Top Ten Tuesday #84

Top Ten Tuesday Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish!

Disaster Valentine's Day Dates Inspired By Book Couples 

HAHAHHAHAHHAHAH. I HATE VALENTINE'S DAY.

I would like to rename the day "Date Your Doggy Day" or I'm sure it's already known as "Singles Awareness Day". I hope you loooooooove my graphic. It represents me on the mountain of gooey heart romantic stuff, a mountain that needs to be CONTAINED. And away from me. Artistic creativity right there, folks.

I hope you enjoy my fun, romantic "dates" inspired by some of my favorite book couples (Excluding Rudy and Liesel from The Book Thief because they have gone through enough). If you are looking for some ACTUAL romantic dates inspired by book couples, look to Shannon's TTT over at It Starts At Midnight!

These Broken Stars - Tarver and Lilac celebrate Valentine's Day on another luxury spaceliner, but it ends up crashing again.

The Lunar Chronicles - Prince Kai takes Cinder out for dinner, but accidentally spills water all over her causing an electrical emergency

Splintered - Jeb. Just Jeb. He is the disaster

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Legs the dog eats the entire dinner. And he does deserve it because he is a cutie.

The Iron Fey - Queen Mab (Ash's mom) crashes the date and freezes Meghan because she can, and also all the food.

Everything, Everything - Olly discovers he is allergic to chocolate.

Reawakened - Amon continues to feed Lily cheesy lines like "A desert lily need not turn jealous eyes toward the common violet." throughout the entire Valentine's Day dinner and she finally snaps.

Emmy & Oliver - Oliver accidentally damages Emmy's surfboard in the process of clearing out the backseat of her car for his Valentine's day plans.

A Darker Shade of Magic - Kell and Lila accidentally opens a portal to Black London and they end up having to eat their dinner and have their date there.

Illuminae - ZOMBIE PEOPLE ruin EVERYTHING, including Ezra and Kady's date. No one knows where they came from. The dinner remains untouched, surprisingly.

This was fun! Muhahah. Do you have plans for Valentine's Day? Or are you going to be snuggling with dogs like I am?

Review: A Criminal Magic

A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: February 2nd, 2016
Source: ALA Midwinter
Date Read: 2/1/16 to 2/7/16
432 pages

Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰

Magic is powerful, dangerous and addictive - and after passage of the 18th Amendment, it is finally illegal.

It's 1926 in Washington, DC, and while Anti-Sorcery activists have achieved the Prohibition of sorcery, the city's magic underworld is booming. Sorcerers cast illusions to aid mobsters' crime sprees. Smugglers funnel magic contraband in from overseas. Gangs have established secret performance venues where patrons can lose themselves in magic, and take a mind-bending, intoxicating elixir known as the sorcerer's shine.

Joan Kendrick, a young sorcerer from Norfolk County, Virginia accepts an offer to work for DC's most notorious crime syndicate, the Shaw Gang, when her family's home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, a first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated past and talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws.

Through different paths, Joan and Alex tread deep into the violent, dangerous world of criminal magic - and when their paths cross at the Shaws' performance venue, despite their orders, and despite themselves, Joan and Alex become enchanted with one another. But when gang alliances begin to shift, the two sorcerers are forced to question their ultimate allegiances and motivations. And soon, Joan and Alex find themselves pitted against each other in a treacherous, heady game of cat-and-mouse.

A CRIMINAL MAGIC casts a spell of magic, high stakes and intrigue against the backdrop of a very different Roaring Twenties.

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.

Holy shit

I don't know what I just read, my heart's still racing because of how intense this was. Sure magic is powerful and dangerous, but you know what else is? THIS BOOK. For my HEART.

Joan and Alex are on the opposite sides of the field, in a way that Joan is convinced that her magic is being used for a good thing (like getting high!), while Alex is posing as a double agent in order to stop people like his father, who distributed the drugs and profited from it. Both lead incredibly dangerous lives, with Alex risking his life every time he reports back to the Feds, and Joan risking hers by demonstrating sacrificial magic no one knows about except her family to a gangster boss. So when I say that A Criminal Magic has hell of a dangerous plot, I am not lying.

