Book Porn Tuesday

I know I haven't been posting as frequently as usual, but exams have begun so I have literally no time to blog, record or read as many books as I would like to. I'm going to try and create posts in bulk so I can schedule them to come out so I don't have to worry about missing a deadline.

Anyway back to business.

Today's beautiful cover is:

The Darkest Minds! (click the link for its Goodreads page)

I literally just finished this trilogy and it was a-mazing! I really wasn't expecting it to be that good. I read the first book late last year and I finally got around to completing the series. The Darkest Minds centers around a girl called Ruby, who at 10 years old was taken away along with other children around her age to a concentration camp called Thurmond (there are many others). Now, at sixteen she has managed to break free and is on the run. I've honestly never been a fan of dystopians but this book has swayed me and I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to pick it up. It is filled with humour, amazing complex characters, deaths that will rip your heart out. And please for the love of God do not miss out on the novellas In Time and Sparks Rise, I prefer In Time, but they both give more information about the side characters who I promise you will adore.

Thank you for reading this post and I'll see you next time!

April Ebook Wrap Up

These are all the books I read on my kindle this month (click the picture for the goodreads page)

1. Simple Perfection by Abbi Glines (re-read)

This is the continuation of the Perfection duology in the Rosemary Beach series, it continues the story of Woods and Della. I genuinely can't remember how I felt about this book except that I gave it  a 3 stars.

2. Take a Chance and One More Chance by Abbi Glines (re-read)

This duology centers around  Harlow (Kiro's daughter) and Grant (Rush's former step-brother in the Rosemary beach series). Harlow was one of the most annoying, whiny, and frustrating characters I have ever had the displeasure in reading, and I have read all of Abbi Glines' books. I don't understand why I gave it a three stars- in fact I'm dropping it down to two. Grant's true character was revealed in the first one, what I thought was a kind man who  helped Blaire when she first arrived, was simply trying to get into her pants (like all the men in this sexed up town). And I know what people will say: "Boys will be Boys" , "Men will be Men" which funnily enough seems to be the recurring theme in both The Seabreeze and The Rosemary Beach series. These men do all sorts of atrocious things - treating women like sex objects, misogyny, hyper-sexualising practically every woman they see- yet they are perceived as these great guys and I can't fathom how or why. Not only that, but they are boring! What else do they do but drink, shag and work? lather rinse repeat, lather rinse repeat. How am I expected to fall in love with a character when the only redeemable thing about him is either his washboard abs or his eyelashes that make all of womankind jealous (as if all the women in the world nothing better to do than whine about the length of our eyelashes). Back to Harlow, her inner conflict between whether enjoying sex or not would make her a 'slut' or not just made me want to scream. How a woman feels ashamed for enjoying sex is beyond me, it is clearly the by-product of America's sex-education - or lack thereof. This book and all other Abbi Glines novels don't sit well with me because of the blatant misogyny that just seems to be accepted by everyone. More fool me because I continue to read and  re-read her novels, like it's crack.( Excuse the massive rant I just went on)

3. Breathe by Abbi Glines 

Funnily enough, I actually enjoyed this one. It was summery and romantic with a hint of sexiness. I loved it. I gave it a 3 stars. This book is about Sadie White who had to care for her pregnant mother while working as a maid. She incidentally is a maid for one of the biggest rock stars- Jax. They fall in love during the summer but Jax's life as rock star puts a heavy strain on their relationship

4. You Were Mine by Abbi Glines re-read

This was another re-read and it is also apart of the Rosemary beach series and it is about Tripp and Bethy. I really liked Bethy in the previous novels so I liked that we were finally getting a story about her. And I enjoyed this one, especially seeing what she was like when she was younger. The only thing that bugged me was as said previously, the misogyny. It wasn't as bad, but there were tiny micro-aggressions that really got on my nerves

Exhibit A: When Tripp asks Bethy to dance and she accepts, then Dean says "Smart girl" like what in god's name was that supposed  to mean? (This sounds like nothing when it's out of context but while reading I got the impression it was the fact that she was being obedient to a man that caused him to day such a thing)

Exhibit B: When the story flashes back to Tripp and Bethy's first time and Tripp says: "All the other girls I had been with were tense and dry" WHAT?! That literally means that they were not in a state of arousal and that is queue for you to either stop or get some lube you selfish prick. He acted like a women self-lubricating was some new thing invented by Bethy, NO! it is a necessity in order for a woman to enjoy sex. It's so funny how these men are supposedly experienced sex-gods yet they don't even know simple facts like this. 

