Review | Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I'm not even sure if I was expecting Mockingjay to be any good because I loved The Hunger Games and Catching Fire so much. But I know I wasn't expecting to be so disappointed either. The first two books gave me all the feels and I expected no less from the third. While there were some parts that were redeeming, for the most part, I didn't like Mockingjay.

The best thing about the first books, for me, were the characters. I loved Katniss and fell in love with the boy with the bread, Peeta, with her. I adored her sister Prim and wanted nothing more than to run away with Gale, but Mockingjay was different. While we spend a considerable more time with the main people in her life, I didn't love them the same way.

Maybe the author's writing changed, or maybe because the setting was so different from the first two or maybe it was because Katniss was such a weak character in the third book, but my love for the characters was altered and I just read the book to finish it. It took me a lot longer than the others to get through too. But once I was done, I tossed it to the side and thought "Well that sucked," and moved on to the next book.

So unfortunately my love for The Hunger Games ended there. I still love the first two books but I have to think of them separately from the third which is lame.

Review | Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I'm not exactly sure where to start with this one. I can begin by saying I was dreading it. Dreading to continue The Hunger Games series and find out what happens next and where it was going. I steered clear of any reviews of  Catching Fire because I learned my lesson when I read the first book ( I accidentally read the first few lines of the synopsis of Catching Fire while in the middle of The Hunger Games so I knew how it would end!) and I didn't know what to expect. I'm just happy to say I wasn't disappointed. Catching Fire still left me with too much love for all the characters involved and I didn't know what to do myself after I was done reading it.

I had no idea what to expect when I finally picked up Catching Fire, had no idea where the story was going. I began reading it shortly after the movie trailer aired for the first time and I refused to watch it because I had no idea what was going to happen. I find that's also really difficult to write my thoughts on this without sharing every possible detail about the book, and I hate spoilers!

So let me keep this simple: Collins writing was just as good, if not better, in Catching Fire and I was captivated not only by the plot, but by the characters development, the pace and everything that was happening. The book takes off quickly and things start rolling along so fast, that I was literally shocked and glued to the book. Also, there are so many twists in this one! The romance, of course, is still there and crucial in the story's development. We were able to see a lot more about the relationships between Katniss/Peeta/Gale, but we also learn a lot more about these characters and I really loved them so much more.

There is not much else I can really say except that I loved Catching Fire. I can't say I loved it more than The Hunger Games (because it will always have a special place in my heart) but I do maybe love it just as much.  Definitely a great sequel in the series and I recommend it to everyone who has already read the first book in the series and is hesitant like I was to continue.

 

Review | Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

I have to admit that I picked up Eleanor and Park because of the hype. It was being talked about so much, more than most other books in recent years.  I gave in, bought a copy and devoured it. I am not sure if I am one to be swayed by others opinions (I like to think I am not) but like pretty much everyone else, I loved it. Eleanor and Park was such a unique and very real story about young love, which was quite refreshing and just the kind of book to get me out of the slump I was in.

Eleanor is far from what we're used to in YA, and that makes her stand out much more. She's a poor kid, living with a creepy stepdad and a mom that doesn't seem to be able to get it together. She's overweight, buys her clothes from Goodwill, and hates gym class. Park is "the Asian kid" who can be considered a bit popular, but still different because of his unique personality. They start off a strangers, not particularly happy about having to sit next to each other on the bus, but eventually the strangeness fades. They slowly become friends over reading comic books together, enjoying songs, and this turns into a beautiful first love. 

Like I'm sure you've read in every review you've come across of Eleanor and Park, the best part was the romance. Not only was it sweet and real, it very much made me remember how it feels like to be so young, so innocent, and so in love. Each moment they spent together was so damn special, and it brought back many memories of when I was a teen and squealing about every little moment, as well as the rush, the feeling of so many emotions. That's what this book gave to me.

I could go on forever about this book, but I won't. I can say that I love the characters (even the ones I hated) and I truly enjoyed Rowell's writing. I also loved that it was set in the mid 80's because it reminded me of my childhood (although with some differences since I was a 90's kid.) I am definitely looking forward to reading more of Rowell's work, and wholeheartedly recommend Eleanor and Park to everyone.

Why I Think I Hate Series

I've had this problem for a long time, but I really think I hate series. My biggest issue with them? I can never finish them. I can only think of a handful of series that I've actually gotten through, which of course includes Harry Potter, The Hunger Games (which I only finished last week so it's not much to boast about,) a few romance series, etc. But there are a ton of other firsts that I've started and still haven't gotten to the second one even though it's been years (Delirium, The Immortal Rules, Hush Hush, etc.) and even though I really want to read the rest of these series, I can't seem to get myself to pick them up.

