An Innocent Life #23: February Recap

I feel like this month just came and went so quickly, yet at the same time I AM TIRED. This year is just going by, and I am not ready haha.

How To Deal With The Pressures Of Social Media

One of the reasons why I'm such a huge procrastinator stems from the fact that I am constantly on social media. Specifically, Twitter. It's gotten to the point where I continue to refresh my feed even after only a couple of minutes, knowing that there will be NOTHING new.

This seems to be a problem for a bunch of people as well, so I've decided to share some tips that I use when I want to remain focused on reading or writing, or just dealing with social media in general. (Thanks to Shannon for contributing some of these!)

Review: Daughter of the Siren Queen

Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller
Daughter of the Pirate King #2
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: February 27th, 2018
Source: Macmillan
Date Read: 2/5/18 to 2/7/18
352 pages

Alosa's mission is finally complete. Not only has she recovered all three pieces of the map to a legendary hidden treasure, but the pirates who originally took her captive are now prisoners on her ship. Still unfairly attractive and unexpectedly loyal, first mate Riden is a constant distraction, but now he's under her orders. And she takes great comfort in knowing that the villainous Vordan will soon be facing her father's justice.

When Vordan exposes a secret her father has kept for years, Alosa and her crew find themselves in a deadly race with the feared Pirate King. Despite the danger, Alosa knows they will recover the treasure first . . . after all, she is the daughter of the Siren Queen.

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I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from ARC may or may not be in the published edition.

I've waited a good while before actually sitting down to review this (mainly because I've been super busy), BUT ALSO because I don't even know how to review this (why am I a reviewer again?). I loved Daughter of the Pirate King. I loved Daughter of the Siren Queen, but it definitely took a different route than I expected.

Review: Tess of the Road

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
Publisher: Random House Books For Young Readers
Release Date: February 27th, 2018
Source: Netgalley
Date Read: 2/1/18 to 2/6/18
544 pages

In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons get to be whomever they want. Tess, stubbornly, is a troublemaker. You can't make a scene at your sister's wedding and break a relative's nose with one punch (no matter how pompous he is) and not suffer the consequences. As her family plans to send her to a nunnery, Tess yanks on her boots and sets out on a journey across the Southlands, alone and pretending to be a boy.

Where Tess is headed is a mystery, even to her. So when she runs into an old friend, it's a stroke of luck. This friend is a quigutl--a subspecies of dragon--who gives her both a purpose and protection on the road. But Tess is guarding a troubling secret. Her tumultuous past is a heavy burden to carry, and the memories she's tried to forget threaten to expose her to the world in more ways than one.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from ARC may or may not be in the published edition.

I have pretty mixed feelings about this book, mainly stemming from the fact that I've forgotten everything from Seraphina and Shadow Scale (whoops). Nevertheless, Tess of the Road grew on me. ALSO, THE COVER IS STUNNING.

How To Survive A Book Buying Ban

I've realized that I have been writing and posting way too many reviews in a row (who AM I??), yet this post that I was supposed to write in January just never happened. So here I am, with non-review post. Sorry for the delay.

Anyways, this year, I am greatly limiting the number of books bought. I think. Or at least I'll try to. And so in this post, I'll be sharing tips on how I resist the temptation to buy books. And survive the book buying ban.

Review: When Light Left Us

When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
Release Date: February 13th, 2018
Source: Netgalley
Date Read: 1/23/18 to 1/25/18
416 pages

When the Vasquez siblings’ father left, it seemed nothing could remedy the absence in their lives . . . until a shimmering figure named Luz appeared in the canyon behind their house.

Luz filled the void. He shot hoops with seventeen-year-old Hank’s hands. He showed fourteen-year-old Ana cinematic beauty behind her eyelids. He spoke kindly to eight-year-old Milo. But then Luz left, too, and he took something from each of them. As a new school year begins, Ana, Hank, and Milo must carry on as if an alien presence never altered them. But how can they ever feel close to other people again when Luz changed everything about how they see the world and themselves?

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from ARC may or may not be in the published edition.

It's times like these where I forget HOW to review a book. And especially one like this, which borders on the line between contemporary and science fiction. Some of the reasons why I picked this up were 1) written by Leah Thomas, who also wrote Because You'll Never Meet Me and 2) it reminds me of Shaun Hutchinson's We Are the Ants, which I loved, and 3) this is totally my type of book, and I wasn't wrong about that.

Review: Noteworthy

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate
Publisher: Abrams Books
Release Date: May 2nd, 2017
Source: Netgalley
Date Read: 1/27/18 to 1/28/18
400 pages

A cappella just got a makeover.

Jordan Sun is embarking on her junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts, hopeful that this will be her time: the year she finally gets cast in the school musical. But when her low Alto 2 voice gets her shut out for the third straight year—threatening her future at Kensington-Blaine and jeopardizing her college applications—she’s forced to consider nontraditional options.

In Jordan’s case, really nontraditional. A spot has opened up in the Sharpshooters, Kensington’s elite a cappella octet. Worshipped…revered…all male. Desperate to prove herself, Jordan auditions in her most convincing drag, and it turns out that Jordan Sun, Tenor 1, is exactly what the Sharps are looking for.

Jordan finds herself enmeshed in a precarious juggling act: making friends, alienating friends, crushing on a guy, crushing on a girl, and navigating decades-old rivalries. With her secret growing heavier every day, Jordan pushes beyond gender norms to confront what it means to be a girl (and a guy) in a male-dominated society, and—most importantly—what it means to be herself.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from ARC may or may not be in the published edition.

I'm about, oh a little less than a year late with this review. But guess what? I finally read Noteworthy! I don't know why I have been hesitating this whole time, because it completely met all my expectations, and even went beyond them. Past Val was right to anticipate this book all that time ago.

An Innocent Life #22: January Recap

Hello hello there. *looks at blog posts* Wow, I did NOT post as much as I wanted to this January. Well, it doesn't matter because I read 26 books this month and I am proud. What an achievement.