Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween Book Tag!


favorite scary must read for Halloween...

The problem with this prompt is that I'm a big chicken and can't read or watch scary things. The scariest thing that I've probably read is a thriller suspense novel that was only 200 pages long. I think I'm just going to go with my must-read for the fall season, which is any of the first 3 Harry Potter novels. I don't know why but these books always made me feel warm and cozy, and the books always reminded me of the fall season. No scary books for me, nosiree. 

scariest book cover, like ever...

I literally just googled "scary book covers" for this one as I don't read scary novels and thus have no scary covers on my shelf. I think that this was one of the creepier ones that I found just because of the doll with the cracked face *shudders* I am not here for this. I can't do scaryness.

if you could pick any author to go trick or treating with you, who would you pick?

I gotta be basic and go with my all time queen and favorite author, Mrs. Sarah J. Maas. I had the honor of meeting her last summer at BEA/BookCon and it was absolutely amazing. We bonded over the newest Star Wars movies. I really want to go to another one of her signings again, preferably for the final ToG book. She's just so cool and I feel like she would have such a great costume for Halloween. It would definitely be an experience. 


if you could dress up as any bookish character for Halloween, who would you be?

I would love to cosplay as Celaena Sardothien one year. She's my favorite book character and I really really really want to be able to cosplay as her at some point--even if it's not Halloween. The character herself goes through so much change and growth. It's very admirable. Plus, I'd love to be able to be as badass as her one day. 

if you could find anything, from any book, in your trick or treat stash, what would you hope to find?

Maybe a time turner, that'd be cool. Or a broomstick so that I can play Quidditch. Or maybe Celaena's assassin suit from the books (that would be badass...) I would like a lot, I can't pick just one!

in what fictional world would you like to go trick or treating?

I would probably want to go in the Harry Potter world, simply because the different types of sweets they have are so cool. I think that, even in fun size, those are the ultimate sweets you can get.

what book villain would you not like to meet alone in a dark alley on Halloween?


This is a long list, but at the top would probably be (spoilers for Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas) Maeve or Cairn. I hate both their guts, but I know that both of them could kick me seven ways to hell.

would you rather dress up as a vampire, zombie, werewolf, or shadowhunter?

Definitely a shadowhunter. With their runes and all-black clothes and weapons, they just look so badass. I want to look that badass. At one point I actually did dress up as a Shadowhunter...I didn't turn out how I wanted it to simply because I was broke and didn't have much time to throw it together, but it was fun nonetheless. I'd definitely do it again. 

pick a candy (just one) from Harry Potter that you would love to find in your stash...

I'm a sucker for chocolate, so probably a chocolate frog. The cool wizard card would be a bonus, too.

what is your favorite Halloween candy?


It's a tie between Reese's and Kit Kats. I'm a huge chocolate person, but I love peanut butter and crunchiness, and I've never been able to chose between those two. Nerds also rank pretty high up there. 

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Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed and I hope you all had a very Happy Halloween! Enjoy La Toussaint tomorrow and Dia de los Muertos through Thursday (and any others I'm forgetting!)
The next blog post will be my October Monthly Wrap-Up so stay tuned!
xoxo
Lauren 

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Friday, October 27, 2017

Reverse Harem Guide Part 1: What is RH?


Hello everyone! Today I am here to begin your journey and education on a lesser-known sub-genre that I have been reading for almost three years and absolutely obsessed with for a year. I'm definitely not the forefront or most knowledgable person who reads this genre and is actively involved, but I have had a lot of experience. There is also not a lot of information out there for those who are interested or looking into reading this specific sub-genre. I have decided to do a 4-part blog series to introduce new readers to this genre! All 4 parts will be finished by the end of the year, so potential readers will have a new genre to dive into in the new year. Let's dive in.

What is RH?

First and foremost, we need to define what exactly RH is. RH stands for Reverse Harem. As you may or may not know, a traditional harem (in former times) was part of Muslim culture and usually consisted of multiple wives, concubines, and female servants all belonging to the man of the household. Essentially, it was multiple women and one man. Many times, the women would only sleep with the man and not each other. Reverse harem is the opposite: it includes multiple men and one woman. Usually, the men are only attracted to the woman and not to each other, but the woman is attracted to all of them. They "share" the woman.

It's actually very interesting, of course. In many books, the argument that different characters have is that if something were to happen to one of them, there would still be someone there to take care of the others. In fact, in many cultures around the world, that is exactly why they focus on polyamory instead of monogamy. There is also the notion that true love is not confined to just one person: someone could have multiple "true loves."

That is just a way to explain it, of course. The focus on RH in literature and art is not the same as taking a traditional harem and gender-swapping everything. The men are not owned and the woman does not control them. If any of you readers watch anime, occasionally there is harem or reverse harem situation. It is widely accepted in Japan already, but there is not much knowledge about it here.

Reverse-harem--in terms of reading--is a sub-genre that is not focused on any religion or culture. Most of the time, the story is about a group of guys and a girl, and somehow things start to progress romantically or platonically towards where a book can be considered RH. This may seem confusing, but it really isn't. The only time it gets confusing is when you have to compare ménage and reverse harem (which I talk about more below).

