Burn, Rewrite, Or Reread

I've been tagged by Alma @ Journey Through Fiction to do this amazing Burn, Rewrite, and Reread Tag, in reference to the original game, BUT IT INVOLVES BOOKS!

Basically the challenge is to pick three books for each round, and choosing one to burn, one to reread, and then one to rewrite. I'll be doing our four rounds for now, choosing books from my read shelf by using one of those randomizers. THIS IS GOING TO BE REALLY HARD. Probably.

Round One

  

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman || Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen || Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Oh this is kind of hard because I don't really care much for any of these books? I guess I would like to reread Speak, because I barely remember it. And then rewrite The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, because I kind of don't like Gaiman's writing? (but you didn't hear that from me). And then just burn Water for Elephants because meh.

Round Two

  

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein || Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo || All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

THIS ONE ROUND IS PAINFUL LIKE WHY. UGH. I DON'T KNOW. I guess....I guess I'll burn Shadow and Bone????? And....man I guess I'll rewrite Rose Under Fire, WHICH I LOVED SO MUCH, but I seriously don't think All The Light We Cannot See should be rewritten. So that will be my reread.

Round Three

  

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli || The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling || This Is How You Die by Ryan North

BURN CASUAL VACANCY BURN. NO ONE LIKES YOU. Just kidding I'm sure plenty of people loved you. COUGH. Anyways. I think I would rewrite Stargirl, just because I love my Machine of Death Anthologies and everyone has a different writing style in it anyways.

Round Four

  

Paradigm by Ceri A. Lowe || Earth Star by Janet Edwards || Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Oh this one is an easy round too. Burn Paradigm, because it was just eh. And then COMPLETELY rewrite Earth Star, so that there ARE ACTUALLY FREAKING ALIENS. I'm still pissed about that. Oh and Golden Son can just stay the way it is because perfection. Though I don't know if I could reread it so soon, because it's...too soon. I would die of feels.

I encourage everyone to do this, because it's a lot of fun hahaha :) If you minus all the pain and feels.

Review: The Walls Around Us

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Release Date: March 24, 2015
Source: Netgalley
Date Read: 3/19/15 to 3/22/15
336 pages
Rating: ✰✰✰1/2

“Ori’s dead because of what happened out behind the theater, in the tunnel made out of trees. She’s dead because she got sent to that place upstate, locked up with those monsters. And she got sent there because of me.”

The Walls Around Us is a ghostly story of suspense told in two voices—one still living and one long dead. On the outside, there’s Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away from the life of her dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her achievement. On the inside, within the walls of a girls’ juvenile detention center, there’s Amber, locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom. Tying these two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls’ darkest mysteries.

We hear Amber’s story and Violet’s, and through them Orianna’s, first from one angle, then from another, until gradually we begin to get the whole picture—which is not necessarily the one that either Amber or Violet wants us to see.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Hm. I received this eARC such a long time ago, at a time that I was slightly more excited for it. The Walls Around Us is a hard one to review, because even though it had a solid beginning and middle, all with exceptional writing, the end completely fell apart. And when I mean fell apart, I mean I no longer had a clue what was going on. I would've forgave it if it happened somewhere in the middle, but no. The ending is utterly confusing and I am not happy with it.

The Walls Around Us features three characters, except one is told in the perspectives of Violet and Amber. Basically, we have to piece together the personality and character of Orianna through her best friend, Violet, and her inmate, Amber. This, I did not have a problem with. I didn't necessarily care for the characters themselves, but I did pity Ori and Amber since they are in juvie. Although I do like reading about ballet, I didn't care for Violet's POV. I do have to say that if you do pick this up, time is structured differently between the two POVs. Just keep in mind that Violet's POV is after Ori dies, and Amber's is before meeting Ori. 

What exactly is the plot anyways? Well, it's kind of a mystery, in that we're not exactly sure what Orianna is in for. So throughout the whole novel, everything is revealed one by one, and we eventually see the true nature of the characters.

THIS COULD HAVE BEEN GREAT. But why did there have to be ghosts? And paranormal activity! And how did everyone die? (Don't worry this has been revealed in the beginning, hence the confusing time gap). Seriously, I think the author made this much more complex than it should've been.

