Emoji Tag: Featuring Baach the Sheepy!

Hello there! I know it's been a long week of me not posting anything, but have I got something for you! Today, I am proud to be posting a fun little thing.

YES, A TAG!

More specifically, I've been tagged by Abby @ Enthralling Reads, which involves matching emojis, or emoticons, to BOOKS. Yes that's correct, you read right. But here's the thing, instead of using those common smiley face ones, I'm going to be switching to this set:

BEHOLD, HERE IS BAACH THE SHEEPY

I use him ALL THE TIME on Facebook, and even though my friends think I'm a weirdo, does it look like I care? NO. He's going to be my star today on my post.

Okay, basically, the rules are to pick 5-10 emojis that you use, or random ones, and use them to portray either a book or a character. Simple! It's a matching game!

MY MATCHES:

Here's my super happy Baach! Because yes, even though I recently read The Art of Lainey, I loved the fact that it was super adorable and light. There were barely any sad moments, and when there were, us readers were again reminded of how awesome Micah and Lainey were when together. Also this really has been the only happy fun read for this summer, everything else I've read is either sad, action-packed, or just dramatic. Plus, there's a torture house of pancakes. I want to go so badly. 

NOOOOOOO. Look at that poor sheepy! He's so sad, being under that umbrella. Reminds me of The Book Thief, because those tears didn't stop falling as a read through it, especially that end. I don't care if Death spoiled it for me in the first chapter. How could you just make me so emotionally attached to those beautiful characters. I don't understand why authors do such things.

Hahahahha here's my I don't care what happens anymore Baach. Honestly, there are some books out there, (cough cough Earth Star) that I seriously question why I bother even finishing it. I usually don't DNF, but you can just tell from my ranty reviews when I did not enjoy a book. And that goes to Earth Star. There was a point where I just stopped caring about our MC Jarra, and just wanted to get the book over with.

And then there are those books that are super confusing, and you start to question why the MC is doing this or what's happening, etc. Swirly eyed Baach is a perfect portrayal of my confusion, especially with The Here and Now. Like wut was going on with that book. The time travel made absolutely no sense, and the book was filled with plot holes. I just, idk.

And now to our final Baach, LOVEY DOVEY EYES!

Hello Darkling from Shadow and Bone. Yes, I know I don't know much about you, but you're cool and mysterious, and probably pretty sexy looking. And also the only person I can think of that's swoonworthy. But I plan to read Siege and Storm soon, along with Ruin and Rising.

OH there's also Puck from the Iron Fey Series. Adorable and hilarious.

Wow, I'll just throw in Mogget the sarcastic cat from The Abhorsen. I don't even care I'm allergic to cats I would snuggle with him anyways. Wow I'm not even talking about hot guys anymore. And I was only supposed to pick one person, whoops. 

And that's it for now.

Here are my tags!

Megan @ Adrift from Vulcan

Nobody @ The Story Goes...

Jillian @ Jillian's Books

Cait @ The Notebook Sisters

Emily @ Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Katrina @ Chased By My Imagination

And anyone else that wants to join in! I know some people don't like tags (or have already done them, probably tagged from me hahaha), but I need to tag people somehow!

Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: February 21st, 2012
Source: Library
Date Read: 7/21/14 to 7/24/14
359 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰

A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

HOW DO I EVEN PUT MY FEELINGS INTO WORDS?????

This book. This BOOK. THIS BOOK.

Honestly, I don't know what to say. Sure, I knew how good it was when I first borrowed it from the library. But did I expect this awesomeness? No, no I didn't.

Where do I even start?

Honestly, I've concluded that writing this review of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is the most frustrating, hardest thing I've done this summer. This is not an exaggeration. Somehow a story about how a boy, meets another boy, and then becomes the best of friends, has made me speechless.

Reasons why this review will be short:

• I refuse to spoil this amazing book. I feel like anything I say will be a spoiler, so I will leave you in just as much mystery as I was in before I picked this up. And look at me now, I'm at a loss for words

• I'm tempted to say nothing happens, BUT THAT IS A LIE. A lot of things happen. A lot of things I do really, REALLY want to talk about, but can't because of bullet point above.

