To All the Boys I've Loved Before | Review

Series: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Published: April 15th, 2014 by Simon & Schuster

Pages: 368

Date Finished: December 22nd, 2015

Rating: 5/5 stars

Age Recommendation: 12+

This book was so adorable... It follows sixteen year old, sweet and immensely innocent Lara-Jean Song who has loved a total of five boys in her life. Every time a love comes to an end, she writes a farewell letter to the boy as a way of letting go and then she stows it away in the teal hatbox her mother gave her as a gift, never to be seen by anyone but her again. But one day something goes terribly wrong. Lara-Jean's hatbox goes missing along with all her love letters which the boys all secretly receive.

I loved this whole book, which was a surprise to me since I had seen a lot of negativity surrounding it. The characters were so likeable. Lara-Jean was such a sweetheart; I found Kitty to be mature beyond her years and although I didn't connect with Margot all that much, I still liked reading about her. Dr. Covey seemed like such a laidback character and I was rooting for both Josh and Peter to be with Lara-Jean. Josh was very protective of Lara-Jean and I found that to be really heartwarming. I just wanted to cuddle him and whenever him and Laura-Jean had a semi-romantic scene, you'd better believe I was squealing. Especially when the jealous kiss happened. Eep! In the beginning, I didn't like how cocky Peter was but as the book went on, his "tough guy" wall came crashing down and by the end, my heart was mush for him.

This book is just so cute! I can't wait to read the next one. :)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Revised Edition) | Review

Series: -

Published: April 21st, 2015 by Amulet Books

Pages: 295

Date Finished: December 13th, 2015

Rating: 3/5 stars

Age Recommendation: 13+

I was really hoping to love this book. It has been compared to The <b><i>Fault in Our Stars</i></b> which made me really excited seeing as that book was one of my favourites of 2014 but honestly, <b><i>Me and Earl and the Dying Girl</i></b> was <i>nothing</i> like that book! The only similarity between them was that there was a character with cancer. And to be completely truthful, I don't know if it's just me, but Rachel felt like a side character with not much importance.

The book <i>mainly</i> focuses on Greg and how he refuses to make anything resembling a friend and Greg and Earl making crappy homemade movies. And again... Earl also seems of little importance to the story. Maybe it's just the way Jesse Andrews writes but I felt so disconnected from the story.

The book was also supposedly funny but I didn't laugh once... To me the story was quite bland and although there were very few redeeming qualities and characters that brought this book up to three stars for me (Mr. Mcarthy being one of them...) I wouldn't recommend this book. 

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging | Review

Series: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson

Published: April 11th, 2006 by HarperTeen

Pages: 231

Date Finished: December 12th, 2015

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Age Recommendation: 12+

I remember reading some of the books in this series in late elementary school and the early years of high school and absolutely busting a gut laughing and as I re-read this first installment recently, I was surprised that I almost didn't find it funny at all... There were rare moments when I giggled or cracked a smile but for the most part, I found this story just light and fluffy and even bland at times.

I never realized in the past how much dark humor is used in these books with references to killing, suicide, cutting, incest and perverted guys. All of which I probably had a reason to find funny years ago (being immature and all) but I just didn't anymore. More often than not I actually found myself cringing or rolling my eyes and while it can be entertaining at times --probably enough that I'll continue the series-- a lot of the time it was just really underdeveloped.

Not much more can be said...

Flawless (Pretty Little Liars #2) | Review

Series: Pretty Little Liars

Published: February 19th, 2008 by Harper Teen

Pages: 330

Date Finished: December 4th, 2015

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Age Recommendation: 13+

Okay... Let's be real here. That book just blew me away. Honestly. There were even more plot twists and lies and grimy secrets. I couldn't believe it. This series just keeps getting better and better.

Spencer and Hanna did piss me off a little though with the way they treated guys. For example, Andrew Campbell was so adorable and you could tell he really liked Spencer. He was practically giddy over her and when he asked to do karaoke with her, Spencer's reply really rubbed me the wrong way. My heart instantly broke for Andrew. Same with the way Hanna treated Sean. She was just awful to him at times. Especially when he was with Aria at Foxy.

Now... There's something on my mind that is making me feel like a disgusting, putrid human being... I was sympathetic toward Toby and when he took the pills and died, my heart broke just a little. I know what he did to Jenna was horrible and disgusting but it seemed that he had really changed or was at least trying to. The things he did for Emily were just so sweet and I'm so torn over his character.

There's only one thing that I wasn't too fond of in this book... With every new secret/lie/bit of information, it became hard to follow the story at times as there was so much going on. The story itself was amazing but it could be confusing at times which is why I docked half a star.