There is a lot of different misperceptions and judgements associated with RH. Many people do not know what the genre is, and when it is described to them, they get judgmental. There have been many times when people have explained this sub-genre and people have looked at them like they are crazy or dirty. I'd like to point out that RH is just a form of polyamory. Polyamory is not accepted by everybody, but it is a growing common occurrence. In many cultures across the world, polyamory is more widely practiced than monogamy. RH is a newer sub-genre that is continuing to grow, but the idea behind RH is not new. 

RH vs Ménage

A lot of confusion that readers new to this sub-genre have is between reverse-harem and ménage. It is something that can get confusing, even for readers who have been reading RH for a while. Ménage, in non-book terms, simply refers to the members of household. In regards to the topic we are talking about, ménage is very similar to RH. The main difference is that RH has 3 or more male characters to the female character or protagonist. Ménage is when there is 2 (usually male, in this genre) characters for every one protagonist (female) character. I have seen some ménages or RH books where it's been multiple men all attracted to one male character (I haven't read them yet, but I'm excited to get to them soon). 

Smutty vs Clean

I think that a lot of people have the notion that RH and ménage books are just one big orgy. This is not the case. Some books do have extremely detailed smut scenes and some books do contain orgies, but many of the books that are out there do not contain any smut at all. In fact, about half of my favorite RH books are clean and contain no mention of sex. 

There are plenty RH books out there that do contain a lot of smut. But, there are also a lot of RH novels out there that do not focus on sex. Both types usually also focus on the regular relationships and a conflict or problem that the characters have to deal with. If you don't like smut, there's definitely books for you. If you do like smut, there's plenty to chose from. 

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Thank you all for reading! Part two will be about book recommendations. Part three will talk about popular RH authors and go more in depth on recommendations. The final part will talk about resources to where you can find even more information on this sub-genre. I have a lot of other guide series and interesting post ideas planned for the upcoming months!  See you next time and stay tuned!
xoxo
Lauren

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~~~


Thursday, October 26, 2017

An Introspective on Life and Friendship

Hey guys so I'm going to get a little deep today and talk about something other than books. By no means do you have to read this if you're not interested in anything other than books, but I felt like I really needed to write this, even if I'm the only one who reads it. It's a way of getting my thoughts out of my busy head and maybe go through a bit of a self-discovery journey. I also feel like I've put so much time and effort into this blog and am entitled to post whatever I want on it. I'm not even sure if this will end up being shared with the world. I don't know how deep I'm going to get, or if I even want people to know everything that I'm going to say. Maybe no one will ever read this. Maybe I won't post it for another three years. Maybe I'll post this at the same time I'm writing this: October 23, 2017 in my most boring class of freshman year of college.

I'm an insecure person with a busy head and undiagnosed anxiety (although, from all the panic attacks over the past few months, I think it's safe to say I have some form of anxiety). From years of being beaten down and only told about my faults, I am insecure and constantly aware of everything I do and how it could be perceived or judged by others. I am reserved and shy for this exact reason. It's hard for me to get out of my head and just be myself, especially when I'm first getting to know a person. Sometimes when I let go of this tight leash, I act like my real self and enjoy it, but then afterwards I analyze everything and get embarrassed for acting like myself. I never think that what I'm doing will be good enough and I always am trying to do better than my best. 

Throughout all the years, I rarely remember compliments. I know that I get complimented on a daily basis, but when you don't believe it, you don't remember it. However, I can remember and tell you about times throughout my life where I have been insulted or told a certain thing. I've been called a fat cow by certain people (and then when I told an authority figure they simply shrugged their shoulders and essentially said 'well, what do you expect?'). That's the first time I remember ever being insecure. I've been yelled at about being the most selfish person that anybody knows, on Christmas day no less, never mind that I was 11 and didn't have money to buy Christmas presents and no help from anyone who did. I've rarely made homemade gifts anymore, and always get incredible anxiety around birthdays and Christmas when it's time to buy gifts. A friend once said "wow, you really love to spend other people's money, don't you?" That struck me deep. It doesn't matter that I was 15 and was talking about my mom buying me a few new clothing items. Even if it wasn't true, I vowed from then on to not take money from people, unless it was a birthday or Christmas gift, without paying them back and giving them copious amounts of "thank you's." I've been called disgusting and fat and almost every insult in the book. It makes it hard to be confident in anything I do. There are other small moments throughout the years that have stuck with me, but those are just some of the major ones. 

I think one of the major things that I've dealt with is feeling like nobody loves me and that I wasn't good enough to be loved. I even felt like my entire family didn't love me and they just put up with me. I've been working on this, and I now know that there are people who love me, but I still struggle. A major thing that I don't necessarily believe is negative is the thought that I'm not entitled to love. I know I'm not entitled to it, and love is earned. There are some people I know will love me no matter what I do, but there are others out there where I need to earn their love as a friend, family member, or romantic partner. Friendship and love are earned, in my mind. And they can be unearned. I've been working on a lot of things. It's hard for me, though, when I work on certain aspects of my personality and then someone comes along and tears me down back to square one. I like the person I am now, and I'm more self-aware than ever, but I know there are still things I could improve upon. 

