November Wrap-Up & December TBR

I actually only read one book in November and that's deppressing. I've been so busy with school I've had no time for reading at all. I won't reach my Goodreads goal but oh well. 

1- Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (4/5)
I really wanna write a full review on this book but I know I probably won't have time 😢
I absolutely loved the characters. I really needed a supernatural book to read during Halloween, and although this wasn't a scary read, it was just what I wanted. I've been obsessed with werewolves for the past few years and the pack of wolves in this book is probably my favourite. I love how there are many different supernatural creatures (and some of them are quite unusual) and it was super interesting and entertaining to read about. I really recommend this book if it's the kind of read you're into. 

DECEMBER TBR

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

HP always feels like a Winter read. So I decided to reread the first one then keep going with the whole series. 



 When a letter arrives for unhappy but ordinary Harry Potter, a decade-old secret is revealed to him that apparently he's the last to know. His parents were wizards, killed by a Dark Lord's curse when Harry was just a baby, and which he somehow survived. Leaving his unsympathetic aunt and uncle for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry stumbles upon a sinister mystery when he finds a three-headed dog guarding a room on the third floor. Then he hears of a missing stone with astonishing powers, which could be valuable, dangerous – or both. An incredible adventure is about to begin!

A Christmas Carol

I got a beautiful illustrated version and I can't wait to read it!



 A Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. After their visits Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.








Well, hopefully I'll read another book before the year is over. But it's okay if not. It's not about how many I've read, but about how many I've loved. 

Merry Christmas everyone ❤️

October Wrap-Up and November TBR

If there's one thing you can count on, is that I'll always post my Wrap-Ups and TBRs. Here we are again, another month has passed and I only read two books this month, which is okay I guess... Here they are:

1- The Glass Castle (4.5/5)
     I loved this book. It made me happy and sad just like the movie did. I cried and had very strong feelings about the characters, particularly since they are actual real people. I don't usually autobiographies, but this one is so good and I really recommend it. I recommend the movie too. It is fantastic. 

2- The Death Cure (3.5/5)
     Finally read the third book in the Maze Runner series. Since the movie is coming out soon, I just had too. I definitely enjoyed this one more than the Scorch Trials. But it still wasn't as good as The Maze Runner... It was an interesting ending, but not really what I wanted. Also no spoilers, but if you've read the book you know there's a part that I really hate and that I wish hadn't happened. But I was spoiled for it so I wasn't really surprised when it happened...

NOVEMBER TBR

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things

I know I know, the title is kinda weird... But I really wanted to read a Halloweeny book and this ebook was free on Amazon and it really got my attention. I am halfway through it and I low key am loving it. The characters are great and there are werewolves and I love werewolves packs so much. 

17 year old Ember Denning has made an art of isolating herself. She prefers the dead. She spends her days skipping school in old cemeteries and her nights hiding from her alcoholic father at the funeral home where she works. When her own father dies, Ember learns her whole life is a lie. Standing in the cemetery that’s been her sanctuary, she’s threatened by the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen and rescued by two people who claim to be her family. They say she’s special, that she has a supernatural gift like them…they just don’t know exactly what it is. 

They take her to a small Florida town, where Ember’s life takes a turn for the weird. She’s living with her reaper cousins, an orphaned werewolf pack, a faery and a human genius. Ember’s powers are growing stronger, morphing into something bigger than anything anybody anticipated. Ember has questions but nobody has answers. Nobody knows what she is. They only know her mysterious magical gift is trying to kill them and that beautiful dangerous boy from the cemetery may be the only thing standing between her and death. 

As Ember’s talents are revealed so are the secrets her father hid and those in power who would seek to destroy her. What’s worse, saving Ember has put her cousins in danger and turned her friend’s lives upside down. Ember must learn to embrace her magic or risk losing the family she’s pieced together.

I'm definitely reading at least another books this month, but I have no idea which one yet. I'm gonna see what I'll feel like reading after finishing this one...

August Wrap-Up and September TBR

 

         As you all know, I read this wonderful series in August. I had one more book in my TBR and I ended up reading half of it, but I didn't have it finished by end of the month but hopefully you'll see it in the next post.

1- The Dream Thieves (4.5/5)

You can check out my review of the Raven Cycle series by clicking on this link.

2- Blue Lily, Lily Blue (4/5)

 You can check out my review of the Raven Cycle series by clicking on this link.

