Book Blogger TMI Tag

I've never participated in a tag before and I've wanted to for a while. Summer from Miss Fictional's World of YA Books tagged me (and her blog is amazing so follow it!).

How old are you?

I'm almost 16! Whoo! I'll be sixteen on December 29th and I can't wait!

What book are you reading?

 

I'm one of those weird people that multi-read. I recently picked up the habit last year when I was balancing an adult book and a YA book at the same time. I prefer to read more than one book at once now. I'm currently reading:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (pleasure read)

Shadows by Paula Weston (for review)

Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie (random Kindle read)

What are you wearing?

I'm wearing pajamas because I'm lazy and didn't do anything for Thanksgiving, but stay home and eat.:D

OTP?

Dimitri Belikov and Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy series. I love them so much and I can't wait to see them on the big screen.

Blogger or Wordpress?

I use Blogger.

Going outside being active or staying in and reading a book?

I prefer to read, but I do enjoy reading outside as well.;)

What is the last book you read?

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I'll be posting a review of it soon. By soon, I mean whenever I finish my backlog reviews or when I finish Mockingjay, whichever comes first.

What is the book you're going to read next?

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I made a promise to a reviewer last year to read it before my sixteenth birthday. I started it in seventh grade and read half of it in one sitting then didn't pick it up again because I'm lazy.

eBooks - yes or no?

Yes! I love them. I have a free Kindle download addiction. I download anything that's free.

Where do you prefer to read?

In my bed.

Who is the last person you tweeted?

I don't know and I'm too lazy to look.

Whose blog did you look at last?

Once again, I'm too lazy to look. Technically Summer's who I linked above. So look at her blog, too.:)

Who is your favorite blogger?

Kat from Cuddlebuggery. She always makes me laugh and I love a lot of reviewers, but she's the one to always bring a smile to my face.

Who is your favorite booktuber?

CassJayTuck. I don't remember when I stumbled upon her, but she always has the funniest comments and she's just awesome.

What do you do when someone tells you reading is boring?

I hit them. Just ask my best friend. He gets beat up almost every morning on the way to Spanish class.:3

Who is the last author you spoke to?

Courtney Summers via Twitter. It was a life changing moment. I love that woman.

Who is the last person you texted?

 

My best friends. We love to group text.:D

Who is your all-time favorite book character?

This is a tough one... I don't know. I don't know. Don't make me choose. I can't do it. I can't choose.

UKYA or USYA?

I don't read a lot of UK YA, but it is always good. US YA has a lot of flop writers. So, UKYA.

What is your preferred drink whilst reading?

Dr. Pepper. I'm insanely unhealthy person.

If you hated reading, what would you be doing instead?

Color guard all day everyday. I already do that, but reading is what I do when I'm not doing color guard.

How many bookshelves/bookcases do you have?

One. I'm hopefully going to build some when I get to redo my room!

If you had the choice to meet all of your favourite book bloggers or all of your favourite authors, which would you pick? You can only pick one.

I think book bloggers because then I can make friends in person.:) I love friends in person!

Insta-love- yes or no?
 

Kill it with fire!

Favourite author?

Richelle Mead for YA and Sherrilyn Kenyon for the adult books.:D

What is the number-one book on your wishlist?

The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead. I haven't bought it yet and I need it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you prefer books with female or male protagonists?
 

I like both. I actually prefer alternating POVs with male and female characters.

Which is your favourite book-to-film adaption?

The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I don't need to say anything else. I love the book and I adore the movie to bits.

What is the last song you listened to?
 

Until the End by Asking Alexandria I love them so much. Like I can't even describe how much I adore that band. Danny and Ben are just perf.

Which do you enjoy reading more - negative reviews or positive reviews?
 

Negative because I can rage and put gifs. Positive reviews are hard because it's just fangirling.

Who are you going to tag?
I'm tagging:

Stephanie at Inspiring Insomnia

Keertana at Ivy Book Bindings

Lectus at Lectus

Delaney at The Awarkdness

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

5 stars
Thomas Mackee has been handed a rough life the last few years. He’s lost his uncle and watched his family slowly fall apart. Tom quit school, stopped playing music, and left behind everyone that mattered to him. Tom has hit rock bottom and his pregnant aunt comes in to pick up Tom and force him to get back on his feet. I’m not really sure how to describe The Piper’s Son. I loved it so much more than Jellicoe Road. This is probably blasphemous in the book community, but The Piper’s Son stole my heart. I haven’t read Saving Francesca and didn’t realize that it was a spin-off of sorts. As I got to know the workers of the Union pub, I realized how I definitely need to pick it up. Too bad I came to that conclusion in July and haven’t picked up a Marchetta book since. Oops! I love the alternating points of view in The Piper’s Son. Tom and his aunt Tara were brilliant characters with both equally heartbreaking stories. I enjoyed every minute of the ride. I’m a slow Marchetta reader, but while it took me forever to read Jellicoe Road because I didn’t love it to bits, my slow progression of The Piper’s Son was due to me not want it end.