I'm healing, or trying to at least. I've had a lot of shit go on in my life, particularly the past two years. There are moments that I think about on a daily basis and other events that I think about only rarely. I'm seeking help and trying to improve everything, but there are days that are harder than others. Sometimes I retreat into myself and push others away, even if they don't notice what I'm doing. Other times, I seek out my friends and just talk. 

When I think of my friends, there are a lot of people I think of. There are those that flash to mind almost instantly, and those who shuffle through immediately after. There are those that I don't think of immediately but have still impacted my life in great ways. I am lucky and blessed to have as many amazing friends as I do have. I've gotten closer with some of the friends I've had for 2 months than friends I've had for 5 years. I could talk all day and night about how great all my friends are, but I'll keep it short so as to not bore anyone. 

The thing I want to say to my friends is thank you for being my friend. While at times I do need some space, I'm a person who thrives off social interaction and spending time with friends. Thank you for taking time to get to know me and become my friend. Before college, many social interactions outside of my immediate friend groups left me exhausted and anxious. But now that I'm in college, I thrive off of spending time with my friends. I'm just now realizing how I've gone from introvert to extrovert, mostly due to having such amazing new friends. 

I haven't forgotten about a single one of my friends back home. I still love each and every one of them. I wouldn't be the person I am today without all of the friends I made through school and work and the bonds we've formed. These friends impacted me in such varying, huge ways. I hope that one day I'll be able to name and thank everyone individually, but I'm not sure I'm ready to be that deep yet. 

Maastrash...god I miss y'all. It's been over a year since this friendship was formed in the hallowed corners of Friedman's classroom. I think about these guys every day, and I'm so glad our friendship hasn't wavered despite myself being 100+ miles away. I discovered so much about myself when I became friends with these people. I grew as a person and I started on a path of self-care and building myself up instead of tearing myself down. I don't even think I can list all the things that this friendship has done for me. 

And now for the section I'm most nervous to write, because maybe not everyone feels the same. I came to college knowing that I would make friends, but I also knew I was shy and didn't initiate social contact very often. I also didn't think that I would make as strong of friendships as I've made in the past two months. I feel blessed to have found a group of people that I can be myself around. I don't know if this is too cheesy or not, but I can't believe how amazing my friend group is. Maybe I'm being extra, but I can't help how I feel. 

There's definitely a lot I'm still trying to come to terms with in my life. I've had a lot of ups and downs. There are moments that I may never talk to anyone about, and others that only certain people know about. I think that, even in just the past week, I've gone on such a huge journey of self-discovery. 

I feel like this post was all over the place and had no real flow, but I needed to word vomit for a little bit. College has definitely been the best few months of my life. I've experienced so much and met so many amazing people. I can't imagine going back to the life I had before college. This place is my home and I couldn't be happier. 

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Thanks for reading. I'm sorry it was all over the place...no I'm not.
xoxo
Lauren

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Follow this blog by clicking "Follow" on the right hand column! Add me to your Google+ Circles on the left hand column! New content every month from Reviews to Hauls to Tags! Don't forget to check out all the other parts of this blog by following the different links at the top of the page! 

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~~~

Friday, October 20, 2017

Let's Talk: "Tower of Dawn" Book Review

Title: Tower of Dawn
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: "Throne of Glass" #6
Genre: YA High Fantasy
Page Length: 660 pages
Publication Date: September 5, 2017
Date Started: September 5, 2017
Date Finished: October 19, 2017
Rating: Infinity stars
Book 0.5 Review
Book 1 Review
Book 3 Review
Book 5 Review

Alright, so it did take me almost a month and a half to finish this book, but that is not saying that this book was slow or boring by any means. This book blew me away and totally exceeded my expectations. Why it took me so long to finish was simply because I've been so busy with school and actually having a social life on weeknights and weekends. However, even though I did hang out with my friends and watch Halloweentown last night, I cranked out over half this book and finished it before I went to bed.

As I've done in the past with my Sarah J. Maas reviews, this talk will be split into 3 different sections. The first will be a completely non-spoiler section that won't spoil ANY of the series. The second section will be semi-spoiler in that it may contain spoilers for other books in the series, but not for this installment. The third and final section will definitely contain spoilers since I need to talk about certain things that happened in the book. So I guess, without further ado, we should jump right in!

Non-Spoiler Review

This book blew me away, simple as that. It was incredibly long but there was not a moment where what was happening wasn't interesting. This book follows characters we meet throughout the entire series, but focuses primarily on Chaol, who we meet in the first two pages of the first book.

I think that this book, while it wasn't the book that I was necessarily wanting before it was published, was such a vital and amazing installment in this series. It wasn't just a filler book to dump some information on us before going into the final book like many of us expected it to be. It had information, yes, but it had depth, political games, magic, character growth, and so many feelings. I should have known that Sarah doesn't put out a book that is less than perfect. 

I didn't cry, because there wasn't really a reason for me to. I can't really imagine this book going in any other way than it did. While I know it's not the perfect ending for some people, it really is the perfect ending for me. 