Exhibit C: This is a trend in most New Adult novels so I don't want to single this book out (you know what ,I'm going to make a video about this because there is so much that needs to be said), but God forbid a woman wants to dress up, which throws their men into hysterics begging them to put some clothes because men and their sexual urges cannot be controlled. And this weird caveman analogy that Glines likes to use is freaking weird! " In that moment I wanted to beat my chest and growl like a caveman" or the "caveman in me growled". How is this attractive?! This of course is said after their partners does something really submissive. This Alpha male thing has taken a step way too far and it's borderline abusive. There is a huge difference in a person being dominant and  a person controlling every single move their partner makes.

5.While it Lasts by Abbi Glines re-read

*Sigh* This blog post is becoming repetitive. Blah, Blah, Blah,misogyny,Blah, Blah, Blah,annoying characters,Blah. Blah, Blah. I gave it a three stars though.

6.. When Your're Gone by none other than Abbi Glines

Why do I do this to myself? Better yet, why does Abbi Glines have duologies when they so easily could have been a stand alone? Why does the main character always have create problems for  her self? Why does the main character not attempt to resolve the problem by communicating? These are all questions I ask myself every time I read an Abbi Glines novel. Why can't I stop reading her books? What is so incredible about her novel that causes me to spend money purchasing the novels just so I can weep in frustration. *sigh* This book is about a girl called...I can't remember. Who has escaped the torment of her sexually abusive step-father and her good-for-nothing mother as well as trying do overcome a learning difficulty. She meets Mase (Harlow and Nan's brother) who instantly takes a liking to the freckle under her left buttock *sigh* I gave this three stars.

7. Fall With Me by J. Lynn 

I actually enjoyed this book (hurray!) It was great seeing familiar faces in the previous novels of this series. In the fourth installment of this series, the main character is Roxy, a nerdy bartender with a massive crush on the local policeman, Reece. On top of that her best friend since birth has been in an intensive care unit following a hate crime that occurred when they were teenagers. The perpetrator has been released and creepy things start happening to her 

I gave this one a 3.5 stars. I thought it was pretty predictable who was the stalker, but I love how the story was on forgiveness and letting things go. My only major gripe was the secret that Roxy kept from Reece was so minor I don't understand why she was so afraid to tell him.

8. Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan 

My favourite romance novel of all time! 5 out of 5 stars hands down! This book is about a woman called Bree who decides to leave town, after a traumatic incident. She finds herself in a quaint town where she rents a home and begins to start a life there. Then she meets a man called Archer, who has been ostracized from the community, we soon learn that an accident left him unable to speak. I just love this book so much! I could read it over and over again and never get bored, I love how they spoke in sign language, it was so sweet!

9. In Time (1.5) and Sparks Rise (2.5) form The Drakes Minds Trilogy by Alexandra Bracken 

In Time was my favourite books this year and it was under 90 pages! I can't say too much about these two novellas as they may spoil things for you guys but I highly recommend that you don't skip these novels out and read them! I gave In Time a 5/5 and Sparks Rise a 4/5.

Thank you guys for reading this post, it was very rambly ad ranty and very cranky, it's nearly 2:00 am and it's exam season so please forgive me. I hope you enjoyed this, I'd love to hear your opinions on these books if you have read them. Until the next post!

Books and Music

Do you ever read a book with a particular song and every time you hear that song you feel nostalgic about that book? I have a couple of times and I wanted to show you guys my music to book pairings.

1. Double Cross by Malorie Blackman and Gravity Happens by Kate Voegele

The song in particular that makes me feel nostalgic about Double Cross is Enough For Always. It reminds me of the final scene of the novel where Tobey and Callie are sitting on the stairs contemplating their future together

       

2. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and What Are You So Scared Of by Tonight Alive

               

This is probably the oddest pairing but for some reason any time I listen to To Die For it always reminds me of the love triangle between Lavender, Hermione and Ron- and for some odd reason, the school hallways.

3. Five Summers by Una Lamarche and 1989 by Taylor Swift 

                                   

 This one is different to the rest, because I didn't simutaeneously listen to this album and read the novel. It was after I had read the book, I had a dream about it and I Know Places and Wildest Dreams were playing in the background. It was more of the setting that resonated with.

This was definetly an unusual post, but I wanted to try something different and I wanted to combine my love for Books and Music in one post. I hope you enjoyed it anyway and I'lI see you in the next post

March Ebook Wrap Up!

Most of the books I read this month were eBooks and I wanted to be able to show you guys, so I came up with this post.

