Harry Potter Moment (3)

This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts.The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/ films/ J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! To get more information or upcoming topics click Here

Could you ever double as a spy like Snape?

First off, I love this topic!!

Second off, oh god no.  I think it takes a certain type of person to do that and I am not that type. Snape did horrible things to prove himself to Voldermort and did them without Voldermort, or anyone else for that matter, realizing he was a double agent. To do that I think you need strong motivation, be very good at hiding your emotions, and be good at shouldering a great deal of pain and guilt. I am an open book. I am not good at hiding my emotions for long periods of time, heck I'm bad at hiding my emotions for short periods of time. So, I wouldn't be able to hid my feelings and honest reactions to things/Voldemort.

 Also it would ruin whatever relationships I had. My family would hate me, my friends would hate me, my whole generation would hate me until the end when/if they figure out I was a double agent and I don't think I could take that kind of hatred from my family. And if I died they would feel so guilty about treating me the way they did and I don't want anyone I love to feel that for the rest of their lives.

If I was in his position ,with no family of friends *sob sob*, I might want to do it, might feel that I would have to do it, but my emotions would give me away in ten seconds flat. 

What you be able to do it?

Happy Reading

Review: Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Grade: 4.5 Butterflies
Series: Lux #5 (Conclusion)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pages: Paperback, 534 pages (in actuality it's 352 since the paperback also has Shadows in it)

This has major spoilers for the first four books, Obsidian, Onyx, Opal, & Origin. Don't read any farther if you haven't read the first four books in this series.

Goodreads summary

Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.

She can't believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.

Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.

They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.

War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing.

It is no secret that the Lux series has been one of my all time favorite on-going series since the first book released. I have loved every book so far in the series. I have eagerly devoured each book, reading long into the night to see what happens to my beloved characters. I have accepted the flaws and loved the good parts. So, I was both devastated and eager for the last book to release. I was also very nervous for it's release, I really wanted the final book to be epic. It was, it really was!

This book starts out two days after the event of Origin and goes from there. This book was a rollercoaster ride of emotions (yes someone dies) and plot twists with really fast pace. I was kept on the edge of my set from begining to end! What I really loved about this plot was that it felt like an adventure book. The plot never stayed in one direction for very long. The characters would be in one setting doing one thing and then BAM! Something happens that changes the course of the book, but the plot would still keep it's underlying focus. This makes the plot sound really jumbled up, but it wasn't. The author wrote it in such a way that it felt like a rollercoaster. The plot was zumming forward, taking twists and turns, but the cars never change rollercoasters or anything; you are still on the same ride.

The characters were, as usual, great!! I love Katy, Daemon, Dee, Luc, and Archer. They were just as likable as in the other books; they were very realistic, and I loved them so much!! On that note, the romance was amazing! Jennifer L. Armentrout knows how to write a romance, sexy and/or cute. Katy and Daemon are just so cute together! When they are together you can practically see their chemistry and how much they love each other. There was this one scene with Daemon holding Katy and just reflecting on how he will always fight for her and I was struck with how real their love feels to me. I can't convince myself that their love isn't real.

Now on to the things that I wish were better. The first was the dual POV. Katy and Daemon's POVs had slight differences to them, but not enough to know who's POV it is just by reading a few sentences. This was a little disappointing, but I"ve been thinking about this and I think it's because of how alike Daemon and Katy were. They are both sassy and sarcastic, which are two aspects that really shine in dual POVs. So I don't think the author had that much wiggle room to really distinguish between POV without changing, even slightly, a character, which would have annoyed me even more.

The biggest problem that is really just a minor one, is how short this book was. This is me both not wanting the series to end and me wanting more to this plot. Jennifer L. Armentrout could have added another 100 pages and it would have made it all the better!! I just felt that this book went to fast, it was set in a week or so time span, especially for such a series situation. -Slight Spoiler Section-I wish the 'war' part lasted longer and there were more fights. This invasion was set up to be such a series thing, and at first the author showed us the death and pain the Lux created, but then glossed over it. I just wish a 100 pages, or even 50, were added before the Arum part so this invasion/war felt more like a war. I'm not saying the Lux's defeat felt easy, it just was to soon for that defeat. -End-

This was a great conclusion to this lovable series! I am so sad to see this series go and to finish this review, because if I finish this review I will be accepting that one of my favorite series it over. The open end gives me hope that She'll make a spin off series 15 years later in the world, but I am still sad. I am going to miss reading about Katy and Daemon's life and seeing their relationship grow. I'm going to miss reading about the Luxan and the Arum. I'm going to miss being in this world.