I know a lot of people are confused as to how to read all the different books in this series, so I'll give a little advice before I continue on into the semi-spoiler review. I definitely recommend reading the Throne of Glass series in chronological order (starting with The Assassin's Blade). While it is not imperative that you read The Assassin's Blade before Throng of Glass or Crown of Midnight, I would definitely recommend reading it before Heir of Fire or Queen of Shadows when the world gets much bigger. The past two installments in this series really do go back to the roots and stories in The Assassin's Blade, so I think it is pretty imperative that you read the prequel novellas before Empire of Storms or Tower of Dawn. Plus, if you read the novellas, all of Sarah's foreshadowing and planning just gets so much deeper and impressive. 

And now, if you do not want to be spoiled for the other books in the Throne of Glass series, I would recommend stopping now. However, if you've read the series but not Tower of Dawn, read on!

Semi-Spoiler Review

This book follows Chaol Westfall, Nesryn Faliq, and Yrene Towers. Chaol, who as we all know was introduced in Throne of Glass, was severely injured at the end of Queen of Shadows and heads to Antica on the southern continent to seek healing. He is accompanied by Nesryn, who we meet in Queen of Shadows, and has been appointed the new Captain of the Guard for Adarlan. Not only are they in Antica to find a way to heal Chaol, but they are also tasked with trying to ally Adarlan and Terrasan with the khaghan's military. Tower of Dawn also brings back Yrene Towers, who we met in the second novella of The Assassin's Blade. Yrene is now a well-known healer at the Torre and is assigned to Chaol as his healer. That's all I really want to say about the plot of the book so as to keep everything spoiler-free.

Something that I really enjoyed about this book was the new culture we got to see. We've seen a lot of different cultures throughout these novels, from the Silent Assassins to Wendlyn to Adarlan and more. I loved seeing another new culture. I think a problem that a lot of people have had with this series is that it wasn't diverse, but I think that they forget that we are looking at just one tiny corner of the world and that there is so much more out there. We get to explore that a little bit more in this novel. I does take a while to explore and build an entire world, and I think that this book, while obviously not correcting the faults some people have with the entire series, does bring a lot of diversity into Throne of Glass.

By now I think everyone is aware that Aelin and the rest of the characters we see in Empire of Storms are not seen in this installment. I thought that this would make it a lot more boring and that I wouldn't enjoy it as much, but I loved it even without some of my favorite characters being present. That being said, while they weren't actively involved in this novel, the characters--Aelin and Rowan specifically--were mentioned in political talks throughout the book. The events of Empire of Storms also trickle down in real-time to the characters on the southern continent. It was very interesting to see how different areas of the world viewed the events of Queen of Shadows and Empire of Storms.

I don't think I can express how absolutely vital this book is to the series as a whole. I know a lot of people saw it as a filler book before reading it, as I did, but it is so much more. There are events that happen that a reader should know the background to before they are referenced in the final installment. So much changes and so much is accomplished in this book. One should read this book. even if only to know the new characters that will appear in the final installment. We get a lot of revelations, reveals, and a hell of a lot of mind f**kery that Sarah likes to play on us. It is imperative that any fan reads this book before the last one comes out next September.

The last thing I'm going to talk about in this section is Yrene Towers. I'm not going to spoil anything but let me just say how much I loved her presence in this novel. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about her since I only mildly enjoyed her novella in The Assassin's Blade, but I adore Yrene after reading this book. Seeing how she has grown from TAB and watching her growth throughout Tower of Dawn was just amazing. I can't wait to see her again in the next book.

Now here is where all of you who have not read Tower of Dawn depart unless you are willing to be spoiled on quite a few major events. I'll see you again when you finish reading it! Bon voyage!

Spoiler Review

Before I get into in depth discussions on different parts of this book, here's just some random things that I absolutely adored:
~almost every character in this installment is POC
~LGBTQ representation (even if it was in the background and wasn't Sarah's first representation, I        still loved it)
~disability representation (from not only Chaol but also Shen and the different stories of others who      were injured in similar ways)
~views that other parts of the world have when hearing about the events that have happened in              previous books
~my fleet of ships that I now have for this series
~Chapter 55 in general
~Fae history + more valg history
~Sartaq (holy jesus yes, more on this later)
~when Yrene pushed Hasar into the pool (I f**king screamed)
~the government and laws (we didn't see much of it, but of what we were told, I loved the system)

Alright, now it's time to dive into more discussion type things. This was a 660 page book full of new information and fantastic journeys, so there's a lot to discuss. I'll narrow it to some of my most mind-blowing moments or favorite events. Let's start with Yrene and Chaol

Obviously at the beginning of the book Yrene wasn't all that into the idea of healing Chaol, but she eventually gave in and look what happened. Now Chaol has a freaking wife and it isn't Nesryn (not too upset about that if I'm honest--but more on that in a minute). I just loved all of their scenes together.

A few things really popped out at me to show me just how good Chaol/Yrene are together. From the very beginning she treated him normal, or was outright off-standish. She let himself push his chair around, didn't help him unless he asked, basically let him maintain some of that alpha male stubborn pride that most SJM male characters have. The two of them never sugar coated things when talking to each other. If one of them was looking for a fight, they would fight, and their relationship turned out better because they let each other get out whatever they needed to get out. They helped each other heal and they were sounding boards for new ideas on how to heal Chaol or to deal with everything that was going on. In the end, I just loved everything about them. They keep each other in check.

