REVIEW: Heartless by Marissa Meyer - Valeria

Rate: 5/5

Goodreads Description:

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland — the infamous Queen of Hearts — she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the yet-unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend and supply the Kingdom of Hearts with delectable pastries and confections. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next Queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the king's marriage proposal, she meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship.

Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Review:

Oh boy!

It is no secret to anyone that I absolutely love Marissa Meyer, she is easily one of my favorite authors!

And thanks to some people I was able to get my hands on this amazing story a few months before release!

Which is fantastic because I just could not wait a single moment longer.
MINOT SPOILERS AHEAD!

Steps by steps okay?

The cover, oh boy, that cover, I love covers that are simple but pretty and this one is just downright gorgeous, my phone is FILLED with pictures of it to post on bookstagram , it was hard not to keep taking the book with me everywhere to continue to take pictures of it, if I didnt stop myself my bookstagram simply wouldve ended up looking like a Heartless fan account

Which I wouldnt be opposed to I guess

So many characters from the original story are integrated into the book without it feeling as if it was forced into the story. Questions you didnt know you had where answered and so many things end up making sense about the actions of some of the characters.

Catherine starts off with a dream, a dream to start a bakery with her best friend, and maid and be recognized as the greatest baker in all of hearts.

Title be damned.

At the black and white ball she discovers that the King, the daft King wishes nothing more than to marry her, and that ruins not just her dream of having a bakery but her independence.

At the ball though, she meets the Joker

Not THAT joker, but a court joker, a fool. 

The most magical joker anyone has ever seen.

Cath finds herself thinking of about the joker often and one night joins him at a late night secret  tea party with the Mad Hatter and company

Catherine knows what she wants, or rather, what she doesnt, and that is to marry the King and become Queen. throughout the story we see her as she struggles with the courage to turn down the King and face the disappointment of her parents

Marissa Meyer does a wonderful job with Catherine not coming out sounding whiny and annoying about the struggles in her life but rather makes it feel like you are struggling right along with her.

The story progresses as things start to slowly fall apart for Catherine until she decides to go through the Looking Glass and effectively leave Hearts behind, there she meets 3 odd sisters who tell her the fate that awaits Catherine, Joker and the Mad Hatter should she make a mistake.

And mistake she does.

I knew something bad had to happen to her for her to become the queen of hearts, but I still found myself shocked at how things ended up going down

From this point on, we see a rapid transformation from her being Catherine the dreamer, to the ruthless Queen of Hearts we know.

I must say this though, the last chapter in the book got me so pumped up, just as much as the last chapter in Fairest, in which we see these girls turn into women, after being beat down by hope and snapping into being completely and utterly 

Heartless

Recommend it?

It is a complete must have if you are a fan of Alice in Wonderland and or Marissa Meyer

REVIEW: Life and Death by Stephanie Meyer - Valeria

Rate: 2.5/5

Yeah, no. 

I was very excited for this for one reason and one reason only... I am a twilight fan. 

I really am, but this whole re-imagined thing just was NOT for me. 

Oh how I wished that she had released Midnight Sun u.u

She changed a few things around, so that was good, it wasn't an exact copy of the first one

When they first meet, things are still okay with me, a 4 could still be handed out, I wanted to continue reading it.

But as things went on.... Yeah... no.. That changed. Edward Beau just seemed really whiny to me in a way that Bella didn't

I don't know if its because Bella was strangely poetic and used all these smarts words and stuffs xD and Beau wasn't like that, he was more.... Average than she was. Or if overall the human character of this book was whiny.

All I know is that I was reading this book, wishing I could go back to the original.

MAYBE it could be that I tend to put myself as the characters and simply could not visualize having to save and follow someone and do all of the things that Edyth did. It all the depends on the type of person you are or the type of life you live I guess.

I am more of a Bella than an Edyth xD

Bellas Beau's friends got in my nerves ssssooo much ! They are pretty much bullies, before, it all just seemed like the girls were hurt about this crush that did not pay attention to them but when it turned to guys, they just seemed so possessive and not just crushing. Which I guess is the point of why Meyer switch genders, to get over that... But I couldn't. I seriously could not see them more than being possessive of the girls they liked. 

The ending... I don't want to spoil the ending because the ending IS different than the original book and it DOES openly tell you that there wont be anymore. I WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE!!!

But anyways... NO 

what the actual ... was that! It was... I can't say shit without spoiling it. But I am just very pissed about it 

IT IS CRUEL! There I said it

Recommend it?

..... Stick to the original >.> So no.