1. Hooked on the Game by C.M Owens (Sterling Shore no. 1)

This book is about a girl called Raya Cappperton in college who lives next to a guy who throws a lot of parties. A drunken accident causes her flat to become destroyed, with no money to find another place, the girl is forced to move in with the guy - Kade Colton - whose party caused all of this. 

I gave this book a 2 stars, it was free on Kindle so I wasn't as salty as I would have been if Ihad bought it. I felt this book was incredibly unrealistic and it dragged on far too long. What really annoys me about New Adult is the fact that the 'couple' for all intents and purposes acts like a couple, they kiss, they have sex and they spend all their time together. Yet they are still convinced that their feelings aren't mutual. How can someone be so insecure? It's so incredibly frustrating, I would be okay with it if the author wanted to explore the theme of insecurity but it was done simply to further the story and I can't stand that.

2. Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Colleen Hoover

Never Never is about a couple that woke up one day and have forgotten everything about themselves and have to figure out how and why it happened.

I gave this book a 4 stars, because I thought the plot was really interesting. I won't say too much about this book because it's a mystery, but I'm looking forward to the next one. 

3. Confess by Colleen Hoover

Confess is centered around Auburn Reed and her meeting with Owen Gentry - an artist that uses other peoples confessions as inspiration for his work. They meet when Auburn finds his studio and asks for a job, sparks fly immediately and they start dating. However, Owen's secrets may just ruin their relationship.

I made the mistake of reading this straight after Stolen by Lucy Christopher, which was not an easy read, because of this I couldn't get into this as much I wanted to. I still gave it a 4 stars, it started off ripping my heart out (like most Colleen Hoover novels). My favourite part of the novel was the confessions, I thought that was so creative and that I loved the twist at the end with the painting. 

4. Consolation by Corinne Micheals

This books is about a woman who has just lost her husband - a soldier- with a newborn baby to look after. She struggles to cope but then her husband's best friend Liam shows up and she finds herself falling for him.

I gave this book a 3 stars, because it was an interesting plot and I love the way the author allowed the protagonist to properly grieve. I knocked off the two stars because of the sex-shaming from both of the main characters. I won't say what it was or who it was directed as because it will spoil something major, but I couldn't stand the way they talked about women in general. Authors may try to do it to evoke sympathy from the reader for the protagonist, but I can't deal with that.  It made me sick and it also made me dislike the characters. Aside from that I really enjoyed the story and I'm looking forward for the finale.

5. All Lined Up by Cora Carmack

All Lined Up is a New Adult written in a dual point of view. The female protagonist is called Dallas whose father is a football coach. His profession has stifled her life and she's desperate for a fresh start at college. Unfortunately her father decided to take a coaching job at her college and the boy she's falling for is apart of that team. 

I gave this book a 3 stars! I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, I was expecting a typical New Adult novel. I loved how the characters grew from being friends to a couple .

6. All Broke Down by Cora Carmack

All Broke down is centered around two characters: Dylan, a fighter of lost causes, and Silas Moore, the self pronounced lost cause. This book really exceeded my expectations as I was expecting a typical good girl, bad boy relationship. I was expecting to hate Silas after what he did in All Lined Up, but Carmack did a great job in showing the depth of his character that made my view of him  change. It was really refreshing to see some important issues being brought up, what made me love Silas even more was how he defended Stella at the end. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author especially after reading her Author's note. I gave this book a 4 stars.

7. Too Far series by Abbi Glines (Rosemary Beach)

This series is about a girl called Blaire Wynn who has just lost her mother and calls upon her father for a place to stay. She finds herself at the home of Rush Finlay who is not pleased to see her. His initial dislike of her vanishes after realizing her true character and they begin to date. However Rush is keeping a secret that threatens to ruin their relationship. (Secrets seems to be a recurring theme in the New Adult genre.)

This was my first time reading Rush Too Far, which is Fallen Too Far in Rush's point of view. I definitely enjoyed his p.o.v more because we got to see his true character. I felt in Fallen Too Far he was too sexualised, it was hard to see who he really was so I couldn't attach myself to him. After reading this I understood his intentions a lot more. I gave this series a 3 stars.

8. Twisted Perfection by Abbi Glines 

This is a continuation of the Rosemary Beach series and it follows a girl called Della and her relationship with Woods Kerrington. I gave this book a 3 stars, Della had a rough childhood so I was able to deal with her insecurities. I liked the theme of duty or love that was interwoven in the story because of Woods and his family.

Those were all the eBooks I read in March! Thank you for reading this post and I'll see you in the next one

Book Porn Tuesday!

