, in like, a week?? ‘Cause it’s been happening to me since forever, and every time I still can’t believe it. Kind of like how it feels like my chocolate stash always seems to go from a lot to, like, a crumb in a day? (There’s much less of a mystery of how it happened in that case though, lol. #shhthechocolatemonsterisme)
But anyway, case in point: time flies! And I thought I might as well reminisce of how my month of February went, to cling to the past a bit before another month starts to fly by. XD Let’s get on to it!
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard: I kind of succumbed to the hype with this one?? There were so many glowing reviews and the premise just had me so intrigued. I’m going to have to add to the hype now; it was quite entertaining, despite the flaws! I loved it. ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes: To be honest, this was leaning more towards the 3 stars range in terms of the critical aspects (plot, characters, etc.) but in terms of entertainment it’s more of the 4-stars range for me. By no means amazing, but still decent! Hence a final rating of: ★★★☆☆ ½ (3.5 stars)
Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales: I think it’s best to go into this one without knowing too much? At least, it worked out fine that way for me. So I’m not going to say much about this other than this book was so entertaining and really worth the time for me. Such an unconventional love story! ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken: I was debating whether to give this one a 3 vs 3.5 stars—I went with 3. But it was by no means a bad read! I just think in my head, I hyped it up a bit too much, and it turned out to be good, decent, and entertaining, but didn’t live up to MY personal expectations. So.★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: So adorable, this one! I don’t know why I put off reading this for so long. It was really sweet, and great for a light fluffy read. I have the link to the review below, if you want to check it out! (Flawless self-advertising, guys, and I’m not even sorry.) 😉 ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstorm: HahaI seem to have hit on the great contemporaries this month. Despite the difficulty I had at first to get into it, NISUF was delightfully refreshing read that I really loved. It was so interesting reading from the POV of a blind protagonist! ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard: Ahhh the rating for this was such a struggle! I SO wanted to love this, but… there were a bit too many flaws for me to rate this higher than a 3. Unfortunately. I mean, 3 stars isn’t bad, believe me! But in this particular case, 3 is almost stretching it. ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes: To be honest, I think this could very well be the same rating I gave for Rebel Spring, but I decided to add another .5 for entertainment. This book was, as the rest of the books, filled with drama, tension and action, and although maybe critically it wasn’t the best, it was still addicting to read! ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera: Ahhh THIS BOOK. Oh my gosh. My heart literally got stomped into a thousand tiny pieces and it was not okay! Yet I absolutely loved this book. #bookwormlogic. You all should definitely read it! ★★★★☆ ½ (4.5 stars)
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin: I had no idea I’d love this book so much! Although I had read many glowing reviews on it prior to reading it, I had my expectations set medium-ish, and WBW totally surpassed them! Full of action, suspense and even some romance, this book was truly a great read. ★★★★★ (5 stars)
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab: I can’t decide between 4 and 4.5 stars right now, so I’ll just leave it at either or. Because although I really adored this book (it was seriously so good), there were parts that I was more meh about that I can’t ignore, so… but overall absolutely fantastic! ❤ ★★★★☆ ½ (4-4.5 stars)
Stars Above by Marissa Meyer: Ahh, the bind-up collection of the Lunar Chronicles novellas were a pleasure to read! A few I’d already read seperately, but a few I hadn’t and those were great. ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
Hm, looking at this I’m kind of wondering if I’m being too generous?? I don’t know, my ratings seem so high—Lol, I know I make it sound like a bad thing, but it’s really not. Just… gah. I don’t know. A thought to be talked about another time, I guess! But for now, I guess I’ll just leave it at I have had a pretty good month in terms of book ratings! XD
Well, I’d been hoping to write reviews for at least half the books I read… but something’s better than nothing, right? *attempts to make self be optimistic* *fails* *goes off in search of chocolate to cure my sadness*
Yayyy I’ve actually been pretty successful with my discussion posts this month! I had so much fun writing them, eep! Definitely hope to continue the trend March too. 😉
I become a very helpful chocolate bar—as I always am, of course—and share a Valentine’s Day bookish gift guide, which, by the way, represents 187% of what all bookworms want need. So take notes if you must get a gift for a fellow bookworm!
It was time someone took the step and categorized us wild, untamed and plentiful bloggers! I have taken on the challenge and done so in a post about types of book bloggers! You’re welcome. (I’m always open to chocolate as payment, btw.)