This book got...

4.5 Butterflies

Beautiful, this is a great book. 

Happy Reading

Harry Potter Moment (2)

This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts.The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/ films/ J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! To get more information or upcoming topics click Here

If there was one thing you could change about Harry Potter, what would it be?

Can I give it more books? Is that an option? If it is I would give it a prequel series about his parents. 

If not I would give Ginny more screen time, both in the movie and the books. I know she was really ignored in the movies and even though she was kind of prominent in the books I still want more of her. She was just so kick-butt and a great female character! It would be a bonus if it was more of her and Harry.

That's my Harry Potter moment, what was yours?

Happy reading

Harry Potter Moment (1)

This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts.The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/ films/ J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! To get more information or upcoming topics click Here

I've finally done this guys, I've finally made this post. I've been meaning to make a Harry Potter Moment of the Week post for about 3 months now and I've finally done it!

This weeks topic is----
Where would you live as a witch/wizard? (With muggles, magical surrounding etc.)

I would like to live kind of where the Weasley's lived with the Burrow. I would want to live where I didn't have that many neighbors, but was close to the wizarding world and the muggle world. Basically on middle ground so it wouldn't be hard to be among fellow wizards or muggles. 

Where would you live?

Happy Reading

Review: Just One Night by Gayle Forman

Grade: 4.5 Butterflies

Series: Just One Day #2.5

Author: Gayle Forman

Publisher: Speak

Pages: E-book 40 pages

Goodreads Summary

After spending one life-changing day in Paris with laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter, sheltered American good girl Allyson “Lulu” Healey discovered her new lover had disappeared without a trace. Just One Day followed Allyson’s quest to reunite with Willem; Just One Year chronicled the pair’s year apart from Willem’s perspective. Now, back together at last, this delectable e-novella reveals the couple’s final chapter.

This was such an outstanding conclusion to this beautiful story! This was a little short, but it conveyed all that it needed to and it gave the readers closure for the story. It was just as beautifully written as the first two books were and it was just so great to read what happens after Willem opens the door!

This was written in so many POV's. The perspective of the story changed about every other paragraph and it was in third person POV. This annoyed me a little at first, I just wanted a clear story with all the answers I needed with only Allyson's and Willem's POV. However, as I got into this story I really appreciated this. I feel that since it was written in this format it gave a big-picture type of tone to this conclusion. It showed us what Willem and Allyson were thinking, but also what Kate, Dee, Broodje, and a bunch of other people were thinking. This showed the reader the impact Willem and Allyson's story had on other people instead of just themselves. I think that really gave a luster to this conclusion.

Also, this format never got to for away from Allyson's and Willem's POV. When something happened and the readers wanted to know what Allyon and Willem were thinking it would show us. The writer knew that while giving us all these other people POVs would give it this great tone she shouldn't stray from Allyson and Willem. She gave us their POVs then any other person and the last five or so pages were just from their POV.

This was such a great conclusion to this outstanding story! It gave the readers closure for the story while still leaving it open enough to give the impression of continuing on. It was just so well written and a great novella! The format is weird at first, but it really adds to the overall effectiveness of this novella.

This book got...

4.5 Butterflies

Beautiful, this is a great book. 

Happy reading

Review: Burned by Ellen Hopkins

Grade: 3 Butterflies
Series: Burned #1
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Goodreads Summary

 It all started with a dream. Nothing exceptional, just a typical fantasy about a boy, the kind of dream that most teen girls experience. But Pattyn Von Stratten is not like most teen girls. Raised in a religious -- yet abusive -- family, a simple dream may not be exactly a sin, but it could be the first step toward hell and eternal damnation.

This dream is a first step for Pattyn. But is it to hell or to a better life? For the first time Pattyn starts asking questions. Questions seemingly without answers -- about God, a woman's role, sex, love -- mostly love. What is it? Where is it? Will she ever experience it? Is she deserving of it?

It's with a real boy that Pattyn gets into real trouble. After Pattyn's father catches her in a compromising position, events spiral out of control until Pattyn ends up suspended from school and sent to live with an aunt she doesn't know.