I think there are a few reasons to my whole hating series thing though. For one thing, I hate when I don't know that a book is part of a series until I am a good portion into it or done with it. That drives me crazy! I don't know how this happens, but I have a good idea that it might be because I buy so many books at once, put them on my bookshelves and then don't touch them until several years later. During this time that these books went untouched, several others in the series came out along the way and somehow missed the memo. Then I'm stuck with yet another series that I might never finish.



I also don't like the idea of a story ending. This is kind of weird because every book has an ending right? But a stand alone just ends. There's no expectation for more and you can just deal with all the feels afterwards and know that the characters lived (sometimes) happily ever after. But with a series, for me it's like "Omg I already read book #1 and #2 and now #3 is the last one and I am not sure if I am ready for this to end." It's just so difficult for me to let these characters go, especially if I've been reading them for years and finally the last book is here and it will finally end. It crushes me.

I think one of the biggest reasons why I don't like series is when I feel like the first book has ended and then all of a sudden it turns into a trilogy or saga or something. I try not to think of it like this because I have heard from so many authors that when they first started thinking of their stories, they always pictured it as a three book thing or something, and then they got a deal for three books and there you go. But I feel that series have become so popular these last few years, especially with so many books being made into movies, that authors now choose that route instead of sticking to stand alones. And sometimes I just feel like a book was good enough to end like that.

The reason behind this post, I think is because I just finished Mockingjay. And you know what? I was disappointed. I read The Hunger Games in 2010. The third book wasn't out then yet, but I originally planned (like I always do) to finish the series, like, immediately. Instead, I didn't pick up Catching Fire until late last year because the movie was about to be released and I had to be at the midnight premiere and all. But it took me three years to get to the second book. During those years I loved Katniss and I loved Peeta and I struggled with the idea that she might choose Gale and what would I do without the boy with the bread? And then finally I picked up the last book and I read it and I cried and I finally found out how it ended and it wasn't enough. That ending wasn't good enough for me. And when I review it I will go into more detail, but my final thoughts were, after all these years...that's it? That's all I get? And it wasn't exactly that I wasn't satisfied with it, but I had put so much love all these years into these characters and now they're gone. Of course, I'll one day re-read these books and I'm exaggerating a bit, but that's what it feels like to me when I finish a series. And that's why I sort of dread both starting new ones and continuing ones I have already started.

How about you out there? Do you love/hate series? Are you just as terrible as I am about finishing them or do you speed read through them?

Review | 100 Ghosts: A Gallery of Harmless Haunts by DoogieHorner

The best way I can describe 1oo Ghosts: A Gallery of Harmless Haunts is both funny and adorable. Maybe it's just me but I couldn't find any of the ghosts anything but cute! I was laughing out loud through most of these but I was also spazzing out on how ridiculously adorable I found them as well.

100 Ghosts  is a book you can quickly look through in one sitting since it is all just images of ghosts plus their caption. I found it fun to try and guess what each ghost was named before looking at it's actual name. Definitely something fun to have on your coffee table for others to enjoy.

Here are a few of the ghosts found inside this book. Can you guess which one is my favorite? :)

Literary Fashion | Surface + Let the Sky Fall + Beautiful Bastard

So I only did a two of these literary fashion posts before my unexpected hiatus, so I decided to show off a few of the sets I created from the books I have recently (ish) reviewed. I don't consider myself fashionable or anything, I just find creating these sets a lot of fun, so I decided to incorporate them into my blog along with the books I've read.

This first one I created for Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren, which I read and reviewed yesterday. I am also giving away an ARC of the book, so check that out! For this set, I wanted something dark and sexy, like the cover but also professional since Chloe dresses really nice for work.

Since Surface is about sirens, I wanted the outfit to match the cover, but also have some sea aspects to it. The accessories have seashells, and the heels are "mermaid" ones. The clutch is also scaley to look like maybe a mermaid tail? This one was a lot of fun to put together.

For this Let the Sky Fall set, I definitely wanted to incorporate Audra's wardrobe. She normally wears a leather jacket and boots, regardless of the heat. Since she also uses a sword, her accessories include swords. I don't remember exactly why I added a black dress to this set...maybe she wears one in the book? This one wasn't a favorite, but I loved the colors used for the cover, so I included those as well for the more casual look.

I've created a few more sets based off books, but I am not sure how regularly I'll be posting these. Maybe only once a month or something. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this edition of Literary Fashion.

Review | Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

Title: Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
Series: Beautiful Bastard #1
Genre: Romance
Publication: February 12, 2013 by Gallery Books
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Rating: ★★★

Synopsis: An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling.

Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He's exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.

Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family's massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who'd been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he's never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe's so tempting he's willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office.

