Monday Recap (for a few weeks)

Hello friends! I am finally back now that midterms are over and my hectic work week is over. I am on Spring Break, woo! But I am also working plenty. I do hope I am able to post frequently this week as well as get some reading done :)

Quick thoughts on The Hunger Games movie: Okay, so I totally went to the midnight premiere (my first one ever) for The Hunger Games and it was great! I really enjoyed the movie and was pretty happy with how it turned out. I am a little sad that they excluded some parts that I felt were important, but overall it turned out really awesome. I want to go watch it again!

Here's what I plan to read/finish this week:

Last week I read:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (re-read)
The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby

On another note: I am an official member of the Geek Who Read Book Club hosted by A Written Rhapsody and Letters Inside Out! I am really excited because it will be first real book club and while it is still online, it is exclusive and on Skype. While members are no longer being accepted, you can look up more information here and maybe join in the future if more members are accepted.

One more thing: I am going to get a tattoo in two days. Yes, I am super nervous but really excited. Why am I sharing this with you all? Well because it is also going to be a literary tattoo. Last year I read Delirium by Lauren Oliver and it became one of my favorite books ever. One of the quotes stuck and I decided that it would be the first thing I would get. Which quote, you ask?

"Love: it will kill you and save you, both."

I can't wait to get it done and will post pictures later this week hopefully! Okay, that's all in updates. Have a great week everybody!

\\ Blog Tour \\ Review | Waitlisted by Laurel Gans

Title: Waitlisted by Laurel Gans
Series: None
Publication: 10.04.2011 by Etopia Press
Source: CLP Blog Tours
Format: eBook
Rating: ★

Synopsis: Kacey Barlow had no idea it would be this hard to get into grad school. Her well-to-do family has been attending UI for generations, and admissions had been recruiting her since high school! She was a shoo-in—that is, until they gave her the boot.

She can’t tell her parents, and can’t stand the thought of her friends going off to grad school without her. Her grades are slipping. Her professors can’t remember her name, and her tutor, Taylor, won’t stop hitting on her when they’re supposed to be studying.

Okay, maybe that last one isn’t so bad. But it’s not going to help get her a seat in another school...and applications are due in two weeks...

Thoughts: I don't want to write too long of a review on this book because it is such a struggle to write something negative. I agreed to read Waitlisted because it sounded like a book I could easily relate to, being a college student and having been in a similar situation as Kacey. I was very disappointed when the book turned out to have a main character I quickly hated and a story that could have been better written.

The writing was okay, but I felt was a bit choppy. There were some funny moments, but overall, the book was too descriptive and I found myself with an immense urge to skim several paragraphs in each chapter. The narration was also bothersome, switching from first to second point of view, and although maybe it worked for some, it pretty much annoyed me.

While I could've looked past the tolerable writing, I really could not get over how badly I disliked Kacey. She was selfish, irresponsible, fake and conceited. That's to name a few. She hated science, didn't do any work, complained a whole lot and I had a hard time getting through the book just because I couldn't care less what happened to her.


I really felt that if I wanted to give this book an honest review, I had to go all the way and finish it, and even though it took me quite some time I did get through it. I really wanted to like Waitlisted, but it just wasn't for me. As I always say, don't let that discourage you from picking up this book because others have enjoyed it and so might you.

Review | Bound by Kira Saito

Title: Bound by Kira Saito
Series: Arelia LaRue #1
Genre: YA - Paranormal/Fantasy
Publication: November 1st 2011 by Smashwords
Format: e-Book
Source: Bewitching Book Tours
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Sixteen year old Arelia LaRue lives in New Orleans where the music is loud, voodoo queens inhabit every street corner, and the ghosts are alive and well. Despite her surroundings, all she wants is to help her Grand-mere Bea pay the rent and save up for college.

When her best friend Sabrina convinces her to take a well-paying summer job at the infamous Darkwood plantation, owned by the wealthy LaPlante family, Arelia agrees.

However, at Darkwood strange things start to happen, and gorgeous Lucus LaPlante insists that he needs her help. Soon, the powers that Arelia has been denying all her life, come out to play and she discovers mysteries about herself that she could have never imagined.

Thoughts: I am sad to say that I was left disappointed after finishing Bound and really expected more from this book. What piqued my interest was the summary, which I thought would be fascinating to read about because it promised voodoo queens, paranormal aspects, and romance. The cover also grabbed my attention because of the colors and the mysterious look it has.

The biggest problem I had were the characters because wasn't able to connected with any of them. They had little to no depth, the dialogue between them was forced, and the relationships didn't seem concrete. Arelia had been hearing spirits her whole life and even responded to them sometimes, yet she refused to believe she had any sort of powers, which made no sense, but I was willing to let pass. Her relationship with Sabrina is ridiculous though, not only because Sabrina is such a hate-able character (she's a snob, mean, selfish, and conceited) that I could not stand, but also because their relationship wasn't built from anything.

I was expecting some romance too, and while there were a few sort of intense scenes between Arelia and Lucas, nothing really happened between them that made it interesting. Lucas is a gentleman and all, but didn't have anything going for him except some good looks. The only reason it seemed like Arelia was interested in him was because Sabrina gave him so much attention. The other characters in the book, although included quite a bit, didn't really capture my attention either even though Arelia spent some time with a few of them.

Not much really happens throughout the book, other than a few mysterious things here and there. Arelia is still new to the whole voodoo thing and when the story finally start to pick up, it is towards the end which abruptly finishes off the book. I know the author intentionally left us off on a cliffhanger, but I felt that a lot more could have been added to the story and I felt cheated in the end.

While Bound was not terrible, I felt it could have used a considerable amount more of editing. I probably won't continue the series after all because of the lack of connection with the characters. I wish I would've liked it enough to want to know what happens next, but unfortunately, Bound was barely an okay read for me.

Monday Recap (02.27 -03.04)

Hello friends and happy Monday! I am finally back, yes. I decided to wait until the first Sunday of March to begin updating. I am going to try my best to keep the blog updated, but I also don't want to push myself. It should be fun right? Onto the books:

Here's what I plan to read/finish this week: 

  

As some of you may know or noticed, I was on a shirt hiatus and don't have anything else to post. I hope this week goes well. Happy reading everyone!