Pattyn is supposed to find salvation and redemption during her exile to the wilds of rural Nevada. Yet what she finds instead is love and acceptance. And for the first time she feels worthy of both -- until she realizes her old demons will not let her go. Pattyn begins down a path that will lead her to a hell -- a hell that may not be the one she learned about in sacrament meetings, but it is hell all the same.

This is a very popular book that has a lot of hype around it and because I have a shaky relationship with hype I took a while to finally read this. I really enjoyed this book and it made me feel all of the emotions! I am really glad I finally read it and now understand all of the hype surrounding this author's books. However, there were a few problems with it that made me unable to give it a higher rating. 

Since this book is told in verse it is a very fast paced book. That combined with the plot which makes you demand to know what happens next, the pages just fly through your hand. When reading it you just need to know how it ends, does Paytan get a happy ever after? Does she get free from her horrible parents or does something completely horrible happen? Knowing what will happen to the MC in the end was the driving force of me reading this.

So, one of the problems I had with this book was, while the book flew through my hands, it flew a little fast for me. The pace was just so fast that you would go from scene to scene, page to page without really soaking up the character development that was happening. And since one of the book's main focus was the MC changing and learning about life, that really took away from the book for me. This also led to me feeling disconnected to the MC. I felt for her, with her horrible life who couldn't feel for her. I just didn't feel connected to her and thought of this more as an example of families like this one that are out in the world instead of her and her family actually being real, if that makes much sense. And while I wanted to know what happens to Paytan, I felt that more out of curiosity then a true urge.

This also led to the emotions that the ending caused me to feel to not stay with me. Usually when there is a very emotional ending or scene in a book and I feel connected to the book, I feel those emotions for a day or so after reading it; it sticks with me and makes me feel that emotional whiplash that comes from feeling to many intense emotions. This time, however, I felt those emotions but when I put the book down I calmed almost immediately and since than I've thought of the ending but not with any really intense emotions. This also really took away from the story.

This review is getting to be a really negative review even though I really enjoyed reading this one. The story kept my attention and I really liked reading about Paytton. It's just that the two aspects I already talked about took away from the story to much. Even with those aspects I really do want to try another one of her books, because I feel that the effect the writing style had on me could have happened juts because it was my first book I read in verse. So I am hopping the next book I read by her, I won't feel that her writing style took away from the story.

This book got...

3 butterflies

Basic, nothing special.

Happy Reading

20 Things You Might Not Know About Me

I saw this post over at the wonderful Rally the Readers blog and the amazing Lunar Rainbows and thought that it looked like fun.

1. How tall are you?

I am 5' 3''

I am short and I am proud!! 

2. Do you have a hidden talent? If so, what?

It would be cool to have a hidden talent, but as of right now it is still hidden.

3. What's your biggest blog related pet peeve?

Blogs that post bashing reviews. I hate it when a blogger is just really rude and mean in a negative review. I get that you didn't like the book and/or don't understand why people like it, but do you have to just be cruel? I hate when I encounter this.

4. What's your biggest non-blog related pet peeve?

Arrogance, I can't stand it when a person thinks there better then everyone else. 

5. What's your favorite song?

This is a hard question! I'll narrow it down to three

Love Runs Out by OneRepublic

All About that Bass by Meghan Trainor

Dust Bowl Dance by Mumford and Sons

6. What's your favorite Etsy shop that isn't yours?

I don't know what this is.

7. What's your favorite way to spend your free time when you're alone?

Reading, writing, and blogging. The best three things ever.

8. What's your favorite junk food?

Poptarts. Any flavor doesn't matter, I love them

9. Do you have a pet or pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?

I have many pets at the moment. I have one Saint Bernard dog, one Yorkie dog, one cat, two rabbits, and twelve chickens. 

10. What are your favorite fiction and nonfiction books?

I don't often read Nonfiction, but when I do I usually read art books.

Favorite Fiction is very hard to answer, here are a very:

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

Anything by Brandon Sanderson.

11. What's your favorite beauty product?

I don't really use makeup all that often.

12. When were you last embarrassed? What happened?

The last time I was embarrassed thankfully no one was there to see it. I was on my desk chair and something feel on the floor and I leaned down to get it. Usually when I lean down while still sitting on a chair I'd put one hand on the desk or on the bottom of the chair so I don't fall. However, this time I couldn't get a hold on anything for whatever reason and it was to late because I leaned down to far already and I fell straight to the floor. If anyone was watching it would have looked like I just fell out of my chair. Thankfully no one was watching.

13. If you could only drink one beverage (besides water) for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Tea, I love tea!

14. What's your favorite movie?

So many to chose from.

Titanic

Catching Fire

The Hobbit movie series

15. What were you in high school: prom queen, nerd, cheerleader, jock, valedictorian, band geek, loner, artist, prep?

I am still in High School and I am definitely a nerd. There is no doubt in that verdict. 

16. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

Ireland, Hawaii, or Seattle 

17. PC or Mac?

PC.I love PC

18. Last romantic gesture from a crush, date, boy/girlfriend, spouse?

I don't have a boyfriend at the moment so can I saw something a book boyfriend did in his book? No, that doesn't count?

19. Favorite celebrity?

Jennifer Lawrence. She is just awesome!

20. What blogger do you secretly wish you were best friends with?

I count any blogger that I talk to often through comments friends, does that count as an answer?

If you want to do this go ahead and leave the link to your post in the comments. 

Happy Reading

September Warp-Up & October TBR

This was a really bad month for me. School took up my entire life and I got into a huge reading slump. It wasn't until September 9th that I finished my first book. I'm out of the slump now, but for the majority of the month I could barely read anything at all. 

I did learn something this month though. Apparently when I am in a reading slump and I start to crave a book, I crave contemporary. This is really weird since contemporary is my least favorite genre, but hey it got me out of the reading slump.

Books Read: 3

Burned by Ellen Hopkins| 4 Butterflies

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell| 4 Butterflies

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover| 4 Butterflies 

-Book of the Month-

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

This was just such a cute read!

I only put a few books on this pile, because while I'm out of my reading slump I don't have a whole lot of time to read.

 The Hero of The Ages by Brandon Sanderson

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

I am already half of the way through The Bitter Kingdom and I hope to finish it sometime soon. 

I also want to read Talon by Julia Kagawa. However, I don't know if that'll actually happen since it releases the 28th and I don't know if I'll be able to get a copy before November. 

How was your September and what are you reading this month?

Happy October Reading

Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Grade: 4 Butterflies
Series: Stand Alone
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Goodreads Summary

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

So, I've heard nothing but praise for this book. Everyone, it seemed, loves this book. I was always very curious about this book, but me and contemporaries have a very tipsy and unbalanced relationship and I really wasn't in the mood to be disappointed by a book.  However, a few days ago I bought this one on impulse and started it right as soon as I got home. I am so glad that I did! This book was such a great read and it leaves you with a bubbly and giddy feeling. This was just a great book!

This book is about Cath and her coming out of her shell and greeting life. Cath is a very shy and nerdy girl (book nerds unite!!), she is so shy she sometimes gets panic attacks. Cath and her twin sister Wren are just going off to collage and Wren basically abandons her so she could expand her wings so to speak. One of the main reasons that I loved this book was that it wasn't this coming of age story where the main character thinks about her life and what she wants from it and hates herself and doesn't like her life or herself. This book does have some of those aspects, but they were balanced with other aspects. It wasn't just one serious thought train of the MCs life, it was about Cath's life in her freshman year in collage and she is adjusting and she does have great character development, but it felt natural and normal. It didn't feel like anything monumental was happening, it just felt like she was living her life and she gradually grew throughout, which made the book so much more realistic and relateable!! What I am trying to say is that it wasn't all seriousness, most of the book was dripping with cuteness even while it dealt with serious aspects of Cath's life.

The flow of the book was just so naturally and never felt forced or choppy. The author did a really good job balancing the growth of the characters, Cath's life, Cath's love life, and her relationship with Levi, balancing cuteness and seriousness. Speaking of their relationship, this romance was the cutest thing ever!! It doesn't really come into play until the second half, but their relationship before they got romantic was cute and their relationship after they got romantic was cuter, it was all just so cute!! And very well done. Their relationship was beautifully written that  it felt like a real life relationship and Cath and Levi seemed so right for each other.

I just really loved this book! I really loved that even though it wasn't just a huge block of seriousness it still had it's drama and character development. I really like the mom aspect it had and the fight between Wren and Cath. It was very well done and added to the plot without dominating the plot.

However, there was one thing that I didn't like about this book. It felt incomplete. I wish there was 20 or so more pages because the ending felt choppy and didn't feel like an ending. While Cath's character development felt like it finished and her relationship with her and Levi was on a good track the rest of it was kind of unexplained. We didn't get a resolution between the mom thing, we don't know if she finished Carry On, we don't know how they made it through the summer. I wish there were more pages that told us these things because it just didn't feel like an ending. Heck the book ended with a Simon Snow exert instead of a scene of Cath and Levi or just a normal scene in its own world.

Even with the unfinished feeling to the ending I really loved this book. In my mind this was a contemporary done right! It was the perfect balance between seriousness and cuteness, drama and normality, it was just written so well!! I loved the characters, the plot, the drama, the romance, almost everything but the ending. I would recommend to anyone who even slightly likes contemporaries, heck if you don't like contemporary I would still recommend this book.

This book got...

 4 Butterflies

Beloved, This is a really good book!

Recommended if you like:
Gayle Forman books, contemporaries, love stories, and coming to age stories. 

Happy reading

Review: The Knife Of Never Letting Go

Grade: 4.5 Butterflies

Series: Chaos Walking #1
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: Walker

Goodreads Summary


Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

So, this book series has some....or rather a lot of hype surrounding it. So many people have read this series and love it! I don't think I've encountered anyone who has read it that didn't end up loving it.
So, naturally I was curious and just now got to reading it (I know you're not suppose to judge a book by its cover, but besides the hype, I bought this book because of its beautiful new covers). I am so glad I started this series! This book was pure genius! I was just so freaking amazing!!

If you don't know, this book is about the life of Todd who lives in a town where people can hear the Noise. The Noise is basically people's thoughts. So, everyone can hear each other thoughts, but they can never shout it out of stop their own Noise and the Noise just isn't people's rational thoughts, but also the nonsense. So people hear the constant stream of conscience from other people and it gets overpowering sometimes. One day Todd hears, or rather doesn't hear, a pocket of quietness in the outskirts of town. This creates a landslide of events that makes Todd have to leave the town, which is bad because he has been told his whole life that Prentisstown is the last town on the planet.

That disruption is really vague on what actually happens in this book, but that is how you should go into this book. There are so many twists and turns in this book, and most are about the world. Its just better to go into this one knowing as little as possible about the world.

Speaking of the world, the world building in this book was great!! Patrick Ness did a fantastic job on building this world, both visually and socially. While sometimes he wouldn't describe how something visually looks, but he was great at describing the tone of a place. If a path through the woods was dark and creepy he would make sure you would be as terrified as the characters to go down that path.

This book is a lot darker and more emotional than I thought going into it. I thought that this was going to be an action packed book and while it was full of action it was beautifully balanced with the emotional troubles of the characters. The author wrote how much the Noise affect Todd and the other characters and it was just so heartbreaking to read!! Added on to that, I love how many themes the author put into this book! The theme of killing and how that effects people, racism, dealing with pain, and many more. These themes made this book just so beautiful to read.

The one thing I had a slight issue with in this book was while the plot had a good pace and never had a boring part I wasn't really immersed in this book until the last half. I don't know why thing is, maybe because even with all the character development I didn't really connect with them until closer towards the end. I think this is because the issues they were having I have never felt before. I don't know what's it like to always hear people's thought or what it's like to live on that planet. However, towards the end the other themes, the ones I mentioned before, came more into play and I completely got into this book!

Overall, I am so thankful that I finally read this book and I can't wait to continue this series!! This world was so captivating to read about, the plot never faltered in it's pace, so many great themes were beautifully woven into the story, I loved it!! I would recommend to anyone who hasn't read this one yet.

This book got.....

4.5 Butterflies

Beautiful, this is a great book. 

Recommended if you like: Fantasy, contemporary, dystopian.

Happy reading!

I'm Back!!

I'm Back!!

I"m back guys!! School has been.......hectic to say the least. It took me a while to get into a rhythm and then even longer to get into one that gives me time to read. So, that;s why I'm not posting or even looking at your guy's posts, but I am back now. I am determined to force myself to get into a rhythm that involves blogging. I will do this! I'm going to start posting regularly next Monday with a review for Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 

So, how have you guys been? I haven't visited any blogs in the last few weeks at all and I feel really sad and sorry about that. I'll let Cas speak for me

I wish that I at least kept up with my favorite blogs and blogger friends. But how have you guys been? Was September a good month for you? A bad month? A busy month? Tell me in the comments :)

Happy reading