Spoilers! Highlight to read!

Someone needs to explain this to me because I'm sure I did not miss anything. What is with that ending? First off, how did everyone get poisoned? Second, and more importantly, how did Orianna and Violet switch places? That was really confusing and not what I was expecting at all. I don't want the "Ghosts can do anything BS" because no.

And there you have it. The Walls Around Us is a beautifully written story, but sadly it did not work for me, when I really wanted it to. The plot moved very slowly, AND THAT ENDING was a huge problem because I don't know if I'm missing something or it's just like that. It needed to be explained more. 

Top Ten Tuesday #50

Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish!

Top Ten Characters You'd Like To Check-In With

OH YOU MEAN LIKE HUG AND SMUSH THEM? Hahah yeah yeah. There are a bunch of characters where I'm like "so what happens after". (Then again most of them are because I haven't finished the series). Seriously there are more series than standalones now.

Onto my 50th TTT. Wow look at that.

Disclaimer: All art sources belong to their original owner, found either through Google or Deviantart

Suze from The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot - And by this I mean after the whole series is over. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT my wishes are about to come true because Meg Cabot is writing an adult fiction sequel to the series and I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED. Give me more Suze and Jesse thanks.

Seraphina from Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - I've already read Shadow Scale, but uh, I was kind of expecting more from that ending? And now I want more! So yes, need to check in on that relationship because how does that even work (for those that read Shadow Scale and know what I'm talking about) - Art here

Kell and Lila from A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab - I don't even care if there's going to be a second book in the works I want it now and I want it on my list. I don't think this needs an explanation because I've already gushed about this book enough.

Liesel from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - In other words I want a whole other book about her life after everything because I love Liesel. NO HOW ABOUT THIS I WANT A REVISED FREAKING ENDING.

Karou and gang from Daughter of Smoke & Bone Series by Laini Taylor - The one series that I've finished HA. No but I would love to see where and how everything is at this point. Where's my spin-off series? - Art here

Harry Potter and co. from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - NO EXPLANATION NEEDED. I'm sure everyone else has this on my list amirite? Hahha. 

Aristotle & Dante from Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz - I want to see their future. AND I WANT TO CHECK IN ON LEGS TOO. - not sure where art is from :(

Chava and Ahmad from The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - I want to see more of this odd "couple". I also want to read this book again because it is SO UNIQUE. You don't see two mythological beings meet from two different religions/cultures. - art from NY times

Ah I can only come up with eight! Well, books/series in this case. What characters would you like to revisit?

Nessie Reviews ☆ Bioshock: Rapture

Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: June 26th, 2012
Source: Bought
Date Read: 1/3/15 to 3/15/15
431 pages
Rating: ✰✰✰✰

It's the end of World War II. FDR's New Deal has redefined American politics. Taxes are at an all-time high. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has brought a fear of total annihilation. The rise of secret government agencies and sanctions on business has many watching their backs. America's sense of freedom is diminishing…and many are desperate to take that freedom back.

Among them is a great dreamer, an immigrant who pulled himself from the depths of poverty to become one of the wealthiest and admired men in the world. That man is Andrew Ryan, and he believed that great men and women deserve better. And so he set out to create the impossible, a utopia free from government, censorship, and moral restrictions on science—where what you give is what you get. He created Rapture—the shining city below the sea.

But as we all know, this utopia suffered a great tragedy. This is the story of how it all came to be…and how it all ended.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

I'm going to be honest, if you haven't played Bioshock I'm not sure if you'll even enjoy this book. I say this because the enter book is pretty much entirely a prequel to the games, meaning that it's a lot of set-up and no real ending. Of course, since I read this as a fan of the series this didn't bother me at all since I know how it all ultimately ends. Instead of reading to find out the ending, I was pretty much reading in order to find out the beginning, if that makes any sense.  And now that I got this mini disclaimer out of the way, on to the review!

Rapture

For those that aren't familiar with the Bioshock series, Rapture is an underwater metropolis created by Andrew Ryan (Yes the similarity to Ayn Rand is intended). He created Rapture to be the ultimate Libertarian dream, where man is free to create whatever he is able to without the constraints of government, or laws, or religion, or anything that might inhibit a man's personal progress. So of course that went just as well as one would have imagined and by the time Bioshock starts, Rapture is a crumbling, lawless, dystopia.

