Sunday, September 30, 2018

Finally Fall Book Tag!


Hello everyone! I realize it's been a while since I've posted a book tag and we're about to remedy that! Fall is my favorite time of year and I'm beyond excited that it's finally upon us. The crisp cool air, beautiful colors all around, and perfect sweater weather! Spring just doesn't do it for me like fall does. And where I got to college at, there's so many trees and beautiful spots that I feel like I could live here forever. 

I figured that since I hadn't done a book tag in a while and I was running out of ideas for what to post this month, I would do the Finally Fall Book Tag. I first saw this tag around last year and it recently resurfaced again this year! I wasn't tagged by anybody, but I just wanted to do it so let's go ahead and jump on in! This was originally created by Alina at Tall Tales on Youtube!

1. In fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting!

I'm going to go with Caraval by Stephanie Garber for this one. Stephanie paints such a brilliant beautiful picture with her words and I am seriously dying to visit Caraval after hearing her describe it. I can picture it so easily and it gives me such fantastical vibes. 

2. Nature is beautiful… but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief.

For me, this book is one that came out at the beginning of September and continues to impact me: Sadie by Courtney Summers. For my full thoughts, you can find my review here, but overall this book just hit me really hard. It was so impactful and eye-opening as well as being an interesting thriller. 

3. Fall is back to school season: share a non-fiction book that taught you something new.

I don't particularly read any non-fiction books. I suppose that the books I read for school have taught me something new? 

4. In order to keep warm, it’s good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you’d like to be a part of.

I would love to be a part of the Covey family from the To All the Boys I've Loved Before trilogy. They seem like such a supporting and fun family that I would be honored to be with. But I also love the Court of Terrasen from Throne of Glass and the Court of Dreams from A Court of Mist and Fury

5. The colourful leaves are piling up on the ground: show us a pile of fall-colored spines!

I actually don't have a picture for this, but if you want to go check out all of the other book piles I've taken pictures of, you can check out my book-themed instagram here :) 

6. Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story.

I haven't read this book yet, but I know that in it the main character is retelling his story for someone to write down I believe. That is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I still have yet to read it but I am excited to when I finally get to it. I feel like just with college I'm having a hard time reading longer books because of how long it takes me to get through them but hopefully over winter break! 

7. The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read.

For this, I'm choosing Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Mansicalco. It's about a girl interested in forensic science who begins trying to catch Jack the Ripper. It was a deliciously dark and amazing ride that I can't wait to reread soon!

8. The days are getting colder: name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody’s cold and rainy day.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han definitely falls into this category. I'm also a fan of Check, Please!, a graphic novel by Ngozi Ukazu. It is also super cute and heartwarming and such a quick read. 

9. Fall (luckily, it’s my favourite season) returns every year: name an old favourite that you’d like to return to soon.

There's so many of them. I'm currently rereading the Throne of Glass series in preparation for the final book coming out this month and I have to reread Six of Crows for class. But otherwise I do want to reread Twilight simply to get back some of my childhood nostalgia. 

10. Fall is the perfect time for cozy reading nights: share your favourite cozy reading “accessories”!

I always read in my cozy papasan chair when I'm at college. Sometimes I'll read in my bed but that usually leads to Netflix or napping so my chair is the place to be. I also use my super big tie blanket and I end up just in one big pile of cuddle. It's quite nice. 

11. Spread the autumn appreciation and tag some people!

I tag @lexisbooktalks, @starlight.reads, and @dontgobrekkarmyheart on Instagram.



Thanks for reading! Happy Fall everybody! I can't wait to bust out tea and sweaters and cosy blankets in my dorm room!
xoxo
Lauren



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Friday, September 21, 2018

Let's Talk: "Light Years" by Kass Morgan

Title: Light Years
Author: Kass Morgan
Series: "Light Years" #1
Genre: YA Science Fantasy
Page Length: 372 pages
Publication Date: October 9, 2018
Date Started: September 19, 2018
Date Finished: September 20, 2018
Rating: 4/5 stars

*I was provided an advance copy in exchange for an honest review*

When I heard that Kass Morgan was coming out with a new book, I was pretty excited. I hadn't read her other series but I had seen the TV adaption and I knew that I was interested in whatever the creator had come up with again. I was not disappointed.

This book was really good. I was pulled in from page one and I never was bored. I didn't think I was going to finish it in just two sittings, but lo and behold, I did. It was intriguing and paced really well. 

I think for me, a lot of what made me want to read this book late into the night and on my breaks at work was that I had to know what happened next. I didn't just want to know, I needed to know. You connect with these characters on so many different levels that make you feel so invested in their stories. 