3- The Raven King (4/5)

You can check out my review of the Raven Cycle series by clicking on this link.

SEPTEMBER TBR

As You Wish

       Gonna try to finish As You Wish this month. University just started and I already have so much homework. I know I won't be able to read much this month.

In the sandy Mojave Desert, Madison is a small town on the road between nothing and nowhere. But Eldon wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, because in Madison, everyone gets one wish—and that wish always comes true.

Some people wish for money, some people wish for love, but Eldon has seen how wishes have broken the people around him. And with the lives of his family and friends in chaos, he’s left with more questions than answers. Can he make their lives better? How can he be happy if the people around him aren’t? And what hope is there for any of them if happiness isn’t an achievable dream? Doubts build, leading Eldon to a more outlandish and scary thought: maybe you can’t wish for happiness…maybe, just maybe, you have to make it for yourself.

A Bollywood Affair

         Not sure if this is the one I'll be reading but I don't have any other book planned so I might as well read it.

Mili Rathod hasn’t seen her husband in twenty years—not since she was promised to him at the age of four. Yet marriage has allowed Mili a freedom rarely given to girls in her village. Her grandmother has even allowed her to leave India and study in America for eight months, all to make her the perfect modern wife. Which is exactly what Mili longs to be—if her husband would just come and claim her. 

Bollywood’s favorite director, Samir Rathod, has come to Michigan to secure a divorce for his older brother. Persuading a naïve village girl to sign the papers should be easy for someone with Samir’s tabloid-famous charm. But Mili is neither a fool nor a gold-digger. Open-hearted yet complex, she’s trying to reconcile her independence with cherished traditions. And before he can stop himself, Samir is immersed in Mili’s life—cooking her dal and rotis, escorting her to her roommate’s elaborate Indian wedding, and wondering where his loyalties and happiness lie.

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Book Review: The Raven Cycle

                  

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

        So I finally read The Raven Cycle series! I've been hearing good things about it for years, so it was about time for me to read The Raven Boys. This review won't contain any spoilers, so you don't have to worry if you haven't read it yet. But please do! I highly recommend it. 

        Now, I'm not saying that this is the best series I've ever read. There are quite a few flaws (that I'll address later in this review) but overall the books were really entertaining and definitely worth reading.

First of, these covers are so pretty! Even if I hadn’t heard anything about it, the covers would still have caught my attention and I would’ve probably read them eventually. My favourite cover is no doubt Blue Lily, Lily Blue.

I had no idea what The Raven Boys was about when I began to read it. It was not what I was expecting, but in a way, it kind of was. I actually recommend you to do the same thing I did. Go in without knowing anything. The characters were phenomenal. So intricate and unique; and although each had flaws (and you couldn’t help but be angry at them at times), each also had great qualities (and you just couldn’t help but love them). Some could argue that Blue Sargent is the main character, but they all have such a strong presence and they are all so important to the plot, so I have to say that Blue and the boys are all protagonists. 

The setting was so beautiful and so well written. Fox Way, Monmouth Manufacturing, the Barns, Cabeswater… (I do wish Aglionby Academy was a bit more present, since they are raven boys because they attend that school, but...). I could picture those places perfectly, and I loved everything about them. Maggie Stiefvater did such an amazing job at bringing them to life. 

Another thing that I really liked was the story itself. Not necessarily the plot, but more of what the book was about. It was so interesting the way how Maggie used mythology and psychics and the supernatural in a way I had never seen before. It felt magical and mysterious. This is the first book I’ve ever read by her, and I quite liked her writing. The way she used foreshadowing was really cool, and she does this repetition of lines that I absolutely love. 

However, the story was really confusing at times. And by the end of the series, a lot of things felt unresolved. Many of my questions were left unanswered. Since she created such an intricate and complicated story, I wish she had been more careful and clear with it. I personally did not like how things ended in the last book. She kept building up this whole thing throughout the series, then let me down with a disappointing ending. 

These things weren’t enough to make me dislike the series. The characters, setting, and the idea for the story redeemed the series for me. The first two books, The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves were the best ones. I really recommend for you to pick The Raven Cycle up! You won't want to put it down!

   

   

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July Wrap Up & August TBR

        Look who actually read all the books that were on her TBR for July!!! I had hoped to read a little bit more since it's summer, but I've been doing some other stuff so I didn't really have as much time as I thought I would. Anyways, here they are!