Right from the beginning, you are sucked into Joan's world. She's fending for herself and her family, but with her uncle constantly high on his own sorcerer's shine, it seems like she'll never be pay off any of their debts. Until enter in Mr. Gunn, gangster boss gathering sorcerer's for some special performances, and off she goes. And then Alex is in a similar situation except he's been in deep waters with the Feds ever since his father got caught distributing drugs. So he has to make a deal, go undercover, discover what all these gangsters are planning, and report it. And off he goes!

It wasn't only the plot that made this novel such a fantastic read for me, but both Joan and Alex had such great characterizations, and the fact that their history drove most of their actions made them feel like real, and solid. And their magic. Their magic complemented each other so well, in this way it reminded me so much of The Night Circus. The marketing pitch was not wrong in that way.

But there were so many criminals. Magic is being shipped off as drugs as a way to get high or wasted. And it was just fascinating to read about such a thing, especially since all of this takes place in the 1920s. And although there were many parties, most took place in bars and such where sorcerer's shine was brewed. I almost wanted their to be a Gatsby party with these kinds of drugs. That would have been chaotic!

Maybe my one complaint is that both Alex and Joan were near perfect in every way, but honestly, it didn't bother me as much. It helped that there were more bigger and dangerous things going on in the background.

I loved A Criminal Magic, though I am still confused as to what this is marketed as. I want to assume it is YA but it seems as it is Adult fantasy? I'm not sure and will have to look it up somewhere other than Goodreads. But again, this was a fantastic novel. Definitely great for fans of The Night Circus, and maybe even A Darker Shade of Magic!

An Innocent Life #4: Grad School Interviews & Instagram

Another week closer to the end of winter, am I right?

So technically, there isn't anything new going on in life, I guess the only thing being the fact that I made a new instagram. So yes, it is innocent.smiley! I only have three images, but that is better than none!

Here is my favorite (out of the three I posted, lol)

A photo posted by Valerie (@innocent.smiley) on Feb 3, 2016 at 4:13pm PST

I also got plenty of books in the month of January, which is why I am on a book buying ban for the rest of the year, pretty much. I'm trying to save money up for BEA in May!

I bought four books from Kayla's book sale, because why not. And although Shannon did steal Every Breath and Every Word from me (darn you Shannon), I ended up getting Splintered and Unhinged, completing that trilogy since I bought Ensnared in December (It was only $5 on Amazon, okay?). And then I also bought The School For Good and Evil and A World Without Princes, because why not.

January was the last month for #otspsecretsister, and Sara @ A Gingerly Review sent me Dreams of Gods & Monsters, which I read and loved. Plus it was the first series I finished in YEARS (I am so bad at finishing series, I have no idea why). And she also sent me The Well of Ascension from the Mistborn series! I love Mistborn. Love love love. Along with a bunch of other goodies as well.

So I have been wanting to share links from posts I loved for awhile now, no thanks to Shannon, and finally to Nori who convinced me even further to do so. I know I did this maybe once in the past, but then stopped for some reason. So let's see how long this will last!

Ely & Michelle @ Tea & Titles are hosting Bookentine 2016! A readathon of contemporary and romance novels!

Holly @ The Fox's Hideaway hosts the 100 recap chat between Shannon and Amber (and sometimes never me)! I have no idea which episode this is, because I pretend to know what's going on when I really don't.

Alexandra @ Literary Legionnaire asks whether endings HAVE to involve epilogues. Is it really necessary to always have closure? (I love my closure, so I would probably say yes hahahahhah)

Mel @ The Daily Prophecy makes a list of things to do without the internet (gasp), which stems from her own experiences. 

Sunny @ A Splash of Ink reflects on reading aloud her own work (!!!)