Speaking of the characters, none of them were perfect and I loved that. They made mistakes, the acted rashly, they sometimes did the wrong thing. But that's how real people are and I've read so many books where the characters are perfect. I love that these characters weren't perfect people, and that made them the perfect characters.

The story was engaging. I would have liked it to be a bit longer just because I wanted more of each character's perspective and story as well as just more in general. Especially after that ending! I need the next book, yesterday! 

Overall, this was a great book and I can't wait to see where this story goes next. I am so happy that I got a chance to read this book early since it's been on my radar for months now. Do yourselves a favor and go buy this book the day it comes out! 



Thanks for reading and a huge thanks to Novl for providing me with this review copy!
xoxo
Lauren




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Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Let's Talk: "The Demon Race" by Alexandria Warwick

Title: The Demon Race
Author: Alexandria Warwick
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Length: 372 pages
Publication Date: September 18, 2018
Date Started: September 14, 2018
Date Finished: September 17, 2018
Rating: 3.75/5 stars

*I was provided a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Okay so this book was pretty great. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this story. I thought that, especially for a debut, the writing style was incredible. Alexandria really knows how to create art out of words. Her imagery is fantastic and her writing poetic.

As for the actual story, it was interesting and fast-paced. I was never particularly bored and I thought that there were a lot of great high-action scenes. The slower scenes in between any fighting or fleeing were interesting in their own way as they provided backstory, character development, and other fantastic aspects to this novel. It was also pretty graphic at some parts in terms of the gore and the darker parts of the story. I think this added it's own level of depth to it that made it that much more interesting for me.

I will say that for me this felt like a largely character-driven story, which is a good thing because I'm constantly annoyed when books focus more on plot than on character. I really enjoyed reading about Namali and Sameen's journey--which is what I saw this book as. For as long as the race was, it didn't really feel like a race except for the beginning and the end. It felt more like a journey. But it was a great journey to see the two characters grow independently and as friends. I was more invested in their story than I though and I found myself blinking back tears numerous times throughout the book.

I would have liked to see a little more of the outside world, though. The most we get is few setting details when the characters are in a city. I'd love to have learned more about the world, culture, etc outside of the setting and whatever myths are told about The Demon King. I can only imagine how beautiful and also cruel this world would be if we'd been told more about it.

The one thing that is very well described in this entire book, though, is the oppression against women in this world. It's hard to read about but I also love how this book tackled it in the instance of Sameen and Namali. There's one scene where Sameen is insistent that he isn't an oppressor, but Namali explains to him how there are different ways of oppression and that he is, in fact, part of the systematic oppression that keeps so many women and girls silent. Instead of getting angry or lashing out, Sameen asks how he can do better. I wish more people in our world would act like that instead of getting anger and defensive.

Overall, I thought this was a good book and I'm happy to have read it. I'm so grateful to Alexandria for letting me experience this story and these characters. I'm so excited for the rest of you to experience them too!



Thanks for reading! Links to purchase or more information can be found at the top of the page under the link to Alexandria Warwick's guest post :)
xoxo
Lauren



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Tuesday, September 11, 2018

August 2018 Book Haul!

Hello to all! So today I am here with a ginormous August book haul of 19 physical books and 1 ebooks! I have a lot of books to show you for this month and I'm super excited about each and every one of them. And for as many books that are in this haul, I only bought 6 of them! It was my birthday this month and I got a lot of books as gifts or from publishers/trades to review. Let's just jump right in before I bore you to death. 




The first book that I got this month was from a wonderful person on Twitter who sent me a signed arc of Seafire by Natalie C. Parker. I read this book as an e-arc earlier this month and I absolutely loved it. The moment I was done, I hopped on Twitter to see if anyone was getting rid of their arc and someone was. When it turned out that I didn't have anything they wanted at the time, they offered to just send it to me instead! I am beyond excited about this and I can't wait to read more. 

The second book I got was a copy of To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. This was sent to me by a wonderful person on Twitter who saw my bookish wish and offered to send it to me! I'm so beyond happy to finally have this book in my hands after years of wanting it. I binge-read it in one day before I watched the movie and I can officially say that I am obsessed with this story. I can't wait to read the next two!

Then I got a finished copy of Dive Smack by Demetra Brodsky as a thank-you for participating in the blog tour a few months back! I am so happy to have this finished copy in my hands as it's even more gorgeous than the arc!

Technically I bought this next book, but it was with a preorder that I used a gift card on a while ago so does it really count? Anyway, that book is a signed copy of Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas. If you know me at all, you know that Sarah J. Maas is my queen and top auto-buy author so I will literally read anything she publishes, even if it's her grocery list. I'm so excited to have this...maybe I should start reading the series now? 