REVIEW: Wink, Poppy, Midnight by April

Title: Wink Poppy Midnight

Genre: WEIRD

Author: April Genevieve Tucholke

Publisher: Dial

Publication: March 22nd 2016

Cover Rating: 5/5

Goodreads | Amazon

It took me a month to read Wink, Poppy, Midnight even though it was a VERY tiny book. I have no idea why it took me so long but after page 115 I just plowed through it. I don't know if that's because it got interesting or because I really wanted it to be over with. 

This book was one of those really weird whimsical stories that make you think of fairytales. This book was no fairytale. It was extremely eccentric and not in an entirely good way. The characters were unique, to say the least. But the story surrounding these characters wasn't very good or easy to follow. 

I really tried to love this book and the plot and the characters but, in the end, the only good thing I had to say was that the cover is pretty. 

My review for this book isn't positive but I can say that I believe readers who liked We Were Liars might find something good from Wink, Poppy, Midnight.

Overall, I gave the book 2/5 stars.

As I Read Review: And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

11/03/2016

4:05 pm:

I am going into this book with the hopes that is is creepy as fuck. I have the UK copy as well and the title for that is The Creeper Man and the cover is creepy as hell. I will add that cover below this but I am hoping for spooky. I am tired of pussified horror books. Okay, LETS GO!

(uk cover)

9:20 pm:

What the actual fucktits am I reading? Her other book was a bit weird too but at least I could follow the plot. This book is weird as hell. 

9:52 pm:

Uhh is this book supposed to be like a story about slenderman? If not then uhhh yeah i dont know what to say. This has to be some sort of weird slenderman fanfic.

11/04/2016

12:53 pm

So, yeah. This author definitely played too much slenderman. I am actually kind of regretting picking this book up because I am worried any future books from her might not be good. The Dead House was actually interesting and good but this book is just a jumble of shit. 

4:12 pm: 

Okay, it is starting to get a tiny bit better and there are some confusing things that are becoming clearer but I am almost done the book and it took this long to make sense. How annoying.

4:29 pm:

Alice in creeper land lol. Makes me think of minecraft and alice falling down tons of holes haha

4:45 pm:

Hmm soo. you think you were 9 or 10 when you went to the museum but then you say "it looks big to a seven year old" talking about yourself. hmmm author error?

7:35 pm:

The book has taken a turn. It isn't scary but it is sad. Also, I listened to as little of the audiobook and the person who narrated it is amazing at it.

8:00pm:

Well, that was a weird ending. I kind of expected it though. I am disappointed that it took nearly the entire book before it got interesting. I liked the ending but that is not enough to bring my rating up much. 

REVIEW: The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee - Valeria

Rate: 5/5

Goodreads Description:

New York City as you’ve never seen it before. A thousand-story tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible—if you want it enough.

Welcome to Manhattan, 2118.

A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. But people never change: everyone here wants something…and everyone has something to lose.

Leda Cole’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.

Eris Dodd-Radson’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart.

Rylin Myers’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will her new life cost Rylin her old one?

Watt Bakradi is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy by an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.

And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

Debut author Katharine McGee has created a breathtakingly original series filled with high-tech luxury and futuristic glamour, where the impossible feels just within reach. But in this world, the higher you go, the farther there is to fall….

Lets take a moment to appreciate this absolutely gorgeous cover!

Yeah?

Moment over.

I really loved this book, particularly the end. I feel like I say this with so many books, that I loved them but that if because I tend to read books that I am excited about and know im going to love or are super hyped. Anyways, I was super excited about this because it all seemed super Gossip Girl-ish and I am a huge fan of Gossip Girl

The whole world of the tower is just super cool but scary to me, like some people dont leave the tower at all, there is absolutely everything in this tower, even fake parks and sunlight, like I cant begin to comprehend how this thing was built and how massive it would look like in real life!

Which also leads to the whole, what sort of things must happen inside of this tower.

There is drama of all sorts, stealing,cheating, drugs, alcohol, incest, and good old basic lying.

It started with the fall, goes back some time until the time of the fall and the funeral. The whole time you are reading this is makes you wonder oh my gosh, who is going to fall and you think you know or you want it to be a specific person because you hate them but in the end, you are just as surprised as the person who actually falls!

I was hooked from page 1 and by god you will be too!

Katharine McGee, you did it, you have made the book that  I will not shut up about just as I wouldnt shut up about Gossip Girl until I finished it.

Recommend it?

Yes, for all and all Gossip Girl fans

As I Read Review: Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland - EXPLICIT!!!