One thing that I'd seen mentions of on fan-sites for Sarah's other series is how two characters could potentially bond together so that they would die at the same time. While Yrene and Chaol didn't outright go looking for this, that is their new bond. Yrene saved his life and now the two are bonded beyond just normal vows. When Yrene's magic is waning, Chaol's injuries will resurface. When either of them dies, the other will also die. It's not necessarily how I'd like to live my life, but I think that it's romantic and neither of them are mad about it.

I also am a bit annoyed that we didn't get to see another marriage. We were deprived of Aelin and Rowan's, we didn't get to see Feyre and Rhysand's, and Yrene and Chaol actually had a real marriage ceremony and afterparty and we didn't get to see it! I'm only slightly bitter. I'm more just glad that they are married.

I think this can be a good lead into the whole Chaol/Nesryn thing. At the beginning, they were still a couple, but by the end of the book, they both had new love interests. I am not mad about their relationship turning into just a friendship. I think even from when they were together in Queen of Shadows, I wasn't fully sold on their relationship. I just felt like it wasn't as good as the two of them deserved. That being said, I thought that the way it ended and they both moved on was done in a pretty realistic way. It wasn't a big blow out and then they both immediately dove into new relationships. They handled it like rational people and just dealt with the fact that they had grown out of their relationship.

What I'm actually obsessed with is Sartaq and Nesryn's relationship. I love it. I knew I liked  Sartaq from the beginning and then his whole storyline with Nesryn just made me obsessed. Just another Sarah J. Maas character to add to my list of book boyfriends. I just thought that they blended so well together from the moment they left Antica to go visit the ruks. I think she's going to make a pretty good Empress, if I do say so myself. I'm not going to get too into it because it's the small things that made me absolutely fall in love, but I just overall think that the two of them are such a good match.

Let's get into the ruks. I love that we now have creatures who can fight the wyverns. I just adore the whole idea of the ruks. I also love Kadara. Plus the fact that Nesryn now has a ruk to. Also, Borte is a new favorite female badass character. Just everything about this part of the story was great.

I'm only going to say a quick work on Falkan. From the moment he was introduced I knew he was the merchant from The Assassin's Blade. We never got his name, but I knew it was him. I can't wait for him to be reunited with both Lysandra (who's his f**king niece!) and Aelin. And the fact that he's a freaking shapeshifter and shapeshifted into the kharankui to save Sartaq and Nesryn is just...I love it.

Speaking of the kharankui, they're basically the sisters of Stidian spiders, except they only destroy and eat people, unlike the Stidian spiders who made spidersilk. There was a big showdown with them that ended with them all getting burnt to a crisp (yay). But most importantly, they revealed the background of the Valg and the biggest reveal (in my opinion) of the series.

Maeve is a Valg Queen.

WHAT.

I screamed when we discovered that (making a total fool of myself in front of my friends by the way). Like, holy shit. I knew she was evil, but a Valg queen? WHAT. I can see it now but shit. I still can't formulate words on that. So I'm going to move onto another big reveal...

Healers can remove Valg from possessed people. Yrene freaking got rid of the Valg that was possessing Duva and saved her. SHIT. This changes the whole freaking ball game. I can't wait to see how this information is handled as we move into the last book.

Speaking of Duva, let's talk about the khaghan's children. I loved their presence in this story. Now, some of them were rude bastards but in the end, I actually ended up liking most of them, especially Sartaq. Kashin is still on my good list and so is Hasar. Arghun has to prove himself a bit more. And Duva, well we didn't get to see her actual personality so I can't speak on my feelings about her yet. Overall, I didn't think I would like any of them but I ended up loving them

Finally, I'm bringing it back to Chaol. This book was about healing and growth and so much more. Not only did Chaol get mostly healed, but he grew as a person. And I grew back into loving him. He is 100% redeemed in my eyes. He isn't fully healed at the end, with the whole bond he now has with Yrene, but he's completely okay with that and just the fact that he's ok with it shows how much he changed and makes me love him even more (wow that was a severe run-on sentence).

Chaol figured out that Aelin was the one who saved Yrene and gave her the means of coming to the southern continent to be a healer. And that whole reveal he was so emotional and his view of Aelin completely changed and I love it. I also think it'll be heartbreaking when he finally finds out that Aelin is locked in an iron box.

Speaking of Aelin being locked in an iron box...we had a two page chapter from her POV and it almost made me cry. I've had a year to somewhat come to terms with what is happening to Aelin, but it still hurts like a bitch. This chapter, while I was able to not cry, was just a huge kick in the gut that I wasn't expecting.


Final Thoughts

To sum up this review, I absolutely loved Tower of Dawn. I thought it was a great story of healing and character growth. There was magic and adventures and political intrigue. Overall this book raised my love for this series even more and revealed some pretty big things that will be coming into play in the next novel.