Soo, one week until my grad school interview. And that will be next Friday, but on Thursday I actually have to fly out to North Carolina. If it all goes well, it may be where I will be heading next year? I really hope I am not jinxing anything because as you all know by now (I am sure), I really want to go to grad school there. I've already practice my answers to potential interview questions many times, so hopefully all goes well *crosses fingers*

Also, notice the new font? I've been planning to change it forever, but never could find a good well until now. I have always been really picky about the font of the actual text of the blog. I want to make it readable, but also cool! So I settled on this one.

What else? Oh CommentLuv finally works on IntenseDebate (the commenting system on my blog) in that the little heart image FINALLY SHOWS UP next to the checkbox. I don't know what caused this change, but I am glad. This is just me fangirling over something stupid, don't mind me.

Lastly, JANUARY WAS OVER. I would say that my favorite book of the month was Nimona. My least favorite book was probably Wink Poppy Midnight. 

I tried a CHEESE. This was my first time trying Goat Cheese, and I really liked it! And I have an idea of what book I could pair that up with, so be on the lookout for that in the future! I might add the cheese recommendation either to the end of the review, or to this recap post. We'll see!

Thanks for reading! How was your January?

Review: Front Lines

Front Lines by Michael Grant
Soldier Girl #1
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: January 26th, 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Date Read: 1/28/16 to 1/31/16
576 pages

Rating: ✰✰✰✰

World War II, 1942. A court decision makes women subject to the draft and eligible for service. The unproven American army is going up against the greatest fighting force ever assembled, the armed forces of Nazi Germany.

Three girls sign up to fight. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman are average girls, girls with dreams and aspirations, at the start of their lives, at the start of their loves. Each has her own reasons for volunteering: Rio fights to honor her sister; Frangie needs money for her family; Rainy wants to kill Germans. For the first time they leave behind their homes and families—to go to war.

These three daring young women will play their parts in the war to defeat evil and save the human race. As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, they will discover the roles that define them on the front lines. They will fight the greatest war the world has ever known.

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.

Have I mentioned my love of WWII yet? Yes? No? Well it is no surprise that Front Lines was a fantastic read. If I were to categorize it within the realm of WWII fiction, Front Lines would be more about the war itself, like building trenches, training, intestines flying everywhere, etc. Yet even though this was not exactly my cup of tea, I still loved it.

Front Lines starts with the perspectives of three girls, Rio, Frangie, and Rainy. Each are in incredibly different situations, but all have in common the ability to enlist and be drafted in the war. This is where alternative history comes in, because if you remember, this was not a thing in our WWII. And of course, after reading this, I'm thinking "Well why not?". These girls showed tremendous strength and resolve, not at all falling behind their male counterparts. Obviously this is a fictional work, but I have no doubt that the real women during this time would show this same courage.

Issues regarding sexism and racism came up a lot in the story. Girls were constantly being told that the war wasn't for them, and that they wouldn't be able to stomach it all. Yet both Rainy and Rio were badasses. Even though Rio suffers a lack of self-confidence and self-doubt, she becomes an incredible gunwoman, taking out more of the enemy than anyone else in her infantry. And Rainy is part of Intelligence, and she jumped out of an airplane to deliver a message, because she volunteered to. Did I mention that I am super scared of skydiving? Because I would never jump out of a plane.

And lastly, Frangie had to suffer through not only because of the color of her skin, but also because she's a girl enlisting in the war. And even though she's knowledgeable as a medic, no white soldier wants her to operate on them. And it is such a shame because she is so good at what she does. And she risks her life often helping others out on the field. And I am just so proud of her, of everyone.

So yes, Front Lines deals with racism, sexism, war, and although I adored the characters, I did feel like at points, it was a little boring. Not to lie, but the book itself is 576 pages. I had to trudge through some parts where I just wasn't feeling anything. And at times, I just wanted the book to be over because it was incredibly long. Along with that, I am unsure whether someone who is not obsessed with WWII like I am will enjoy this. There is a lot of WWII terminology, in regards to guns, ammo, war terms, etc., that probably will fly over heads (mine included).