One of my favorite things about the game was trying to uncover the story behind Rapture. Everywhere you wander in that game, no matter how frightening it is, has some sort of beauty and history hidden deep beneath it. And that's what makes this book so awesome because we get to see first hand how this city got so messed up in the first place.

While this book is a story about Rapture, it is more or less framed by Bill McDonagh. Bill was a simple plumber until Andrew Ryan took a liking to him and made him his right-hand hand in Rapture. Bill was enamored with the vision that Ryan presented--a place where a man can truly make himself into whatever he wishes--but soon found himself disillusioned and heartbroken as he saw the hell that Rapture descended into.

One thing that I did appreciate as a fan of the series is how this book kind of humanized Andrew Ryan for me. Throughout this book we see a man who has a vision and wants so hard to make it work. Even if it involves horrible things like not allowing a social safety net for the poorer citizens even when he sees first hand how dire their situation is. While it is crappy of him, he does it because he whole-heartedly believes in a man's ability to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, even though its not as simple in reality as one might like to think. If anything, it painted him in a bit more sympathetic light, a man who was so blinded by his beliefs that he willingly ignored the hell they created in front of him

I will say that even as a big fan of this series, I found the book to be a bit long and uninterested in times. So I would put it down and read other books while reading this one. I still would recommend this book to you if you are a fan of the Bioshock series. If you aren't it's still a good a read, I'm just not sure if you would appreciate it or be satisfied with the ending.

Vanessa is Val's bestest buddy, and she will be guest posting throughout because she loves to read and write. She loves video games, reading comic books, working out LIKE A BEAST and photography. You can also find her at her own blog, Musings of an Aspiring Writer.

Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: February 24, 2015
Source: Bought
Date Read: 3/16/15 to 3/17/15
400 pages
Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰

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.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

I. Loved. This. Book. I loved it so much, that I did not put it down once on my plane trip back from Hawaii. I don't even care that I bothered the people around me with my overhead light. A Darker Shade of Magic was seriously THAT good. The fact that this book is already going through it's fifth printing in a little over a month should prove that.

A Darker Shade of Magic features Kell, one of the last of his kind, who can travel between three different worlds as long as he has a token from each one. These worlds are all connected through coincidence, all having a city name London and a river. The worlds used to always be open to one another, but after Black London, everything has been closed off. Magic only flows in Red London now, with Gray London having no (barely) any magic, and White London struggling to control magic.

I loved the portrayal of how alive and mysterious magic is in the book. I loved the aspect of traveling between four different worlds. And I loved, loved, LOVED, the different characters. Kell is, no surprise, freaking awesome. Since the first chapter where they described his coat of infinite layers, I fell in love with his character. I COULD NOT RESIST. 

Also, I did not expect a companion in this book! Lila, from Gray London (Our London) kind of appeared out of nowhere, and I thought I would hate her, but it didn't turn out that way. She's not whiny and neither is she too dependent on others to save her. I love how she basically forced Kell to take her along with him.

I CANNOT STOP TALKING ABOUT THE CHARACTERS. They are just all so complex and different and all throughout the novel I was feeling all the feels because man this plot is well thought out. There is seriously nothing else I can say except for READ THISSS. READ THISS.

I have absolutely no gripes. This was amazing. I would read this again, and again, and again, and again, and again, again, again.

Cake! Cake! Cake!

I've been tagged by Deanna @ Deanna Writes and also Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight to do the CAKE BOOK TAG. Basically everything is based on FOODIES and INGREDIENTS and BOOKS, pretty much all of my favorite things all in one tag.

Flour

A BOOK THAT WAS A LITTLE SLOW TO START OFF BUT REALLY PICKED UP AS IT WENT ALONG: The Burning Sky. Only because I think that book has the worst beginning I've ever read at all, but then it just got better throughout the novel. I'm really surprised I even stuck with it, but I did, and I'm glad.