• I just, this book. I don't even have any words. I am out of words, and this review will do no justice to how amazing this book is

Though, I do want to mention how amazing the parents were in this, both Aristotle's and Dante's. After books and books of YA protagonists going on adventures without any sort of parentals involved, this was an absolute refresher. Seriously, Ari and Dante love their parents, and I love their parents too. And the dog, Legs. I WOULD NAME A DOG "LEGS" AT THIS POINT. And then ARI AND DANTE THEMSELVES ARE BEAUTIFUL.

Oh, and there is no end to how many times you can quote this book. Seriously, you could just quote the whole book and I wouldn't care. It's all gold. Especially since most of it is dialogue. Short dialogue too, but MEANINGFUL and so INSIGHTFUL, and GAH. This was actually a really fast read for me because of that.

DO YOU WANT EXAMPLES, HERE LET ME GIVE THEM TO YOU:

“I wondered what that was like, to hold someone’s hand. I bet you could sometimes find all of the mysteries of the universe in someone’s hand.”

“He tried not to laugh, but he wasn't good at controlling all the laughter that lived inside of him.”

“Do you think it will always be this way?"
"What?"
"I mean, when do we start feeling like the world belongs to us?"
I wanted to tell him that the world would never belong to us. "I don't know," I said. "Tomorrow.”

Yes, I do recommend this to everyone. I know, this review probably didn't tell you anything about the book, but really, I think that this is how it should be. Because right now, I'm an emotional mess and this book is to blame.

Review: The Iron Daughter

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
The Iron Fey #2
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: August 1st, 2010
Source: Library
Date Read: 7/16/14 to 7/21/14
359 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰1/2

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

It's been a year since reading The Iron King, and I've finally decided to pick up where I left off, which may have been a bad thing to do, seeing that I actually don't remember much. Sure, I know the basics, but I think not knowing a lot of the details definitely put a damper on my enjoyment of The Iron Daughter.

So, let me summarize what I know of the first book, bullet point style:

• Meghan Chase, our protagonist, finds out that her little brother has been kidnapped by the Iron Fey
• Then, later, she finds out that her best friend, Robbie, is actually Robin Goodfellow, and also a fey sent to protect her, since she's a half-breed and also the Summer King's daughter
• So, she goes into the Nevernever to go against the Iron Fey, who are hated by all because iron kills normal fey, or faery, or whatever they're actually called.
• And along the way she meets the Winter Prince, Ash. Cue insta-love.

So the journey continues from there, and because I'm a nice person, you would have to read the first book to find out what happens later. And I don't want to spoil. And on that note, the second book in the Iron Fey starts with Meghan being in the Fey world, but held against her own will by the Winter Queen, Mab. However, the Iron Fey are on the rise again, this time led by a false Iron King. Plus they stole the scepter which lets either the Winter Queen or Summer King govern the seasons in the human world. Or something like that. Basically it's powerful and is dangerous in the wrong hands

First off, I had mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I did like how easy it was to breeze through. I had no problems at all understanding what was going on, and the writing felt smooth overall. Then on the other hand, I wanted to punch the love triangle, even though it's physically impossible because romance can't be objectified. BUT STILL. I would.

I'm just going to start off with the good stuff before I go on with my little rant.

Ok, so what really made me like the Iron Daughter, and the Iron Fey series in general, is how the author put in a lot of effort into the world. I liked the idea of Summer Fey, Winter Fey, and the Iron Fey, and how it all connected with the human world. As with the first book, I liked being back into this world. I'm a sucker for all things magical and fantasy, so this was to be expected.

AND PUCK! And GRIMALKIN! There really needs to be a crossover between The Abhorsen and this so that Grim and Mogget can meet and be sarcastic cat buddies. Really, I think Grim is the only reason why everyone isn't dead yet.

And now, there's Meghan. Don't get me wrong, I do like her as a character. Sure, she has a normal sounding name that sounds funny when said in a serious tone, but other than that, she acted normally, knowing how to make important decisions and so on. Well....unless there's Ash involved.

Honestly, why is Meghan so oblivious to what Ash is trying to do at the start of the book? He's ignoring her for a certain reason, to not piss off his mother, the Winter Queen. He does love you, but he just knows that the Summer Fey and Winter Fey can't be together. Like come on. How did she not notice that. And then she tries to get his attention anyways. Honestly, Meghan does make great decisions, only when it doesn't revolve around Ash.