Nevertheless, would I recommend this? Yes. Even without the context of WWII, Front Lines deals a lot with the issues of sexism and racism, and you should read this because of that. 

The State of Happiness

Happiness. Everyone wants it. But how do you achieve such a state?

If you've come here looking for an answer to that question, then you have definitely come to the wrong place because I have no idea how to be happy overall. But even while saying that, I'll have to say that the little things really count towards my state of happiness. And I have a lot of little things that make me happy. Which is why when I spotted this tag on Nirvana's blog, Quenching The Quill, I knew I just had to do it (To be honest, I failed to find out where this originated, unfortunately).

Warning, answers might be long, because as I said before, I have a lot of things that make me happy.

Songs: Nights Like This by W. Darling, Just Our Style by Wayfarers, Make Up Your Mind and Queen of Peace by Florence and the Machine, Say My Name by Odesza, I Found by Amber Run, Sharks In The Swimming Pool by Clairity

Books: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Golden by Jessi Kirby, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride, The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Aristotle & Dante Discover the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Going to be honest, I don't read many happy books, so here I put the ones that really touched my heart, and not necessarily the ones that are happy. Also, these are the books that I would be really happy to just have around me. Like The Book Thief. I would bring that everywhere with me.

Films: Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E, Peter Pan, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Whisper in the Heart, The Cat's Return, Wreck-it Ralph

Pretty much all the animated movies out there. And don't forget The Book Thief movie, because why not. Also, my roommate is currently watching Interstellar, and that movie made me bawl. So it's not exactly happy, but it's so good. Also, I'm not a movie type of person, and I often forget what I have watched, so that list may not be accurate. Except Kung Fu Panda.

Words: Skipping out on this one because I have no idea. Babies? Squish? Fluff? I've never been a ...word person.

Scents: Grapefruit, Cranberry, Cherry, Pine, Christmas, Pina Colada, Apple, Pomegranate

Miscellany: Being surrounded by books, candles, warm summer nights, the beach, my amazing blogging friends, my friends in real life, my video games, video game soundtracks, quiet and silence, donuts, french fries, cereal, milk, cheeseburgers, dogs, cats, bunnies, babies, toddlers, children, pandas, swimming, maple syrup, flowers, movie theater popcorn, anime, my bed, warmness, comfy chairs, juice-like alcohol, cheese, hot tubs, photography, my blog, and all you guys.

Top Ten Tuesday #83

Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish!

Top Ten Historical And Futuristic Settings I'd Love To See

I think this is one of the hardest topics that I have ever had to do, only because it requires a ton of creativity. Most of the things I would love to see in books are due to general interests, and also video games. So it's not really anything specific. But let's see what I can come up with, right?

Ancient Egypt - Just, anything set in Ancient Egypt. Especially if it involves a lot of mythology and the culture. In Middle Grade, I read Mara, Daughter of the Nile (how I remembered the title, I don't know), and I absolutely adored it.

Spaaaaaaace - I have NO IDEA what exactly this setting would be. Maybe, spaceships? Aliens? Uh, inhabited colony planets? Basically a book exactly like Mass Effect? Yes?

Ancient Greece - The same reasoning as my interest in Ancient Egypt, basically! I know one book I really need to get to that fits this setting is The Song of Achilles, which I will read, someday soon. But yes, I also need my Greek Mythology and culture because I love all of that too. 

Skyscrapers, Cool Gadgets, Flying Cars, And All That, Futuristic Stuff - Oh man, thinking of futuristic settings is hard because I can't think of anything except the broad topic of FUTURE. So, I guess I would like a book that explores a setting with a future envisioned by, us? Or more specifically Back to the Future? With flying cars, tall skyscrapers, those pills we were promised that would make us never age again (I read this in a National Geographic Kids Magazine, those liars).

Prehistoric Life - Hence why I am looking forward to Ivory and Bone so much. And it would just seem really cool to read a novel that revolves around this setting.