Butter

A BOOK THAT HAD A RICH, GREAT PLOT: A Darker Shade of Magic, which is now my new absolute favorite because KELLLLLL and TRAVELING BETWEEN LONDONS and agh it is just so freaking good. My review for it is basically mush because of that haha.

Eggs

A BOOK YOU THOUGHT WAS GOING TO BE BAD BUT ACTUALLY TURNED OUT QUITE ENJOYABLE: I've actually been pretty good at predicting whether I would like a book or not, but let's see, hmmm, OH, Red Rising was a book that I didn't think I would like, BUT LOOK AT ME NOW. I am a true convert haha.

Sugar

A SUGARY, SWEET BOOK: The Art of Lainey! I would say Anna and the French Kiss, but I did not like how that book depicted relationships, SO I HAVE CHOSEN THE FORMER. Plus I love how that fake relationship played out.

Icing

A BOOK THAT COVERED EVERY SINGLE ELEMENT THAT YOU ENJOY ABOUT A BOOK (FUNNY MOMENTS, ACTION MOMENTS, SAD MOMENTS, ETC.): The Book Thief. YES I know it's sad and has all the feels, but that's the point! Gah. I'm just a sadist like that. Or masochist? I don't know the right word, forgive me.

Sprinkles

A BOOK SERIES THAT YOU CAN KIND OF TURN BACK TO FOR A LITTLE PICK ME UP WHEN YOU’RE FEELING DOWN: The Mediator Series! It just sucks because I don't own the full series, except for the first book. I'm working on that though. It's literally the first series I fell in love with (other than Harry Potter), and it always has a place in my heart.

The Cherry On Top

YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK THIS YEAR SO FAR: A Darker Shade of Magic. HANDS DOWN. 

And now for the tags!

Amber @ YA Indulgences || Alma @ Journey Through Fiction || Paula (and crew!) @ Her Book Thoughts 

ARC Review: The Innocent Centaur Strikes Back

The Innocent Centaur Strikes Back
The Innocent Centaur #2
Publisher: Fat Bunny Books
Release Date: April 1st, 2015
Source: Bought
Date Read: 4/1/15 to 4/1/15
200 pages
Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰

In this unbelievable sequel to "The Innocent Centaur", Val encounters a multitude of obstacles on her fight against the evil Northern Fox Girl, who claims to be the "angel" sent from the stars. Having been recently accused of deception by said angel, Val must overcome all the challenges on her way to the "mountain of heavenly beings", including Midfart the vampire.

After teaming up with Amber the unicorn, both find their way to the top of the mountain, however not is all what it seems. Who is this angel anyways? And what kind of name is Midfart?

Is the world in danger? Who will stop the evil angel of the mountain? Will Val succeed and save everyone? Read to find out!

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

I can not stress enough how amazing The Innocent Centaur Strikes Back is. After that awesome first book, which I gobbled up the moment I got it, I couldn't wait to see how Val would pull everything off. Plus, isn't that cover amazing! 

Honestly, it's recommended that you read the first book in the series, but I suggest just jumping into this one since the author does an incredible job weaving in the contents of the first book throughout the beginning chapters. PLUS THE CHARACTERS. Gah.

Let me start with what actually happens. So Val, our amazing awesome freaking CENTAUR, has just gotten out of jail for treason against the Northern Fox Girl. Val, clearly seeing through the rouse, barely manages to escape her terrible conditions. She's torn between just leaving everything behind, including all her friends, and facing the angel that has stolen EVERYONE'S HEARTS. Luckily, she was able to find an amazing friend in a unicorn, and together they rise against the EVIL Northern Fox Girl and Midfart the vampire.

GUYS. THIS BOOK IS SO INTENSE. I mean everything is so well written, and throughout the entire novel I couldn't even relax because of the FEELS. The villains are the best I've ever seen in a series. And everytime I think everything is hopeless, I'M WRONG. IT'S GREAT.

Anyways, this is an amazing read. I really recommend this to EVERYONE, because everyone needs to be reading this series. EVERYONE. 

because...

Happy April Fool's Day Everyone!

Yes the book is fake, created by yours truly! DID ANYONE ACTUALLY BELIEVE THIS? How did you like that cover? HA. Oh, and characters relating to real life/blogger life are only like that by coincidence :)