Yayyy that was a successful month! Which calls for chocolate! (Success means chocolate. Yes.) February was actually more of a low-key month for me in terms of schoolwork too, which probably explains why I’ve actually been posting quite often. Though now that I’ve said that, watch March be the complete opposite… *SIGH* But anyway, success for now! 😀
So, how had your February gone? Successful? (HAVE SOME CHOCOLATE.) Unsuccessful? (ALSO HAVE SOME CHOCOLATE.) Let me know in the comments, along with any other thoughts you might have! ❤
Hey everyone! I still can’t believe it’s the beginning of March, omg. But it is! And it also happens to be the time for another WWW Wednesday post—so since I know you guys are probably just interested in the books, let’s get to it!
WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On a World of Words), where we answer the following questions:
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
I had meant to finish The Accident Season last month, but I only started it yesterday. Oh well. So far it’s really good, though I’m not too far into it yet. I can’t wait to read more of it! ❤
Ahhhh the hype has most definitely not been wrong for Wolf by Wolf!! It was absolutely spectacular, guys, if you haven’t read it already, I’m telling you, you absolutely should! Even if you’re not a fan of historical fiction, I assure you this book is amazing.
A Darker Shade of Magic is SUCH A HYPED BOOK, especially with the release of its sequel! And so yes, I finally read it, and god, I’m asking myself now, what on earth took me so long to get to it??! Although there were a few things that I wasn’t a huge fan of, this book had me hooked from start to finish and I loved it.
Stars Above wasn’t exactly a planned read, but I recently got a copy of it from my library (agh I want to buy it so badly though *stomps angrily*) and I got started on it right away! I loved reading the novellas, though kind of feeling nostalgic now since it was the last of a book with the characters from LC, haha.
I took off one of the other reads I had planned to read next—Aristotle and Dante—I think I’d rather read it later on, during spring or summer? I know, I know. But I WILL read it someday!
The Falling Kingdoms read-along is soon moving on with the 4th book in the series, Frozen Tides, this Friday! I really enjoyed reading Gathering Darkness, so I can’t wait to see how the fourth book turns out.
As you tell from my squealing over ADSOM, I can’t wait to read the sequel, A Gathering of Shadows! And so that’s exactly what I have on my read next. I want to try and get a review on ADSOM before I start it though, so we’ll see how it goes.
Illuminae is on my list again, but I have no idea when I might be picking this up. It’s such a huge book, so I’m not sure when I’ll be able to fit it into my schedule, especially with my other planned reads! Ahhh time is so hard to get these days.
And then finally, I have Lola and the Boy Next Door once again, though I doubt I’ll be able to read it this week, as much as I’d like to. And like I mentioned before, I’m thinking of postponing it until later anyway? I dunno. It’s a possibility. Any suggestions?
I hope you guys are enjoying your Wednesdays! ❤ Let me know your thoughts in the comments, I’d love to chat. Have any of you read Wolf by Wolf or A Darker Shade of Magic? Did you enjoy them as much as I did? What books on here have you read? Which books should I read next? Happy reading!
Eeep, happy 1st day of March! There are soooo many books being released today (ahem, proof is right below), along with so many amazing books being released throughout the month! And, me, being a good little chocolate bar, decided to create a collective post (as I always do at the beginning of each month!) with all the YA book releases I find that are being released said month. This month in particular is one I’ve been anticipating FOREVER, because—you guessed it—LADY MIDNIGHT is being released!! *Cue intense fangirling shrieks* And sooo many other AMAZING books too. So let’s do this!
(Oh, just a tip if you want to gush over all the amazing covers—which you obviously want to do—if you press one of the book covers, it will open up a bigger sized view of the cover, and you can view the other covers this way too.)
Okay, so which releases are YOU most excited for?!?!??!!! Anyone else want to freak out with me over these books, ’cause…. I’m freaking out. I NEED LADY MIDNIGHT omg. Also The Winner’s Kiss!! Oh, and Beyond the Red and The Great Hunt both seem so freaking good. Oh, and The Serpent Kind and Map of Fates!! I WANT THEM. Scratch that, I WANT ALL THESE BOOKS. Alas, it’s not possible (Whyyyyyyyyyyyy?!!-I’m yelling on the inside) but it doesn’t stop me from fantisizing about them! XD They have such amazing summaries and such gorgeous covers, eep. Let me know your thoughts and what books you’re looking forward to the most below!
Book Snacks 