Then she kisses Puck anyways! The other love interest, who not only has been around protecting her her whole life, but actually seriously loves her back. And then she just kisses him out of loneliness. I may not know about romance or love in general, but I don't think you should be leading him on like that.

And then, there's a Winter formal that all three of them go to, in order to you know "replenish Ash's strength and energy by being in a room full of human emotions". Or you know, it could just be a ploy the author uses to get the boys gushing over Meghan in a dress. Or something along the likes.

Overall, yes I did enjoy the Iron Daughter, I really did. It's just, why did all of Meghan's actions have to revolve around Ash. I get it, he's your love and you would do anything for him, but, I don't know. To be honest, maybe this love triangle/romance just didn't work out for this series. Maybe I would've enjoyed it better without it all. The ending definitely made me angry too. *sigh* But maybe I'm just not a person that enjoys this type of romance. I don't know. I have mixed feelings and I don't know how to express them at this point. Maybe I should've read the first book again. Argh. Still going to borrow the last book though.

Top Ten Tuesday #20

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Characters I Would Want With Me On A Deserted Island

Ok, so I could either base this off of hotness factor, characters that are more likely to survive, or just ones that are plain awesome and adorable. I've read a decent amount of books since summer began, so I think I will have an easy time coming up with a list.

survivalists

These two options are fairly obvious, because I need some way to survive on a deserted island. And since Katsa from Graceling and Katniss from The Hunger Games know how to do just that, I don't think I'll starve with them. Plus they basically have the same name. And they're badass

best friends

So basically, I also want a couple of characters that I can be friends with. Oh, and also gush over their adorable-ness. Because I don't think I'll be able to survive with someone cute to play with.

First we have Queenie/Verity from Code Name Verity. Yes, I know, I know, but I don't care! This is my fantasy world and if I want her on my deserted island she will be on my deserted island! 

Then there's Liesel from The Book Thief, because who else would I talk about books with? Definitely this girl. Though I might just bring Rudy along too because THOSE TWO ARE SO CUTE. Ugh my feels.

And yes, Budo from Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend. I know many people don't know this book doesn't exist, but I urge you to check it out. It's about a boy, his amazing imaginary friend Budo, and a kidnapping. Yes that's right, you heard right. This isn't your ordinary family tale. Oh no.

magic users

So Hermione from Harry Potter is the brightest witch of her age, so she probably has a couple of spells up her sleeves that deal with surviving and stuff. She could bring one of those pop-up tents that are bigger on the inside than on the outside!

Lirael from Lirael (Abhorsen #2). You know, just in case there are any undead lying around. And plus she's just awesome. And comes with the Disreputable Dog!

and then, THE HOTNESS

Siiiiiigh, Puck from The Iron King, just because he's so hilarious and will cheer anyone up from our "bleak" situation. 

And HAHAHAHHA The Darkling from Shadow and Bone. Wow I wonder how this would work on a deserted island. I think he would be more pissed than anything else, but it would be entertaining.

OH, and Morpheus from Splintered, just because HE HAS WINGS and IS A MOTH, and gah.

I just noticed that the three guys I've combined together are on different sides. Puck is supposed to be on the good side in The Iron King, then there's the Darkling and "his evilness", and then Morpheus is just neutral, because he hasn't exactly redeemed himself yet. Hmm, I think Puck and Morpheus would get along though. Wow, I would love to see some fanfiction on this.

Honestly, there should be fanfiction involved all of these characters together. That would be great.

What do you think? Anyone else you would add to the list? Link up your TTTs below!

Stacking the Shelves #6

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I will also be linking up with The Sunday Post, which is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
This features a recap of my week, and also interesting posts around the blogosphere.

From the Library:

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor - Had this on hold at the library, and finally was able to pick it up yesterday! You have no idea how long I've been waiting to finally finish this trilogy. I don't care if I'm late!

Unhinged by A. G. Howard - Usually I wait awhile (or a month haha) before picking up the second installment of a series. BUT I JUST CAN'T HELP IT. Who knows when I'll be able to read this? Though I have a bad feeling I'm not going to like the ending, and plus the third book isn't going to be released until 2015.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black - This is actually going to be my first YA vampire book since Twilight. Honestly. Actually scratch YA. I haven't read any vampire book at all since then.

Weekly Recap:

Monday: I reviewed The Art of Lainey, and thoroughly enjoyed it! I plan to read more contemporaries from now on, even though I did borrow a lot of fantasy books this week.