After that, I got a copy of The Byline Bible by Susan Shapiro. This was sent to me and I'm super excited to have it! As a college student, I'm excited to see how I can apply the information in this book about writing and publishing shorter nonfiction pieces to my studies and personal works!

Then my wonderful friend got me the illustrated edition of Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan and I'm still crying over it. I love this book and series and it's been such a staple of my childhood that I am over the moon to have an illustrated edition. And seriously, all of these authors and illustrators are really killing it with these editions...I just need them all!

The seventh book I got this month was a copy of Malice by John Gwynne. I had seen Piera from Piera Forde on YouTube raving about this series so when I saw it for super cheap on Amazon marketplace, I just had to get it! I can't wait to read it, hopefully before the year is up! 

Then I got an arc of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. I was sent this and I'm super excited to read it! I've had my eye on it for the longest time and I just know that I'm going to enjoy it. It's like Groundhog Day meets Agatha Christie and I'm super excited to see how this book goes.

And of course after I finished reading the first book in the trilogy, I just had to get the rest by Jenny Han. I one-click ordered P.S. I Still Love You and Always and Forever, Lara Jean, which are the sequels to TATBILB. I loved book 1 and right when I finished reading it, I knew that I needed the others. I brought them to college so hopefully I'll be able to read them soon!

Then I got an arc of Virgil Wander by Leif Enger. This sounds like it could be a deep and powerful book about recovery and rebirth. Plus, the cover is stunning. I'm hoping to read this one soon but no promises!

I also got a signed arc of The Girl King by Mimi Yu. I traded somebody on Twitter for this and I'm super excited to have this book in my hands. It's an asian-inspired fantasy with tons of political intrigue that I can't wait to dive into! 

After that, I got a copy of Murder Mile by Lynda La Plante. This sounds like an interesting thriller that I could potentially be super interested in upon starting it. I also really enjoy the cover, so we'll see how this one goes! This was sent to me by the publisher, so I'll hopefully get to it soon.

Next I got a copy of The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken. I'm not quite sure what to do with this book since I haven't finished reading the original trilogy, but maybe I'll just keep it on my shelf until I get around to rereading book 1 and continuing on. 

Then I got some awesome surprise mail from Hatchette and TheNovl: an arc of Light Years by Kass Morgan! I've had my eye on this book for a while now and I'm super excited to be able to read it early, so a huge thank you to TheNovl for letting me become a member of their book squad! 

After that, I was sent another arc of The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I did a trade last month for a copy, but I'm super excited to have this one in my hands. It's the sequel spin-off to one of my favorite series and I can't wait to get around to reading it! It also came with a giant sticker on the front that took me three days to peel off (cue nervous laughter). 

And lastly, I placed a Barnes & Noble order because they were having a 50% off select titles sale and I couldn't resist when I saw what was up for grabs. The first book I picked up was the paperback of Warcross by Marie Lu. I haven't read this book yet and I didn't have a huge interest in it when it first came out, but I've heard nothing but stellar things. I figured that since it was only $5 through this sale, I could give it a shot.

The second book I picked up was a finished hardcover of Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsey Cummings. I have an arc of this book and I haven't read it yet, but the hardcover is just so stunning and I'm excited to have this at college now. Maybe I'll get to it sooner because of the fact that it's here with me. 

And the last book from B&N that I got, and the last book I picked up for the month, I have Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli. I loved Simon vs... by Becky Albertalli, so I have high hopes for this one since it seems to be a companion novel to that one. I can't wait to see what all of the awesome characters have been up to while I've been away! 



As for the single ebook that I purchased this month, I have A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews. I've seen rave reviews about this book all over bookstagram since before it was even released, so when I saw that the ebook was on sale for less than a dollar, I decided I would go ahead and give it a try! 



Well, that concludes my book haul for this month! I don't anticipate as many books in my haul for the month of September, but I can't rule anything out! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more book reviews and book tags. 
xoxo
Lauren



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Saturday, September 1, 2018

August 2018 Wrap-Up!

Hello everyone and welcome to my August wrap-up! Today I'm going to discuss all of the books I read and more! I read an astounding 13 books this month! I haven't read that many books in a month in a very long time, so I am very excited about this. For the first 9 days of the month, I finished a book a day. It was pretty great. I slowed down a bit towards the end of the year as I got super busy but overall it was a fantastic reading month! Let's go ahead and get started. 



BOOKS READ
1.
Title: The Assassin's Blade
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 5/5 stars
I loved rereading these, even if it definitely broke my heart. Just knowing what I know from reading all the other books in the series, I loved seeing how Sarah hinted and foreshadowed at everything in this novel. It was amazing having these revelations too. It had also been about three years since I first read this novel, so I really just enjoyed revisiting these stories and characters and seeing all the detail that I've been forgetting since my first read.