When I read a book I always have this like running narrative in the back of my mind yelling at the book or swooning over it. I thought, why not put those thoughts to good use? So here I am. I will follow the progress of a few of the books I read each month and do one of these for it. I will also write a more professional review and post that separately. But since these are going to be my raw thoughts there will be chaos and a lot of cussing. Did I mention cussing? Yeah... Lots of that. So the first victim is... Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland. 

9:10 am:

So I got to my sisters house and after getting 40 pages into the book I put it down and start cussing and writing some of my bookish friends bitching about how everyone is trying to be the next John Green. Just fucking stop it. 

11:42 am:

WHAT THE FUCK!!! This manic pixie dream girl shit is really getting old. Like being different than other girls is this super amazing thing and you get this title along with it. It's like telling someone you don't like rap music or popular tv shows. OMG really?! You are so different from any girl I've ever met. Well, honestly, if girls like that, sadly I am in this category and it took until today to realize that, are so rare... Why are there so many books, movies, shows, etc with a MPDG as the female lead? 

ALSO why the hell are all the books told from the guys perspective? I'll tell you why. Because guys want these girls. At least in books. This is now how the real world normally is. the weird girl normally gets ignored or bullied. Stop romanticizing this. Being different is great but being coveted in books because you are that different girl is seriously getting old. 

1:48 pm:

"I wanted to know what kind of drunk she was." Uhh... This coming from a guy not even remotely close to the legal drinking age is creepy. 

Aside from the creepy things Henry says, I really like his parents. Makes me think of my parents when I was in high school. 

I am not starting to like this book but... I really like how the teenagers are portrayed. They say fuck and anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron.

1:57 pm:

"She was made of stardust and chaos..." -_-

2:07 pm: 
And that was only the 20th Harry Potter reference.

Ehh... Points for the Dodgeball movie reference.

4:14 am:
I honestly don't know what to think about this book. It's sad but pathetic. It's poetic yet stupidly unbelievable. For every positive thing about this book there are two negative. I just feel like I'm reading Looking for Alaska again. I'm expecting Grace to kill herself. Yes, her name is fucking Grace. Ugh.

5:55 pm:
I finished it. And I hated it but I also saw some good qualities about it too. Everyone grieves in their own way but the situation Grace was in held her back from dealing with loss. It's funny, Henry was the narrator but by the end of the book his character felt sort of unneeded. 

Release Day Review: Unnatural Deeds by Cyn Balog

Title: Unnatural Deeds

Genre: YA Psychological Thriller

Author: Cyn Balog

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication: Novemmber 1st 2016

Cover Rating: 5/5

Goodreads | Amazon

Unnatural Deeds has a magnificent cover that will pull you in but it's the story that will make you stay. The author has a way with Young Adult Thrillers. She can turn even the simplest of things into an epic mystery and I couldn't predict what was going to happen. The ending was definitely not what I was guessing it would be.

Victoria has crippling anxiety. Because of this anxiety her parents decided to put her into a private religious school. They thought it would help her. I don't think her parents counted on the fact that Victoria wouldn't make any friends and would eventually be called snotty due to her not talking to anyone. I wonder how her classmates would have reacted had they known her backstory from the day she started at the school

Andrew is Victoria's neighbor and boyfriend. He doesn't like to leave his house. In fact, the only times he DOES leave the house are for Victoria and when his stepfather makes him go hunting with him. Andrew is brilliant. He plays the piano and has the voice of an angel. He would be perfect... If only he could leave his house.

Enter Z. He takes Victoria's "new student" title and sweeps through the school like a tornado. I didn't really like Z at first. He was that cocky, over-confident know-it-all that just really grates on your nerves. But towards the end I start to realize I didn't really dislike him. I disliked the person the narrator was describing. Apparently, he was entirely different.

This book is full of character stories. Z's family story. Victoria's anxiety story. Then we have Andrew's crappy life story. It is also full of extremely fleshed-out characters. Even insignificant side characters seemed important.

The plot revolved pretty much around school, a play and Victoria's inner demons. Oh, and a murder investigation. Each chapter begins with a police interview or an article based around the characters and the plot. But besides those things, it was a very normal plot with love, hate, bullying, rich bitches and pretty much all other high school cliches.

I am just extremely glad that Cyn Balog's books are normally stand-a-lones because of how this ended. If I had to wait to find out what happened, I would go crazy. I do have some questions, like what happened to Victoria after the story ended. Was Andrews mother still with that asshole, even after what happened? UGH! I would also love to know if Victoria was ever diagnosed with any mental illness. She definitely got VERY obsessive and that was on top of her anxiety , which she was medicated for.

Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.