As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they're willing to lose in order to win each other.

Thoughts: The first thing I want to say about Beautiful Bastard is that I only picked it up because I read that it was originally written as fan fiction of Twilight and I needed to see what that was about. While Twilight might be bashed endlessly, I will always be a fan of the books. Not a hard core fan, but a fan nonetheless. Anyways, I am not an erotica fan and have tried several different books and authors of this genre and always felt they were sort of...not my cup of tea I guess. I find them a bit tasteless and overflowing with sex scenes, but again, that's just my opinion. Regardless, I wanted to give Beautiful Bastard a shot so I accepted a copy for review.

It was, for one thing, not what I expected. First off, I actually enjoyed it for the most part. But it is also not even remotely like Twilight. Of course it's ridiculous of me to think that they would even be a bit similar since in the summary itself it says that it was extensively revised before publication, so that definitely implies that it would basically be nothing like Twilight. But still, it wasn't anything like that, and I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. Is that weird or what? Okay, moving on. While the basis of the story consists of Chloe pretty much hating her boss Bennett, then constantly having sex, until eventually fall in love (very predictable stuff here as you can tell), I have to admit it was quite entertaining. The sexual encounters between these two got a little repetitive, but overall, I found their interactions to be interesting and their back and forth banter actually made me laugh out loud a few times.

The characters aren't deep or anything, so I didn't become attached enough to actually want to continue the series after reading the first one, but it definitely satisfied my curiosity so I am glad I at least finished the whole thing. Overall, I would probably recommend Beautiful Bastard to some fans of erotica, not necessarily hardcore fans because I read a few reviews by some big fans of erotica, who just snickered at everything in this book. I say give it a shot if it sounds like something you would enjoy!

Review | Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams

I was a little weary going into this one because of the last book I read by Williams (Miles from Ordinary) but because of my love of  The Chosen One, I decided it was only fair to give her writing another shot. I was a little shocked when I opened the book and realized it was written in verse, since I hadn't taken a peek inside when I picked it up from the library. I absolutely love books written in verse (when they are done well of course) and dove right in not really knowing what to expect anymore.

I knew Williams to battle tough topics, but again, I didn't know where Glimpse was going  and ended up being caught off a little off guard when I finally began to realize what was happening to Hazel and her sister Lizzie.

While I was able to figure out what was going on, Williams way of bringing forth the events that lead up to Lizzie and Hope's situation still shocked me a bit. I sort of wanted to be wrong, you know? I wanted to not think that something like this could be happening to these two characters that I had learned to like.  Williams writing pulls these kinds of feelings from me when I read her books which have me thinking of them for months afterwards. For this reason alone, I am glad I gave Glimpse a chance even though I had my doubts.

 The story was told so well I wasn't able to put it down until I was done. The vivid details of the atmosphere, of the settings, and of everything in the story made it feel so real and raw for me. It was a very beautiful, sad story that I definitely recommend, especially for those who are fans of verse style stories. This one is definitely a gem that has gone a little unnoticed. 

 

Oh, hello there and happy new year.

Okay, so I'm a little late. 17 days or so to be exact. But hey, I'm here! So I can't say it's been easy or better, but life is starting to work out for me again. And guess what? I miss blogging. I miss all of your pretty blog faces and your reviews. I haven't read a book in months and that makes me want to cry. But enough of regrets. It's a new year!

So for the last two years I have made short lists of goals and resolutions. The first year I did this, my goals were focused on blogging and reading. Last year, I made different lists for reading and personal goals, most of which I didn't accomplish but that's okay. I honestly don't want to set all these unrealistic goals for myself this year, so I've decided to keep it simple.

• Read books: My Goodreads challenge says 52 books, but it also says I am two behind already. So guess what? I just want to read. It doesn't matter how many. I will be happy with just a few :)


• Read for fun: I want to read what I want. I still read way to many books I felt "obligated" to read last year. No more of that.


• Review: By this I mean, keep this blog somewhat active. I don't want to promise myself to review five times a week or even once a week. As long as I review every once in a while, that's great with me.


• Stay healthy: I did it, I changed my lifestyle and went all healthy. I don't know what it was that finally made me do it, but a few months before the end of 2013, I joined the gym and quit fast food. I don't go every day, but I go at least 3 times a week. And I can't help it, I sometimes have a cheat meal. But I have improved my health drastically and I want to keep it up. And you know the best part? I love running and healthy snacks. Who knew? :)

That's it! Simple right? I think so. I really think this is the best list I have ever made because it's not change. I hate resolutions because I don't keep them for more than a few weeks. Instead, I have decided to do things the way I really want. This is going to be a better year.

Happy 2014 everyone. And happy reading :)