2.
Title: Seafire
Author: Natalie C. Parker
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Review

3.
Title: Obsidian
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Rating: 5/5 stars
I can't believe that I've never written a review for this book before. I absolutely love this book and rereading it was such a treat. I'm not going to lie, I definitely binge-read it all in one night when I should have been sleeping. But Jennifer's writing does that to you: it makes you want to stay up late and never stop reading until you finish the book...and then the next one and the next one. I definitely came into this book knowing that I would love this book but it was so refreshing to revisit this story and find all these details that I had forgotten since my first read three years ago. I highly recommend this book! 

4.
Title: Onyx
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Rating: 5/5 stars
As with the first book in this series, I absolutely adored rereading this book! Having already read this book, I obviously knew how it ended but I was still racing to finish this book. There wasn't one moment where I wasn't actively engaged and trying to read as fast as I could to get to the next part and the next one and the one after that. It was quite a fun ride and also made me realize why I love this series so much. It's the epitome of a good read for me in that it keeps me engaged with the plot, I fall in love with the characters, I'm having just good ole fun reading it, and I never wanted to put it down. Reading this book again filled me with a giddy sense that I only get when reading certain books...and the constant search for that giddiness it was keeps me reading book after book after book. All in all, this reread was phenomenal and I can't wait to continue on! 

5.
Title: Captivating Melody
Author: Katherine McIntyre
Rating: 4/5 stars
Review

6.
Title: Four Psychos
Author: Kristy Cunning
Rating: 4/5 stars
I was happily surprised a few days ago when I saw that the third book in this series had released without my knowledge. I first read this series a little over 7 months ago and fell in love. I love love love the characters and the angst. I think that I really just love reading from the anti-heroine and seeing her crazy mind. It's been such a blast.

7.
Title: Three Trials
Author: Kristy Cunning
Rating: 4/5 stars
Since I randomly reread book one, I decided to also read book two since I was already in the mindset of this series and I loved my reread of this one. It's been a while since I first read this book and it was awesome rereading my favorite scenes and discovering things that I had forgotten. It was steamy and action-packed and full of plot development that made my head spin. I can't wait to continue on to the newest release! 

8. 
Title: Two Kingdoms
Author: Kristy Cunning
Rating: 3.75/5 stars
I enjoyed this book, but I don’t think it was as good as the ones before it. This one seemed to have a lot of the same things being said over and over. I also spent most of this book confused as to what what being explained. However, I did really enjoy it. I loved the main characters, the humor, and their interactions with each other. I only hope there’s a happy ending coming their way. Overall, I enjoyed this book but it definitely was not my favorite of the series. The first two books were amazing and this one...wasn’t? It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as great as the first two.

9.
Title: The Cruel Prince
Author: Holly Black
Rating: 3/5 stars
Review

10.
Title: Throne of Glass 
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 5/5 stars
Review
Rereading this book was such a treat for me. I absolutely love this series and this was the book that got me back into reading, so the entire time I was immersed in this story I was just feeling so nostalgic. I truly love this story and I'm so happy that I decided to reread the entire series before the final book comes out. Honestly, I think rereading this was so amazing. It's been about three years since I read it through fully and, while I still knew what happened, it was awesome to be able to see what details I had forgotten. Also, all of the foreshadowing that comes to light in Empire of Storms, aka four books later, was so amazing to see. It really just shows how much time and thought Sarah has put into these books. I can't wait to reread the next one!

11.
Title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Author: Jenny Han
Rating: 5/5 stars
Review

12. 
Title: Harnessing the Winds
Author: Morena Silver
Rating: 4/5 stars

13.
Title: Sadie
Author: Courtney Summers
Rating: 4/5 stars
Review



BLOG POSTS

TV SHOWS/MOVIES
I also watched two new movies and finished a TV season this month on top of all the books I read and things I did. The first movie I saw was Mamma Mia! I hadn't seen this yet but I finally got together with my friends and we watched it. I loved it and I watched it at least 7 times this month. Of course, that wasn't simply because I enjoyed it, but because my niece is now obsessed with it and asks about either watching it or listening to the soundtrack at least three times a day.

I finished season 8 of Bones this month and I loved it. I just really love this show and I'm so excited to continue on to finishing season 9, because as the time I write this, I've watched some of it and it's been super fun.

Lastly, I watched To All the Boys I've Loved Before on Netflix and it was so. freaking. phenomenal. I loved the book when I read it and I immediately watched the movie the next day. It was so cute and while it differed from the book occasionally, it was such a good adaption! 



Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren



Follow my Instagram here. New giveaway will be posted very soon!

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