1- The Trials of Apollo - The Dark Prophecy (3.5/5)
          The second book in the Trials of Apollo series finally came out! Not gonna lie, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did the first one. The plot wasn't as intriguing, and it felt a little bit boring and monotonous at times. I still loved Rick's writing and the humour, but I was expecting a little bit more. I had hoped to see more old characters returning, there were some, but not enough to satisfy me. The ending though left me quite intrigued and I can't wait to read the next one. 

2- Autonomous (2.5/5)
      Check out my review of Autonomous by clicking here.

3- The Raven Boys (5/5)
         I absolutely loved this book and I can't wait to do a review on the whole series once I'm done!

AUGUST TBR

The Dream Thieves
        Couldn't help myself and ended up buying the second and third book in the Raven Cycle series!



Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…



Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. 

The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

The Raven King

All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love's death. She doesn't believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.






As You Wish
       Another ARC that I was sent by a publisher. The story sounds really interesting and I can't wait to read it and review it for you guys!

In the sandy Mojave Desert, Madison is a small town on the road between nothing and nowhere. But Eldon wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, because in Madison, everyone gets one wish—and that wish always comes true.

Some people wish for money, some people wish for love, but Eldon has seen how wishes have broken the people around him. And with the lives of his family and friends in chaos, he’s left with more questions than answers. Can he make their lives better? How can he be happy if the people around him aren’t? And what hope is there for any of them if happiness isn’t an achievable dream? Doubts build, leading Eldon to a more outlandish and scary thought: maybe you can’t wish for happiness…maybe, just maybe, you have to make it for yourself.

May Wrap Up & June TBR

              

    Goodreads is saying that I'm two books behind schedule for my reading challenge but I've been reading a good amount of books so Goodreads can't you just be happy for me??

1- Everything, Everything (4.5/5)

         You can check out my review of Everything, Everything here. 

         This book was on my May TBR so √

2- Revealed (2/5)

        This was a reread. I love the House of Night series and the worldbuilding; however, the last few books were just dragging on the series and ended up not being good. (This is book number 11!) Zoey was incredibly annoying the whole time and I just wanted it to be over. 

3- Redeemed (3/5)

         Finally the end of the series. It was nice finally getting a closure, but it could definitely have been better. I just heard that there will be a new series, following months after the events of this last book. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's nice getting to see the characters doing other things besides fighting Neferet but also I think 12 books and a bunch of companion novellas is enough.

4- The Warrior Heir (2/5)

         I remember when this came out and everyone on Booktube was talking about it. This was on my book club list and I suggested that we read it and now I kinda regret it. It was really boring, and pretty much nothing happened until the end. The characters were annoying and a lot of things were predictable. I heard that second book is way better so I might give it a shot one day...

JUNE TBR

Dragonsong

         My book club decided to read 2 books this month and this is one of them. I haven't read many books with dragons in it and I have a friend that absolutely adores dragons, so I should probably read more of them. They must be good since she loves them so! I just started it and I'm actually quite enjoying it. 

For centuries, the world of Pern has faced a destructive force known as Thread. But the number of magnificent dragons who have protected this world and the men and women who ride them are dwindling.

As fewer dragons ride the winds and destruction falls from the sky, Menolly has only one dream: to sing, play, and weave the music that comes to her so easily—she wishes to become a Harper. But despite her great talents, her father believes that a young girl is unworthy of such a respected position and forbids her to pursue her dreams. So Menolly runs away, taking shelter in a cave by the sea. Miraculously, she happens upon nine fire lizards that could possibly save her world...and change her life forever.

The Dark Prophecy

       I'm so excited to read this!! I really liked The Hidden Oracle and I can't wait to see what Apollo will confront next!

Zeus has punished his son Apollo—god of the sun, music, archery, poetry, and more—by casting him down to earth in the form of a gawky, acne-covered sixteen-year-old mortal named Lester. The only way Apollo can reclaim his rightful place on Mount Olympus is by restoring several Oracles that have gone dark. What is affecting the Oracles, and how can Apollo do anything about them without his powers?