This week's book is a book whose cover has recently been revealed:

Queen of Shadows! 

(Click the book for the Goodreads page)

Queen of Shadows by Sarah. J. Mass! The cover on the left is the Hardback edition and the cover on the right is the UK Paperback. This is my most anticipated release of this year, it is the 4th installment of the Throne of Glass series and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. I won't divulge what Queen of Shadows is about - because spoilers. But Throne of Glass is basically, a YA high fantasy novel, about an Assassin called Caelena Saradothein who was captured and put in a work camp called Eindoheven.  This story take place a year after she has been enslaved; the prince of Adarlan comes to see her and offers her a bargain: Either rot in this work camp or compete in a tournament to become the King's champion. I considered this book to be 5* because it as my first Fantasy novel and it made me fall in love with the genre. To some, this book is enjoyable for the most part. This series on a whole is amazing and I strongly recommend that you start it NOW.

Book Porn Tuesday!

This week's cover is:

Genre: YA Contemporary (Goodreads page link is in the bio)

I absolutely adore this cover! While I normally dislike covers with people on them, this was done so well. It's so simplistic and I love how the red pops out. This book is about a seventeen year old girl called Grace, who wakes up in a white room and has to while away her time by writing what she lasts remembers. I swear this book is more than it seems! I just don't want to spoil it anything! It's very confusing so it's a book I had to re-read to fully get it. I gave it a 5* rating on my Goodreads.

*Trigger warning: There are cases of self harm and suicide in this novel. 

The Reader Problems Tag!

I was tagged by the wonderful Prescription fiction to do this tag!

Q.You have 20,000 books on you TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?

A.It is literally principle for me to read the book which I bought first. If I received a package from the mail, the book on top is the one I read first then I make my way down the pile. The only exception is if I have been reading a series and the next in the series is in the package.

Q.You are halfway through a book and you're just not loving it. Do you quit or are you committed?

A.You have to commit- especially if the book is terrible. Only then can I forget about the god-awful book and get it out of my system. Side effects from powering through: Self-lothing for wasting hours on such a dreadful book. (Free books on Amazon Kindle, I'm looking at you)

Q.The end of the year is coming and you're so close, but so far away on your Goodreads reading challenge. Do you try and catch up and how?

A.I would cheat! I'm so competitive so if that ever happened I'd just change  a few dates on my previously read books. No one would have to know (Except for you guys... shh). Honestly, I'm really good at marathoning books in one day, so I could probably finish the remaining books over a weekend.

Q.Everyone and their mother loved a book you really don't like, who do you bond with over shared feelings.

A.I usually go on goodreads and find a 1 star review and laugh at how aggravated they were at the protagonists.

Q.You are reading a book and you are about to start crying in public. How do you deal?

A.This actually happened on a bus while reading Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. I managed to stifle my tears until I got home, then bawled all night till like 4 in the morning. (I'm not even exaggerating this actually did happen).

Q. A sequel of a book you loved just came out, but you've forgotten a lot from the prior novel. Will you re-read the book? Skip the sequel? Try to find a synopsis on Goodreads? Cry in frustration?

A.Re-reading a series is thee best part of the experience. I think you get the nostalgia aspect (remembering when you first read it) of it, and you learn things you may have missed and have a better understanding of the world the story is set in. Shatter Me is a series I could read back-to-back over and over again. (I realise this has nothing to do with the question, but any chance to shamelessly plug this series).

Q.You don't want anyone - Anyone- borrowing your books. How do you politely tell people nope when they ask?

A.I'm a total push-over, so I'd be to afraid to say no. One time, I lent out Entangled by Cat Clarke and I didn't get it back. This girl was notorious for taking things and never returning them, so I don't know why I even gave it away. I never expected to see it again, until after the summer holidays came up and we wee talking about said book and she was like: "Oh yeah I forgot sorry!" Lesson Learnt: Maryam Ishaq needs to learn how to say no.

Q.Reading ADD. You've picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. how do you get over your reading slump?

A.Power through! Or read Harry Potter...

Q.There are so many books coming out that you're dying to read! How many do you actually buy?

A. I just buy them, and then have a panic attack because unlike Harry Potter,I'm frugal as hell.

Q.After you've bought the new books, how long do they sit on your shelf before you get to them?

I just devour them. Unless I've got a pile of them then it''ll take about a week. I tend to go through books really quickly and then I'm left feeling incredibly bored for the rest of the month.

That is all the hypothetical questions I have to answer, Thank you for reading my latest ramblings. Stay tuned for my next addition to Book Porn Tuesday (on Tuesday... obviously)