I can't wait for the next book. In fact, I'm planning a full series re-read in preparation, with one book being read each month up until the final book is released. I also just really need the next book to be 800 or more pages. With all the different possible character POV's and all the different events that can happen, I just need it to be long. Ideally, I'd say 1,000 pages is a good length, but even if we just hit 700 I'll be happy. I just want it to be detailed and full of feelings and amazing writing. And a happy ending, of course.

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Thank you for sticking around to finish reading my super long and heart-wrenching review!
xoxo
Lauren

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Follow this blog by clicking "Follow" on the right hand column! Add me to your Google+ Circles on the left hand column! New content every month from Reviews to Hauls to Tags! Don't forget to check out all the other parts of this blog by following the different links at the top of the page! 

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Get 10% off of HD Movie Codes (sponsored by Movies Anywhere) when you use "INFLUENCER" at checkout!

Get 10% off your first order on A Court of Candles when you use this link.

Subscribe to Owlcrate using this link and get 15% off your first box using "BOOKING15" or "BKWORM15"

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Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Fall Time Cozy Time Book Tag

Crunching Leaves
the world is full of color...choose a book that has reds, oranges, and yellows on the cover
I decided to go with Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I read this book at the beginning of 2016, almost two years ago, and fell in love. I thought that its unique format was just stunning. I also think that this is one of my favorite book covers ever. I love the explosions and the hardcover edition is even more stunning in person!

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Cozy Sweater
it's finally cold enough to don warm cozy clothing...what book gives you the warm fuzzies?
I'm going to have to go with the first three Harry Potter books. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love every HP novel, but the first three have a different feel to them. Harry and the gang are more innocent in these books and their problems are more school and friends with a little bit of bad guys in the background. I also feel like these books give me such good Halloween and comfy fall vibes that I had to pick them for this prompt. 

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Fall Storm
the wind is howling and the rain is pounding...choose your favorite book OR genre that you like to read on a stormy day
I decided to go with my favorite genre to read, as I read a lot of different books on stormy days (at least one third of my year is spent in a cold, stormy day. The genre that is my favorite is fantasy and I absolutely love when it is cold and rainy outside and I can curl up with a good fantasy book and a heated blanket.

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Cool Crisp Air
what's the coolest character you'd want to trade places with?
At first I was going to pick someone like Aelin from ToG, but then I realized that she goes through a lot of shit that I wouldn't be able to handle. Half of the reason that I think she's so cool is because she can deal with so much shit and still come out of it with a kickass sassy attitude. Therefore, my next pick would have to be Hermione Granger or Lexi from the Veil Diaries series. Hermione is just so smart and witty, but also kickass. She gets to live a normal muggle life for 11 years but then she goes to wizard school (pretty much my dream). She makes friends and learns new spells and cool things. I just wish I could be like her. I also admire Lexi from the Veil Diaries series. I think that while she deals with a lot of shit, she is still badass and snarky. She also is surrounded by five fabulous hunky guys all the time, so there's that too.

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Hot Apple Cider
what underhyped book do you want to see become the next biggest, hottest thing?
I have a couple books I could put for this, but I think the one that I am going to have to go with is Hide and Seek Her by H.B. Stumbo. I've been a fan of this series for almost two years now and I absolutely love it. There is romance, suspense, and a whole lot of feels. I'm also just a fan for the author, who I became friends with after reading the books. Here's the Goodreads link if you would like to know more.

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Coat, Scarves, and Mittens
the weather has turned cold and it's time to cover up. what's the most embarrassing book cover you own that you like to keep hidden in public?
I actually like this cover, but I know that if I read it in public people would give me the side-eye. In fact, when my grandma bought it for me, she even asked if she should be buying it for me, implying it looked like there was smut in it. It's a YA novel, but it has the cover of a NA novel.

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Pumpkin Spice
what's your favorite fall time comfort food/foods?
I have a few, mostly including homemade chex mix, cheesy potatoes, stuffing, and lot and lots of soup. I like savory foods a lot more in the fall than I do other foods, which I never really realized until I just answered this question. Anyway, my number one favorite is homemade chex mix and cheesy potatoes.

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Alright, and that concludes the "Fall Time Cozy Time Book Tag." Thank you so much for reading and I'll see you the next time!
xoxo
Lauren

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Follow this blog by clicking "Follow" on the right hand column! Add me to your Google+ Circles on the left hand column! New content every month from Reviews to Hauls to Tags! Don't forget to check out all the other parts of this blog by following the different links at the top of the page! 

Follow my Instagram here. Giveaway at 1k followers!

Get 10% off of HD Movie Codes (sponsored by Movies Anywhere) when you use "INFLUENCER" at checkout!

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Subscribe to Owlcrate using this link and get 15% off your first box using "BOOKING15" or "BKWORM15"

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link:

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Monday, October 9, 2017

Owlcrate Unboxing: September 2017

Hey all! Today I have a pretty excited post for you all: it's an Owlcrate unboxing! I was lucky enough to get the September "Mythical Creatures" box and let me tell you, this was my favorite Owlcrate box that I've ever received. I adored it and am just so excited to talk about everything inside! There were five stunning items as well as an awesome book will an exclusive cover.