I can't wait to continue this series and if you don't mind investing a lot of time in a series that has tons of books, then I totally recommend this.

Wet Silence by Sweta Srivastava Vikram | Review

Series: World Voices

Published: July 1st, 2015

Pages: 56

Date Finished: September 4th, 2015

Rating: 5/5 stars

Age Recommendation: 16+

I received Wet Silence by Sweta Srivastava Vikram in exchange for an honest review and I was really excited to read it. I haven't read much poetry before and when I got to the final page of this book I was blown away.

Wet Silence is a collection of beautifully crafted poetry based on the true stories and interviews of  Hindu widows in India and how society treats them as well as how they feel after the deaths of their husbands. Each poem was seamlessly written and I was left with a new perspective after each one.

Some of the things depicted in this book had me in shock. I had no idea this type of thing happened in the world and I my heart truly goes out to anyone who has been affected by events like these. The poetry was raw and real and stunning and I couldn't have asked for a more fabulous book to review. It really opened my eyes and made me be grateful for all of the good things in my life.

I highly advise everybody to give it a read if they are looking for something full of amazing strength and courage and something that will make you extremely thankful.

If you have a moment please take a look at this wonderful video of Sweta doing a reading of Wet Silence in Queens. It would be greatly appreciated.

About the Poet

Sweta Srivastava Vikram, featured by Asian Fusion as "One of the most influential Asians of our time," is an award-winning writer, three times Pushcart Prize nominee, Amazon bestselling author of nine books, novelist, poet, essayist, and columnist, who currently lives in New York City with her husband. Her work has appeared in several anthologies, literary journals, and online publications across nine countries in three continents. A graduate of Columbia University, Sweta reads her work, teaches creative writing workshops, and gives talks at universities and schools across the globe.

Different Stereotypes and Why I Hate Them

Hey guys! So... I'm currently reading a book that I got off NetGalley and it has me extremely frustrated. As I was reading, the author threw in two stereotypes that I didn't see necessary and they quite honestly ticked me off. That's why I decided to make this post because it got me thinking of all the times authors have thrown in useless stereotypes that not a lot of people can relate to. So here we go!


Race


The first stereotype is one of the most common ones that I've come across. In most of the novels I've read, the main characters are always white. This annoys me because I can't believe the world still sees problems with other races or views interracial/differently raced couples as a "wrong" thing. The world is much more diverse than most authors make it out to be and love is the same way.


LGBTQIA+


This brings me to my next point: LGBTQIA+ relationships in books. More often than not, most of the couples in fictitious novels are straight. Authors need to realize that not everyone in the world is straight and that some of their readers may not be able to connect with their characters. If they were more exploratory with what they wrote, that would be really awesome. Granted there are more books being published about gay and lesbian couples nowadays but there aren't many books for the less well-known sexual orientations and sexual/gender identities.


Physical Attractiveness


More often than not, the female protagonist in a book is super slim, tan, gorgeous, blond, has the perfect body and a bubbly personality. The male protagonist is a hunk with a defined six pack, sexy smile, sometimes he's a jerk or a bad boy, and he's almost always into sports. The majority of society is not like this. We come from all different walks of life; we're all different sizes and body types and most of us don't have the money to buy super expensive cars. The way these characters are built up is especially bad for younger readers because they think they have to be super fit or slim and look and act just how they think society "needs" them to be.




Those are just some of the stereotypes that come hand in hand with fictitious novels that I've read and they really annoy the crap out of me. I hope this post didn't seem too rant-y and I'll see you all next Wednesday. Happy reading! 

My June Wrap Up | 2015

I'm quite pleased with how much I managed to read in June! I ended up reading 5 books and relatively liking - if not loving - most of them.

The first book I completed this month was Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I came to have a lot of issues with this book and pretty much hated it.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The second book I read this month was A Work In Progress by Connor Franta. I love this book so much. It was very inspirational and I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already.

Rating: 5/5 stars

The third book I read this month was Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. This book was just okay for me. It seemed to drag on throughout more than half of the book and I couldn't really connect with the characters.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The fourth book I read this month was Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. This book was amazing. So full of action and suspense that I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and there's also a little bit of steamy romance thrown in there.

Rating: 5/5 stars

The fifth and final book I read in June was Correlation by Mia Grace. This book was by far my favourite thing I read in June. It was very short though, so I would've liked a little bit more time with the characters. But if you like time travel books and books with an older feel to them, then I can guarantee you'll like this one.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars