Little Pieces of Imagination

Dual Reviews: The Girl From Everywhere & The Leaving Season

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 16:22:00 +0000

Hey, everyone! These two reviews are sooooooo long overdue. Mostly because one of them, I had trouble finishing it properly, but since I wanted to do a dual review post instead of two separate ones, the other has been put on hold too from publishing it. Apologies for not having put these up sooner, but better late than never, right? ;) Let me know what you thought of them, if you have read them, or if you plan to read these novels sometime in the future :) Without further ado, here are my thoughts:

Title: The Girl From Everywhere
Author: Heidi Heilig
Published: February 16th 2016 by Greenwillow Books
Read: Dec 20th, 2015 to Oct 2nd, 2016
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*an ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

Nix has spent her entire life aboard her father’s ship, sailing across the centuries, across the world, across myth and imagination.

As long as her father has a map for it, he can sail to any time, any place, real or imagined: nineteenth-century China, the land from One Thousand and One Nights, a mythic version of Africa. Along the way they have found crewmates and friends, and even a disarming thief who could come to mean much more to Nix.

But the end to it all looms closer every day.

Her father is obsessed with obtaining the one map, 1868 Honolulu, that could take him back to his lost love, Nix’s mother. Even though getting it—and going there—could erase Nix’s very existence.

For the first time, Nix is entering unknown waters.

She could find herself, find her family, find her own fantastical ability, her own epic love.

Or she could disappear.

There are multiple elements that make The Girl From Everywhere a fantastic read for a lot of people, and I certainly see why there has been so much rave by fellow bloggers and readers alike. I always love a good pirate stories and movie, plus I love traveling in real life and through fitcion to different locations and time periods. At first glance, this book has everything I want in a story, but while some elements succeeded for me, some did not.

the great

An author who writes #ownvoice stories; yes please!
A half Chinese, half Hawaiian heroine who has some spark and spunk to her, who is thoughtful, kind and on a journey of self-discovery
Temptation's crew is very diverse and I found all of the crew members (with one exception, more on that below) very endearing
Speaking of the crew, I LOVE KASH SO ÜBER MUCH WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ISN'T REAL *falls into a puddle of feels*
The setting; I have never traveled to Hawaii, but due to the lush and vivid setting, my urge to visit this beautiful place one day is even bigger now (though ofc a lot has changed since the time period when this book takes place and now)
The start of the book was really great: intriguing, fast-paced, filled with longing, funny remarks and even pulls at your heartstrings!
I also liked the ending and all the possibilities where the story could go
I'm not a fan of Nix's dad, because he dismisses her so much, and it hurts even more to read it from Nix's point of view and seeing her hurt over his constant dismissal, but I did like the vulnerable moments from both of them that peeked through from time to time
I liked that this book featured bipolar disorder and it isn't stated that this book isn't specifically about bipolar disorder but just features a character who is bipolar; it shows well that even in a fantasy/sci-fi world you can very well include neurodiversity and it doesn't have to be left just for contemporary novels

the (maybe) not-so great

The plot. I was forced to put the book down because of my exams in January, but after that.. I just found it hard to pick up? I was about halfway through by then and every time afterwards when I tried to pick it up, even after my own hardcover copy arrived, it was a struggle, because nothing. was. happening. Or more like, things were happening, but it was still the same thing and next to no progress was made: the same conversations, the same plans, the same everything. Needless to say it dragged a lot in the middle and the latter half of the novel.
The love triangle elements. Honestly, I'm not opposed to love triangles anymore. Weird, right? I've grown to appreciate a good love triangle and they don't bother me that much. I also don't mind Nix wanting to experience something that is not tied to Temptation and just be an ordinary girl. I'm all here for this! (you know.. as long as my ship is endgame..) What I do mind though, is that the blurb (I think the original blurb might have been changed, because I seem to remember Kash's name being mentioned; hmmmmmm) gave no implication of a love triangle and it very much implies that Kash is the only love interest (or at least it was so at the time I requested this book for review). I'm sorry, but I can't even remember the name of this other love interest, because he's so bland and how could anyone ever compete with Kash in these books! It's an injustice in itself, to be honest. The other guy is extremely pushy and annoying; by the time he actually dared to threaten Kash so Nix would consider his plan or whatever, I was ready to sucker punch him in the face. I wish this other guy hadn't taken up so much of the book. (I guess it's pretty obvious which team I'm on.)
I did say above that I loved traveling to different places, but while the scenery, clothing and such were described well, I would have liked to have seen more of the local cuisine, customs and whatnot. I read Written in the Stars eariler this year (I will try to review it soon here, too!) and that book excelled so beautifully at introducing the local culture that, at times, TGFE just fell short for me.
The world building outside of Hawaii. For a time traveling book, there is barely any time traveling besides the first few chapters. I'm thinking there will be more in the sequel? I'd also like to know more about the Navigators' world, more of its history, the specifics of how it all works etc. There's a lot to explore there.

I have seen so many people rave about this book and love it a lot, but even though I enjoyed some aspects, there were things that dragged for me and what I wanted to see more of. I haven't decided yet whether I want to pursue the sequel, though I really want to see where it goes and how Nix's story ends. Overall, this book lacked for me in many areas, but as a whole, it was still a promising debut and I can't wait to see where Heiling takes us next as we follow her in her career.

Overall rating: 3.0 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you to Edelweiss and Greenwillow Books for an ARC. My thoughts are
my own and in no way did this review copy affect my thoughts.

Title: The Leaving Season
Author: Cat Jordan
Published: March 1st 2016 by HarperTeen
Read: February 22nd to 25th, 2016
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*an ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

Middie Daniels calls it the Leaving Season—the time of year when everyone graduates high school, packs up their brand-new suitcases, and leaves home for the first time.

It happens every late August, but this year Middie’s boyfriend, Nate, is the one leaving. Nate, who’s so perfect that she can barely believe it. Nate, who makes her better than she is on her own. Nate, who’s promised to come back once he’s finished his gap year volunteering in Central America.

And when he does, it’ll be time for Middie to leave, too. With him.

But when tragedy strikes, Middie’s whole world is set spinning. No one seems to understand just how lost she is…except for Nate’s best friend Lee.

Middie and Lee have never gotten along. She’s always known that she was destined for great things, and Lee acts like he’s never cared about anything a day in his life. But with the ground ripped out from under her, Middie is finding that up is down—and that Lee Ryan might be just what she needs to find her footing once more.

I must admit that I requested this book because I really felt like it would be my kind of read what with the contemporary genre, self discovery, a blossoming romance between seemingly unlikely match. But then I saw the Goodreads rating when I marked it as "currently reading" and it's quite a low one; none of my trusted friends had read it yet and it gave me a small fright that perhaps this may end up as a disaster. I decided to still try it at least since the publisher was generous enough to provide an arc and I'm glad I did, because soon I found myself immersed in Middie's life and wanting to see how it all turns out.

I'm not sure how I feel about the "going to Central America and have that kind of thing happen" part, because it doesn't paint a particularly good picture of Central America to the reader and while these dangers do exist in the world and are a real issue, it was still a bit icky, because there could have been various other ways to create that drift between Middie and Nate. That aside, I enjoyed seeing Middie grow into a person she truly is in her heart and not letting others dictate or put boundaries on who they want her to be. Middie is definitely a character that some readers may not appreciate, but I certainly did. She's flawed and human; she makes mistakes, but she also learns from them. (Most of the time.) There were moments when I wanted to shake her though and tell her to not be so self-absorbed and look at the things Lee is going through as well, especially at some parts in the latter half of the novel. Lee and Middie are both stubborn which creates a bunch of angst, but thankfully I'm the kind of gal who loves angst in her fiction, so there were quite a few tears on my part at one point.

One of the things I love the most about The Leaving Season is sex positivity. This book doesn't shy away from (safe) sex talk nor the act itself. Seeing as it's a YA book, obviously it's not anything explicit, but it's not erased or completely fade-to-black. There are some really enjoyable, fun scenes and thoughtful discussions. It is hard to connect to Middie at first since the book jumps right into Nate leaving (and, by the way, Nate is great), so it takes some time to empathize with the whole situation and what happens next, but as a whole, this was a pleasant surprise which made me laugh at times and feel sad, which I didn't expect as much at the beginning stages of my reading experience. While not my favorite book of all time, it was exactly what I needed at the time of reading it!

Overall rating: 3.0 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the author

Goodreads

Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for an ARC. My thoughts are
my own and in no way did this review copy affect my thoughts.

Review: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 08:25:00 +0000

Title: This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1)

Author: Victoria Schwab
Published: July 5th, 2016 by Greenwillow Books
Read: June 27th to July 7th, 2016
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

There’s no such thing as safe.

Kate Harker wants to be as ruthless as her father. After five years and six boarding schools, she’s finally going home to prove that she can be.

August Flynn wants to be human. But he isn’t. He’s a monster, one that can steal souls with a song. He’s one of the three most powerful monsters in a city overrun with them. His own father’s secret weapon.

Their city is divided. Their city is crumbling.

Kate and August are the only two who see both sides, the only two who could do something. But how do you decide to be a hero or a villain when it’s hard to tell which is which?

Even though I had been aware of Victoria Schwab's books for years and had owned The Archived [so far] duology for quite some time, I didn't fully discover her books until last year when I gave a chance to The Archived and loved it beyond words; the rest is history, as they say. After having read four of her published work by now, I can surely say that Schwab's books have something wickedly amazing, addictive and magical inside them that make her one of my favorite authors who writes some of my favorite books. This Savage Song is no exception.

Kate and August are great protagonist. I've seen a lot of praise for August, a monster of a boy, who's longing to be human. His character arc is extremely fascinating and compelling. I haven't seen that many people get excited about Kate, but I absolutely love her as well! Kate, a human girl who's looking for acceptance and approval from her father, a monstrous human, is a bit clueless at first about certain things, but she's a fast learner and not gullible, naive or someone you can walk all over and get away with it. She's got fire and spunk in spades, alright! There is no romance in This Savage Song. As much as I adore the tentative friendship Kate and August form, I'm not going to lie, as a sucker for romance, my opinion will always be that there is too little kissing in Victoria's books, especially this one, hah. I also loved some of the side characters, especially Ilsa whose story evoked a lot of emotions inside me. The sibling relationship between her and August was definitely one of the highlights in my eyes.

If you're acquainted with Schwab's work, you're aware that the themes throughout all of her books are: what makes a monster in its core; how thin is the line between good and bad; what is truly good and evil, is there such, how do they differ from each other and how does power (and magic) corrupt one's soul. The novel at hand is also a prime example in the category and, while slow in pace, This Savage Song still reads quite fast. (Faster than A Darker Shade of Magic, if you had any problems with that one's slow pacing.) The world itself has room to grow, but is well-developed. Things aren't overly explained, but you still get the hang of everything without the info dump feel attached to it all. I really liked the eerie tone of the way the different types of monsters are written and how, with time, we got to see how monstrous they truly can be.

My only complaint is that the book was a bit anticlimatic? There is a climax to the book, but the build-up towards it is also quite climatic, turning and turning into a big wave to hit the shore. You're expecting something to snap on every page turned, so when it does, it doesn't feel as climatic as it could have been. It was good, but it could have been even more epic, you know? Regardles, the epilogue is exactly what I was hoping for though and to think that this will actually go down in the sequel; WELLLL. Things certainly will get from bad to worse for one of our protagonists, if not both.

Even though there is no romance, which worked well since the book takes place over a handful of days, and the book was a bit anticlimatic, it was still oh, so good! If you're a fan of dark stories and topics such as what is monstrous, what makes a monster, the corruption of power and redemption of one's soul, you will, without a doubt, enjoy this book to the highest form.

PS. The hardcover copy that I obtained is super duper beautiful and I can't wait to see the cover for the sequel and hold the finished copy in my hands already! *waits excitedly*

My This Savage Song inspired picspam can be found here, on my Tumblr. [Click on the photos to view them in HQ.]
Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Tumblr | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you to Edelweiss and Greenwillow Books for an ARC. My thoughts are
my own and in no way did this review copy affect my thoughts.

Reading Roundups | #1

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 07:43:00 +0000

Hi, friends! Even though I got back on track with reviews for a long while (at least on Goodreads), I've been seriously lacking in that department this past month and, as you may have noticed, even longer on le blog. I've kind of lost the mojo for long reviews, so I figured, why not just talk about the books I've read lately in a few sentences and fit them into different categories. This will probably be the review style for most of the books from now on, though the categories will very likely vary with each post. If I have any insightful or interesting reviews that I've read about these books or if I have a longer review written on Goodreads, I'll just link those to go with it. Sounds good? Hah, I sure hope so! Here goes:

Tiny Pretty Things duology by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton. Back when TPT released, there weren't that many reviews nor hype for it which is why it got lost in the endless backlog in my tbr. Then one of my good friends read it a few months ago and this particular line from Sue's review was what pulled me in: "Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton redefines the term unlikable heroines." WHAT? Ballet? Unlikable heroines? WHERE DO I SIGN UP was my immediate reaction. The first book is extremely brutal (and can be triggering, so please proceed with caution when reading), but it offers such great voices set in a cutthroat, lush ballet world. The sequel is even better and I cried buckets. There are some romantic elements, for those of you interested, my personal OTP is in the second book. Overall, this duology is poignant, beautiful, emotionally and mentally brutal, mysterious and on top of that it tackles so many important issues such as eating disorder, racism, sexual identities, bullying, abuse and more. If I could recommend these books a thousand times over, I would.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Last year I finally devoured the Gallagher Girls books. Kudos to Eri for pushing them on everyone! This year I have read a few books with similar vibes, the first two books of The Naturals series among them. Naturals is a term for a group of naturally gifted teenagers who are recruited by the FBI to solve cold cases. Of course, there will be all sorts of maybem that will push our beloved Naturals to further develop their talent and will cause heartbreak, confrontations with their pasts and more. The second book was, like in Tiny Pretty Things duology, even better than the first and I absolutely can't wait to read the last two installments.

Map of Fates by Maggie Hall. If you're looking for a Da Vinci code sort of book about teenagers, look no further! It may have some clichéness going on here and there, but they're still very entertaining. As much as I enjoyed The Conspiracy of Us, Map of Fates steps it up about 100 degrees: the mystery deepens; there are some pretty darn epic plot twists, even higher stakes and, honestly, if you're into all the upper YA scenes, welllllll ;) If you thought The Conspiracy of Us had a few hot scenes in certain chapters, you have no idea what's in store for you in the sequel! *fans self* Also, I think it should be mentioned that this trilogy could be read solely for Stellan Korolev; no shame whatsoever. Super duper extra excited for the final installment!

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab. I read an ARC of this (which I still haven't reviewed rip, but I willll! Until then you can view my picspam here muhaha) and I already own a hardcover as well, because, let's be honest, I'm a trash for Victoria Schwab's writing, world building and characters. Her latest features a monster of a boy, who's longing to be human, and a human girl, looking for acceptance and approval from her father, a monstrous human. It's all about what makes a monster in its core; how thin is the line between good and bad. Plus the main characters are kinda sorta amazing.

Vicious by V.E, Schwab (Victoria Schwab). This book is extremely facinating and thought-provoking. It has villains and ... well, more villains; at some point not even so much morally ambiguous characters, but true villains and people who get caught up in the war between two ex best friends who now have supernatural powers. It's slow paced, but definitely worth the read, because it tackles Schwab's signature theme: what is truly good and evil, is there such, how do they differ from each other and how do magic and power corrupt one's soul.

A Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes. This spin-off series is a definite must read for all Falling Kingdom fans. While FK books have been enjoyable (especially all the parts regarding my smol too-precious-for-this-world children Cleo and Magnus), three books into the series, they haven't hit me with extreme love. ABOS&T was a surprising read for me, because I enjoyed it more than the original series, while it has been the opposite for most people. It has an interesting concept where we're reading from three POVs: Crystal, a girl in modern day Toronto looking for a way to save her sister who has fallen into a coma after touching a magical book; Farrell, a heir in a powerful family and an extremely morally ambiguous character also in modern day Toronto; Maddox, a "ghost whisperer" in ancient Mytica (the world in which FK books take place). As you can probably guess, their lives become interwined, so it all unravels from there.

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta. I've always been sceptical of hype books, and will probably continue this path, but Marchetta was one of the authors I was scared to discover. Last year, however, I picked up all of her contemporaries except Alibrandi and loved them, so the natural step was to explore Josie's story as well. It's authentic, poignant and wonderful; full of culture, family secrets, a heartfelt bond between a mother and a daughter; it's about exploring a tentative relationship between a father and a daughter, finding oneself and experiencing love and loss for the first time. Marchetta is the queen of capturing teen voices and writing heartfelt stories and Looking for Alibrandi is no exception.

George by Alex Gino. I sincerely cannot voice how important this book is and how essential it is for everyone to read George, including adults. This tale shows how often we dismiss children's voices, thinking they don't know, and how we want to (and do!) put labels on them, thinking we know better. It's a beautiful story about gender identity, acompanied by a well-written, endearing friendship between two girls. Don't let the Middle Grade label push you away, this book is so, so important and, even in its simple narrative, wonderfully thoughtful. (If you're interested, my friend Christina wrote a short, great review that you can read here. Couldn't have said it all any better myself!)

Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens. This was on my TBR even before it was released. For some reason I never got around purchasing it until a sale this spring, even though the ARC reviews were great. It's a poignant novel about stories that people are too afraid and unready to tell; it's a tale about coping, healing, moving forward and more. The friendships in this book are quite messy, yet realistic and endearing. I must warn you, and this is not a spoiler, because it's mentioned very early on, that this is a book about rape and a victim coming to terms with the fact that she was raped; that she isn't at fault that it happened, but the person who took advantage of her, is. There is also physical abuse and mentioning of suicidal thoughts, so please proceed with caution if these are triggering for you. I would wholeheartedly recommend Faking Nromal and, if you do read it, don't leave the author's note without attention. It's just as important as the fictional story between these beautiful covers.

This is it for the first roundup! What do you think? Should there be more of these kinds of posts or would you be more interested in traditional reviews? How about these books? Have you read any? If so, what were your thoughts? Let me know below :)

Mini Reviews: The Last Time We Were Us & Autofocus

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 11:09:00 +0000

Hi, friends! It's been ages since my last reviews. There were quite a few very stressful months since I had to finish le thesis and graduate, but now I can try to get back on track with blogging since I'm all done with university [whooo *throws confetti*]. I hope you've all been reading great books and are thoroughly enjoying your summer! Here are two YA contemporary novels which I'll share my thoughts on today. Feel free to let me know what you've been up to and/or reading in my absence :)

Title: The Last Time We Were Us
Author: Leah Konen
Published: May 10th, 2016 by Katherine Tegen Books
Read: April 18th to May 6th, 2016
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review*

A passionate summer love story about a girl, her childhood best friend recently released from juvie, and the small-town lies that have kept them apart. A teen romance debut with a dark edge.

Liz Grant is about to have the summer of her life. She and her friend MacKenzie are getting invited to all the best parties, and with any luck, Innis Taylor, the most gorgeous guy in Bonneville, will be her boyfriend before the Fourth of July.

Local teen convict released early.

Jason Sullivan wasn’t supposed to come back from juvie. A million years ago, he was her best friend, but that was before he ditched her for a different crowd. Before he attacked Innis’s older brother, leaving Skip’s face burned and their town in shock.

“Everything is not what you think.”

Liz always found it hard to believe what they said about Jason, but all of Bonneville thinks he’s dangerous. If word gets out she’s seeing him, she could lose everything. But what if there’s more to that horrible night than she knows? And how many more people will get hurt when the truth finally comes out?

“You’re the one person who believes in me.”

Leah Konen’s southern romance swelters with passion as it explores the devastating crush of lies, the delicate balance of power and perception, and one girl’s journey to find herself while uncovering the secrets of so many others.

Contemporary (along with fantasy fantasy) is my main jam and I'm always here for complexity, layered characters and lots of emotions. The Last Time We Were Us is a teen romance story that covers a lot of topics such as reputation in a small town, exploring female sexuality (and pointing out slutshaming which is very common when girls explore their sexuality but not when guys do it), inner beauty vs the beauty that's constructed by society and more. There were moments which I enjoyed quite a lot, but there were more parts that were underdeveloped or awkward to read and fell a little flat for me personally, hence I didn't feel as connected to the story as expected. However, I appreciated the messages the book was trying to convey. Funny though, I was actually more invested in a how the side ship would play out, because that was the main catalyst to the story. I have slightly mixed feelings about it but I did like the ending parts of the book as a whole.

Overall rating: 2.3 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you to Edelweiss and Katherine Tegen Books for an ARC. My thoughts
are my own and in no way did this review copy affect my thoughts.

Title: Autofocus
Author: Lauren Gibaldi
Published: June 14th, 2016 by HarperTeen
Read: May 7th to 11th, 2016
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review*

Family.

It’s always been a loaded word for Maude. And when she is given a senior photography assignment—to create a portfolio that shows the meaning of family—she doesn’t quite know where to begin. But she knows one thing: without the story of her birth mother, who died when Maude was born, her project will be incomplete.

So Maude decides to visit her best friend, Treena, at college in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maude’s birth mother once lived. But when Maude arrives, she quickly discovers that Treena has changed. With a new boyfriend and a packed social calendar, Treena doesn’t seem to have time for Maude—or helping Maude in her search.

Enter Bennett, a cute guy who lives in Treena’s dorm. He understands Maude’s need to find her mother. And as Bennett helps Maude in her search, she starts to find that her mother’s past doesn’t have to define her own future.

Lauren Gibaldi has crafted a beautiful and timely coming-of-age story that poses the question: Is who we are determined at birth, or can we change as we grow?

I have yet to read Gibaldi's debut novel The Night We Said Yes, but without a doubt it's now high on my TBR list [especially after snagging it from a recent ebook sale; thank you book goddesses for good book deals!] since I very much enjoyed Autofocus. Unlike my friend Jess from My Reading Dress, I really enjoy roadtrip books and this one is a slightly roadtrip-esque with a side of a scavenger hunt of sorts. It was very sweet, fun and summery, as expected, while tackling the topic of belonging and self-discovery.

I liked the realizations Maude came to by the end of the novel and the road there was quite emotional for her. It features an adorable ship which is full of cute; I definitely wouldn't mind a small future novella on this! I do think that a lot of people would/could find the friendship aspects tiring and frustrating, because the scenario that unravels between them takes up a bunch of the book and it was frustrating at times, but I enjoyed how Maude and Treena used what happened as a lesson to be learned from and weren't above admitting their mistakes which made their characters multi dimensional in my opinion. The ending may be too open to some, but I found it very suitable for this particular story. Overall, this was a fun summer read and I'm very excited to read more from Gibaldi [while secretly hoping for smallest of cameos from some of the cast from this book to know how they're doing and get canon answers to the open ending parts; one can hope, aye?]. Happy reading, my friends!

Overall rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads

Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for an ARC. My thoughts are
my own and in no way did this review copy affect my thoughts.

An Open Letter to Krista and Becca Ritchie

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Wed, 18 May 2016 12:00:00 +0000

As the era of the original Addicted series books being published comes to an end in a few days, this is the time a bunch of us from Fizzle Force, a fandom for Krista and Becca Ritchie and the brilliance that is their books, have decided to take it upon us to say our farewells to these books and characters. It has been a wonderful journey that has spun over the course of almost three years. You are all well aware of my undying love for this series, so naturally this post is a little more personal than what you may be used to on this blog, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. And if you haven't read these books yet, maybe I'll be able to convince you with my lengthy rambles and grateful, emotional tears.

*I added some of my favorite edits that I have made into this post to illustrate my points and/or make the post easier to read since we all know that long essays are hella boring to read even when they're written through tears like the following post was. All graphics are linked to my Tumblr, so you can easily go and see the graphic sets as whole if you're interested in seeing more of these characters/situations.

Dear Krista and Becca,

I know it sounds like a cliché that you can't quite believe, but your books have had a huge impact on my life. I can't imagine what my life would look like right now if I hadn't chosen to give a chance to a book written by my blogging friends. I was highly skeptical, I'm not going to lie. A book about a sex addict? What? You know this already, but I am 100% certain that I would not have read Addicted to You if I didn't already know you when I first heard of this book on your blog. I didn't know it yet, but that moment when I read this post on your book blog, as well as this one, changed my life. I guess sometimes we don't know how much small things shape our lives until years later.

What I remember from the early days is surprisingly quite vivid in my mind. I remember it clearly when I first read Addicted to you and what I felt at the time. I remember it being a rainy day and me crying my eyes out at the end of Addicted to You, but trying to be subtle and super chill about it in the back of my dad's car with my whole family there. I remember flailing over Connor and the promise of Coballoway. I remember not knowing yet that this book features my favorite fictional characters ever. I remember being proud of my blogging friends who had written such a poignant, interesting book that would surely get amazing reviews.

I remember being upset that this book that touched me so deeply was, in fact, not getting the kind of coverage I felt like it deserved. I remember having no one to talk to about these books except for you two, because no one I knew had read them. I remember pushing them on Nick and getting her to flail with me. I remember recommending these books everywhere, including on all the blogs I constantly visited, because I felt like they deserved better than those 100 something ratings on Goodreads, most of which were the girls I remembered from the ARC tour. I remember the day I started talking to Jenn when I had just received Hothouse Flower on my Kindle: I was taking a bus to work on that afternoon and telling her on Goodreads that she would flail about a certain stairwell scene after she had commented under my status update. I remember finding someone else to flail with. I remember when I saw someone named Diana Bishop with the username thefieryheart and a Lucy Fry icon being retweeted by you two. I remember being intimidated and not knowing if I should talk to her and her friends or not. I didn't at the time. I was too intimidated. Which, I guess, is ironic, because Jenn always says that she was intimidated to talk to me. Turns out we're all just a bunch of booknerds with massive fangirling tendencies.

I rememeber throwing the Lily Calloway birthday event and contacting Sue (who had previously turned out to be that Diana Bishop person), Nick, Jenn, Jullie and others for this. I rememeber the Thrive challenge, which Sue threw a few weeks later, for which I made my first graphics ever for and after which I started talking to Sue, Sil, Almera and Nazeefa regularly. I remember that Zee and I had been stalking each other's social media long before we started talking. I remember when I met Eri, Lisa, Katie (whose then url psychotarafinke, and the fact that I couldn't spell, it let alone pronounce it, still makes me laugh seeing as Tara Finke is now one of my favorite characters eve), Jae, Jessi, Laura, followed by Lanie, Amy, Paula, Anisha and so many others. At some point I lost count of all the people I befriended thanks to your books—books that I appreciated so much and which, thank Connor, had apparently moved others too; these people were just as passionate about your books as I was. They had as much love for these characters and their stories as I had. I began forming friendships with people from all over the world and some of them have sneaked their way so deep into my heart that I feel as though they're my second family. All because of your books.

I guess I should tell you "thank you", but it's such a broad term for all the things I want to thank you for. Your books, your characters and you have taught me so much about myself, showed me the world through different perspectives and helped me when I have needed it the most. I can't pinpoint all of those big and small moments, because there is a countless amount of them, but the following includes some things I would like to thank you for.

One of the most recent instances being when I went to see Deadpool (something Lily and Lo would most definitely appreciate!) with one of my best friends (girl) and her co-worker (guy). It came up I'm this close to getting my Master's degree and that I have an almost perfect GPA. I started to downplay the last one immediately, as I always do, by saying "Oh, well, it's mostly by luck and [list of other things]!" I tried to laugh off this achievement; to make it seem like it was nothing.

Later, as I was driving home, I thought about it. Why did I even feel the need to say those things and make it seem like it wasn't a huge deal? Because it is a huge deal! I have worked my hardest to get good grades that would allow me to get stipends. I have worked my hardest to get a good education, so I can have a great foundation to build the rest of my life upon. It's something I should take pride in, not let it slide like it means nothing; and for what? For the sake of not looking smart or capable in the eyes of some cute guy who said school was never for him? For the sake of not having people think "oh, she's an overachiever"? No, this is not how it goes, and this is something your books have taught me: always take pride in your accomplishments; small or big—you have earned them. Thank you for helping me see that it's important to be proud of yourself.

This above is just one example out of a million, so if I started telling you all of these small instances, I'd be here for a good few years, still listing examples. I'd much rather go ahead and list a few things I'd like to thank you for.

Thank you for impacting my life so much with your books. I can't imagine what my life would look like right now if I hadn't chosen to give a chance to a book written by my blogging friends. I was highly skeptical, I'm not going to lie. A book about a sex addict and an alcoholic? What? I am 100% certain that I would not have read Addicted to You if I didn't already know you when I first heard of this book. But as I stated above, this reading experience is one I recall vividly and one that I haven't been able to let go of since.

Thank you for writing a book where sisterhood, brotherhood and friendships aren't devalued or pushed to the sidelines for the sake of romance. Thank you for writing heartfelt, layered relationships and not settling for an easy way out. Thank you for making us fall in love with these dynamics that are unique yet relatable. Thank you for all the moments you have made us cry and laugh with the banter between your characters and their support and love for each other.

I will never forget the moment when Lily finally condifed in Rose, all the while scared and thinking her own sister would disown her for being something that our society shames and/or pretends they don't exist: a female sex addict. Instead of shaming her or not believing in her struggles, Rose made everything in her power to help her little sister and made sure Lily knew that she would not go anywhere. That she wasn't alone in this.

Every time I re-visit this scene, the tears just push through and there is no hiding the ocean that's about to be unleashed. To me these books, while romantic, and with a good reason marketed as romance novels, are essentially about family; these four sisters who would drop anything and everything in a nanosecond if one of them needs the others. They may have been estranged at first, but as the series progressed, their bonds got stronger; even during the most painful moments, their support for each other never wavered. There are so many layers to all of them individually as well as to their relationship dynamics that it's simply an honor and a joy to witness them all unravel in front of our eyes. The Calloway sisters will forever be my favorite siblings in any fictional world and I will never grow tired of re-exploring their stories over and over again.

Thank you for never romanticizing addictions. Thank you for not sugarcoating the hardships that come with addictions. It takes strong, skilled writers to showcase the raw details of something you have never experienced and put it into words so effortlessly while not glossing over the raw, painful hurt, while managing to showcase the highs equally as well. Thank you for stories where love doesn't magically fix people. Thank you for writing realistic, beautiful, emotional beginnings, endings and everything inbetween. Thank you for creating these marvelous (pun intended), layered characters whom we all love and adore so much. Thank you for breaking stereotypes. It's so important to show that we don't all fit into these boxes that the society pushes upon us, and you have done it time and time again.

Speaking of characters and breaking stereotypes, thank you for creating Lily Calloway who is truly such a gift in to us all. My smol, adorable fairy princess. Thank you for creating a character who's a sex addict, but who isn't portrayed as a vixen. You know, like the world would like us to think about every female who enjoys and/or initiates sex. Instead, Lily is not confident in her skin at all, yet she's a sex addict. Imagine that; what a concept, right? [To all the readers: I hope your're aware that the last sentence is dipped deep in sarcasm.] Thank you for never taking her story lightly and putting all the care into her story that isn't often easy nor pretty. Thank you for this shy, awkward girl who is obsessed with comics and pop culture; a girl who is loving and kind; a girl who loves her wampa hat like no other and is resilient in learning French via an app just so she can understand and ship her favorite Nerd Stars even more when they talk dirty in French. Which, my fluttering heart should know well, they do! Well, given, she also wanted to know what Rose and Connor were talking about the rest of the ot6, but still. Thank you for creating a character who is constantly in the state of fangirling and who will make it her mission for the world to only see good in everyone, especially her loved ones. Thank you for the beautiful, challenging character growth towards self-love and self-acceptance—something that a lot of people, for one reason or another, are struggling with, myself included.

Thank you for writing Loren Hale aka the king of sarcasm. Thank you for writing one of the most beautiful character growths there ever was: from a person who is self-loathing and hates the world around him, to a person who will fight for others when they feel like they don't have the strength or will to fight for themselves. Thank you for all the sarcastic comments that have made me laugh, gasp and roll on the floor. Sometimes all three at once, yes. Thank you for the beautiful realization Lo goes through that your defeats do not define who you are; you're defined by how you overcome and learn from those defeats. Thank you for creating a guy whose love for comics and all things Marvel is insurmountable, and is only beaten by his love for his friends and family. In the words of Lily Calloway, you're easily lovable, Loren Hale. And, it's incredible that so many people have become more invested in comics and the history of the characters we all love because of these two comic geeks such as yourselves! Thank you for that comics bug you have infected us with.

Thank you for crafting my favorite fictional character ever: Rose Calloway aka my sun, my stars, my moon; my queen of everything. Thank you for writing an intelligent, confident, sharp, competitive woman who lives and breathes fashion, make-up, diamonds and French; for creating a girl whose insecurities are physical (and emotional) closeness and motherhood. Thank you for creating a girl who is so complex that most people would rather run than try to get to know her. Thank you for writing about a character who is still a virgin at 23 and not ashamed of never having had sex. Thank you for writing a girl who will always have her sisters' backs and who will stand up for them when they can't, but who will support them to be better, stronger and push them to always reach for their dreams. Thank you for crafting someone whose passion, competitiveness and thrive burn inside my very soul. Thank you for giving me someone to identify with. I won't rehash this here in great detail, because it's truly, truly personal, but you know what I mean.

Thank you for creating my ultimate fictional love, my second favorite fictional character ever: Richard Connor Cobalt. My love for him is immeasurable. I literally cannot describe to you how much he and Rose mean to me, but you probably already know this yourselves since you have had to hear my fangirling for three years by now. Thank you for writing the most complex character I have ever met in any fictional world to date. Thank you for creating a character who is just as intelligent, thriven and competitive as his other half. Thank you for writing a character who is truly non-judgemental and so factual that it literally hurts sometimes, but in a good way. Thank you for all the amazing combacks and commentary, because his factual, rational self just can't help but make the best commentary ever. Thank you for handling his sexuality, views and character growth with so much care, wisdom and remarkable beauty that should not be possible to write this with just 25 years of life experience (and even less so, seeing as his characterization started years before).

Thank you for not chopping Connor off, but adding him as a main character and chopping off Rose's fiancé instead; we never met him, but good riddance, I tell you! This action gave way to my ultimate OTP ever: Coballoway. Thank you for this complex, unique, heartfelt, passionate and exquisite couple who has brought so much light into my life via their canon stories and countless headcanons that continuously pop up in my head when I expect it the least. Thank you for portraying a relationship where both parties are equals outside bedroom, constantly testing each other's knowledge and strength, always battling via discussions on all topics imaginable, but inside bedroom one is willing to submit to the other. Thank you for showing that women can still be powerful, fierce, strong and independent in relationships even when they are submissive in bedroom.

Thank you for creating le sunshine that is Daisy Calloway. My favorite mermaid princess. Thank you for writing a character who doesn't know what or who she wants to be when she "grows up". Thank you for a poignant voice of someone who is still confused as to what her purpose in this world should be. You have no idea how much I identify with her in this aspect and I am confident most people do. Thank you for a character who will have to learn that her voice and opinion matter. Thank you for creating a character who will have to learn how to be selfish; whose struggle with depression and PTSD is never handled with anything less than utmost care and respect. Thank you for gracing us with someone whose kindness is so endearing that it genuinely feels like her beautiful soul is embracing the reader through the book. Thank you for all the puns, because Daisy Petunia Calloway is, without a doubt, the queen of puns—a girl after my own heart!

Thank you for crafting Ryke Meadows aka probably one of the most feminist guys ever in fiction. A character who is loyal to a default and, while a big softy inside, portrays himself as a hardass, but only because he cares too much. Thank you for writing a guy who isn't respectful only towards his love interest and closest female friends, but someone who treats all women equally well and preaches this around everywhere he goes. Thank you for writing about a guy who uses the word "fuck" more times a day than there are minutes in an hour, but who is intelligent, loving and kind, even though most people would dismiss him as an unintelligent brute when they first meet him. Thank you for creating a character who, at first, let no one in; who considers himself a lone wolf and tried to protect himself against everyone, but who, as time passed, found friends and family in five other people, and would do everything in his power for them to achieve the happiness they rightfully deserve.

All of the friendships you have written feature complex dynamics with heart and soul. Thank you for them all. Further, thank you for all the amazing romantic ships that showcase what healthy, respectful and loving relationships should be like. Meaning that they are the kind where both parties encourage the other to reach for their dreams, never settle for less, and who breathe confidence, solace and love into one another not just when they need it the most, but every. single. day. Thank you for showing how important trust is in all relationships, romantic and otherwise. Thank you for showing us what kind of significant others are worth waiting for, what true friendships and great family relationships look like.

Thank you for all the OMFG moments that have left me gasping for air as well as in laugh cramps. Thank you for all the sleepless nights that I have spent reading and re-reading your books. Thank you for all the tears that have helped me cleanse my emotional part with massive crying fests (because truly, there have been instances where I have had to take water breaks and tissue breaks, because tears were blurring my vision so much that it turned out to be impossible to continue reading).

Thank you for showing how harmful media (and society in general) can be, especially towards women and, in the case of your books, minorities whom majority of people would rather show agression and disapproval towards than try to understand, because they don't think or feel the way they're expected to. Thank you for showing that strength doesn't come in one shape, size or form; that a quiet, shy person can be just as strong as someone who isn't afraid to express their thoughts; that smiling through dark times is called fighting back; that strength isn't only in physical attributes, but also lies in intelligence, resilience and love.

Thank you for writing books that look down on slutshaming and make it a point that women exploring their sexuality is just as okay as men exploring their sexuality. Thank you for stories that explore female sexuality and show that no matter if you’re sexually experienced or inexperienced—it should not matter in the eyes of the society and it does not make you lesser or more in any way. Thank you for giving a voice to quiet girls, loud girls, girls who like to have sex and girls who dont, girls in high heels, girls in sneakers and jeans, girls who are afraid and girls who want to conquer and everyone inbetween.

Thank you for being the perfect example that New Adult is not just a fun or angsty sexy gap between YA and Adult books, but that it can be so much more than that; that books in the New Adult genre can have thorough, important discussions as books meant for any other age group.

Thank you for all the friendships I have made directly or indirectly through to you, especially Jenn and the Fizzle Reads girls. If it wasn't for your books, I wouldn't be such great friends with some of the coolest people I know, people I can proudly call my second family. This fandom in general is so loving, kind, amazing and it directly reflects upon you, because you are loving, kind and amazing. Thank you for always gracing us with bonus scenes and extra content. Thank you for always going along with ideas to surprise the Fizzle Force with Addicted series related things when Jae, Jenn, Lanie and I ask if you'd be up for this, this and this—whatever those ideas may be. You always find time for us and I am truly grateful for that.

Last, but certainly not least, I just wanted to say that I am so, so, so very proud of you. I hope you never stop writing; I hope you will continue to grace us with characters who are fully fleshed out—who we can all identify with one way or another, who will broaden our minds and make us think; I hope you never stop trying to be the best versions of yourselves and will continue to inspire us to be the best versions of ourselves; I hope you never give up on your dreams. Thank you for showing us that it's ok to take chances and follow your dreams. Thank you for inspiring us every single day.

Even though it feels like it, I know it's not the end of the road. It's truly not. This series will live and breathe inside me until the end of times. I will carry it with me in the deepest parts of my soul and re-live it during good, bad and extraordinary times in my life for years and years to come. I will forever treasure these books and characters and all that they have given me. Connor and Rose, the two great loves of my life, said it best:

His lips rise. “Ca vous a pris pas mal de temps.” It took you long enough.
“How long do we have left?” I ask him softly, his body beginning to blur.
He strokes my hair. “Pour toujours.” Forever.

Thank you for this incredible journey.

With all my heart,

Siiri

If you, my friend, reading this post, want to know more about the books, you should, without a doubt, pick up the first book of the Addicted series. The final book, a full-length epilogue novel Some Kind of Perfect releases this Friday, May 20th. However, since you should probably start with the first book, I suggest you grab the first book Addicted to You right away since it's free on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and iBooks.

*If you don't know how to read the series, because the order can be confusing, check out these posts here and here where Krista and Becca outline multiple ways you can read these books.

**If you own the Kindle version and you love audiobooks, you can get the first one for just 1.99$ on Audible and listen to the brilliant Erin Mallon bring Lily Calloway and the Addicted universe to life in magical ways.

Thank you to everyone who made it to the end of this post. I can't believe you managed to read through this mess of a post and not close the window. I hope that if you are not caught up with this brilliant, beautiful and well-crefted series, you will do so asap, and if you are all caught up, I hope we can both survive the goodbye to our beloved characters whom we love more than words can describe. ♥

Halsey Book Tag

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 10:24:00 +0000

Hi, friends! I feel like doing a tag post today and since my friend Lisa tagged me on her tumblr to do the [queen] Halsey book tag, I reckon it's the perfect time to jump right into writing one. This tag was created by the Paper Riot squad [original post here] and you can read Lisa's post here. Alright, let's get right to it! (✿◠‿◠)

CASTLE: YOUR FAVORITE QUEEN

2016 didn't start off that well for me regarding books, but I read this fantastic trilogy by Rae Carson and its heroine Elisa from The Girl of Fire and Thorns has quickly become one of my favorite characters of all time. She's one kick-a queen, alright! She's intelligent, kind, supportive and compassionate as a person; honest and fair in her ruling. She does everything in her power to give her people the life they deserve and she doesn't let her defeats, sacrifices or her love life get in the way of achieving the goals she has for her people.

HOLD ME DOWN: A SERIES YOU JUST CAN’T SEEM TO QUIT, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY

Hah, I just had finished a series like that. I didn't really love the first two books from the Bad Habits series. I guess you could say that it's more up the alley "it's not you, it's me" since I rarely love romantic comedy books, I'm more of an angst kind of gal. The first book brought no emotions out of me and it had some major slutshaming themes going on; the second was a boredomfest which I skimmed the latter half of. HOWEVERRRRRRR my otp of the series whose scenes I devoured from other people's POVs had the third book to their own and FINALLY I got to rate these books higher than 2-3 stars. I loved Tricky and Rose's book, so I'm glad I suffered it out ✨(っ＾▿＾)۶✨

NEW AMERICANA: THE FICTIONAL FRIEND GROUP YOU’D WANT TO BE YOUR FIGHT THE APOCALYPSE SQUAD

The Under the Never Sky squad. They're all skilled fighters, they're all super passionate and ready to put their lives in danger for one person let alone for an enitre team. Plus this gives me an excuse to mention Perry and Aria because my precious children who I heart so so so much :') My second choice is the Unraveling crew because dude they stopped the apocalypse so it can't get any better than that, right? Also, Janelle is so kick-a; I love her!

DRIVE: A COUPLE THAT NEEDS TO COMMUNICATE BETTER

I'm going to go with Karou and Akiva from Daughter of Smoke & Bone for this one. There's so much hurt between them and mistakes and feelings but the one thing that makes them more vulnerable as a team and couple is that they don't say what they think or feel. It's absolute P-A-I-N to watch this but I'm rooting for it so hard asdfghjkl; you don't understand. I just want them to have their happily ever after IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK???? [An honorable mention: Tricky and Rose from Last Call because they really don't know how to use 'em words and 90% of the hurt between them could have been avoided by merely talking to each other.]

HURRICANE: FAVOURITE STANDALONE

THE SUMMER OF CHASING MERMAIDS. It's by far my favorite standalone of 2015 and one of my favorite standalones ever. There's something so magical about Sarah Ockler's writing and this gorgeous, gorgeous modern take on The Little Mermaid is simply stunning. I have undying love for this book. I read an eARC but I've purchased the hardcover and you can bet your sweet self I'm going to buy the paperback too when it comes out. In addition to it having a poc family as some of the main characters, it tackles feminism, sexism, women's sexuality, cross-dressing kids etc and it's told with an authentic voice as per usual with Sarah's novels. The prose is to die for! There is some Trinidian culture combined into the novel as well and I have so much love for the romance, friendships and family dynamics; I simply love this book through and through!

ROMAN HOLIDAY: CUTEST CONTEMPORARY COUPLE

I have a few that came to mind both from Young Adult and New Adult categories:

Annie and Jason from Whatever Life Throws at You
Katie and Matt from Things I Can't Forget
Lola and Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door
Cath and Levi from Fangirl
Zach and Cammie from Gallagher Girls
Hannah and Garrett from The Deal
Kit and Jessa from Come Back to Me
Reese and Ben from Five Ways to Fall

These are all from novels which I loved and they're all such adorable couples (when certain things/events aren't heartbreaking at the time); my heart is full just thinking about the cute ♥ (ˆ‿ˆԅ)

GHOST: MOST TRAGIC BREAK-UP

Lara Jean and Peter from To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Whichever one of their break ups you want -- take your pick. They're all tragic as hell and my shipper heart broke every. single. time. Also my otp from Burn for Burn trilogy; this goes out to Amber and our broken hearts! That was so tragic i'm still in denial of the last book's last 30 or so pages because ...

COLORS: ONE OF YOUR FAVES WHO HURTS YOU A LOT BECAUSE THEY MAKE TERRIBLE DECISIONS

HAHAHAHAHAHA. Prince Magnus Lucas Damora aka smol emo trash prince i can't believe the things you have done thanks to Morgan's imagination; it's actually quite brutal how much of it can be explained with his upbringing and his emotionally and physically abusive father and the cold Limerian environment he has had to live in throughout his entire life. He isn't an evil character, more like morally ambiguous and someone who in his heart of hearts wants good, but still makes bad decisions? I find him very intriguing, and he's most definitely my favorite male POV from the Falling Kingdoms series, but I'll be forever hurt by one of his actions and I can't believe that he did that.

STRANGE LOVE: CHARACTER A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T GET BUT YOU ABSOLUTELY LOVE

Lily Calloway from the Addicted series. I feel like so many people love her, but at the same time, a lot of people don't get her. They're annoyed and feel as though she's super gullible and foolish and selfish and needy (or that her sex addiction isn't real which is really fucking ableist okay). Well, newsflash! Addicts are selfish. Plus, she's a sex addict and having sex is in our nature. She's obsessive and compulsive about it, because her mind doesn't work like a healthy person's does. She's also one of the cutest characters I've ever had the pleasure to read about and I adore her goofy, supportive, loving self so much. Seeing her go from a very insecure girl who is so embarrassed and hates her mind to a girl who is more confident and owns that she is different and that's ok? I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about her growth because it's written beautifully in a really authentic way and I'm glad she's in a more healthy place now.

COMING DOWN: BEST SEXY TIMES SCENE

I have to got with Holder and Sky from Hopeless with their first non-kiss. It's technically not even a kiss but you guys *shakes you* y.o.u. g.u.y.s!!! ALSO EDIT: I AM READING ARCHER'S VOICE RIGHT NOW AND HOLY GUACAMOLE THIS BOOK IS SO HOT MY HEART IS POUNDING I'M ~~

HAUNTING: A BOOK OR CHARACTER YOU’RE STILL THINKING ABOUT

Saving Francesca, The Piper's Son and On the Jellicoe Road. Praise Lisa for finally getting me on the Marchetta train. I find myself re-skimming these books a lot and every time I tear up, because such brilliant such amazing! I find each and every character so interesting and I'd love for them to all have their own books. Tom is my precious trash son and his book h.u.r.t. ok. So did Frankies, hah. Whereas TPS is my favorite from Marchetta that I've read so far, and I cried A LOT during SF & TPS, nothing could have prepared me for the feelsfest that was Jellicoe Road ;_________;

GASOLINE: FAVOURITE (SELF-)DESTRUCTIVE CHARACTER

Loren Hale from the Addicted series. He was so self-destructive at first, but look at where (and who) he has (be)come! I'm so proud I'll just hug myself because there is no way to hug him *i haz a sadz* Proud of you, bro!

CONTROL: BEST VILLAIN

Sybella's father in Dark Triumph. The things he did to her, to everyone? I cried when I found out Sybella's whole story and it's one of the most horrible things I've ever read about. I have only hate for this despicable character. *~~honorable~~ horrible mentions: Scott Van Wright (Addicted series), King Gaius (Falling Kingdoms), Thiago (Daughter of Smoke and Bone), Queen Levana (The Lunar Chronicles)

YOUNG GOD: CHARACTERS THAT SECRETLY WORSHIP EACH OTHER

Fetus Coballoway (from the Addicted series). *cracks knuckles and prepares for all caps* YO! I LIVE AND BREATHE FOR THIS SHIP -- THEY HAVE H-I-S-T-O-R-Y THAT REACHES BACK TO WHEN THEY WERE 14 AND 13; THEIR FIRST INTERACTION WAS A BATTLE OF FACTS AND THEY HAVE BEEN RIVALS EVER SINCE BUT THEY SECRETLY WORSHIPPED THE GROUND THE OTHER WALKED ON AND WERE FASCINATED TO THE MAX ABOUT EACH OTHER OK? AND AND AND LATER IN LIFE (throughout many, many years) THEY HAVE HAD EPIC NERD STAR BATTLES AND ROSE IS CONSTANTLY TELLING CONNOR: "SHUT UP, RICHARD!" AND HE JUST GRINS AND HIS HEART IS FULL OF STARS AND UNICORNS (not really, he doesn't believe in anything that can't be explained by science and logic) AND SHE JUST GIVES HIM THE DEATH GLARE AND HE ONLY GRINS MORE AND SHE GLARES HARDER AND HE IS SO WHIPPED HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW IT (and vice versa).

*honorable mentions: Tom Mackee and Tara Finke (The Piper's Son), Johan Griggs and Taylor Markham (On the Jellicoe Road), Perry and Aria (Under the Never Sky)

WALK THE LINE: BEST RETELLING/REWORKING

The Lunar Chronicles. I originally didn't realllllly love this series, because.. well.. look. Sci-fi isn't my thing and it was so descriptive about mechanics when I first started Cinder, but the idea of this is so unique and different! I do agree that there are problematic aspects (read more here), but the way Meyer has combined the original tales into her stories? Pure magic here!

IS THERE SOMEWHERE: OTP WITH OBSTACLES

Daisy Calloway and Ryke Meadows from the Addicted series. There are so many obstacles on their way:

Age gap
Loren Hale
Daisy's parents
The media
*the list continues with things I can't mention because Fuel the Fire/Long Way Down spoilers*

I love how they work things out together and communicate well; they know each other through and through and never want the other to compromise their dreams, so they always encourage each other and, of course, the rest of the gang helps them which is brotp goals :')

*honorable mention: Blue Sargent and Richard Campbell Gansey III from The Raven Boys for obvious reasons, hah!

EMPTY GOLD: AN OTP THAT BECAME A NOTP

Lara Jean and Peter from To All the Boys I've Loved Before. I meaaaaan I ship it but then again not really? Idk. I'm lukewarm about it after the disaster that was PSISLY but I still ship it more than I ship John and Lara Jean which I don't ship at all.

TROUBLE: TOXIC RELATIONSHIP YOU SHIP EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW BETTER

Lmao I feel like the obvious answer would be Alarkling but I don't ship it the least bit. It's one of my biggest NOTPs. I find Kestrel and Arin from The Winne'rs Trilogy pretty toxic as far as their relationship has gone thus far though(and I dare say that Ms. Rutkoski agrees with moi since she has said that they can't be together until they have done personal growth, worked out the issues and problems surrounding their lives and their relationship etc). They have so much s*!t to work through, because right now they're not the kind of ship that should end up together, but omfg do I ever want them to end up together and, please Marie Rutkoski, end our misery because HOW DO WE LIVE WITH OURSELVES IF THERE ISN'T A HEA ON THE HORIZON FOR THESE TWO TOGETHER????

This was super fun and I'm passing the fun and pain onto some of my many favs (if you haven't done this already of course):

Jess @ My Reading Dress

Jae @ A Bookish Bluebird
Jasprit @ The Reader's Den

Nick & Nereyda @ Nick and Nereyda's Infinite Book List

Cait @ Paper Fury
Jeann, Alia & Jenna @ Happy Indulgence
Sil & Mana @ The Book Voyagers

Amber @ Books of Amber
Mel @ The Daily Prophecy
Jaz @ Pixelski

So yeah; this is it for my rambly post hah. Let me know below if you (dis)agree with any of my picks [without spoilers, please!] and I hope you have a great day :)

Mini Reviews: The Conspiracy of Us & A Darker Shade of Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Hey, loves! Since two sequels for some of my most anticipated books of the year are coming out this month and early next month, I thought I'd publish my [revamped] reviews from last year and tell you why I loved them so much. Can't wait to see whether we agree or not on these particular reads if some of you have already read them! ♥ (ˆ‿ˆԅ)✨

Title: The Conspiracy of Us (The Conspiracy of Us #1)
Author: Maggie Hall
Published: January 13th, 2015 by Putnam Juvenile
Read: July 20th to 21th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

A fast-paced international escapade, laced with adrenaline, glamour, and romance--perfect for fans of Ally Carter.

Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.

To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are hiding secrets of their own. Now she will have to choose not only between freedom and family--but between the boy who might help her save the world, and the one she's falling in love with.

I had heard some mixed things prior reading, but since I had quite a few Audible credits, I decided to go for it last summer since some of my favorite people *cough* Eri, Sue, Jess, Katie and Zee *cough* seemed to have enjoyed The Conspiracy of Us quite a bit. Here's a short list with my thoughts:

the mystery is great and keeps you on your toes; even though I figured some things out beforehand, it was so fun to guess and wonder if I was on the right track
I love that there is a lot of mythology to the Circle and historical figures are combined into it all (it's one of the things that I feel like lacks in Ally Carter's Heist Society books, for instance, that I'm reading right now; don't get me wrong, I love Ally's books, but I wish there was more background and explanation on certain things and I love that Maggie's novel provides that kind of information)
the plot was paced well except a few parts, but honestly, most of it just flew by and was hella fun to follow
I was pretty neutral about the two ships, but I do have a ship now and it's not the canon ship sooooo I'm hoping more things in the upcoming novels for my guy; a request has been passed along to Maggie by Sue, Eri and I, so I hope at least some smoldering looks is put there heeheee (ɔ◔‿◔)ɔ ♥ (the ending looks very promising, dare I say!)
the family and Avery's background -- I can't wait for even more of that in the next novels; super pumped to learn more of how they're involved and all the little, intriguing details of this whole conspiracy
the last 1/3 was so intense I REALLY LOVED IT AND ahh i'm just so excited to know more!!!!!
I wish the novel had had a little more culture combined into it all, but I think as we go to the following books, we will get more of that. I skimmingly read the preview for Map of Fates and it. looks. amazing, let me tell you!

As a whole I thoroughly enjoyed it and am eagerly looking forward to the next two books :) My pre-order of Map of Fates couldn't come fast enough, tbh! PS. Thanks to the gals mentioned above for the group convo that made this reading experience possibly even more fun ♥♥♥

My The Conspiracy of Us inspired picspam can be found here, on my Tumblr.
[Click on the photos to view them in HQ.]

Overall rating: 3.9 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Tumblr | Twitter | Goodreads

Title: A Darker Shade of Magic (A Darker Shade of Magic #1)
Author: V.E. Schwab
Published: February 24th, 2015 by Tor Books
Read: October 30th to November 9th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London—but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—trickier than they hoped.

You know, I had owned Victoria's The Archived and The Unbound for about a year or almost two before I finally picked up The Archived and read the brilliance. It was pretty much love at first sight and I can't wait to tackle The Unbound sometime this year. I had never really been pulled towards ADSoM or Vicious though, but after reading the gem that was TA, I just had to give ADSoM a try and IT WAS AMAZING!

So super duper that glad this was a daily deal on audible. Boy was this fun and different! I love the characters and my favorite character is probably Lila—a cross dressing thief slash pirate; what a spunky source of fire and charm that one! She is courageous, intense and adorable all the same. Also, Kell and [his step-brother] Rhy are both fantastic and I love that Kell supports Rhy's sexuality. (It isn't said what his sexuality is, so I don't want to label it, but he is attracted to both men and women.) Rhy is so funny and cute, I just have allllll the feels tbh whenever he's in a scene. The love and concern the brothers share for each other is super endearing. Also, something happens at the end of the book that really sets the tone of their relationship for the following books and I can't wait to see how this situation plays out.

I really enjoyed the overall plot as well even though it was a bit slow in parts. The world is really cool and there is lots of room to explore different Londons + the traveling aspect between the realms was done well; I quite enjoyed the portrayal of the effect that magic has had on each territory and how it can easily corrupt a soul if one isn't careful enough.

My only complaint is that perhaps the narration was a bit over the top and the chapters read a bit weird on audio? I couldn't tell what chapter I was on because of the part numbers in each chapter. This is partly the reason why I'm getting the A Gathering of Shadows in hardcover; not at all beacuse the covers are amazing or anything and definitely nothing to do with 500 pages of what is most-likely-a-piece-of-amazingness...... nope, not at all!

My A Darker Shade of Magic inspired picspam can be found here, on my Tumblr. [Click on the photos to view them in HQ.]

Overall rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Tumblr | Twitter | Goodreads

A Creature of Habit? Maybe, Maybe Not!

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 19:23:00 +0000

It's been a long, long time since I last crafted a post that wasn't a review or a blog tour post, but here I am, ready to conquer le ~~world~~ blogging habits. What I have discovered this past year is how much my reading and blogging habits have changed throughout time and it's quite fascinating to look back and compare the past and present. I'll share some of my blogging and reading quirks below, but, if you have any as well, feel free to leave your reading and blogging habits that have changed throughout time in the comments! (✿◠‿◠)

reading vs visual reading

The first thing I've noticed is that while I have never been a very visual reader, I pay a lot more attention to character descriptions than I used to. It may be because of my love for (learning how to and) making graphics on my tumblr. I now mark all the places about character description, both in physical and ebooks, so that I have some guidelines for physical descriptions in order for the people I fancast as models for my graphics to be as accurate as possible, especially if these characters are poc, because you don't want to whitewash a poc character or get their ethnicity wrong. It hurts a lot of people and enables others to think that this is right when it's not. So yes, before I started making graphics I wasn't perhaps as invested in character descriptions since I only imagined characters more or less as silhouettes and it didn't matter to me to the tiniest details how people looked, I was simply invested in their experiences, relationships, character growth etc, but now I want to be as accurate as possible with fancasts, so visual reading has become quite important these days.

how do you do kawaii

Speaking of marking places, I'm a huge, huge fan of sticky notes! Some of my books have more than 50 sticky notes in them. Previously I only used the ordinary pink, yellow, orange, blue and green ones, and I still use them a lot, especially for paperbacks, but thanks to my dear friend Sue I've discovered that there is a huge selection of cute sticky notes out there and you can buy them for 0.99-1.99$ with free shipping! I love picking out themes too to go with the book if it's possible and truly, these stickynotes are such a joy, because you can write on them and they look so adorable when they're peeking out from between the pages. I also used a trick that helped me study for exams last spring: I used a lot of sticky notes for the materials I used to study for those exams and it was a weird sort of inspiration to have your studying materials look cute. I picked them up way more than I probably would have otherwise lol. Below you can see some books that have suffered under the sticky notes obsession (left one is the ordinary ones and on the right I put 2 photos with the kawaii sticky notes).

(click on photos to enlarge)

it's ok to stop

I've come to realize this past year and a little more that it's ok to DNF books. I used to be the kind of reader who either put books on hold or suffered it out because the compulsion of having to finish so you can review the book was too. darn. strong. But sometimes a book just makes you feel all ...

Whether it's the characters themselves or their decisions; a lackluster plot or offensive language; something you don't agree with or simply don't connect to on any (or some) level; anything else you can imagine that bores you or puts you off -- what I've realized is that IT'S OKAY to put the book away (and never return). Life is short and the hours you could have spent on another book, another couple, another hero or heroine -- they're ticking by mercilessly. It's ok to still rate that book, by the way, or at least that's how I feel; plus I personally like to elaborate some on the reasons why. Also, it's ok to skim a book to the end if it feels like you have lost interest or the book is simply dragging. Don't feel bad about it or feel like you didn't complete a mission, so to speak. I have an A-type personality, so I always feel like a failure when I do this, but I shouldn't; neither should you. It's not a failure and you're not competing with anyone, let alone yourself. Not every book will resonate with you and it's okay.

about writing 'em reviews (and saving time)

I suck at writing long reviews these days. Well. ok. That's on entirely true, but my reviewing habits have changed a lot. Lately I've been reviewing books on Goodreads first and then, maybe if I have time and will, I will also review this book on le blog with a tad bit more explanations. But the reason why I review more books on Goodreads is kind of embarrassing: I feel like I need to be a little more professional on the blog than on Goodreads + on Goodreads I can just say that "it was a good story, but I expected more" / "WHAT AN AMAZING PIECE OF ART GO READ IT Y'ALL" and give my rating whereas on a blog, I feel this need to be more thorough. I guess this is what I've essentially battled with during the last 1.5 years of this blogging slump, but looking at things from another angle, this reviewing habit of sorts helps me review more books. Here's the reason why:

When I review those two sentences or paragraphs, I feel as though I'm not as repetitive in my reviews and it allows me to feel that accomplishment of writing a review in the first place. Plus, if I truly want to talk about this book on le blog, I can always polish it up (or just copy the da*n thing) and publish it here. It saves up a lot of energy and obsessing over it a la "omg but i can't go out, i can't do this, i can't do that, because i still haven't written those reviews ;_________;" since it isn't an issue anymore. What's more important, if I do want to review it later on the blog and in more depth, I have some of my initial thoughts and reactions ready to help me remember what I thought without having to re-read/skim the book. Saves up a lot of time!

As you can see that my "to-review" count is super low. It used to be ~30! There is only one book there right now that I am not reading (it's on hold) and one that I haven't reviewed yet, because I was super angry at the time and couldn't write a review, but will sometime. The rest are all books that I have either recently read or am reading atm. Once I review that book, I put it in the "not-on-blog-yet" shelf if I want to maybe, potentially someday post it on the blog as a mini review or a longer piece. I try to not let the amount of books "to review" surpass over 10, but during the past half a year or so it hasn't been a problem.

documenting my reading (and saving time vol 2)

This brings upon another thing that I've discovered lately. I love making graphics. I love reading. But sometimes, after a while has passed, I don't always necessarily remember all the details from a book to make that graphic. However, what if I suddenly see a photo that brings upon a picspam-making need? Do I have to re-skim the book to remember some other details? Nope! This is why, first of all, Pinterest is so amazing (shameless self promotion: you can find mine here), and this is also why I love reading journals. I used to keep a self-made reading journal, but I received a Penguin reading journal from an OwlCrate subscription box in December and it's a true life saver! In addition to writing down all the books that I read, I can fill it up with key words from the book while I'm reading. This is great for refresing your mind without having to re-read. I also love to pin stuff on my pinterest boards and I have a lot of boards for specific books with photo inspirations. This is also such a neat way to remind yourself what went down and even if you don't make graphics, these tricks could help you when catching up with writing reviews for books you read a while ago. You can keep those boards either secret or public; you can also use We Heart It or Favim which are based on a similar system.

here are some examples of my boards ...

... and photos of the reading journal

PS. You notice how my focus when writing down "thoughts" is on details for graphics, yeah? Before this particular journal I used to write down thoughts that popped into my head in that self-made reading journal. These journals are all pocket size usually (though there are bigger ones too), so it's easy to carry around or have beside your bed table, but of course there are many places you can write your thoughts into and I've used a note app on my phone countless of times.

These above are some of my bookish quirks that I have picked up along the way but there are more, so maybe you will someday see a sequel to this (✿◠‿◠) So, tell me! What are some of your blogging or reading habits? Have they changed with time?? I'd love to hear from you how you manage all of your things!

Review: Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Title: Assassin's Heart (Assassin's Heart, #1)
Author: Sarah Ahiers
Published: February 2nd, 2016 by HarperTeen
Read: December 9th to 18th, 2015
Add it: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

In the kingdom of Lovero, nine rival Families of assassins lawfully kill people for a price. As a highly skilled member of one of these powerful clans, seventeen-year-old Lea Saldana has always trusted in the strength of her Family. Until she awakens to find them murdered and her home in flames. The Da Vias, the Saldanas’ biggest enemy, must be responsible—and Lea should have seen it coming. But her secret relationship with the Da Vias’ son, Val, has clouded her otherwise killer instinct—and given the Da Vias more reason than ever to take her Family down.

Racked with guilt and shattered over Val’s probable betrayal, Lea sets out to even the score, with her heart set on retaliation and only one thought clear in her mind: make the Da Vias pay.

With shades of The Godfather and Romeo and Juliet, this richly imagined fantasy from debut author Sarah Ahiers is a story of love, lies, and the ultimate vengeance.

I'd like to say that gorgeous covers don't allure me in, but they do! As soon as I read the blurb to match this beautiful piece of art, I knew I wanted to get my hands on it asap. This debut is a thrilling ride that's bound to capture the hearts of many readers. Lush with world building and a decent plot that's immersed with mythology, spiced with The Godfather's and Romeo & Juliet's influences, Assassin's Heart made for quite a thrilling read.

As you probably gathered from above, the world building is great! It's rich in all the places it needs to be, but it never feels as though it's told to us, but rather shown, which is a good thing. Ahiers' writing allows the world to be developed along with the plot so it never gets exhausting. The setting itself is very vividly described and really makes you feel like you're inside the story rather than being an outsider observing it all.

I quite enjoyed the plot as well. The beginning was very fast-paced and set the tone for the rest of the book. Everything that is mentioned in the blurb happens quickly and it's great, because you don't know what's coming next exactly; the plot really does keep you on the edge of your seat. Though, from a reader's point of view, of course I sympathized with Lea when the tragedy happened very early on, but it was hard to feel such grief, because I didn't know the characters all that well when all of it went down, hence it didn't hit me as hard as it hit her when she finally admitted to herself that this had happened.

There is romance in this book and it does have a focal point as you'd assume, seeing as the book is somewhat based on Romeo and Juliet's story. What I gathered from the blurb wasn't exactly what happened in the romance front though. You see, there are two love interests for Lea and as much as I liked the endgame and thought it was a better fit for Lea, I didn't find myself shipping it as much as perhaps expected? I didn't quite connect with the chemistry between him and the main character, which made me slightly frustrated when the typical romantic elements and plot points happened at the last 30% or so and the romance took over too much for my taste. I love the characters separately and the ship itself makes a lot of sense as well, so I do think a lot of people would enjoy this pairing together. Also, the ending is a bit too open for my liking, all things considered.

As a whole, Heart of Assassin is a promising debut by a talented author whose future books I'm more than excited to read! The setting, mythology and all the characters really do bring this story to life as one unit that, I'm sure, will appeal to a lot of readers. I hope there are many more books to come from Sarah Ahiers, because I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on them!

P.S. When I requested to read and review the story, I had an understanding that this would be a standalone in this particular setting, but turns out that there will be a companion novel and I'm actually really glad, because there is so much more of this world is left to be explored, and maybe the return of some characters we met here? Very excited to see where the author is taking it all next!

Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the author

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for an ARC. My thoughts are my own
and in no way did this review copy affect my thoughts.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Long Way Down by Krista & Becca Ritchie

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 06:00:00 +0000

Hey, my darlings! I'm so glad to say that I'm slowly finding my reading (and blogging) mojo again and of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to participate in what are my favorite blog tours ever to do. Addicted series, as most of you know, is my favorite series ever and I can't believe that it's coming to an end soon what with the last book and epilogue book left to publish. It's so bittersweet, but I'm very excited to see what kind of pain the twins are going to put us thourgh ✨(っˆ‿ˆ) ♥

Today I have a super fun and adorable post for you and of course it was inspired by Coballoway (are any of you actually surprised? Hah) (✿◠‿◠) I hope you enjoy where Krista and Becca have taken Ryke and Daisy today, and yay for the rest of our favorites appearing as well! PS. You can follow the rest of the tour here for more fun posts and to increase your chances of winning.

Corbin Nery, the Calloway’s publicist, has asked to have a meeting in the living room with Lily, Loren, Daisy, Ryke, Connor, and Rose—despite some of them having other publicists. He wants their attention to go over what he should and should not say in the press concerning friendships, BROTPs, relationships, etc.

Ryke & Daisy have been told to sit apart after Ryke tossed her over his shoulder. Now separated across the room (Daisy on the couch beside Rose, and Ryke over on a chair by the TV)—Daisy tosses a crumpled piece of paper to Ryke.

RYKE: *unfurls the paper* *silently reads Daisy’s handwriting* There are 9 crossword spaces. Fill them with a word that you think will fit! Rose says that she plays this with Connor. I’ve started the first one.

RYKE: *almost smiles and begins to fill in the second box*
CORBIN NERY: I’ve had multiple media outlets ask about Ryke & Daisy taking a hiatus, a break-up, whatever you want to call it—let me tell them you’re still together with proof. Post more couple photos—
RYKE: Don’t tell us what to fucking do, Corbin. *crinkles paper and tosses it back to Daisy*
DAISY: *catches paper and unfurls it*

DAISY: *smiles more and starts counting the boxes for word #3*
LOREN: *to publicist* Just leave Raisin alone. No one cares—
LILY: Hey! I care. #TeamRaisy is important.
CORBIN NERY: It’s better if we have the public believing they’re together, not apart.
RYKE: If they don’t know we’re fucking together by now, they’re never going to believe it at any point. Just let it go. *watches Daisy start scribbling and when she looks up at him, he raises his brows at her*
CONNOR: Is there a reason I’m here? Other than to watch Ryke and Daisy toss paper across the room like they’re passing notes in grade school.
DAISY: Jealous? *tosses note to Ryke*
CONNOR: not even remotely.
RYKE: *unfurls note*

CORBIN NERY: last we talked, Connor, you wanted to be a part of the loop. Most of what we need to discuss involves those four *gestures to Ryke, Daisy, Lily, Lo*
ROSE: *sits straighter and listens closely*
CORBIN NERY: the friendship between Ryke and Lily should be separated more. As well as the friendship of Daisy to Lo.
RYKE: *pauses* what the fuck are they saying about Daisy and Lo?
LOREN: Yeah?
CORBIN NERY: nothing yet, but it’s good to cover all bases.
RYKE: *shakes his head* you can keep fucking talking, but I’m not listening to this bullshit. *tosses paper back to Daisy*
CORBIN NERY: You’ve made that clear, thank you. *continues talking about the separation between Ryke & Lily to avoid rumors.*
DAISY: *unfurls crumpled paper*

DAISY: *mouths to Ryke* Hey, sexy
RYKE: *tilts his head at her and points at her paper*
DAISY: *writes quickly and tosses it back to him*
RYKE: *unfurls paper*

RYKE: *readjusts in his seat some and looks up at her*
DAISY: *mouths to Ryke* What are you going to do to me?
RYKE: *begins writing again*
LOREN: that’s completely fucked up. Go take your shitty plans and re-plan because I’m not ignoring my brother’s girlfriend, and Lily’s not ignoring my brother—who can’t stop grinning at a piece of paper right now.
RYKE: *flips him off and scowls*
CORBIN NERY: Daisy’s mother specifically asked ways in which to strengthen Ryke & Daisy as a couple in the eyes of the public. This is what our entire team came up with.
CONNOR: If an entire team actually came up with this painfully basic strategy, there’s a competence issue within your publicity firm. Which isn’t surprising considering you’re the leader, but what can you do? You’re not me.
LOREN: Connor just called someone basic. Life made.
RYKE: *tosses paper to Daisy*
DAISY: *unfurls*

DAISY: *looks up at Ryke*
RYKE: *mouths* waterfall. Remember that, Calloway?
ROSE: *peeks over Daisy’s shoulder while she writes* You couldn’t think of more complicated words?
DAISY: *whispers* bear hugs may not be a complex word, but displays a complex emotion.
ROSE: At least your spelling is correct.
DAISY: *tosses the paper to ryke again*
RYKE: *unfurls*

RYKE: *runs a hand through his hair and then starts writing again*
CORBIN NERY: if it sounds so basic, then why can’t you at least entertain the idea? I had four people ask me if Daisy had found a new man yet.
RYKE: *flips corbin nery off*
CORBIN NERY: mature.
CONNOR: telling your clients to solve a crisis by ignoring each other is a little more juvenile….and inane.
LILY: How much longer? I thought we were all going to watch Lord of the Rings tonight.
RYKE: *tosses Daisy the paper* How many times are we going to try to marathon those?
LOREN: until you sit through all of them without taking a piss break to never return.
DAISY: *unfurls the paper*

DAISY: *can’t stop smiling and she looks up at Ryke*
RYKE: *raises his brows at her again*
DAISY: *quickly finishes writing in the last row of boxes*
CORBIN NERY: I’ll make a print-out of everything we discussed today and email it to you.
CONNOR: that sounds like an incredible waste of your time.
CORBIN NERY: it’s important that Ryke and Daisy understand what’s going on.
RYKE: we fucking got it. *a paper lands on his lap (Daisy threw it) and he unfurls it slowly to see the last row*

RYKE: *smiles and stands up immediately. He reaches Daisy on the couch and lifts her up by the waist and then kisses her. He breaks apart, only to whisper in her ear* I fucking love you too, Calloway.
DAISY: *smiles uncontrollably and kisses him back*

The end.

-----

About the book

Title: Long Way Down (Calloway Sisters #4)

Authors: Krista & Becca Ritchie

Released: November 20th, 2015

Add it: Goodreads

*Purchase links not available until November 20th*

With a seven-year age difference, Ryke & Daisy have faced an uphill battle in the eyes of the world and their families. Known as the most adventurous, fast-paced couple — their next step has always been elusive to the rabid media.

Behind the scenes, heartbreaking troubles continue to test Ryke & Daisy’s resilience and shape their future together.

They promise:

To never slow down.
To never compromise who they are.
To never abandon their love for each other.

But preserving their happiness also means adding more risks. Ones that Connor Cobalt wouldn’t even take. As a professional free-solo climber, Ryke is no stranger to risk, but his next step with Daisy wagers more than just his health.

With their lives on the line, Ryke & Daisy head towards the vast, wild unknown in this epic final conclusion to the Addicted series.

PS. The Calloway Sisters series can be read as a separate series, but it's even more enjoyable as a part of the Additced series. The full recommended reading order of both series can be seen on the the twins' tumblr page here.

Meet the authors

Krista & Becca Ritchie are identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. Now in their early twenties, they write about other twenty-somethings navigating through life, college, and romance. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.

They are the New Adult authors of the Addicted series and Calloway Sisters spin-off series, and you can find them on almost every social media, frolicking around like wannabe unicorns.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram

-----

Giveaway

Open internationally!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dual Review: Every Last Word & For the Record

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 14:32:00 +0000

Hi, my loves! Long time no talk, eh? As you know, for the past year, I've been struggling with a huge, huge blogging slump + work and uni have been keeping me hella busy, but lately I've been feeling the urge to blog and I especially felt that as I was filling out answers to a tag that my friend Lisa tagged me to do. Can't wait to share it soon! Next week I'll be back with a blog tour for my favorite series in this entire universe, but today I have a dual review for you and I can't wait to see if we share any common thoughts（✿＾▿＾）

Title: Every Last Word
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Published: June 16th, 2015
Read: October 14th to 21th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

There aren't enough words to describe how much I loved this book! Every Last Word is an important novel that shares Samantha's story of suffering from OCD, more importantly, the obsessive part of OCD. She is a wonderful heroine to follow, because she cares so much and I loved seeing her grow more into a person who isn't acting by others' approval, but does things she wants and likes to do for herself. Very proud of her!

I really loved loved loooooved these following aspects of the story:

friendship between Sam and Caroline
the idea of The Poet's Corner
everyone in The Poet's Corner
Sam x her love interest (it's not mentioned in the blurb so I won't spoil it to you if you are the kind like me who doesn't always want to know who they are right off the bat)
the therapist-patient relationship and how supportive Sam's family was; it's the perfect portrayal of how it should be -- everyone working towards the same goal, trusting each other and not abusing that trust in any way!
SWIMMING! If you didn't know, I went swimming for 8 years. I was on our school's swimming team and we took part in competitions + some individual competitions I've been to. I quit practice in my senior year of high school because I wanted to pursue other things, but this novel reminded me of how much I loved swimming and how much I'd love to pick it up again for myself. It was described very well and Sam's passion for it was very endearing.
sex positivity ✓✓✓ ٩(˘◡˘)۶
the poems
the awareness this novel spreads

Also, I have to mention, I didn't see the twist coming???? I saw it coming like right before it happened but HOLY SMOKE! That was brutal and so unexpected. Note @ Tamara: this was cruel and I cried a lot; way to pack a punch like this! I liked how important this part was regarding the whole scheme of things. The author note was so important and super emotional, so don't miss that for sure!

I never really thought about ableism slur that much to be honest, but this book shows us why ableism language is bad, because by using the "i'm so OCD about this and that" and "my OCD side is the reason for ..." when we don't really suffer from OCD -- it lessens the weight and struggle of people who do struggle from OCD.

*If you want to read more about ableism slurs, head over here and here; also, this post gives you quirky words you can use instead of the term OCD when referring to your analytical, order-loving, sometimes-obsessive self.

Anyhow, this novel was everything I hoped it would be an more! So much love and respect for the author for tackling this story so gracefully and painting an important, well-written portrayal of the struggles of someone with OCD. With an authentic voice Every Last Word is bound to please a lot of YA contemporary fans!

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

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---

Title: For the Record
Author: Charlotte Huang
Published: November 10th, 2015
Read: Oct 29th to Nov 5th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review*

If Almost Famous were a YA novel... a raw, honest debut celebrating music, friendship, romance, and life on the road.

Chelsea thought she knew what being a rock star was like... until she became one. After losing a TV talent show, she slid back into small-town anonymity. But one phone call changed everything

Now she’s the lead singer of the band Melbourne, performing in sold-out clubs every night and living on a bus with three gorgeous and talented guys. The bummer is that the band barely tolerates her. And when teen heartthrob Lucas Rivers take an interest in her, Chelsea is suddenly famous, bringing Melbourne to the next level—not that they’re happy about that. Her feelings for Beckett, Melbourne’s bassist, are making life even more complicated.

Chelsea only has the summer tour to make the band—and their fans—love her. If she doesn’t, she’ll be back in Michigan for senior year, dying a slow death. The paparazzi, the haters, the grueling schedule... Chelsea believed she could handle it. But what if she can’t?

I wasn't aware of this novel before Sue pointed it out to me and since it sounded extra cool, I downloaded an ARC from Netgalley. I can tell you that it was an enjoyable read, but definitely not among my favorites of the year.

I applaud for the music industry parts, especially the way the author described the feeling of being on stage and growing into being a live artist for masses. However, there was so much of it that by 50% I really didn't know what the moral or point of this story was going to be or where we were heading?

I liked the crew for the most part, especially the band, but I would have liked to have gotten to know them more. I feel as though we don't know them enough as individuals? I would have liked to have seen more background, more character building etc. They each had their defining characteristics in personality and looks, but I was hoping for a bit more depth to them.

I liked how Lauren was a nice girl and that Chelsea wasn't mean to her either. I'm still not over Mandy though; WHAT EVEN WAS THAT? Sigh. She got on my nerves a lot, because it was always about her. Always. Plus the thing she did.. double sigh. I didn't really care about any of the romances, though I can see how they would be endearing to a lot of people. I liked the ending scene though, even if it was highly predictable.

The writing was very simple and a bit jumpy here and there. Also, there were two things I didn't like: a. slutshaming (there was quite a bit of this); b. Lauren was described as "Asian" and it felt like she was being blanketed under the Asian term which is sad, because, as we all know, Asians are not all the same, but vice versa, Asia is rich with different countries, culture and people. It would have been nice to know what Asian descent she is. (I doubt I missed this defining aspect, but I could have. In that case, my apologies.)

As a whole, it's a pretty decent effort and I'm eager to see what else Huang has in store, but this particular novel unfortunately wasn't my cup of tea per se.

Overall rating: 2.8 out f 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the author

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Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for an ARC. My thoughts are my own
and in no way did this affect my thoughts.

Dual Review: Most Likely to Succeed and This Is One Moment

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 14:15:00 +0000

Hey, lovelies! As you've noticed, this blog is being updated very randomly these days. After I got all my exams done at the beginning f June, I had to do an internship and, after that was over, I have been working almost every day since July. Now that I have a small break before uni starts back up next week, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about the two ARCs I've read this summer and very much enjoyed as well (◡‿◡✿)

Title: Most Likely to Succeed (Superlatives #3)
Author: Jennifer Echols
Published: August 4th, 2015
Read: July 16th to 18th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

In this sexy conclusion to The Superlatives trilogy from Endless Summer author Jennifer Echols, Sawyer and Kaye might just be perfect for each other—if only they could admit it.

As vice president of Student Council, Kaye knows the importance of keeping order. Not only in school, but in her personal life. Which is why she and her boyfriend, Aidan, already have their lives mapped out: attend Columbia University together, pursue banking careers, and eventually get married. Everything Kaye has accomplished in high school—student government, cheerleading, stellar grades—has been in preparation for that future.

To his entire class, Sawyer is an irreverent bad boy. His antics on the field as school mascot and his love of partying have earned him total slacker status. But while he and Kaye appear to be opposites on every level, fate—and their friends—keep conspiring to throw them together. Perhaps the seniors see the simmering attraction Kaye and Sawyer are unwilling to acknowledge to themselves…

As the year unfolds, Kaye begins to realize her ideal life is not what she thought. And Sawyer decides it’s finally time to let down the facade and show everyone who he really is. Is a relationship between them most likely to succeed—or will it be their favorite mistake?

I have liked the previous books in this series a lot: they’re great reads that I’ve read during a night or two and they're always filled with so many fun moments. This one I had looked forward to a whole lot, because it’s about my otp of the series whom I have been rooting for since day one. Let me tell you, this book did not disappoint! I loved it from start to finish.

"My mother had told me a million times that because I was a woman, I had to work twice as hard as a man for the same amount of respect. And I was black, so I had to work four times as hard. To get twice as much respect, I had to work eight times as hard, and that's what she expected of me."

(— taken from the ARC, 27%)

Kaye is such a great character and so is Sawyer. They’re different in a lot of ways, but also similar in the way that they’re trying to break free of the life set for them by other people. Sawyer comes from a very problematic family and past, yet he is incredibly sweet, caring and I just can’t help but fall in love with him more with each book I read. Kaye is a POC heroine who comes from a family that “has it all”. They’re rich and well-respected in the community, but since they're POC, it's definitely harder to gain that sort of respect than it is for white people, hence it’s expected of Kaye to always bring her A-game, never anything less, which could take a toll on even the toughest people. Seeing these two start fighting for their dreams was very endearing.

With this book Echols tackled some of the very important issues such as misogyny, sexism, feminism, racism, discovering one’s identity, exploring one’s sexuality etc. The author also talks about sex in a YA book which is almost always a no-show in this entire genre. It’s very important to tackle these topics and it was done in a great way. In addition to discussing these topics, this book is filled with awesome sisterhood moments and a lot of swoon! I got very emotional as well, but me crying over almost every other books is no surprise to anyone.

I really, really enjoyed this one and I can’t recommend this book enough (I also can't wait to obtain a US paperback edition of this pretty; /waits impatiently for it to come out next year)! Most Likely to Succeed is a great book to end the summer with or extend your summer in the fall that seems to be arriving at lighting speed. So yes, go pick this up, my friends!

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

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Thank you to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for providing an ARC. My thoughts are my own
and in no way did the review copy affect my opinion on the book.

Title: This Is One Moment (Come Back to Me #2)
Author: Mila Gray
Published: September 10th, 2015
Read: August 24th to 26th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

Didi Monroe’s waited her whole life for the type of romance you see in the movies, so when Hollywood heartthrob Zac Ridgemont sweeps her off her feet, Didi believes she might finally have met the one.

While Zac’s away filming for the summer, Didi begins her internship at a military hospital in California. There, she meets wounded Marine Noel Walker.

Frustrated on the outside and broken on the inside, Walker’s a pain-in-the-ass patient who refuses all help.

Yet Didi can’t help but be drawn to him, and though he’s strictly out of bounds it soon becomes impossible to ignore the sparks flying between them.

As the attraction simmers into dangerous territory, Didi finds herself falling hard for a man she knows is going to break her heart. Because Walker doesn’t believe in love or happy ever afters. So what possible future can there be?

Then tragedy hits, shattering both their worlds, and Didi is forced to choose between fighting for love or merely falling for the illusion of it.

I loved Sarah Alderson’s New Adult debut Come Back to Me so incredibly much. It was one of my favorite reads from last year and helped me avoid a reading slump after finishing the [then] newest installment of my favorite series and I think this speaks volume about how great of a writer Sarah is. When Sil told me that she has a new book coming out in this same series I immediately jumped at the chance to read it asap and I’m so happy I did, because this book was just what I needed at the moment.

"I don't think home is a place. I think it's a person. And when you find home, the place you feel the safest, the place you go for shelter and where you can fully be yourself, then you know you're in love, really in love, not just infatuated or head over heels in lust."

(— taken from the ARC, 27%)

This Is One Moment, as Come Back to Me, deals with topics such as grief, depression, PTSD, how war affects people physically and mentally; it’s also a story about finding oneself, love and forgiveness. Didi is a great main character and I really enjoyed getting to know her. I also liked how Walker’s story was handled and his journey really, really touched me. I must say though that my favorite aspect of the novel was the showcasing of how differently people handle these traumatic situations. Even though I saw some things coming and even though a lot of things I wish hadn’t happened, especially something horrifying at the last third of the novel, these things are a reality and this kind of hopelessness and darkness is just.. saddening.

My favorite characters in this novel were probably Sanchez and Valentina who often brought comic relief. I found Walker and Didi’s chemistry off the charts and there was major swooning (and crying; duuh it’s me!) happening on my part. What keeps me from giving this book a full 4 star rating (even though I’m giving it 4 stars), is that I didn’t think the ending parts were that necessary to create a conflict? I think this is one of the easiest ways to do it and these sort of happenings have ruined so many books for me. I get Didi’s reaction, but I don’t get why Walker just couldn’t explain. Why is it always that the other person just doesn’t talk through/over/whatever but lets the protagonist vent and make their assumptions? After everything that had gone down beforehand, it was just frustrating and made the ending a bit rushed for me. However, as a whole this novel was great and I can’t wait to get myself a paperback copy of this to match the beautiful Come Back to Me on my shelf.

Overall rating: 3.8 out of 4.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you to Pan MacMillan and Netgalley for providing an ARC. My thoughts are my own
and in no way did the review copy affect my opinion on the book.

Review: PS I Still Love You by Jenny Han

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 18:50:00 +0000

Title: PS I Still Love You (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #2)
Author: Jenny Han
Published: May 26th, 2015 by Simon & Schuester
Read: June 6th to 8th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

I decided to not write a review right away, but it probably wasn’t the brightest idea, because now I’m mainly just ... indifferent. PS I Still Love You was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I have screamed my love for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on all my social media accounts, direct conversations irl and online, text messages—basically everywhere possible. Unfortunately the strongly positive feelings have managed to vanish some after reading its sequel.

“There are two kinds of girls in this world. The kind who breaks hearts and the kind who gets her heart broken.”

Let’s start with the positives. I love the Covey family, Kitty especially. She is such an outstanding character—always speaking her mind and not afraid to have an opinion and express it. She’s the voice of reason which is extremely cute and refreshing seeing how young she is and with very little life experience. The relationship between Margot and Lara Jean was one of my favorite things too. It's so important to me that authors portray strong, great and loving sibling relationships, because there aren't always a lot of those kind of books out there, but the Song sisters are definitely one of my favorite examples in modern literature.

What I also appreciate about these novels is the cultural aspect, because the Covey family isn't POC by a passing remark; they’re a mix of old traditions smashed into modern western culture described in an excessive and beautiful way which is always quite intriguing and interesting to read about. Also, talks and curiosity about sex isn't shied away from, so major plus points for that!

To start off the negatives, I didn’t like how little we got of Peter. I know, I know that we got a lot of him in the first book, but most of the time when he was in a scene in PSISLY, the conversation always led to Genevieve which was, quite frankly, really annoying as the book progressed. I may have liked John a lot, but I couldn’t really tell, because I was too busy worrying over the fate of Peter and Lara Jean. I hated how everyone felt like they knew what was best for Lara Jean and tried to force their opinion on her and, from a shipper’s point of view, I especially didn’t appreciate how everyone in this book was trying to tell Lara Jean that first loves never succeed so she shouldn’t be too hopeful.

I also didn’t like the fact that some revelations completely butchered some of the amazingly awesome things that happened in TATBILB. *highlight to see spoilers* How can I ever look back at the basically iconic hot tub scene during the skiing trip and not feel like Lara Jean was a complete second choice for Peter in that moment? They have a fight over nothing and he goes to have a midnight hot tub session with his ex girlfriend whom he didn't know if he would have kissed or not? When he told Lara Jean that he'll take her inside because he doesn't want her to get in trouble, did he actually care about Lara Jean not getting in trouble or was he more afraid of Gen's wrath if she were to see them? I thought it was the cutest thing ever that he worried about her, but now that scene is completely ruined for me =/ Also, emergency or not, he always chose Genevieve in PSISLY. I don't think you have to cut ties with your exes because of a new love interest, but after he learned what she did? I'm not okay with that, because regarding Genevieve, I don’t care what you’re going through, doing something like this is not okay. And how come Gen always got away with everything? There were never any consequences to her actions. As for Peter, I know that he loves Lara Jean. That he was in love with her by the end of TATBILB. I know that. But some of the things that happened in this book made me look at other things from a different perspective and not necessarily from a good one.

I’m torn between whether or not I liked the ending, because in a way I did. I like the promise of it and I like the last couple of pages, but at the same time ... it feels like it’s lacking something, because the road to the last chapter was super rushed. I didn’t feel as though it was deserved and I definitely don’t feel as though it will last. Which is a point this book was obviously trying to get across: first loves don’t last ever. That ending felt like a total fan service, because he didn’t even fight for her. Seriously, he gives her the necklace and tells her “when I get you back”? That’s just it? That’s the big romantic gesture? No, thanks. I am still, until the end of times, team Peter. Even if he screws up a lot like he did in this book. Lara Jean's biased opinion and statements of Peter being super vain aren't much help either. I should be glad that she ended up with Peter, because that's what I wanted (and do want!) but I can't help but feel like she picked the wrong guy. And that's the most disturbing part of it all, because I want to feel like she did the right decision by picking the guy I was rooting for. Ugh. I just wish so bad that there had been more cutesy stuff with Lara Jean and Peter and that he had grown as much as Lara Jean did, because, in my honest opinion, he didn't grow at all in this book :( *end of spoilers*

As a whole, this book did not meet my needs, hopes and ... dreams? If not for the fact that it made me reevaluate my thoughts about one of my favorite books I've ever read then for the fact that I was expecting this to be one of the best books of the year, alas it clearly wasn't meant to be that for me. It's a first when it comes to this that I’m not really confident with my rating. From an emotional standpoint after I had finished this book, it would have been a solid 2 stars and nothing more, but with a rational mind, a month after reading it, I’d give it 3 stars, because I enjoyed the first half of it, I love a lot of aspects of PSISLY and it wasn't a bad book, just ... eh. Ok then.

Overall rating: 3.2 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the author

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Review & Playlist: The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Sat, 30 May 2015 21:01:00 +0000

Title: The Summer of Chasing Mermaids
Author: Sarah Ockler
Published: June 2nd, 2015 by Simon Pulse
Read: May 7th to May 10th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

The youngest of six talented sisters, Elyse d’Abreau was destined for stardom—until a boating accident took everything from her. Now, the most beautiful singer in Tobago can’t sing. She can’t even speak.

Seeking quiet solitude, Elyse accepts a friend’s invitation to Atargatis Cove. Named for the mythical first mermaid, the Oregon seaside town is everything Elyse’s home in the Caribbean isn’t: An ocean too cold for swimming, parties too tame for singing, and people too polite to pry—except for one.

Christian Kane is a notorious playboy—insolent, arrogant, and completely charming. He’s also the only person in Atargatis Cove who doesn’t treat Elyse like a glass statue. He challenges her to express herself, and he admires the way she treats his younger brother Sebastian, who believes Elyse is the legendary mermaid come to life.

When Christian needs a first mate for the Cove’s high-stakes Pirate Regatta, Elyse reluctantly stows her fear of the sea and climbs aboard. The ocean isn’t the only thing making waves, though—swept up in Christian’s seductive tide and entranced by the Cove’s charms, Elyse begins to wonder if a life of solitude isn’t what she needs. But changing course again means facing her past. It means finding her inner voice. And scariest of all, it means opening her heart to a boy who’s best known for breaking them ...

It’s the hardest ever to write a review for a book that has blown your mind in every way possible; climbed its way into the deepest parts of your heart and soul. How could I ever do justice to this inspiring story, its amazing, well-fleshed characters, a beautiful narration, magnificent setting and so, so much more?! The Summer of Chasing Mermaids was initially one of my most anticipated books of 2015, but it has easily become one of my favorite books ever!

“When one dream burns to ash, you don't crumble beneath it. You get on your hands and knees, and you sift through those ashes until you find the very last ember, the very last spark. Then you breathe. You breathe. You fucking breathe. And you make a new fire.”
(—taken from the ARC, 96%)

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids tells a story of Elyse, a talented and promising singer, who has lost her voice forever thanks to an accident. At the beginning of the novel we obviously don’t know the full story, but it’s clear that the Elyse we know isn’t the Elyse everyone remembers. As she opens up to the readers, and the people around her, we see her slowly, step by step, get closer to coming to a realization that her life isn’t over because of this accident, it's simply the beginning of something new. The character growth and soul searching Elyse goes through is absolutely gorgeously written: it’s raw, emotional and endearing.

My favorite character by far was Elyse, but needless to say that I adored all the other characters a lot too, especially Christian, Kirby, Sebastian, Noah, Vanessa and Lemon. They’re all so well-written, relatable and it was really hard to part with them as the story came to an end. Dear Sarah and Simon Pulse, would you please give Kirby and her love interest a book with lots and lots of cameos from everyone? That would literally be the dream, thank you!

I don’t want to tell you guys the whole story, plus I feel myself starting to ramble real soon, so I’ll just leave you with a few notes on what you can expect when picking up this beauty:

there are a lot of poc characters and you'll get to experience the culture of Trinidad and Tobago through various flashbacks
so many wonderful friendships and great, inspiring sisterhood relationships
THERE IS A GLORIOUS SHIP (and yes, there are many actual ships, but I'm talking about a metaphorical one) AND LOTS OF KISSING
sex and female mastrubation topics aren’t shied away from—this is so. very. important!
sexism and misogyny are touched upon and some of the values of the society are criticized in a beautiful manner
you'll 99.73% cry a lot and this book will touch you with its gorgeous narrative, a beautiful and haunting story and a great set of characters

This book is hopeful, stunning and so very honest and raw. I loved every single second of it and I wish the story would go on and on forever, because it was truly, truly hard to part from these characters. With this magical novel, Sarah Ockler is now on my watch-list forever and I’m eagerly anticipating her next story! I can’t wait for my gorgeous physical copy of The Summer of Chasing Mermaids to arrive so that I can re-read it again and again, and I hope that you'll end up picking this up so that we can shout our love for this book in all caps, completely incoherent, because that's how this book will make you feel, I can promise you that (◡‿◡✿)

Overall rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★★

Also, while writing this review, I just couldn't stop tearing up and re-reading all the highlighted parts on my kindle (there are a lot btw), soooo guess what? I created my second ever fanmix yay! It's mostly inspired by Elyse, but there are a few shippy songs about Elyse and Christian as well :)

You can see the tracklist on my tumblr and listen to the playlist on my 8tracks account.

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

An ARC was kindly provided by SimonPulse through Edelweiss in exchange for
an honest review and in no way does this affect my thoughts on the book.

Review: Fuel the Fire by Krista and Becca Ritchie

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 21:29:00 +0000

Title: Fuel the Fire (Calloway Sisters, #3; Addicted, #3.1)
Author: Krista and Becca Ritchie
Published: April 2nd 2015
Read: April 2nd to April 4th, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

Protect your family. At all costs.It’d take the impossible to hurt Connor Cobalt, even for a moment.
Protect your family. At all costs.At twenty-six, his narcissistic tendencies have made room for the people he loves.
Protect your family. At all costs.And he loves Rose. But when his love is threatened, when his greatest dreams with her are compromised — what is the cost then?
Protect your family. At all costs.Love will guide his choices.

*does not contain any spoilers, but discusses the importance of the novel and a few characteristic aspects*

Fuel the Fire is a brilliant, important book and not only for the fact that Connor and Rose’s characters are explored in more depth or that it’s darker, a thousand times more emotional than Kiss the Sky (which was already really emotional for me regardless of its humorous tone). It’s for the fact that this book is so much more important than just these two characters that I have come to love and adore more than anything in any literary work to date.

“Tu m’entendras toujours, où que je sois.”

Beneath all the jokes, banter and comical situations, Fuel the Fire is, in its core, an issue book circling around the topic of who you are in the world and in the eyes of the society; fitting into these absurd norms in terms of sexuality, appearance, personality, intelligence and so much more; putting labels onto things that cannot and shouldn’t always be labeled. It also deals with depression in the most sincere ways that make you want to scream at the world, kick your fists at doors of sadness in order to see them crumble and finally see a character get through a day without feeling anything less than happy and free of this dark hole eating their insides day by day. All of the books in this series also cover feminism, sexism and misogyny and, Fuel the Fire, as its predecessors, is just as moving and inspirational as you’d hope and expect for it to be.

I’m not going to speak about the plot, because that is something everyone should experience themselves, but I want to applaud the twins for giving Rose and Connor more depth and layers than they already had. I thought I knew them very well, and I most definitely held them dear to the deepest parts of my soul, but it was nothing compared to how I feel about them now. They're absolutely remarkable! Thinking about this guy who thought he couldn't care about any other person but himself, but has been proven wrong time and time again, and a girl who's rough around the edges and often has a cold, tough exterior which hides one of the biggest, kindest hearts—that's something I can't ever stop getting emotional about. I'm so incredibly proud of how far they've come.

This book was effortlessly exquisite, as are the two narrators in their very nature, and the enjoyment of it all didn’t necessarily depend on the plot, which was equally entertaining and captivating, but more on how all of its six main characters dealt with the hardships thrown in their way and their continuous support and admiration towards one another during difficult times.

A few more notes:

Fuel the Fire is hot, hot, hottttt and most of these hot scenes are packed with an emotional punch right in the feels
The shipping game is on point as always
ALL the bromances gain even more depth (which I thought was impossible)
It also held a lot of fun, cute scenes as always and the group scenes are bound to make you smile time and time again
The relationship between the Calloway sisters is one of the most amazing sibling relationships I have ever read about; these sisters are the true meaning of family and how empowering it is to know that you have someone in your corner always fighting for you and your dreams, cheering you on regardless of the circumstances and odds against you—without a doubt, the sisterhood in these books is my favorite thing above all!

Writing reviews is always hard on its own for me, but writing a review for a sequel to a book you thought was going to be your absolute favorite for the rest of your life? I tried my hardest, but I know that I only covered about 3% of the beauty and importance of this story. I’m at a loss of words and the empty tissue boxes all around remind me of the emotions I felt while reading this gorgeous, witty and extraordinary novel filled with passion, strength and inspiring words. Thank you, Krista and Becca, for an unforgettable journey!

Overall rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★★

Meet the authors

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Fuel the Fire by Krista and Becca Ritchie

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Hey, my loves! Today I get to share a tour post to promote my most anticipated book of the year. I have been waiting for this book even before it was announced that there was more on the way, because in my heart of hearts there is no way I want Rose and Connor's story to ever end. Today's post is a pretty special one and in my opinion the best tour post on this blog for the Addicted series to date. I love that Krista and Becca go along with my crazy ideas and I can't thank them enough for creating this below because it's seriously just so epic! Proceed with caution though, because this is the kind of hangman you have never seen before ;) Enjoy!

Siiri: Hey you! I’m so glad you could make it. Take a seat, please.
Rose: *crosses ankles* we heard there was a game.
Connor: *settles next to Rose with his arm on the back of her chair* a game with intriguing stakes. An ordinary game usually needs an alteration to become enticing.
Rose: If we’re competing against each other, Richard, you need to remove your arm off my chair.
Connor: So all it takes is my arm on a chair to distract you? *grins*
Rose: *glares* that was not meant as a compliment.
Connor: I think it was.
Rose: *huffs* I don’t have time to watch you inflate your own ego. I need to hear the rules so I can beat you and bring you back to Earth.
Connor: Your goal is a little pointless. I’ve never stepped off Earth. I can brainstorm better goals with you, darling.
Rose: I have a new goal. I’m going to beat you fairly, and you’re going to be swept in sadness by the epic defeat.
Connor: that sounds impossible, but I admire our impossible goals. They keep us motivated. *tilts his head at her* Would you like me to remove my arm so you can concentrate on the rules?
Rose: *glances quickly at his arm* It can stay.
Siiri: Okay, now that we have settled in, let’s get down to business. Today you’re going to play a game—Hangman—but it’ll be a different version of what you may be used to playing. Here you go! *hands them a tablet* You have 3 words to guess by answering to different trivia questions. If you answer right, you’ll see a letter appear in that row of unidentified letters on the tablet. If you answer wrong, you’ll have to say something dirty as in sexy to the other party.
Rose: *stiffens* This seems highly skewed towards my opponent.
Connor: *fingers to his lips, having trouble restraining a grin* let her finish, darling.
Siiri: *tries to contain her own grin* You’ll need to take turns answering and if at any point you feel like you could guess the word right, go ahead, but only when it’s your turn. If you guess the word and it’s a correct answer, you’ll get a unicorn sticker which you’ll have to put somewhere on your body to let the other party know that you’d.. well, like special treatment to it tonight. Let’s call it a tame-ish foreplay.
Connor: We need to substitute the unicorn sticker for something less fantastical and silly. I’d take a heart or a star.
Rose: No substitutes. If I have to speak dirty to you, then there has to be something that makes you irritated. It’s a balance of power.
Connor: If you think it’s fair this way, it can stay.
Siiri: The good news is that I’ll go to the other room and the small amount of blog followers who will hear this podcast with your dialogue will not see the placement of the stickers. No one will see them so don’t hold back! *tries really hard not to smile a goofy smile* Oh, and before I leave the room, whoever wins this game and guesses more words will get to choose the play you’ll be seeing, because Little Pieces of Imagination will gift you two tickets to the opera. Alright, off I go now *points awkwardly to the door* Have fun! *waves*

FIRST WORD

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Question #1 for Rose: What is the name for the type of Japanese verse form having three lines with 5, 7, and 5 syllables?

Rose: Haiku
(correct)
Connor: we need to put a time limit on these to make it more challenging. *adjusts watch* we’ll do fifteen seconds, and if you don’t guess by that time, you lose.
Rose: you just want me to speak dirty to you.
Connor: *lips rise* that is a perk, yes.
Rose: *focuses on the blank word* A letter will appear now?

_ _ r _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Rose: *sighs* it’s too early to guess.
Connor: playing it safe, darling?
Rose: I’m playing it smart.

Question #2 for Connor: Which political party were each of these presidents? a) Abe Lincoln—

Connor: Republican
(correct)
Rose: *opens purse* I’m going to set a timer on my phone for you.
Connor: I just answered the question before the clock could even start. You don’t need to worry about timing me.
Rose: If you’re timing me on your watch, then I’m definitely timing you...a new letter is filled in.

_ _ r _ _ _ i _ i _ _

Connor: let’s keep going.
Rose: you’re not going to guess either?
Connor: I’m playing it smart too. *grins*

Question #2 for Rose: How many seasons did the show Prison Break have?

Rose: What? I didn’t know this was also pop culture—
Connor: ten seconds left. *his arm slips closer to her shoulders*
Rose: Richard! *swats his arm away*
Connor: five seconds, Rose.
Rose: 2 seasons. *waits for results and Rose sits on the edge of her chair, away from Connor’s arm*
Rose: you’re distracting me.
Connor: you’re not even answering a question right now, and I haven’t even begun to touch you yet.
Rose: *flushes* yet?
Connor: *whispers French*

_ _ r _ _ _ i _ i x _

Rose: *jerks away from Connor to look closer at the results* an “x” means I got it wrong? No...
(correct answer: 4 seasons)
Connor: speak dirty to me.
Rose: *burns holes into his forehead with her glare* I want to...
Connor: *his lips rise in a self-satisfied grin*
Rose: ...sew your lips together.
Connor: *laughs* that’s all you have, Miss Highest Honors?
Rose: *crosses her arms and rotates more to face him* dirty talk is supposed to turn on the other person, and so I succeeded.
Connor: and you think that you telling me that you’ll sew my lips together turns me on? *leans forward* in what way, Rose?
Rose: *breathes shallowly* tell me I’m lying.
Connor: *grabs her wrist and places it on his crotch* you’re not lying.
Rose: *neck heats and she abruptly moves away from him, putting space between their chairs* I need to concentrate on timing you. *lets out a strong exhale and starts her phone’s timer*

Question #3 for Connor: Which Asian country gained its independence from the United States in 1946?

Rose: thirteen seconds left
Connor: Philippines
(correct)
Rose: I’m going to laugh when you get a pop culture question soon.
Connor: and how will your laugh sound?
Rose: like triumph in the face of your defeat.
Connor: this must be a rare laugh.
Rose: *raises her hand to shush him* s

_ r _ _ _ i _ i x _

Rose: *presses lips together, silently fumes, knows the word but knows it’s not her turn*
Connor: next question.
Rose: *mouth falls* you’re not going to guess?
Connor: no
Rose: *scrutinizes him with suspicion*

Question #4 for Rose: What is the capital of Estonia?

Connor: nine seconds left
Rose: ...Tallinn
(correct)

s e r e _ _ i _ i x _

Rose: *answers* Serendipity
Connor: congratulations, darling. *passes her the packet of unicorn stickers* now place one where you’d like special treatment tonight.
Rose: *glares* you’re enjoying my reward way too much. You lost this round, remember.
Connor: I’m remembering that you need to place a sticker on your body.
Rose: *peels one off* *hesitates, not wanting to give into Connor’s desires* *places sticker on the top of her hand*
Connor: Be truthful.
Rose: I am.
Connor: *brow arches* No cheating.
Rose: *burns another hole in his forehead with her glare* Fine. *places the sticker on her forehead* this signifies my brain.
Connor: *tries to contain his grin* I’m already stimulating that part of your body, Rose.
Rose: then I’m asking you to stimulate it more tonight. It’s my reward and I choose this.

SECOND WORD

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Question #5 for Connor: What is often cited as a Chanel contribution to the fashion lexicon?

Rose: twelve seconds left
Connor: little black dress
(correct)
Rose: *glares and her eyes flicker to his lips* that should’ve been my question.
Connor: and then I would’ve known this game was heavily biased towards you.
Rose: I suppose that’s true.

L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Rose: are you going to guess?
Connor: no, let’s have the next question *hooks his ankle to the leg of Rose’s chair and drags her closer to him*
Rose: *scoots to the edge of her chair again to concentrate*

Question #6 for Rose: This statesman, politician, scholar, inventor, and one of early presidents of USA invented the swivel chair, the spherical sundial—

Rose: Thomas Jefferson

L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ n

Rose: *thinks hard*
Connor: *hand caresses the back of her neck*
Rose: ...I don’t know. Yet. I’ll get it in the next round.

Question #7 for Connor: What is Ronald Weasley’s patronus?

Rose: *smiles* ten seconds left.
Connor: *rubs lips in thought* a...dog
Rose: *frowns* be more specific. Seven seconds...
Connor: a...Jack Russell Terrier
(correct)
Rose: *glares* Since when have you read Harry Potter?
Connor: it’s been on our bookshelf. I don’t like displaying books I’ve never read, so I read it.
Rose: *sighs heavily* those were my copies, you know. I haven’t read them since I was a little girl. I didn’t even know that answer.
Connor: then you should be happy it was directed to me, and that I’m the man playing with you.
Rose: against you. We’re competing, Richard.
Connor: *wraps around her shoulders* if you say so, Rose.

L _ _ _ _ _ h _ _ n

Rose: *eyes widen like she knows the answer again*
Connor: I’m not guessing, so next question.
Rose: *gives him another suspicious look*

Question #8 for Rose: Who won the world cup in football in 2014?

Rose: *growls* sports?
Connor: nine seconds left, Rose.
Rose: *shakes her head repeatedly*
Connor: four seconds.
Rose: Spain?

L x _ _ _ _ h _ _ n

(correct answer: Germany)
Rose: *gives Connor a look, his hand still wrapped around her shoulders* I want to set your body on fire. Give me a match, Richard.
Connor: *looks deeply into her blazing yellow-green eyes* original dirty talk by Rose Calloway Cobalt *leans closer like he’s going to kiss her but then taps the unicorn stickers in her hand* Are you guessing the word or not?
Rose: *straightens up but stays in his clutch* Leprechaun
(correct)
Rose: *peels off a unicorn sticker* *reaches beneath her dress and quickly places it on her panties*
Connor: *watches, about to raise the hem of her dress to see where the sticker is placed*
Rose: *grabs his wrist* Later. I have a game to win first.
Connor: And later, you won’t be the one restraining me. *untangles her hand from his wrist and threads their fingers together*

THIRD (AND FINAL) WORD

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Question #9 for Connor: Why were all the cars black when Ford first started making cars?

Connor: the paint dried faster than any other color
(correct)

_ _ _ _ _ e _ _ _ e

Connor: I’m not sure yet.

Question #10 for Rose: French chemists Marie and Pierre Curie discovered what chemical element?

Connor: eleven seconds left.
Rose: ...radium?
Connor: why do you sound confused?
Rose: I didn’t. *raises chin* I said radium.
(correct)
Connor: *grins* good job, darling.
Rose: are you letting me win? Because if you are—
Connor: that was a question directed to you. How could I let you win, Rose? You knew the answer on your own.
Rose: *nods*

s _ _ _ _ e _ _ _ e

Question #11 for Connor: What is Scarlet Witch’s real name and also name two Avengers team members who have trained her?

Rose: *smiles* eight seconds left.
Connor: I think her name is Wanda...Maximoff but I’m unsure about the other too.
Rose: three seconds...two...one. You lose.

s _ _ _ _ e x _ _ e

(correct answer: Captain America & Hawkeye)
Connor: *faces Rose and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear*
Rose: dirty talk doesn’t mean you have to touch me, you know...
Connor: but you love when I touch you, and I love when I touch you. *hand clutches the back of her head and he leans in, his lips brushing her ear* I’m going to ram hard between your legs and come deep inside of you, Rose.
Rose: *chest falls shallowly* ...okay, punishment enacted *clears throat and presses thighs together tightly* Next question...

Question #12 for Rose: What two French word-phrase describes that beautiful era of artistic and cultural refinement in France at the beginning of the 20th century?

Rose: belle epoque
(correct)

s _ r _ r e x _ r e

Rose: *looks closer* Is this in English?
Connor: *fingers to his jaw in contemplation* I’m not sure...
Rose: *waves for the next question*

Question #13 for Connor: Who invented the BALLPOINT PEN?

Rose: twelve—
Connor: Biro Brothers
(correct)
*both eagerly await the new word*

s u r _ r e x _ r e

Rose: *inhales sharply as though she knows the answer again*
Connor: *relaxes* next question.
Rose: *glares* You know this. I know you know this. I’m sure of it.
Connor: how can you be so sure?
Rose: because I’ve been around you long enough to know that if I know the answer nine times out of ten, you do too. And you couldn’t have not known all three words and I did. You’re cheating.
Connor: I’m winning the game.
Rose: you’re losing. I’m winning.
Connor: answer the next question, Rose.
Rose: *sighs heavily*

Question #14 for Rose: "A true friend stabs you in the front."

Rose: Oscar Wilde
(correct)

s u r p r e x _ r e

Rose: *stares directly at Connor* you’re waiting for me to answer the word correctly. Just admit it.
Connor: I’ll admit that I’m waiting for you to finish your turn, and that I know it’s impossible for you not to give an answer to this word when you’re one-hundred percent certain of the correct response.
Rose: Surprendre.
(correct)
Connor: *smiles* French for “surprise” *motions to the stickers*
Rose: I won, but so did you. You never wanted to put the stickers on your body, and you’d rather know where I wanted to be touched. So you were playing a different game than me this whole time. *peels off a sticker from the packet*
Connor: Yes. *lips rise*
Rose: *with narrowed eyes, places the sticker over her lips*
Connor: *slowly peels the sticker off her forehead. Holding the back of her head, he kisses her once in the same place, and then he slowly peels off the sticker on her lips*
Rose: *breathless* Connor...
Connor: *catches her lip between his teeth before kissing her powerfully, her whole body responding against him* *whispers against her cheek* We’ve both won.

*note from Siiri: trivia question sources in addition to my own brain: x, x*

About the book

Title: Fuel the Fire (Calloway Sisters #3)
Authors: Krista & Becca Ritchie
Released: April 3rd, 2015
Add it: Goodreads
*Purchase links not available until April 3rd*

Protect your family. At all costs.It’d take the impossible to hurt Connor Cobalt, even for a moment.
Protect your family. At all costs.At twenty-six, his narcissistic tendencies have made room for the people he loves.
Protect your family. At all costs.And he loves Rose. But when his love is threatened, when his greatest dreams with her are compromised — what is the cost then?
Protect your family. At all costs.Love will guide his choices.
For the first time in his life.

PS. The Calloway Sisters series can be read as a separate series, but it's even more enjoyable as a part of the Additced series. The full recommended reading order of both series can be seen on the the twins' tumblr page here.

Meet the authors

Krista & Becca Ritchie are identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. Now in their early twenties, they write about other twenty-somethings navigating through life, college, and romance. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.

They are the New Adult authors of the Addicted series and Calloway Sisters spin-off series, and you can find them on almost every social media, frolicking around like wannabe unicorns.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram

Giveaway

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Mini Reviews: Perfect Couple, Finding It, Trial by Fire, Sinner

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 06:00:00 +0000

Hey, guys! It's been so long since my last review. I'm all done with exams, yay! Now I have a week long break before spring semester starts. Going to re-energize and hopefully get some commenting done. I hope you've all been wonderful! *hugs* I was going to write full reviews for all of these, but I decided to write a post with multiple mini reviews instead. Let me know what you thought of these books :)

Title: Perfect Couple (Superlatives #2)
Author: Jennifer Echols
Published: January 15th 2015
Read: Nov 29th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

Can your heart be put to a popular vote?

As yearbook photographer, Harper is responsible for capturing those candid moments that make high school memorable. But her own life is anything but picture perfect. Her parents' bitter divorce has left her wondering what a loving relationship would look like. And ever since the senior class voted her and star quarterback Brody the “Perfect Couple That Never Was,” her friends have been on her case to ask Brody out.

Brody doesn’t lack in female admirers, but Harper can't see herself with him. He seems confused about why they were matched together, too. They’re total opposites—the last people in the world who would ever be compatible, let alone the “perfect couple.” Yet ever since the class paired the two of them, they've found themselves drawn together--first by curiosity, then by an undeniable bond.

The trouble is, though they're very attracted to each other and both of them admit this, they have a hard time getting along or even communicating clearly. If they’re the perfect couple, this shouldn’t be so difficult! Soon it becomes clear their class was wrong, and they throw in the towel. But after they walk away, both of them feel so changed from making the effort that they can’t forget each other. What if that means this match made in hell is the perfect couple after all?

It's more like 3.5, I think. Loved the main ship a whole bunch and they are ridiculously cute together. Plus swoony kissing, you guys!!! I didn't connect with the MC, to be honest, and the book was often over dramatic, but regardless, still enjoyable. Echols doesn't shy away from sex talk and sexier themes which is good seeing as it's YA and teenagers aren't oblivious to these things after all. It also has different races when it comes to characters and LGBT themes which is very appreciated. [Highlight to see a slight (?) spoiler] I'm so glad that it didn't have any L-bombs because the book takes place within a week or so and expressing love would have been just too much. DID I SAY SWOONY KISSING ALREADY???

Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for providing an arc. My thoughts are my own

and in no way did the review copy affect my opinion on the book.

Title: Finding It (Losing It #3)
Author: Cora Carmack
Published: October 10th, 2013
Read: Dec 4th to 15th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Sometimes you have to lose yourself to find where you truly belong...

Most girls would kill to spend months traveling around Europe after college graduation with no responsibility, no parents, and no-limit credit cards. Kelsey Summers is no exception. She's having the time of her life . . . or that's what she keeps telling herself.

It's a lonely business trying to find out who you are, especially when you're afraid you won't like what you discover. No amount of drinking or dancing can chase away Kelsey's loneliness, but maybe Jackson Hunt can. After a few chance meetings, he convinces her to take a journey of adventure instead of alcohol. With each new city and experience, Kelsey's mind becomes a little clearer and her heart a little less hers. Jackson helps her unravel her own dreams and desires. But the more she learns about herself, the more Kelsey realizes how little she knows about Jackson.

Ok, so Cora Carmack is a NA author whose books I adore! She makes me laugh, gives me butterflies and her books are simply the kind you just fly through. However, this is the first occasion where I've found myself.. very lukewarm towards a book of hers. I loved the traveling aspect and the "finding-oneself" storyline, because I can relate to that, but as a whole, this book was a big disappointment for me. It was so predictable, the whole plot was [highlight to view a major plot spoiler] Chasing Liberty or First Daughter in a book form and most of it had me rolling my eyes, because even though I can relate to Kelsey wanting to find herself as a person, she annoyed me so much that I wanted to dnf. There were times where I found myself enjoying the book and those were mostly the traveling parts. A few butterflies-in-my-stomach moments aside, this book just didn't impress me. I know this is an exception to the rule when it comes to Cora's books, and my love for them, but it's still an unfortunate exception. I hope that if you haven't read it yet, you'll enjoy it a whole lot more!

Overall rating: 2.0 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodread

Title: Trial by Fire (Worldwalker #1)
Author: Josephine Angelini
Published: August 28th, 2014
Read: Dec 19th to 23rd, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying experiences that others in her hometown of Salem take for granted, which is why she is determined to enjoy her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class, Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly, Lily is in a different Salem—one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of them all is Lillian . . . Lily's other self in this alternate universe.

What makes Lily weak at home is what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. In this confusing world, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected.

The world is pretty awesome, but we still don't really know why Lillian picked Lily for her world and not another version of herself from a different world. I liked some of the characters (Caleb, Lily's sister), but some just annoyed me (Lillian, for instance). I'm not really sure why all of these killings, bans etc are necessary and how they help to achive her peace or whatever. Plus her reason for doing this made me really question her as a decent character and a semi-villain. Also, while there was a decent plot and I liked Lily's quest to finding the power within her, I found that she got the hang of her powers really easily. Too easily even. I would have liked to have seen her struggle with it.

What else? Ummmm. Oh! It's pretty insta-loveish, but in a way it's understandable considering the parallel universe thing. Good thing the romance plotline was more on the background. I saw some major twists coming and it felt as if Angelini was trying to explain everything in detail and I was in physics class all over again. Which is fine seeing as the novel's idea is pretty much based on thermodynamics laws, but I felt as though some of the things were over explained.

As a whole, I felt compelled to listen to the book (though the narration wasn't my favorite since all the voices sounded the same), but at the same time, it wasn't as special as I thought it would be. It was a decent first book in a series. Maybe I'll even pick up the 2nd book since the ending was a cliff hanger and a pretty interesting one. We'll see!

Overall rating: 3.3 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Title: Sinner (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #4)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published: July 1st 2014
Read: Dec 30th, 2014 to Jan 3rd, 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

A standalone companion book to the internationally bestselling Shiver Trilogy.

Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Trilogy. Everybody thinks they know Cole's story. Stardom. Addiction. Downfall. Disappearance. But only a few people know Cole's darkest secret -- his ability to shift into a wolf. One of these people is Isabel. At one point, they may have even loved each other. But that feels like a lifetime ago. Now Cole is back. Back in the spotlight. Back in the danger zone. Back in Isabel's life. Can this sinner be saved?

Really loved it! I didn't remember how much I loved Isabel and Cole until I picked this up. I cried a single tear (though it would have been more if I hadn't been fighting it; it was like Battle of the Five Armies all over again where those tears just wouldn't back down and one single tear still managed to escape regardless of rapid blinking), had goosebumps all over my body and loved the writing as always with Maggie's novels. What I had problems with were the ending parts, because I felt like they were a little rushed? I wanted more and I wanted for Cole and Isabel to talk it out not just.. this? Idk. Dan Bittner is so amazing as a narrator and Emma Galvin was pretty decent. May raise the rating one day, but for now it's 4 stars simply because of the ending. Regardless, a great start to 2015 reading wise!

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Connor Cobalt's Birthday Extravaganza: Treasure Hunt and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Hiiiiiii, my darling friends! Today is one of my favorite days of the year haaa, because it's Richard Connor Cobalt's birthday! If you know me, you all know who he is, but since there's a slight chance you don't know, let me give you some hints ;) He's one of the main characters from the Calloway Sisters series and the Addicted series by Krista and Becca Ritchie. He totally deserves his own birthday celebration event because he's just.. everything tbh! Connor Cobalt is a conceited know-it-all smartass, but he has every right to be since the guy, according to his own words, would be considered a god in some civilizations. He's one of the best fictional characters out there and he's also my bookish husband, which I can prove with a marriage license, so get your paws off my man, ladies, or blood will spill! (jk; .. or not) I hope you enjoy following this treasure hunt event, because I've invited a bunch of lovely, wonderful and amazing people to participate. Before we get to the game (and the giveaway), let me congratulate Connor on his birthday.

I figured that seeing as most of today's posts will be so unique, gorgeous and awesome, I'm just going to do something that I like to call a mess (because that's just very, very me): a birthday wish for Connor, an overview of Connor via his mood board (and my line of thought behind it all) and a list of what I'd imagine would be his brotips. He's completely unique and there most definitely is no other character like him, but I think we'd all benefit from his brotips, so yeah, brotips it is ;) I hope you enjoy this post, and if you don't know Connor very well, then I hope you'll get to know him better thanks to this post. Here goes :)

Happy Birthday, Connor!

Dear Connor,

You are one of the most wonderful [fictional] people to have ever graced the mankind. Yes, you are a conceited smartass, but you are also wonderful and able to grow as a person still. I ~~adore~~ admire you through and through. I know you don't really love to celebrate your birthday, and age is just a number, but I'm sure you'd still very much appreciate this event and be amused by our random ramblings and fangirly selves.

I hope today is good to you, that you'll get some awesome books to read from Lily and Lo, have a great dinner with your loved ones and of course some hot bedroom action afterwards. (And I sure hope we can all read about it later when your 27th birthday arrives! *cough* okay awkwarrrrrd *hides*)

Here's to wonderful birthdays, soul-consuming love, ~~Coballoway~~ royal dynasties and history channels!

With all my heart,
Siiri

Connor's Mood Board

Connor is such a calm person that his mood board can't be something really fiery and extravagant (which is ironic since this event's name /cough). I picked calm, neutral tones for his colours, because he's often the neutral party in a lot of situations and his texture is the same in coloring, but it has complicated and interesting textures/patterns since he is a huge, huge puzzle none of us can ever completely figure out. His mood, of course is everything classy: a lion because king of animals and regal and powerful; drinking a glass of red wine, books, Oxford style shoes and always a suit. His elements, obviously, are education (the guy has multiple university degrees and is fluent in more languages than we all probably realize, including French, Latin, German, Italian and many others) and being the best in everything hence the king icon (though really, he is the king of my world, because he's the king to my queen, Rose Calloway) and one of his most famous quotes in his handwriting. Credit for the icons and textures I used goes to Freepik and Icons8.

Richard Connor Cobalt’s Brotips

Always have a backup plan for everything: if plans A, B, C, D and E fail to work, make sure you have plan F, and if not, use your wits and come out on top anyway.
Sacrifices are a necessary part of one’s life. Don’t be afraid to make them, but don’t make them on the account of those you love.
Make sure to have classy insults. It’s always more fun to insult someone and for them to not realize they’ve been insulted. Keep it classy! Slay with your words and keep your fists to assholes who truly deserve it.
Don’t gamble with luck or hope for magical forces to show you the way. Set goals, take matters into your own hands, build your own future and lead the way.
Take the hard way no matter what. It’s the only way you’ll surpass your limits and make yourself a greater man. Plus, it’ll make it easier to win over your future wife—you’ll need those tough life experiences to tame a lioness and the firestorm inside her mind.
When walking with your girlfriend or wife, don’t walk ahead or behind her. Walk next to her—be her equal.
Treat your lady like a queen that she is.
Seek perfection in everything, don’t settle for less than you deserve.
Always have a good comeback up your sleeve.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep, but always keep your promises.

the number for my post is

12 Treasure Hunt and Giveaway

Rules

Participating in the treasure hunt is not necessary to take part in the giveaway, but getting the right answer can get you extra 25 entries in the giveaway, which will be huge compared to the rest of the people who may just follow one or two people and comment on a few blogs, and increase your chances of winning something. The game is fairly easy, but a little time-consuming and needs your full attention. Here’s how it all works:

Every letter (A, B, C, …, J) stands for a specific blog.
The letter “K” is a different matter: if you’re a part of the Addicted Series Facebook Fanpage, you don’t have to calculate the letter K’s value, but if you’re not, here’s a small equation for you: (100-64) : 6
You will have to find the quote next to a specific letter from a blog. Some of these quotes appear on multiple blogs, but you need to pick out the right one for the right letter. To make it easier, some of the quotes are easily identifiable and you’ll know that if two (or more) blogs have the same quote(s), one of them has to have another sentence too (and that sentence appears on only that blog), so with some thinking, you should be able to figure out which letter goes with which blog.
If you have matched the letters to all the blogs, match every letter to a specific number that’s on the blog which the letter represents. Here’s an example: Q: “Connor is a magical unicorn even if he doesn’t admit it. He’s one of a kind!” appears on a blog *insert name* and that blog post has number 8 featured somewhere. Now you know that letter Q correlates to number 8. We would advise you to write all the info down and match the numbers to the letters on paper so that the final part would be easier for you. Beware that some of those numbers may appear on graphics, so look out for them everywhere!
Now the final step: you have to solve the following equation A + B / C – D * E + F – G + H – I * J + K = L by substituting the letters with the numbers you found on the blogs you visited. After you have solved the equation, submit it to the raffle below and this can earn you 25 extra entries (unfortunately Raffle isn’t as cool as we’d all like, so you have to provide an answer in 5 different boxes to earn all your 25 entries). AND you can give yourself a big pat on the back for completing this treasure hunt! Connor would be proud :)

The quotes that you’ll have to search for, to match all the numbers and letters for the equation are..

A: “The way you stand up for and take care of the people you love speaks volumes of the kind of person you truly are.”
B: “He is the king of my world, because he's the king to my queen, Rose Calloway.”
C: “People hope to touch the sky. I dream of kissing it.”
D: “What do you get a man who already have everything?”
E: “Connor wears confidence like his most expensive suit, with style and dignity and so much charm.”
F: “Hey birthday boy, the party is over here.”
G: “His wicked charm will have you swooning for days.”
H: “Connor is Siiri's fantasy boyfriend. No one else can have him.”
I: “Je suis passionne de toi.”
J: “Joyeux anniversaire Connor! Passez une merveilleuse journé!”
K: if you’re a part of the Addicted Series Facebook Fanpage, you don’t have to calculate the letter K’s value, but if you’re not, here’s a small equation for you: (100-64) : 6
L: SOLUTION TO THIS WHOLE EQUATION: A + B / C – D * E + F – G + H – I * J + K = L

Go hunt for the numbers here:

Little Pieces of Imagination

Addicted Series Daily

Fluttering Heart Book Nest

Nick’s Book Blog

Book-a-holic Fairies

Addicted Series Fan Page

Foxy Blogs

Bookish Musings

Calloway Books

Teacups and Book Love

Giveaway

And here's the giveaway. It's open internationally and all entries will be verified, so please don't cheat. To earn your extra 25 entries, join the treasure hunt and make Connor proud :) Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A super duper thank you to all the lovely people who agreed to participate in this event and came along with this crazy treasure hunt thing. I love you to pieces! Thank you so much for your amazing posts, Addicted series love and for being too darn awesome to begin with. Heart eyes to all of you! A special thanks to Jenn, Jae and Nazeefa for donating some of these fantastic prizes to the giveaway pile <3 Thank you, lovelies!

If you want to know more about this series and its authors, click on the banner below.

End of the Year Book Survey 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Sun, 28 Dec 2014 23:49:00 +0000

This year has flown by so fast and I'm really happy that even with such a small amount of books I read, there were some really great books that I can't wait to ramble about. Last year's End of the Year Survey was such a fun thing to do, so I couldn't possibly pass it up this year. Thanks to Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner who hosts this annual event. I can't wait to see your surveys or end of the year posts if you'r not doing the survey. Link me up and let me know how your reading year was. Without further ado, here's the summary of my reading year.

Number Of Books You Read: 91 (though GR says 86)

Number of Re-Reads: 4 official but tbh it’s way, way more

Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary (56/91)

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?

Without a doubt, this book would be Kiss the Sky by Krista and Becca Ritchie. I have reread this book too many times to count (seriously, I lost count at 17 and now I just don’t know anymore). Kiss the Sky is a book that features my 2 favorite characters in the whole wide world: Rose Calloway and Connor Cobalt. It’s a magnificent contemporary novel that’s witty, bold, humorous, sensual, surprising—I could go on all day long. The secondary characters are just as wonderful as the main duo and I could not recommend this book or the two series (Addicted & Calloway Sisters series) enough!

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Ummmmm.. Let’s see. I’d have to say Pivot Point by Kasie West. Almost everyone I know raved about that book and I thought it was going to be this amazing story, but I wasn’t a huge fan. I mean, yeah sure! I liked it, but I thought it was going to be a 5 star read or at least worthy of 4 stars, but unfortunately not.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014?

Five Ways to Fall by K.A. Tucker. Why? Well, I did love Ten Tiny Breaths, but the sequel companions One Tiny Lie and Four Seconds to Lose just didn’t wow me at all. In one case it was the most annoying characters and the other book managed to ruin all my hopes with an anti-climatic conclusion to all the drama that had previously taken place for basically.. nothing. But Five Ways to Fall was one of my rare 5 star reads this year and by far one of the biggest surprises of the year for as well!

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?

DUUUUDES!!! I THINK YOU CAN ALL ANSWER THIS QUESTION FOR ME BUT IN CASE YOU WANT ME TO CONFIRM THIS: THE ADDICTED SERIES WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL READ IF YOU LIKE TO TORTURE YOURSELF WITH FEELINGS, GET TO KNOW AMAZING CHARACTERS, READ ABOUT SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS, GET YOURSELF SOME GORGEOUS AND SOUL-CONSUMING OTPS AND JUST.. PLEASE READ IT OKAY?? YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON SOME EPIC JAZZ.

**I also pushed To All the Boys I've Loved Before on people and Under the Never Sky Trilogy because baes and I love them sosososo much *squishes them to her chest*

5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?

Best series I’ve started in 2014: I didn’t start many series this year, but I’d say The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa; best sequel of 2014: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer; best series ender of 2014: lmao I wanted to finish a ton of series this year (does anyone remember that series enders post I did at the beginning of this year? Haaa! Oops! In reality I finished only 6 out of 40) but my favorite by far far far is Addicted After All by Krista and Becca Ritchie. That’s how you write a series ender, people! *standing ovation*

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?

I’d have to go with Emery Lord. Her debut Open Road Summer was one of the cutest reads this year and completely won me over with the fluid writing, a good self-discovery plot, an awesome friendship and just.. sigh. I loved that book and Emery Lord took her a seat at my must-buy-all-the-future-books-by-this-author table.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Well, I don’t read a lot of historical books, which is a shame, because they’re often some of the steamiest, swooniest books and I do love my swoon! This book can be categorized as fantasy or magical realism, but I’d say it’s foremost a historical YA novel with a touch of paranormal/fantasy elements to it. Anyhow, the book, haaa! It’s Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers. It was magnificent and I can’t wait to return to this world soon!

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

I had difficulty putting down Hothouse Flower by Krista and Becca Ritchie. That book is the kind that you just want to devour in one sitting, because it’s full of adventure, great ships and self-discovery. Of course I’m biased seeing as it’s my favorite contemporary series of all time and the characters are like my family by now, but I can’t argue with the facts and the fact is that this book was unputdownable.

9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

I re-read and re-skim books all the time *cough* go read that first answer again *cough* but one of them is most definitely going to be Under the Never Sky series by Veronica Rossi. Look, I know I made a mistake of rating UtNS 4 stars the first time I read it BUT I LEARNED FROM MY MISTAKES. Throughout the entire year I thought about it and then I re-read it at the beginning of 2014 and it was a FULL. FIVE. STAR. READ. Then I read Roar & Liv, Through the Ever Night, Brooke, Into the Still Blue; pushed this series on Jenn and Jae and I REGRET NOTHING. THIS SERIES IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES AND I’M CONSTANTLY RE-SKIMMING IT AND FULL RE-READS WILL HAPPEN NEXT YEAR. YOU JUST WATCH!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

Ok, so I’m a complete cover trash, okay?? I cannot pick one. DO NOT MAKE ME CHOOSE. So instead of choosing, I’m going to name a few of my favorite covers: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor, Amour Amour by Krista and Becca Ritchie, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, Shadows by Paula Weston, How to Love by Katie Cotugno, Defy by Sarah B. Larson.

11. Most memorable character of 2014?

This answer is obviously Connor Cobalt, but I can’t pick him, Rose and the Addicted gang and their books for every answer, so I’m just going to go with another character entirely and say characters: Peter Kavinsky and Lara Jean [Song] Covey. These two are just asdfghjkljfiojfg !!!!!!!

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?

I’d have to go with Come Back to Me by Mila Gray (also known as Sarah Alderson). Why? Well, the prose isn’t anything extra special, but the way these characters, their feelings and their stories are written? It’s gorgeous and I loved every single second of it. Even the painful parts with gross sobbing were my favorites.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?

In Honor by Jessi Kirby. I hadn’t read anything by her until this year, but I had heard so many amazing things after her novel Golden came out, but idk. I hadn’t felt the huge urge to read them until.. one day, I opened In Honor and just sat down, read the book and loved it! Afterwards, and even during the book, I felt like taking a road trip myself, discovering the world and who I am as a person; also, this book is a good reminder of how precious life is and how we should make the most of it while we still can.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?

This would have actually been pretty hard if I hadn’t read Days of Blood and Starlight this Christmas. Holy guacamole this book !!!!!!!! SUE I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK FOR MAKING ME PROMISE TO FINALLY PICK IT UP AND READ IT. I almost made an Oscar worthy speech for this answer to thank Sue because this book was magical and full of pain and obviously Sue was just looking out for me when bossing me around to read this. I AM GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE TEARS.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?

I have so many passages and quotes marked in physical books as well as e-copies and it’s really ahrd to just choose one, so I’m going to list some of my most marked books: Kiss the Sky, Addicted After All, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Scarlet, Days of Blood and Starlight, Under the Never Sky Trilogy.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

Longest would be Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld with 599 pages and shortest, if novellas count then Roar & Liv with 68 pages; if not, then Taste the Heat by Rachel Harris with 191 pages.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Okay so there is a book I want to name, but it’d be spoilers upon more spoilers already if I mentioned it, so if you really want to know the name of the book, after which I cried angry tears over (and nope, it’s not the book I ranted about on twitter), ask away on twitter and I’ll dm you. But since I can’t pick that one, I’m going with two books: Addicted After All by Krista and Becca Ritchie because I didn’t think something could ever top the omfg moment in Hothouse Flower, but HOLY SHIT!; and Days of Blood and Starlight because I didn’t think Laini Taylor would actually go there in chapter 71, but it happened and I hope it will be acknowledged in DoG&M. I did not expect this.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

IS THERE ANYONE WHO KNOWS ME EVEN THE SLIGHTEST AND DOES NOT KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION? BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY OBVIOUSLY THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER TO THIS: COBALLOWAY AKA ROSE MAGDALA CALLOWAY AND RICHARD CONNOR COBALT. THIS NERD STAR DUO IS THE PAIN OF MY EXISTENCE BUT I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THERE IS NO OTHER SHIP LIKE THIS OUT THERE AND I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT I WILL NOT ONLY GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP IT HAS ALREADY WRECKED ME AND BREATHED LIFE INTO ME AND I DON’T KNOW HOW I SURVIVED WITHOUT THIS SHIP BEFORE CHAPTER 18 OF ADDICTED TO YOU IDK DON’T ASK ME THAT ALL I KNOW IS THAT IT’S THE MOST GLORIOUS SHIP OUT THERE AND YOU NEED TO BE ON IT *GIVES TICKETS TO EVERYONE WHO WANT TO BOARD AND EVEN THOSE WHO DON’T* and yes, I did just write this all in one breath.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

I was going to say Loren and Connor, Loren and Rose, Ryke and Lily and gahh. Ok OKKKK I’m going to stop. It’s Aria x Roar (and Perry x Roar). This platonic friendship is all I’ve ever needed between a guy and a girl and their trust, faith in each other, the words said, and unsaid, between them and just being there for each other 100%? I’m alllllllllllllll in.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Let’s go with Things I Can’t Forget by Miranda Kenneally, because that book was the cutest! I really thought I’d hate it, because it has the most religion out of all of her books, but to me it wasn’t about the religion; nope! It was a self-discovery book, opening your mind to new ideas, opportunities, growing a pair and standing up for yourself, your wants and needs. It was a wonderful character growth story and had one of the cutest ships ever.

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

The Fault in Our Stars. Which I ended up hating. I kid you not, I truly hate this book. It has nothing to do with how it ends, but it just wasn’t an enjoyable book. I hated almost every minute of reading it. I refuse to even rate it on Goodreads or start writing my review. Those whom I talk to often know my feelings and reasons and that’s just that. At least now I know that when people say that this book is perfect for people who loved TFiOS, I'm staying far faaaaar away from that book.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?

Almost every book has a new fictional crush for me haha. But I'm going with Peter Kavinsky from To All the Boys I've Loved Before because: hiiiiiiiiii i adore you and your clueless self and the fact that you always try and you are so cute and thoughtful and i'm just going to build walls around you and never let anyone hurt you, i'll keep you safe i promise.

**If I had to pick someone from something that I haven’t mentioned a lot in this post so far, I'd go with Rafa from Shadows by Paula Weston. I knooooow, I know, he’s Jazzy’s! It doesn’t make me like him any less. Though he is all Jasprit’s.. Anyhow, he’s witty, brave, a complete mystery still (I need to know the background story to of the main ship right this very second!!!) and he’s just a fun guy to spend time with. I like him a lot!

23. Best 2014 debut you read?

Open Road Summer. Read more on the why’s in answer 6.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

I can’t pick Days of Blood and Starlight for every answer, can I? *groans* okokk I got this! I’m reading Cress right now (and I read Scarlet at the beginning of the year) and I can honestly say that Marissa Meyer is a magical human being. I’m not a fan of sci-fi, but her world, while full of scientific everything, is so colorful, vivid and magnificent! Love it a whole bunch!

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

It’s probably Fangirl, because it was just so goofy and Levi x Cait is an adorable ship and I had such a big smile on my face most of the time.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?

Oh lord what is this?? Ummmm haa. It’d be easier to name books that didn’t make me cry. I’m such a crier when reading and I’m going to blame my sensitive Virgo nature for this. The book I cried the most during was Addicted After All. I seriously didn’t see anything at one point and it hurt so much in my chest that I almost couldn’t breathe for a few seconds, but I also cried like a maniac during all the happy scenes. Idk I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THAT BOOK OKAY.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to answer in this one. Is it a book that I think was amazing but not many people have read it or?? Ok, whatever it is, I’m going to answer with Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross, because that book was such a cutie pie book with a beautiful romance, a good father-daughter relationship and achieving your dreams. I can’t wait to acquire a paperback and I hope more people read this, because it truly is worth all the praise I can’t seem to stop giving. Also, I want to say Magnolia by Kristi Cook, because not nearly enough people have read it and it's wonderful! Look out for my reviews for both of these in 2015.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Seriously, everything is Addicted After All and Days of Blood and Starlight right now. Ugh. And I can’t pick that spoilers-if-I-say-its-name book. I didn’t have soul-crushing books other than these three this year. But I did cry a lot during Come Back to Me.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?

Probably The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon because holy world building. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with this thorough world building (cough info dump cough) and it was all very unique and different. Definitely excited to see what happens in the sequel.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

It’s actually a book that I didn’t officially read (for the sake of spoilers). I ranted about it on twitter and a bunch of my friends asked questions so I ended up emailing them and some of them haven’t even followed the series from the start and know next to nothing about these characters and they were angry and frustrated about it as well, because what kind of author does THAT?? I can understand breaking up a ship that I’ve been all in with since day one, but it’s the final book and you crush absolutely everything you’ve built, throughout the entire series, in the final ¼ of the final book? I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS and I will always give this particular book (the rest of the series is gold) a stink eye BECAUSE.

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014?

I discovered a bunch of new blogs and blogging friends, as well as twitter friends, and I want to thank all of you, and I really, really hope I won’t forget anyone. In a completely random order, here goes:

People I’ve met in 2014 through blogging: Rashika, Faye, Aimee, Jess, Allie, Lily, Cait, Zoe, Kimberly, Lola, Carmel, Jessica, Rachel, Danielle, Joy, Emma, Jeann, Summer, Ella, Larissa, Celine, Melliane, Sarah, Michelle, Sarika, Janhvi, Lisa. I'm honestly surprised that I met some of you only this year, because I feel like I have found a part of my soul with you. Some of you have become my favorite people to talk to and I know I can confide in you about everything, not just bookish things, and even if we don't talk or text every day, I hold each and every one of you close to my heart. Thank you for making this blogging experience more than enjoyable!

People I’ve met in 2014 through twitter (and mostly Addicted Series): Sue (her bookish account), Jenn, Jae, Nazeefa, Eri, Lisa, Sil, Almera, Laura, Nicolette, Amy, Paula, Anisha, Alexandra, Amy, Lanie, Jullie, Kruti, June, Danielle. You guys! Starting this year, I never imagined that I'd gain so many wonderful, hilarious, snarky and fangirly friends in my life. You make my twitter feed an awesome place to hang, always have opinions on everything and I can count on you to pick me up when I'm feeling down. Getting all sorts of teary eyed here //sniffs// but seriously, you're all so amazing! I can't even remember that boring old twitter life without you all, and almost all of you are hardcore Addicted fans and I'm so proud to be in Fizzle Force with such passionate, courageous and fun people. Thank you for book pushing your favorites on me, always brightening my day and making me laugh when I need it the most!

And a super special thanks to all of you magical, gorgeous people from the past few years: Nick, Jasprit, Jenny, Rachel, Giselle, Lauren, Tanja, Glass, Krista, Becca, Melanie, Nereyda, Brandi, Mel, Amber, Christina, Aman, Dianne, Andrea, Sam, Janina. You have been here throughout all this time and whether or not we talk daily, whether or not we comment on each other's blogs every day, whether or not you have stopped blogging or are on hiatus/post over a long period of times, you're all so inspirational and I have endless admiration and love for you. I can't imagine this blogging journey without all of you and I seriously don't know what to say to tell you how much you all mean to me. Thank you for being you, for encouraging me and thank you for loving books just as much as I do, if not more!

I sincerely hope I didn’t forget anyone, but if I did, I apologize. You’re all very dear to me and I wish I could throw a big Addicted series themed party, feed you cupcakes and hug you forever. I love you!

2. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

I’m mostly all about reviews, but out of all the tour posts I did this year, my favorite has to be Hothouse Flower’s where the Addicted cast played The Newlyweds Game or Thrive’s where the same characters had to create their dating profiles.

3. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

All the (very few) blog tours, Lily Calloway’s birthday and Loren Hale’s birthday events. Alsoooo, it’s not this blog related, but the Thrive challenge Sue hosted on tumblr was freaking amazing.

4. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014?

A lot of my bookish friends have been featured at the back of a lot of books in acknowledgements or have been blurbed on the covers etc and each time I flail like a decent fangirl when that happens, but now I know what it feels like to be in their shoes, because my blog was mentioned at the back of Thrive and I seriously started crying, showed it to my mom and even she got glassy eyed, because it’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. I will remember this until the end of times. Thank you!

Also, I met Rashika this summer and it was one of the best experiences ever to meet one of my favorite people in real life. Thank you for showing me around in Helsinki and taking me to places I had yet to go during all my trips there, thank you for coming to the concert with me and thank you for your endless support in everything!

5. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

Yeah, I did! I read more than 70 books, read 22 standalones (aimed 20) and 8 debuts (aimed 5). The only “challenge” I failed at was finishing series—6 finished series (aimed 40 o_____o) which makes 15% of my goal. Um, better luck next year????

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?

Oh, but there are so many! For starters, Something Real by Heather Demetrios, Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay, Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover, The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, and also Incarnate by Jodi Meadows, The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, The Archived by Victoria Schwab, Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios and so many others.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)?

FUEL THE FIRE BY KRISTA AND BECCA RITCHIE OMG THIS BOOK WILL BE MY LIFE NEXT YEAR AND I DON’T EVEN REGRET SAYING IT RIGHT NOW AND I KNOW I WON’T LATER BECAUSE LAST COBALLOWAY POV BOOK OMG I’M SOBBING EXCUSE ME.

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard simply because Sue recs and hot guys and gorgeous cover and a promising premise and just everything. //goes into zombie mode// Puuublish thaaat playliiist alreadyyy, Sueeee!

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015?

I can’t wait to have the final book of The Raven Cycle series in my hands (nvm that I have only read TRB but it’s the sole reason why I’ve been putting off reading TDT and BLLB, because #4 is so far away) and the end of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015?

Read more books than this year? Be more selective and enjoy myself more, less reading slumps and find a secret stash of motivation inside myself to blog more often? Yeah, that about sums it up!

6. A 2015 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone

I have only read one and that was Perfect Couple by Jennifer Echols which was really cute and fluffy, and yes, I’m recommending this for a day in beach or a warm summer night or when you’re in the mood for something summery :)

And that is a wrap! I can't imagine that this year is almost over. I hope you had a great reading year, visited a lot of cool, magical and wonderful worlds, met a lot of awesome characters, sailed on many, many ships and, what's more, I hope 2015 will be even better for you! I'm leaving you with some photos of my bookish year. Thank you for everything and see you again in 2015! <3

Review: Amour Amour by Krista and Becca Ritchie

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 06:00:00 +0000

Title: Amour Amour
Author: Krista and Becca Ritchie
Published: December 12th 2014
Read: December 13 to 16, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Love is a circus

"Every day,” he says lowly, “I hold a person’s life in my hands. The circus is based one-hundred percent off trust. I give it all to someone, and they give it all to me.”

The best aerial technique won’t land 21-year-old Thora James her dream role in Amour—a sexy new acrobatic show on the Vegas strip. Thora knows she’s out of her element the second she meets Amour’s leading performer. Confident, charming and devilishly captivating, 26-year-old Nikolai Kotova lives up to his nickname as the “God of Russia.”

When Thora unknowingly walks into the crosshairs of Nikolai’s after-show, her audition process begins way too soon. Unprofessional. That’s what Nik calls their “non-existent” relationship. It’s not like Thora can avoid him. For one, they may be partners in the future--acrobatic partners, that is. But getting closer to Nik means diving deeper into sin city and into his dizzying world.

Thora wants to perform with him, but when someone like Nikolai attracts the spotlight wherever he goes—Thora fears that she’s destined to be just background to his spellbinding show.

This sexy and exhilarating New Adult Romance can best be described as Cirque du Soleil meets the steamy, athletic romance of Center Stage.

Oh, the two wizards that are Krista and Becca Ritchie! Their books have moved and touched the deepest parts of my soul and I will forever hold them dear and close to my heart. After finishing their first stand-alone novel, I can tell you that I found Amour Amour to be exciting, and the circus setting most definitely added to the otherwise fun, humorous and sensuous story.

"Some days I still wonder if I’ve found me. Maybe we never stop searching. Maybe we evolve the way seasons change, seamlessly without really knowing, not until all the leaves have fallen."
Thora is a great heroine to follow, because she’s so passionate about what she does. Yes, she has her doubts: people constantly tell her that she isn’t good enough, she will never make it yada yada yada, but she always proves them wrong; her determination not foolish, but admirable. Of course, she has her fair share of little [or not so little *cough* pun *cough*] helpers and I believe that this is a very crucial part of being successful. Eventually you do need someone to root for you; to give you a helping hand every now and then. Here’s where John, Camila and the Kotovas come into play.

The secondary characters are what made this book for me. I love sibling relationship so much—especially the complicated, yet loving ones and the Kotovas could give everyone and anyone a run for their money in this aspect. These kids made me cry and laugh out loud more than once. Their friendship with Thora was so endearing that I wanted to squish them together, put them in my pocket and keep them forever. Thank goodness for re-reading, yeah? I loved their personality quirks and there’s so much to explore with each individual that I sincerely hope we do get some companion novels one day.

I loved the setting! There were parts that took my breath away—a prime example being the first time Thora visits the Amour show. It’s described beautifully and makes you feel like you’re not just reading the scene, but rather watching it there alongside her. Also, the romances were pretty darn hot. I liked Thora and Nik together, but there was another couple who brought my obsessive shipper side out and OH. MY. CONNOR. COBALT. SERIOUSLY THIS OTP YOU GUYS!!!!! I WAS ROLLING ON THE FLOOR GASPING FOR AIR BECAUSE THIS COUPLE! I AM SO HEART EYES YOU DON’T KNOW HOW HEART EYES. THEY NEED THEIR OWN BOOK. PRETTY PLEASE. I am willing to bring out the tears and puppy eyes if necessary.

Even though it wasn't my favorite book by the twins, I liked this story a lot and thoroughly recommend it! While some parts of the novel were predictable, there were A LOT of parts that made me gasp and say “GET OUT OF HERE! NO WAY! DID THIS JUST HAPPEN?? *wipes back a few pages and reads again* OMG THIS DID JUST HAPPEN!” out loud, so you can say that there are quite a few coup de théâtre’s here and there. Amour Amour is a chemistry filled story with a lot of passion, heart and character growth. You can see, feel and almost touch the passion Krista and Becca have put into this novel: there are so many pieces of them in Amour Amour for the rest of the world to see, if only you know where to look. It’s inspiring, enthralling, brave and admirable! I hope we do get to meet the Kotovas again in the future and get a front row seat from different povs to all the acts bound to happen in their crazy lives.

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Amour Amour by Krista and Becca Ritchie

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 06:00:00 +0000

Hello, you gorgeous souls! Today is such an exciting day, because to be honest, I really didn't know what to do for today's post, but after thinking about it, I offered one of my favorite topics to Krista and Becca: sweets! And yay, they agreed to this silly idea of the characters being described as sweets to give us hints about their personalities. I'm keeping this intro fairly short since you probably all want to get to know these characters a little better, seeing as we know next to nothing about them, but if you don't know what this tour is about, then here's the short verison of it: Krista and Becca have a new book coming out this Friday—a standalone New Adult novel Amour Amour that takes place in a circus and, knowing them, is more than likely to make you feel all the feels. Anyway, read more about it below and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post :) Good luck!

Amour Amour Characters & Their Sweet Sides

Some are sweet, some bitter—these are the candies that best represents the main cast of characters from Amour Amour!

Nikolai Kotova

White chocolate with peppermint candy pieces. Warm like chocolate but also tough like peppermint, Nikolai is something you’re compelled to reach for during a specific season. It’s not always available, but when it is, it’s the first thing everyone is drawn to. Let’s just hope there’s some left by the time you reach for the bowl.

Thora James

Sweet, gummy candies shaped like smiling bears. Positively cheerful, these little bears are deliciously cute. They’re optimism in different colors—just like Thora James, who prefers the “glass half full” approach to life. Though all gummy bears one day grow up…

John

Chewy and bitter-flavored (really tastes like tar) candy. We don’t know many people who really like black licorice (us included). But it’s the kind of candy you may keep around or buy once in a while. You never, ever eat it. But it stays in your cupboards, expiring away. John is black licorice, the bitter guy that sticks around, for some reason. The one you never throw away, despite tasting like tar.

Timofei

Three sugary flavors in a pouch, eaten with a sugar stick. Half the fun isn’t just the taste but how you go about devouring this candy. Timofei is all about the experience, the sugar rush and living life to the fullest. We’ve never personally eaten a whole fun dip packet, but something tells us that it’s best to consume moderately, one flavor at a time.

Ruiz

A diamond-shaped candy often worn as an accessory. Ruiz would not only sport this ring pop herself, but she’s much like this candy in the eyes of others. Often the fun-loving friend, she’s someone you’d want around to make the night more colorful.

Shay

Chocolate cup with peanut butter in the center. Reese’s cups are like a taste of home. Everyone knows them. They’re super familiar. And you crave them once in a while – for nostalgia and because they’re pretty damn yummy. Shay is that piece of home that you’ll sometimes miss.

Sooooooo.. What did you guys think? Did you like these hints on the characters? Who are you the most excited to meet based on these descriptions? :)

About the book

Title: Amour Amour

Authors: Krista & Becca Ritchie

Published: December 12th 2014

Genre: New Adult Romance

Add it: Goodreads
Amazon: Purchase links not available until December 12th

Love is a circus

"Every day,” he says lowly, “I hold a person’s life in my hands. The circus is based one-hundred percent off of trust. I give it all to someone, and they give it all to me.”

The best aerial technique won’t land 21-year-old Thora James her dream role in Amour—a sexy new acrobatic show on the Vegas strip. Thora knows she’s out of her element the second she meets Amour’s leading performer. Confident, charming and devilishly captivating, 26-year-old Nikolai Kotova aggravatingly lives up to his nickname as the “God of Russia.”

When Thora unknowingly walks into the crosshairs of Nikolai’s after-show, her audition process begins way too soon. Unprofessional. That’s what Nik calls their “non-existent” relationship. It’s not like Thora can avoid him. For one, they may be partners in the future—acrobatic partners, that is. But getting closer to Nik means diving deeper into sin city and into his dizzying world.

Thora wants to perform with him, but when someone like Nikolai attracts the spotlight wherever he goes—Thora fears that she’s destined to be “just background” to his spellbinding show.

This sexy and exhilarating New Adult Romance can best be described as Cirque du Soleil meets the steamy, athletic romance of Center Stage.

*standalone & no love triangles—recommended for readers 18+ for mature content*

Meet the authors

Krista & Becca Ritchie are identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. Now in their early twenties, they write about other twenty-somethings navigating through life, college, and romance. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.

They are the New Adult authors of the Addicted series and Calloway Sisters spin-off series, and you can find them on almost every social media, frolicking around like wannabe unicorns

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram

PS. Click here to follow the rest of the tour. Also, important suff, credit for all the candy photos I used to make these edits, goes to these links: x, x, x, x, x, x.

Giveaway

Open internationally!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mini Reviews: Through the Zombie Glass & These Broken Stars

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 06:00:00 +0000

Title: Through the Zombie Glass (The White Rabbit Chronicles, #2)
Author: Gena Showalter
Published: September 24th 2013
Read: August 17 to 19, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Zombies stalk the night. Forget blood and brains. These monsters hunger for human souls. Sadly, they've got mine...
Alice Bell has lost so much. Family. Friends. A home. She thought she had nothing else to give. She was wrong.
After a new zombie attack, strange things begin to happen to her. Mirrors come to life, and the whispers of the dead assault her ears. But the worst? A terrible darkness blooms inside her, urging her to do very wicked things.
She's never needed her team of zombie slayers more, but ultra bad-boy Cole Holland, the leader and her boyfriend, suddenly withdraws from her...from everyone. Now, with her best friend Kat at her side, Ali must kill the zombies, uncover Cole's secret and learn to fight the darkness.
But the clock is ticking...and if she fails at a single task, they're all doomed.

Alice in Zombieland was my first ever zombie book and I quite enjoyed it. When it comes to Gena Showalter's books, I always say this: she excels at chemistry and a fun, action-packed plot. And it's true! What lacked for me in the sequel though was unexpected twists and proper character growth throughout the entire novel. I haven’t formed big connections with any of the characters and the constant back and forth between Allie and Cole was more than a little frustrating. I mean, of course I understand why Cole would want to stay away from Allie to protect her and vice versa, but really? All the drama that came with this aka the awkward love square? Just.. no, thank you; I was not a happy camper. As for the character growth I previously mentioned, it did happen to all the characters, but not until the latter part of the novel. It took forever to reach that point. I love the zombies though and the added slight sci-fi elements. Also, Showalter’s writing style is mostly humorous and I could definitely point out her style in the sea of writing styles. Even though I didn’t find Through Zombie Glass as good as the first installment, it was a fairly enjoyable read and I can't wait to see how it all ends.