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The first item that was included in this box was a tiny jar of bath salts inspired by Percy Jackson and created by The Soap Librarian. 
These honestly smell so amazing and I wish I could take a bath while here at school. I'll just have to save these for when I get home. The salts smell exactly like I imagine Percy smelling and I could just sit here all day and sniff them if I could. 

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The second item was a cute Hagrid and Buckbeak sticker from Susanne Draws.
I love Harry Potter and both Hagrid and Buckbeak are two of my favorite characters in the series. I think that this sticker is absolutely beautiful. I don't know where or if I'm going to put this sticker on anything as I want to keep it forever.

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The third item was a Game of Thrones inspired wooden bookmark from Ink and Wonder Designs.
I recently started watching GoT and I love it. I'm excited about this bookmark as it features my second favorite character on the front. It's also just a stunning design. 

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The fourth item was a dragon coin purse designed by Owlcrate.
I was so excited for this because I love coin purses or tiny little bags. I don't know why, but I'm just obsessed with them. I also love dragons and this bag is pretty high quality, so I'm very excited about this item. It's already holding my extra change that I don't want to lug around in my wallet.

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The fifth item included was an exclusive BookBeau! 
I'll be honest. This was the main reason I renewed my subscription for this box. I loved the theme and I wanted another book sleeve. Unfortunately, they did have to somewhat squish the sleeve to get it into the box, so I do have to iron it before all the creases that you can see above are out. I am planning on doing a book sleeve comparison and review soon on different book sleeves from different shops, so stay tuned for that!

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And finally, the book was Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows.
I'm so excited about this book. I've been told it's a high fantasy that features a colored main character with anxiety and OCD AND dragons. It sounds diverse and amazing and I'm so excited to dive into it soon. This edition was also exclusive to Owlcrate, with the text being changed from silver to gold. It also game with a bookplate, dragon guide, and letter from the author.

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There was also a spoiler card, little newsletter book with a couple of interviews and a game, the pin for this month, and next month's theme announcement (below). 

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And the theme for October's box is.....Find Me In The Forest!
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This box with feature an exclusvie candle from In the Wick of Time as well as an extra large HP inspired mug! Use the link and code below to get 15% off your first box! 

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Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for my September book haul! 
xoxo
Lauren

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Get 10% off your first order on A Court of Candles when you use this link

Subscribe to Owlcrate using this link and get 15% off your first box using "BOOKING15" or "BKWORM15"

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link:

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Saturday, October 7, 2017

September 2017 Book Haul

Hello everyone! I actually expected to get a lot more books this month, so I'm pretty proud of this number. I got 12 physical books, 5 ebooks, 3 audiobooks, and some bookish/nerdy goodies! There's really nothing to talk about except for that I'm super excited about all of these books. Let's go ahead and jump right in!

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I ended up with 11 physical books this month, with about a third of those actually being different editions of the same book (I bet nobody can guess what it is). In my defense, I prepaid for most of these books with preordering using gift cards over the summer. I don't have much money now but all but 3 of these books were paid for months ago. 


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The first book I got this month was Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas (are we surprised?).
This was my second most anticipated book of the year and, as I write this, I am embarrassed to say that I have not finished it yet. I've had it for almost three and a half weeks and have yet to finish reading it, or get past 200 pages. I've been very busy with school and trying to get a schedule laid out. Still, I have a plan to finish it within the next two days so that it can be included in my September Wrap-Up.

The next three books I have are all different special editions of Tower of Dawn. The first is the Books-A-Million edition which had a gorgeous fan-art poster inside the dust jacket. (I apologize for the blurriness...I didn't realize until I went to upload the picture to my cloud after I finished the photoshoot).
The second is the Target edition which came with fan-art end-pages as well as an exclusive Q&A with Sarah.

 

And the last edition I picked up was the Barnes & Noble special edition (also first picture), which came with pages from Sarah's notebook as well as a chapter edited by her. I also ordered this from Good Choice Reading and so it came personalized (eek!)  

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I also picked up the original cover edition of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
I don't love this cover more than the original, but I am an avid ToG collector and I've been trying to find this edition for a while. I'm so happy I did and I'm so glad that I've been able to add it to my Maas Bookshelf.

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The fifth book I got this month was They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera.
I've never read a book by Adam but the hype surrounding him and his books is insane. Some of his other books interest me but when I heard the pitch for this book, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy to read. I think the whole premise sounds interesting and like something I haven't experienced before.

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The sixth book I received was If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
This is her newest book that sounds like it has a contemporary and kind of a mysterious vibe to it. I've loved every book by Jennifer that I've read and I can't wait to dive into this one.

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The seventh book I picked up this month was the Barnes & Noble edition of Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff.
I haven't read the first book, but I knew I wanted to pick up the second when it came out. I brought both with me to college and I'm planning on reading them, hopefully at least book one in October. I feel like it has all my favorite elements: fantasy, assassins, kickass female characters, and witty sidekicks (or so I've heard).

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The eighth book I got this month was an ARC of Gunslinger Girl by Lindsey Ely.
I participated in an arc swap on Twitter and this was the book I traded for. I had previously had a copy but I ended up trading it away. Still, I decided that I wanted to read it and traded one of my arcs for a sequel to a book I'd never read. I'm excited to read it and will probably try to get to it within the next two months.