Tuesday: I shared my top ten TV shows, even though I haven't finished most of them! Who has the time to juggle reading, anime, video games, and TV shows? Not me.

Wednesday: I reviewed Splintered, a creepy fantasy retelling of Alice in Wonderland.

Thursday: I was tagged by Megan @ Adrift on Vulcan, so I shared my list of authors I auto-read/buy.

Friday: I ranted about Earth Star, the second book to Earth Girl. It's pretty long, but hilarious. (Wow I'm so modest lol)

News from the Bloggysphere!

Kristen @ My Friends Are Fiction shares how she can't remember details from books she read awhile ago.

Sunny @ A Splash of Ink rants about how over-hyped up books don't meet her expectations sometimes.

Jeann @ Happy Indulgence talks about being a completionist

Megan @ Adrift on Vulcan discusses the good and bad trends that appear in book synopsis. (Is there a plural for this word? Synopeses?)

The second Potato Podcast from the Social Potato is on the SAILOR MOON remake that's airing currently!

Jordin @ A Bottomless Book Bag urges everyone to make a suggestion to Goodreads about tracking rereads! Also, she recently guest posted about cliffhangers at Oh, The Books!

Review: Earth Star

Earth Star by Janet Edwards
Earth Girl #2
Publisher: Pyr
Release Date: January 1st, 2013
Source: Library
Date Read: 7/11/14 to 7/13/14
285 Pages
Rating: ✰✰

Only She Can Save the World.

Eighteen-year-old Jarra has a lot to prove. After being awarded one of the military's highest honors for her role in a daring rescue attempt, Jarra finds herself - and her Ape status - in the spotlight. Jarra is one of the unlucky few born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Derided as an "ape"- a "throwback" - by the rest of the universe, Jarra is on a mission to prove that Earth Girls are just as good as anyone else.

Except now the planet she loves is under threat by what could be humanity's first ever alien contact. Jarra's bravery - and specialist knowledge - will once again be at the center of the maelstrom, but will the rest of the universe consider Earth worth fighting for?

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

After recently finishing Earth Girl, I saw that my library also had the second installment for it. And since I really did like the first book, I wanted to give this one a try as well! Sadly, it didn't exactly go very well for me. (And here ends my streak for good books)

First let me sum up the first book, Earth Girl (review here). In the future, there's the technology to teleport to any planet that's been colonized. However, not everyone can just portal off-world. Some, called the Handicapped, apes, neans, are looked down upon for their inability to leave Earth, due to their poor immune system. Enter Jarra, a Handicapped that wishes to prove to everyone that she's better than them. By attending a university History class with students from other planets, creating a fake identity, she plans to fool everyone into thinking that she's perfectly normal. Until she starts believing her own lies. And also making friends. 

Now, let me sum up this second book here, Earth Star. In one word. 

ALIENS. 

Lol it's Sheldon the Alien

Actually, this is inaccurate, because even though the blurb clearly points to ALIENS, we never really see any. 

Basically, after the whole lying fiasco, Jarra encounters a new obstacle. And that is the huge round UFO floating above Earth. Yep, it happened! Humans have encountered ALIENS! Though the Military is keeping it under wraps, because you know, people would freak out if ALIENS just came out of no where. 

So anyways, Jarra and her boyfriend, Fian, are "mysteriously" recruited for the Alien programme, in other words, they're now Military. And one would think, wow REAL ALIENS, how is Jarra going to deal with this? She's only a student! Well, I was highly disappointed with the answers the book gave me. Here, I even drew a graph of how the story went (no spoilers, I promise).

As you can see, Earth Star had a couple of problems. Let's start with the most obvious one. First, most of it is basically just "telling". Right when I started reading, Jarra began telling us about how her meeting with Fian's parents went, through her best friend, Issette. Honestly, I would rather be shown this scene, only because I was actually looking forward to it when I finished the previous book. This continues to be a problem throughout, all mostly by dialogues, which mainly just dish out more information.

Second, why is Jarra just handed everything? I understood why it happened in the first book, but now? It's just very repetitive. Plus, Jarra shouldn't know about all the things that she actually knows about. And then when she feels nervous, she does fine. Honestly, this girl can't do anything wrong, unless when it's out of control. And even then she's fine.