Overall rating: 3.4 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Title: These Broken Stars (Starbound #1)
Author: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Published: December 10th 2013
Read: September 12 to 20, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.
Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.
Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?
Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

I was really hesitant to try this, because sci-fi and I don’t match per se. I’m not sure what it is that often leaves me detached from a sci-fi story, but there definitely is something at play here. Anyhow, I saw one of Sue's graphics about TBS, and Sue and Danielle both couldn’t shut up about this book annnnd almost everyone else had loved it a whole lot so *shrugs* why not try, yeah? I must say that it was really good! Especially the first 50% of the book: I was ready to give it 5 stars! (The narrators of the audiobook were amazing btw!) But then came the second half and.. well? Things just fell apart, to put it mildly. As much as I love my romance, it was just too heavy for this kind of a book. I stopped getting butterflies in my stomach, waiting for another stolen moment etc because I knew it was coming—the anticipation was lost. Plus, more world building would have been appreciated. I know that Sue didn’t love #2 as much as TBS, but it’s a rare case where our opinions differ a little; based on Jess’s and Joy’s thoughts, I’d say that more world building is coming our way in the companion sequel, so I can’t wait to hug my pre-ordered copy of This Shattered World and devour the world out of it! While the world building was lacking in TBS and the second part dragged on forever, I’d still definitely recommend this series if you’re a fan of sci-fi or swoony romances!

Overall rating: 3.4 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the authors

Website | Twitter (A) | Twitter (M) | Goodreads (A) | Goodreads (M)

Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 16:00:00 +0000

Title: Open Road Summer
Author: Emery Lord
Published: April 15th, 2014
Read: August 3rd to 5th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

I read Open Road Summer after most of my friends had raved about it and said how much they enjoyed this inspirational story about best friends, a swoony romance, a road trip and always welcomed character growth. Plus, a story with a pretty cover and gorgeous writing is always a must-read if you ask me.

“It takes a long time to see a person as a whole spectrum, from worst to best—from the mismanaged heartache that lands them in AA to the pancake dinners, from the hurtful things shouted in a dressing room to the huge-hearted strength that only a best friend can understand. Once you get there, it’s forever.”
The book starts with our leading lady Reagan going on a road trip with her best friend Lilah (or Dee to us) who also happens to be a world-wide pop-country superstar. These two have awesome chemistry and the suitcase scene made me smile, as did most of their scenes. Their support and encouraging words for each other were some of my favorite parts in this novel and I think this is what a friendship should be like: supporting each other through thick and thin. Dee and Reagan definitely had a great relationship going on.

We also get some great family dynamics and see two sorts of families: the ones who have it all together and the ones who are still trying to reach that point. Dee’s family was adorable and I loved the growth of Reagan’s as well. Reagan, her dad and her stepmother had a lot of growing to do, but I liked where they all ended up. This road trip Reagan took was really the thing everyone in her family needed.

I also enjoyed the slow-burn romance between Matt and Reagan. Reagan is of course attracted to Matt, but she’s been burned before and Matt isn’t her type at all (though isn’t he really?) and throughout the novel we see her come to a realization that Matt is exactly what she needs: a sweet guy who’s fun, respectful, makes her laugh and is all around a complete charmer! These two had a good banter going on and their dates (public or private) were really just too darn adorable. As for the side romance, I was hoping to see a tad more of Dee’s, but I’m happy with the way that storyline turned out for her by the end of the novel.

It’s the perfect kind of book to cuddle up with on a warm summer night, but you should also crack it open when you’re missing summer and want to read some heartwarming scenes, the best kind of friendship and a slow-burn romance. Put Emery Lord on your watch list, people! She’s on her way to steal your hearts in the best possible way!

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★

Meet the author

Website | Tumblr | Twitter | Goodreads

Review: Addicted After All by Krista and Becca Ritchie

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Title: Addicted After All (Addicted #3)
Author: Krista and Becca Ritchie
Published: October 31st
Read: Oct 31st to Nov 1st, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Two addicts. One epic love story.

Prepare for the worst.

That’s what Lily and Lo try to do when Jonathan Hale schedules an “important” meeting. The problem: after being swept into the public eye and battling their addictions, they’re not sure what the worst is anymore.

In a sea of many changes—including Ryke & Daisy living with them—Lily realizes that the best part of her fluctuating hormones might just be the worst.

Her sex drive is out of control.

Loren knows that she’s insatiable, but he’s not giving up on her. She’s too much a part of him. And as he carries more and more responsibility, some of the people that he loves doubt his resolve.

In the conclusion to their love story, Lily & Lo stand side-by-side to fight, one last time, for their happily ever after.

*I’m so sorry if this review doesn’t make any sense, I can't seem to stop crying; apologies*

Where does one even begin reviewing Addicted After all? I wouldn’t know, because I legit don’t know where to begin. All I know is that AAA was one of the best series endings I’ve ever read! I will cherish this book with all my heart and shout from every rooftop possible about how good this series is, how much it has touched the deepest parts of my soul and moved me. This series is the very reminder of why I read, why authors are superheroes by saving the world book by book and why I never ever want to stop reading. It’s pure magic!

"I thought it was going to be hard—being selfless. But when you love someone with the deepest parts of your soul, they become your biggest exception."

You never know with books, especially ones that have next to no hints or teasers about them, if they live up to your expectations or not. It’s impossible not to build some for things that follow something that has previously rocked your world. Kiss the Sky is my favorite book ever and I think AAA just exceeded that. I have no words. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did?? THIS BOOK WAS EVERYTHING THAT WAS MISSING FROM MY LIFE! AAA makes you feel so many emotions that simply can't be described.

By now you all know that Rose Calloway and Connor Cobalt make a powerhouse that is my favorite otp in any and all fiction. I was afraid based on the first 20% that Coballoway would get so little screen time because it was mostly Lilo and Raisy, but nope! Every otp and character gets their spotlight at some point. Holy shoot the omfg moment is bigger than in Hothouse Flower o______o Also, there’s a warm-up omfg moment right before the real one that’s almost just as good. I legit fell out of bed by accident because I was laughing so hard, no lie! Chapter 29 made me heavily cry as did most chapters. Teen Wolf? OTH parallels? All sorts of superhero and Hogwarts stuff? Little, tiny details like the security code??? *bathes in feels*

Remember how I had problems with Ryke and Lily's friendship in Thrive? ALL FIXED!!!! Ryke & Lo’s bromance is inspiring; and I adored how the twins have developed Lo & Connor’s relationship in AAA. Also, the way Loren acknowledges Rose’s role in Lily’s life is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read. That can be said about the whole book, really. The twins have visibly progressed with their writing since Addicted to You and brought these characters to life in so many ways that the Addicted gang is like a piece of my own soul. I'll never part with these characters. No, not really. I'm legit incredibly happy, but it hurts so much you don't understand.

It hurts to say goodbye to Lily and Lo's POV. It's not over until you admit that it's over so I'm just going to be here in complete denial of everything. I had to put this book down too many times to count, because I was either laughing too hard to concentrate or crying too heavily to make out any words hence had to sob it out. There were full-body sobs and full-belly laughs; smiles too hard to contain and silent tears of every kind. Addicted series does not shy away from hard (not like that) and important topics: addictions, relapses, slut shaming, feminism, female sexuality and society's scary, sad but accurate portrayal of it all. It’s bold, witty, unique and outstanding. This series makes me proud to be a reader, a feminist, a flawed human being. If you need feels and so real characters that it literally hurts? Start the Addicted series. Best life choice ever!

I'm going to wrap it up here, because I can't even see what I'm writing anymore. Ugh, 'em bloody tears, I tell you. Nothing else to say other than Krista and Becca are irl superheroes for giving us this amazing, heartfelt and stunning, gorgeous story that develops throughout years with slow-burning, soul-consuming love of friends, family and soul mates. They deserve the bestest of slow claps. As Lily would say, thankyouthankyouthankyou!

Overall rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★★

*recommended reading order can be found here*

Meet the authors

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Addicted After All by Krista and Becca Ritchie

noreply@blogger.com (Siiri) — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 11:06:00 +0000

Hiiii, loves! It's been a long time no see, hasn't it? It feels really good to be somewhat back with this particular post and while I may still not blog regularly until Christmas, I'm willing to try and sneak in a little blogging in my schedule if it allows so. I hope you've all been up to no good ;) though really, I hope you're all doing great! I've missed you guys a ton! *hugs you all tightly*

Anyhooow, today's post is one that I've been anticipating since summer and it was super fun to create. Basically, I drew some pictures for the Addicted cast to guess. Nevermind the quality of those drawings; you know how it is with pictionary, so they're going to be "realistic", for the sake of not finding a better word lol. I hope you can play along as well by guessing these pictures as you follow the post, and have a fun time in general when reading this crazy thing :) Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit all the other lovely blogs on the tour and enter the giveaway below! x

Siiri: Hey guys! It’s been so long since we last saw each other. I hope you’ve all been good!
Loren: *plops on a couch next to Lily* seeing as how Lil and I are the only two here right now *flashes dry smile*
Lily: *gapes and punches his arm lightly* Don’t be mean.
Loren: Love, that was a fact. *looks towards staircase* RAISIN!! Get your wrinkled asses down here! *looks back to Lily* That was mean.
Ryke: *yells from upstairs* Give us a fucking second!
Lily: *whispers to Lo* Connor and Rose are late. *eyes widen with a smile* This is a first, isn’t it?
Loren: *thinks about it* Jesus Christ. You’re right. *scans the room* Where are they?
Rose: *enters the living room, wearing a Calloway Couture black dress* We’re here.
Connor: *has his hand placed on the small of Rose’s back. They settle on the loveseat*
Lily: *squints at them* Where’d you go?
Rose: *flips her hair* It doesn’t matter. Let’s start this.
Loren: We’re missing—
Ryke: We’re fucking ready *now entering the room with Daisy; he carries two large travel backpacks and tosses them on the floor* Our flight is in four fucking hours, so we need to make this quick, or else we have to bail early.
Daisy: I think we can win this game before Costa Rica *wags her eyebrows at Ryke as she plops on the chair*
Ryke: We’ll see, Calloway *picks her up and places her on his lap as he sits down*
Siiri: Ok, so last time you were here, you got to play the Newlywed Game and today you get to put your competitive sides *eyes Rose and Connor* on the table and show us what you’ve got since we’re playing Pictionary. I hope you’re fast and came prepared *cracks knuckles* because I ain’t a casual artist. This is business, ladies and gents.
Rose: *straightens up next to Connor* I’m always prepared.
Loren: That’s exactly why you have a creature growing in your ice-cold womb.
Rose: *shoots him a piercing glare*
Siiri: Alright, let’s start. First one.

Lily: Line!

Connor: *tries hard to hold back a grin* It’s most likely more complicated than a geometric shape, Lily.

Lily: *blushes* Oh. Not a line!

Loren: *kisses her temple*

Rose: Hangman. Easy.

*sources say incorrect*

Rose: *glares* What?

Connor: We’re not playing Hangman, Rose. Clearly, this is pictionary.

Rose: I’m this close *pinches her fingers together* to slapping you, Richard.

Connor: *gaze trails her body* Do it, darling, you’ll be supine afterwards.

Rose: *inhales sharply, slightly aroused*

Connor: Remember we’re teammates here, not rivals.

Rose: Fine.

Ryke: a fucking tent.
*sources say incorrect*
Connor: maybe rephrase it to,“a tent that I’ve fucked in.“
Ryke: Shut the fuck up, Cobalt.
Connor: Impossible.

Daisy: How is this not a tent?
Ryke: Thats what I’m fucking saying *pulls her closer to his chest (she’s still on his lap)*
Lily: *squints hard and begins to perk up like she may know this answer. She taps Lo’s thigh repeatedly*

Lily: Deathly Hallows!
Loren: *smiles* Good job, love.
*sources say correct*
Rose: *frowns and scrutnizes the picture up close* No.
Loren: You lost, Queen Rose, deal with it.
Rose: *crosses her arms* this doesn’t mean we lost the game.
Ryke: Is no one going to explain what the fuck a deathly hallow is?
Lily: Harry Potter—
Ryke: Never mind. I don’t want to know.

Lily & Loren: 1, Connor & Rose: 0, Ryke & Daisy: 0

Complete picture of the Deathly Hallows at the end of the post.

Siiri: Good job! That was the most excellent, really *smiles wickedly* Ok, so next one. *starts drawing*

Daisy: a rainbow unicorn!
Ryke: All I see is fucking grass.
Connor: And to no one’s surprise those are both incorrect.
*sources say incorrect*
Connor: And I’m always right.
Ryke: *glowers* This is why I need a week long vacation.
Connor: You’re going to Costa Rica because of me? I’m flattered.
Rose: *interjects, her voice oddly tight* Let’s just continue.

Loren: jail.
*everyone is tensely quiet*
Loren: And yes, I’ve been there. Jesus Christ. This is a game, be happy. *pinches Lily’s cheeks*
Lily: I’m just concentrating. *squints at the picture really hard and tugs the flaps of her Wampa cap over her ears*

Rose: *suddenly springs from the couch* We’re pausing the game. Do not play without me *points a threatening finger at Loren and Lily*
Loren: Are you going to go file your claws?
Rose: *darts out of the living room*
Connor: *his grin vanishing, stands and leaves after her*
Daisy: I heard her puking this morning.
Loren: *cringes* that’s too much information.
Lily: If I had morning sickness would you—
Loren: no, love *hugs her closer* I just don’t like imaginging Malificent upchucking. It’s like... *grimaces* her horns being cut off or something.
Daisy: *smiles* that’s kind of sweet, you know?
Loren: *glares and mockingly tilts his head at his brother* Ryke, tell your girlfriend to stop complimenting me. I don’t like it.
Ryke: *flips Lo off*
Loren: I love you too, bro.
*ten minutes pass before Connor & Rose return to the living room*

Rose: a bird cage.
*sources say incorrect*
Rose: *lets out a small growl in frustration*
Connor: Be patient, the answer will come. *wraps an arm around her shoulders*
Rose: It might be easier if my teammate pulled his own weight.
Connor: I won’t guess things that I know are wrong.
Rose: *shoots a peircing glare at him* You’re ego is making me ill.
Connor: If that was the truth, you’d be sick every single day, darling.
Rose: *raises chin and focuses on the picture*

Lily: a bird house!
*sources say incorrect*
Loren: Nice try, Lil.

Ryke: What the fuck am I looking at?

Loren: Rose vomitting out of a tower and loving it.
Rose: *gives him a murderous glare.
Loren: What? You’re in a princess tower. You’re royalty.
Daisy: *gasps* Flynn Ryder! *smiles brightly* Am I right?
*sources say correct*

Lily & Loren: 1, Connor & Rose: 0, Ryke & Daisy: 1

Complete picture of the Repunzel Tower and Flynn Ryder at the end of the post.

Siiri: Ok, wow, that was a tough one! I’m surprised you got it, but then again *grins at Daisy* not really! *laughs* Ok, ok. Next.

Rose: we’re losing, Richard.
Connor: I’m well aware of the score. *fingers to his jaw as he scrutnizes the shape*
Lily: a worm!
Loren: or an amoeba. Hey, it’s Connor Cobalt.
Connor: *tries to restrain a grin*
*sources say incorrect to all guesses so far*

Connor: an atom
*sources say correct*
Connor: *turns to Rose* And what exactly were you saying about pulling my weight? *smiles at her, but she’s pale again. His smile fades quickly*
Rose: excuse me *stands quickly and leaves*
Connor: *rises and exits with her*

Lily & Loren: 1, Connor & Rose: 1, Ryke & Daisy: 1

Complete picture of an Atom at the end of the post.

Lily: She never said we couldn’t start without her this time.
Daisy: *smiles deviously* I like the way you think, sis.
Loren: Until someone gets ripped to shreds by your older sister’s talons.
Ryke: *brows rise* Are you really suggesting we fucking wait?
Loren: No way. She shouldn’t even be playing right now. You know when we were younger Rose got Daisy, Lily, and me chicken pox because she had to go to Poppy’s birthday party, infected.
Lily: *nods repeatedly* she can’t miss anything important.
Daisy: *frowns* That’s how I got chicken pox?
Loren: Yeah, you were four. Blame Queen Rose. She’s a death-carrier. She’ll spread contagions if it means conversing with her subjects. She would’ve killed an entire kingdom if she ruled during the Bubonic Plague
Lily: Rose wouldn’t want to live back then. Everyone smelled bad. *crinkles her nose*
Siiri: *glances at where Rose and Connor left* Uh. I hate to do this, but we’re on a tight schedule here so we should probably do as Lily suggested and continue. Um. Ok, so we’re tied. Obviously. So we need a tie breaker and I have a good one! *grins huge* *starts drawing*

Lily: birth control! *eyes widen, turns bright-red* I, uh... I didn’t say that!
Loren: *surprise kisses Lily right on the lips and hugs her close*
Daisy: *smiles mescheviously* a condom.
Lily: *breaks from the kiss with way less embarassment*
Ryke: *brows furrow* that actually could be a fucking condom.
*sources say incorrect*

Ryke: that’s a urinal
Loren: Oh shit. He’s right.
*sources say incorrect*
Ryke & Loren: what? *both of them lean in closer to look at the picture*
Daisy: *whispers to Lily* brotherly love *makes a heart symbol with her hands*

Loren: that’s a normal toilet.
*sources say incorrect*
Ryke: what the fuck?
Lily: I feel like we’re staring at an optical illusion *turns her head to the side*
Daisy: Oooh, do we need to do a handstand? *mock gasps* it’s upside down!
Ryke: *messes her hair, a smile pulling his lips*

Loren: Okay, if we can’t win this without Rose and Connor here, this is going to be pathetic.
Ryke: all I see is a toilet, man.
Daisy: a portal to Narnia.
*sources say incorrect*
Lily: *scrunches her brows* a gold fish’s home?
*sources say incorrect*
Loren: *smiles* you mean BJ’s home after he died?
Ryke: *gives them both a weird look* you had a goldfish named BJ?
Lily: he was cool. Don’t judge him because of his name.
Loren: And don’t judge the owner who gave him his name either, bro.
Ryke: *raising his hands in defense* I didn’t fucking say a thing.

Loren: it’s all blue? A blue toilet room?
Lily: *smacks his leg repeatedly like the answer is hitting her*
*heels click along the floorboards*
Rose: *enters, holding hands with Connor. He carries a water bottle for Rose. She stops midway, eyes narrowed at the pictionary board*
Lily: The Blue Room!
*sources say correct*
Rose: *huffs* You cheated.
Lily: *her shoulders fall*
Loren: Do you even know what The Blue Room is?
Rose: *purses her lips*
Loren: that’s what I thought. It’s a bar downtown.
Lily: *growing smile* everything is blue.
Ryke: I fucking hate that place. It gives me a fucking migraine.
Loren: And their alochol selection is shit.
Ryke: *shoots him a glare* You better—
Loren: pre-sobriety me. Don’t get your panties twisted.
Ryke: Fucking hilarious *checks his watch* Daisy and I have to head to the airport soon. *nods to Lily* Congrats, Calloway. I didn’t even think of that.
Lily: *smiles* Thanks, Ryke.
Siiri: Ok, and that’s a wrap! Your publicist said you’re in a hurry, so not going to hold you here any longer. I’m so glad you guys could make it today! *smiles* I hope you had fun and can’t wait to see you again sometime! *waves*
Connor: thanks for having us, Siiri *winks* I’m ordering lunch from downtown. Who wants what?

THE END

Complete Pictures

Annnd here are the full pictures that would have been drawn if the cast hadn't guessed them eariler :)

About the book

Title: Addicted After All (Addicted #3)

Authors: Krista & Becca Ritchie
Published: October 31st, 2014
Add it: Goodreads
Amazon: Purchase links not available until October 31st

Two addicts. One epic love story.

Prepare for the worst.

That’s what Lily and Lo try to do when Jonathan Hale schedules an “important” meeting. The problem: after being swept into the public eye and battling their addictions, they’re not sure what the worst is anymore.

In a sea of many changes—including Ryke & Daisy living with them—Lily realizes that the best part of her fluctuating hormones might just be the worst.

Her sex drive is out of control.

Loren knows that she’s insatiable, but he’s not giving up on her. She’s too much a part of him. And as he carries more and more responsibility, some of the people that he loves doubt his resolve.

In the conclusion to their love story, Lily & Lo stand side-by-side to fight, one last time, for their happily ever after.

AUTHORS' NOTE

Due to the 2-year gap between Addicted for Now (Addicted #2) and Addicted After All (Addicted #3), you must read Thrive (Addicted #2.5) or the Calloway Sisters spin-off series before reading Addicted After All.

Le series

Calloway Sisters (Companion Series)

The whole reading order can be seen on the the twins' tumblr page here.

Meet the authors

Krista & Becca Ritchie are identical twins. They write New Adult books that make you cringe, gasp, and go ooh-la-la. (If you do that sort of thing.) They are currently working on the spin-offs and final books in the Addicted series. Connect with them on twitter and their website: kbritchie.com

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest

Giveaway

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the (maybe) not-so great

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An Open Letter to Krista and Becca Ritchie

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Mini Reviews: The Conspiracy of Us & A Darker Shade of Magic

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About the book

PS. The Calloway Sisters series can be read as a separate series, but it's even more enjoyable as a part of the Additced series. The full recommended reading order of both series can be seen on the the twins' tumblr page here.

Meet the authors

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Giveaway

Open internationally!

Dual Review: Every Last Word & For the Record

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Meet the author

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Dual Review: Most Likely to Succeed and This Is One Moment

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Thank you to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for providing an ARC. My thoughts are my own and in no way did the review copy affect my opinion on the book.

Meet the author

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Thank you to Pan MacMillan and Netgalley for providing an ARC. My thoughts are my own and in no way did the review copy affect my opinion on the book.

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Review: Fuel the Fire by Krista and Becca Ritchie

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Blog Tour and Giveaway: Fuel the Fire by Krista and Becca Ritchie

FIRST WORD

SECOND WORD

THIRD (AND FINAL) WORD

About the book

PS. The Calloway Sisters series can be read as a separate series, but it's even more enjoyable as a part of the Additced series. The full recommended reading order of both series can be seen on the the twins' tumblr page here.

Meet the authors

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram

Giveaway

Open internationally!

Mini Reviews: Perfect Couple, Finding It, Trial by Fire, Sinner

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodread

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Thank you to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for providing an ARC. My thoughts are my own
and in no way did the review copy affect my opinion on the book.

Thank you to Pan MacMillan and Netgalley for providing an ARC. My thoughts are my own
and in no way did the review copy affect my opinion on the book.