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The next book I picked up was Before She Ignites, the Owlcrate edition, by Jodi Meadows.
This edition came with an exclusive cover that I like a lot more than the original. I also think that this book is going to be awesome. It's a fantasy with dragons that has a representation of mental health issues as well as a main character of color. It's such a diverse fantasy book and I'm super excited. 

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The tenth book I got was Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco.
I loved book one in this series and I've actually had an arc of this book for a while. However, I haven't finished it yet (I'm about a third of the way). I hit my infamous summer reading slump right as I was in the middle of reading it and haven't had the time to finish it. However, I want to get it finished in October (I feel like it's the perfect spooky book for someone who hates beings scared).

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The eleventh and last book I picked up was Traveler by L.E. Delano.
What really sold me on this book was that the main character's favorite book crush comes to life and drags her into an adventure. The moment I read that, I knew that I had to buy it and read it. Plus, there's pirates and pirates are everything.

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I also picked up 5 ebooks this month. Originally I was going to have more on this list but I decided that I needed to save money somewhere, and that just happened to be in the area of ebooks. Still, I got a fair number and I'm excited to read these.

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The first ebook I got this month was, of course, Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas.
I let my friends read from my kindle/audible accounts, and one of my friends was really upset that her copy of ToD wasn't going to arrive for at least 5 days after the release. So I decided that, because I had a gift card and was eventually going to get ToD in ebook format, I would just buy it. That way, we could all read it and share annotations.

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Next I bought A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess.
I have already read this book but it was on sale for $2, so I decided to go ahead and get the ebook. I have yet to read the sequel, but am planning on it soon as I've had the arc for months now.

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Then I got Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
I love Jennifer's Lux series, and this book ties into that world. I've actually had my eye on it for a while, but the physical book was always a bit more than I wanted to spend and I, as a general rule, don't buy ebooks that are over $5 unless I really, really know that I will love it. I was incredibly excited to see it on my daily Book Bub newsletter, and I snatched it up immediately.

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Next I got Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.
I've read this book before and love it. I saw it on Book Bub one day and decided to pick it up as it was only $2 and I had to leave my physical copy at home when I left for college. 

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Lastly, I got Shattered Heir by N.M. Howell.
I honestly forgot what this book was about as I preordered it so long ago, but I know that I was pretty excited for it to release. It's an RH (which is one of my favorite sub-genres), and I always love discovering new RH novels.

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I also picked up 3 audiobooks this month (I only planned on one, so oops). They're all audiobooks that I've been wanting for a while, so I'm not too sorry about getting them. Also, they were all $7.50, which is a great price for an audiobook. Let's jump in.

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The first audiobook I got was When the Dead Come A Knockin' by B.L. Brunnemer
This is the second book in the Veil Diaries series, which is one of my favorite series ever. I loved the first book's audio, so when I found out the second book's audiobook was going to be released only a few weeks later, I jumped up and down in excitement. I'm about halfway through it and in love. I think that these audiobooks are so well done and I can't wait for the rest of the series to release and have audiobooks.

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Next I picked up Persuasion by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington.
I love this book, so when I heard the audiobook was coming out, I was ecstatic. However, they didn't do Whispersync for voice, so I would have had to buy it full price at $35 if I wanted it. Then one day I was just scrolling through audible and decided to see if it had switched over to Whispersync yet, which it hadn't, but it had gone on sale for the same price as Whispersync would have been. I have never one-clicked a book so fast. 

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Lastly, I got Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas (wow, what I surprise, I know).
This also went on sale for $7.50 and I knew I had to get it. I collect all editions/formats of Sarah's books and knew that I wanted it. I just didn't think I would be able to get it so soon, but I did! I haven't listened to it yet, but I may end up switching between audio and physical just so that I can get this book finished before October begins.

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And now onto the last section of this haul: the bookish, or nerdy, goodies. I have three categories to talk about, so let's just dive in.

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First, I purchased an Owlcrate box this month. The theme was Mythical Creatures and all the sneak peeks just made me really want it, so I renewed my subscription. I was not let down. Here's the link for my full unboxing and close-ups on each item, but for now, here's a picture of the entire box.

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Then I got my preorder goodies for ToD. I actually got four of these pouches delivered to me, as well as one delivered to my house, for a total of five of these pouches. One pouch I use for all my bookmarks that I brought to college, while another is for my Throne of Glass goodies. I gave another to one of my friends who loves this series. The other two I am probably going to do a giveaway with (once I hit 1,000 followers on Insta--@laurensboookshelf). 
(yes, I reused this picture. Sue me). 

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Lastly, I picked up a tapestry to liven up my dorm room.
It's gorgeous and I absolutely adore it. I now know that it is Tangled, but when I first saw it, even though I knew it wasn't the actual place, I thought of Hogwarts. I knew from the moment I saw it that I wanted it for my room. And I finally got it!

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Thanks for reading. You can find my monthly wrap-up with all the books I read, big events that happened throughout the month, and all my September blog posts right here.
xoxo
Lauren

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Get 10% off your first order on A Court of Candles when you use this link

Subscribe to Owlcrate using this link and get 15% off your first box using "BOOKING15" or "BKWORM15"

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link:

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