After experiencing a series of dangerous—and frankly, humiliating—trials at Camp Half-Blood, Apollo must now leave the relative safety of the demigod training ground and embark on a hair-raising journey across North America. Fortunately, what he lacks in godly graces he's gaining in new friendships—with heroes who will be very familiar to fans of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series. Come along for what promises to be a harrowing, hilarious, and haiku-filled ride. . . .

The Raven Boys

       My friend gave me this book for my birthday, and I've been wanting to read it for a really long time so I'm finally going to!

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.SaveSaveSaveSave

February Wrap-Up and March TBR

           

1- Oblivion (3/5)
    I read Obsidian almost 3 years ago, and I haven't really continued on with the series even though I wanted to... So when I saw that the ebook for Oblivion, the series from Daemon's point of view, was really cheap, I decided to buy it and see if by reading it, it would maybe get me more excited to read the other ones. To be honest, I don't think it was very well written. I don't really like some of the stuff that happened or how the relationship between Katie and Daemon form, but this is almost like a guilty pleasure type thing. I find it entertaining even though I don't think it is necessarily good. 
       This book was on my February TBR so √
       
2- Code Name Verity (3.5/5)
     I have a review on Code Name Verity that you can check out by clicking here.
        This book was on my February TBR so √

3- Anna and the French Kiss (5/5)
     I wrote a review of this book here!
       This book was on my February TBR so √

4- The Clockwork Scarab (3/5)
     I've never read a steampunk book before so it was quite interesting to read this one. I liked that it had to badass female protagonists! However, I had a lot of problems with it. I didn't see any chemistry between any of the characters, and the plot was kinda all over the place. A lot of things were introduced/mentioned but not really resolved. I'm guessing most of it was to introduce topics that will be bigger on the other books, but that bothered me a bit. I love the cover and the cover under it. I'm not sure if I'll continue one with the series... 

MARCH TBR

Cinderela Pop
   
     This is a book written by a Brazilian author and I'm not sure if it had been published anywhere else. But I'm excited because it is a retelling of Cinderella, and it's part of a series of retellings and I love the other two books. 

Cintia é uma princesa dos dias atuais: antenada, com opiniões próprias, decidida e adora música! 

Essa princesa pop morava com os pais em um castelo enorme de onde via toda a cidade. Todas as noites ela olhava pela janela, onde ficava admirando a vista e sonhando... com um príncipe que ainda não conhecia.

Porém um dia o castelo de Cintia desmoronou e com ele tudo à sua volta. Desiludida, ela deixou de acreditar em romances e teve que reconstruir cada parte de sua vida, sem deixar o mínimo espaço para o amor.

Ela só não contava com um detalhe... Havia mesmo um belo príncipe em sua história. E tudo que ele mais queria era descongelar o coração da nossa gata (nada) borralheira!

The Princess Bride 

      This is my Book Club's pick of the month. To be honest I have never actually seen the movie so this is gonna be interesting. 

What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams?

As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears.

Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.

What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.

In short, it's about everything. 

Wormwood 
  
    This actually was my cousin's book and she gave it to me. To be honest, it is not the type of book I would ever pick up to read if I didn't have it in the first place. It's been sitting on my shelf for more than a year and I just picked its name out of my TBR jar so I guess I read it. 

In 1756 London, Agetta Lamian fears the end of the world is near. She's the housemaid of Dr. Sabian Blake, who recently acquired a legendary book said to unlock the secrets of the universe, and overhears his prediction that a comet called Wormwood is headed toward London.

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Favourite Books of 2016

         2016 was a good year in terms of reading for me. I read 53 books and that is the most I've read in a year ever! My Goodreads challenge was to read 50 books so I'm glad I surpassed my goal. I, again, set my goal for 50 books in 2017 because I don't want to overwhelm myself and I feel like 50 books is a reasonable goal for me to achieve. I've made a favourites post for 2014 and 2015 and I can't believe I've had my blog for this long! In March, my blog will be celebrating three years! A reminder that these are my favourite books that I read this year, they were no necessarily published in 2016. This list is also not in any particular order. Some books represent the whole series (if I read all of them this year, like: Shatter Me, The Knife of Never Letting Go, Legend, and The Elite).

Dean Winchester - Eye of the Tiger

   This video is gold! I am currently watching season 4 of Supernatural on Netflix, and after I saw this I had to post it! This is from the episode 6 Yellow Fever. The whole episode was hilarious. If you haven't watched Supernatural yet, I recommend you to!