Again, Fian is just there as a boyfriend. I still don't know what his other characteristics are, other than he is a "very naughty Deltan boy", or somewhere only the lines of.

And then, most of the stuff goes over my head. Like honestly, I did understand the digsite terminology in the first book, but now there's just WAY more. I either didn't pay attention to the explanations, or I just skimmed through it because it was way too boring. The only reason I stuck through with it, is because I actually wanted to know about the aliens, and whether we would meet them. But nope, even though I have to wait until the third book.

Ok, now for some positive things. I loved how some things that were mentioned was due to our time period. For example, a band was formed, and they performed a "gig" during a party. Apparently they don't have rock and roll music anymore in the future, which makes sense since most of that knowledge was lost.

Also, CHEESE FLUFFLE! What is cheese fluffle?? I don't know! But I really want to try it. It just sounds so fun and fluffy! Maybe it's fluffy cheese??????? This is constantly mentioned as one of the meals Jarra adores, haha.

And if this counts for anything, I know everything about the Earth Girl world, including all the slang words, such as amaz, nardle (you're such a nardle Jarra!), nuke (because.....why? It's the equivalent of the f-word), and zan. AND HAHAHAHA BUTT IS CONSIDER SUPER INAPPROPRIATE! You can only say "legs" (Wow, he has nice legs), which I think still means butt, BUT STILL. Imagine never being able to say "butts" again. That would be a very sad life.

Sorry for the long review/rant though. I've seen a couple of positive reviews on Goodreads, so if you're a sci-fi fan, maybe you should still check this series out? Don't let my review change your mind haha!

My Author Auto-Read List, Since I'm too Broke to Buy My Own Books

Hellllo! So basically, I was tagged by the awesome Megan @ Adrift on Vulcan, to list out the authors I auto-buy books from. Unfortunately, since I'm a broke college student, and rarely buy books unless it's on impulse, I usually just borrow it from the library, or from a friend. Therefore, I've decided to tweak this a bit, and focus more on the books I've read and want to read, rather than the ones I own or will buy.

Sorry if I've stepped on anyone's toes because of this, but oh well. SUCK IT UP. Just kidding, just kidding. I took it too far.

To be honest, I don't usually read a ton of books by the same author all in one go. Like I do with series, I usually wait awhile before actually picking up another one of their books. But they're definitely on the TBR list!

First off, is definitely Rainbow Rowell. I've actually read all of her books, except for Landline, because it's new. Though I currently have a hold on it at the library. I don't know why I love her books so much, maybe it's because they all take place in different time periods, and also focus a little on romance but not too much. Either way, I'm super duper excited to read Landline!

Then there's obviously J.K. Rowling, who is a queen for writing Harry Potter. And that's why I was kind of excited about the Casual Vacancy. Sadly I was disappointed, but I'll still read anything by her, though I haven't touched her mystery books yet.

Only have Laini Taylor on this list because the first series I got addicted to was Daughter of Smoke & Bone. Even though I haven't finish Dreams of Gods & Monsters (picking that up at the library tomorrow), I know it's going to be awesome. And I'll definitely read any other series or books by her.

And why wouldn't John Green be on this list? Even though I've only read two books of his, he has enough hype surrounding him for me to pick up more of his books. Truth is, I read TFIOS and Looking for Alaska, and while I loved TFIOS, I didn't care much for the latter one. Still eager to try Paper Towns though!

Books by Meg Cabot are my young adult/teen guilty pleasure. I've read so many of her books, including my faves, The Mediator series and also 1-800-Where-R-U. Seriously, if you haven't checked those out, do so NOW. I tried reading some of her latest work, but I just can't get into it. But either way, I'm likely to pick up her books again, just because they're so fun.


And that's all from me! I guess I should be tagging people now, right? Obviously anyone can join in on the fun, but here are my official tags:

Katrina @ Chased By My Imagination
Cait @ The Notebook Sisters
Emily @ Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Rinn @ Rinn Reads
Jillian @ Jillian's Book Blog
Nobody @ The Story Goes...

Honestly I tried to tag as many people as I could think of at the moment (that also are more likely to see this post). And also I know some people don't participate in tags, but I don't know these things so please don't blame me thanks! Haha.

Let me know your auto-buy or read authors! Feel free to participate in the tag as well :D