Genetic Manipulation - You know, like that movie GATTACA? Please raise your hand if you've watched it. Because I would totally love a novel that explored the issues of genetic modification and perfect children, etc.

Mayan, Aztec, Incan - You know what would be really cool? If a book was about the disappearance of the Mayans (or at least I think they disappeared, I don't know middle school teaches some things that may not be accurate) and how it happened? Or maybe just this general setting. That's cool too.

Time Travel - I know, I knowwww. But I'm running out of ideas! And wouldn't it be awesome if in the future we could time travel? Except I know that won't happen because then I would see people from the future by now (unless they're hidden). But maybe a story that explores the issues of time travel in a futuristic setting? I know Pastwatch kind of did that, but not fully. 

Medieval Times - I guess. I think I'm mostly basing this off the setting The Falconer was in, because I liked it. But it wasn't exactly Medieval. So. Uh. I don't know. But I guess I also wouldn't mind a novel involving the knights of the round table or something? Merlin? Castles and wars and all that fun stuff?

The Apocalypse - Because WHY NOT. Let's throw some characters into a life of VOIDNESS and watch them struggle! Like really struggle. But not like The Road, because that was hella sad.

Done! What were some of your historical or futuristic settings? Any books to suggest?

Review: This Monstrous Thing

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: September 22nd, 2015
Source: Edelweiss
Date Read: 1/1/16 to 1/2/16
384 pages

Rating: ✰✰✰1/2

In 1818 Geneva, men built with clockwork parts live hidden away from society, cared for only by illegal mechanics called Shadow Boys. Two years ago, Shadow Boy Alasdair Finch’s life shattered to bits.

His brother, Oliver—dead.

His sweetheart, Mary—gone.

His chance to break free of Geneva—lost.

Heart-broken and desperate, Alasdair does the unthinkable: He brings Oliver back from the dead.

But putting back together a broken life is more difficult than mending bones and adding clockwork pieces. Oliver returns more monster than man, and Alasdair’s horror further damages the already troubled relationship.

Then comes the publication of Frankenstein and the city intensifies its search for Shadow Boys, aiming to discover the real life doctor and his monster. Alasdair finds refuge with his idol, the brilliant Dr. Geisler, who may offer him a way to escape the dangerous present and his guilt-ridden past, but at a horrible price only Oliver can pay…

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.

This Monstrous Thing was an enjoyable read, and I breezed right through it as my first read of the year. To be honest, I was never interested in the story of Frankenstein, and I'm sure readers who are will love this book even more so than I did. Yet even though I was invested in the story, I felt that more could have been explored, especially the setting.

After the accidental killing of his brother, Alasdair attempts and succeeds to bring back his brother from the dead using clockwork mechanics. However, once his brother, Oliver, is conscious, he's not exactly Oliver anymore. Bring in the fact that Alasdair must keep him hidden in a tower, because popular opinion is that humans with clockwork parts are not considered human anymore (following the logic of the Bible). This also leads Oliver to think himself as a monster, rather than a human.

Oh, and throw in a rebellion from mechanical people tired of being oppressed. And the fact that Mary Shelley wrote a book about the brothers (yes she appears in this story!). And then all the guilt Alasdair has for accidentally abandoning Oliver during his family's arrest. Never was there a time where I was bored, hence why I just kept on reading.

Plus, the steampunk elements was definitely a plus! Though I may have wanted more.

Which leads me to why I didn't fully love This Monstrous Thing. As much as the characters grew on me, I felt that the background wasn't explored enough. Why are mechanical people so discriminated against? I would understand if it were someone brought back to life, because that is really playing God, but helping other people by replacing their limbs? I don't really see anything wrong with that? I get that religion plays a part in it, but that was only mentioned once in the book. I didn't see much of how religious the general population was in the story.

You know what this book reminded me of now that I think about it? Full Metal Alchemist. Just in terms of the whole "bringing someone back to life" idea.

I think it's safe to say that This Monstrous Thing definitely got me more interested in the story of Frankenstein, especially with how action-packed the plot was. Unfortunately, I just wish there was more.