The main male character is Tom. Tom is an ass. It’s that simple. I hated him with a passion at times, but I loved him as well. Tom is a complex character who had me laughing at his comments of internal dialogue and giggling at his external comebacks. I cried for Tom, too. Tom is a very broken character. He went from being a normal happy teenager to watching his family apart at the death of his beloved uncle. It was truly heartbreaking and I shed a few tears.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 8.5

The main female character is Georgie or Aunt Georgie. I really enjoyed Georgie’s story. Not only does she face the heartbreak and loss of a brother, but the destruction of her own marriage. She finds herself pregnant with her ex’s child. This creates quite a bit of tension between Georgie’s friends and herself. Georgie also must find a way to cope with the hurt her ex inflicted upon her. Georgie was my POV of the story. I’m not sure why, but something about her spoke to me and I sympathized greatly for her.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 9

The Villain- I’ve said this before in a previous review of a contemporary novel, contemporaries rarely have an actual villain. The real villains in most contemporaries are internal and must be faced with looking inside one ’s self. I think it's one of my favorite things about contemporaries, especially The Piper's Son.


Villain Scale: 8

There is such a large array of characters. Each and everyone stole my heart in some way. It was quite easy to feel a part of Tom’s family or a member of the Union bar. I loved that feeling. Not very many books can create that atmosphere for me, but Marchetta did. I loved all the characters. No matter how brief their role was.


Character Scale: 10

This book is truly beautiful. It’s not an intense read, but a read about forgiveness. That seemed to be the biggest role in The Piper’s Son. Tom and Georgie both had to forgive somebody. They both make amends differently, but they do forgive and the Mackees come together. This book made me happy cry for a good while. I truly enjoyed The Piper’s Son and I can’t recommend it enough.


Cover Thoughts: I don’t really the cover I had. It was just… unfitting. The black-and-white cover is my favorite and I wish I had read that one.

See, it’s perfect.



Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!! I'm thankful for all of my lovely followers and the comments you guys leave! Thanks for rocking!:D Hope you have a great day!

The Turing Test by Beth Revis

Read the short story free here!



The Turing Test by Beth Revis


3.5 stars


Elektra Shepherd takes the Turing test to determine if the subjects, Blue or Red, are human or A.I. (robot).  I personally think that if Revis wrote as entertainingly as she did with this short story, I would've immensely enjoyed Across the Universe. My problem with Across the Universe was predictability and Revis's writing lacked in capturing my attention, but this short story is absolutely stunning. It's probably one of the best short stories I've ever read. It's brief, but thought-out and thought provoking. Questions are asked repeatedly throughout that pose interesting possibilities and I loved the ending! I wish the other Revis book I read had been this good, but since I haven't read the other two in the trilogy I have hope that her writing is this entrancing and heart pounding.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth

First in the Divergent Trilogy

5 stars

Beatrice Prior lives in Chicago, but her Chicago isn’t like ours. Her Chicago is divided into factions and she resides in Abnegation, the selfless faction. The problem is Beatrice doesn’t feel selfless and she’s always in a constant waging war within herself. The Choosing Ceremony is finally upon her and she can finally make her decision, but her test results come out inconclusive. Instead she learns she’s Divergent and she must keep it a secret if she wants to survive. Especially when she chooses to become Dauntless and she becomes the person she has always wanted to be, but there are traitors and betrayers in every faction and she’s never safe.


What to say about Divergent? I love it and it’s just that simple. I have about twenty pages of notes on everything in Divergent. For once I was completely excited to read a book for school. This book was just so awesome and it was more amazing than I thought it would. The writing while chopping and basic at times was completely engrossing and I was on a whirlwind adventure in the dystopian streets of Chicago. I absolutely love Chicago and having visited it not even a year ago was one of the best trips of my life. It was magical and to see it deteriorate into a shell of itself was captivating. The descriptions of certain places brought back memories and even if slightly different I felt comfort in it.



I’m not sure what to cover and what to say because there is so much I want to say and not enough space or time. I could go on for hours about Divergent and trust me, every other sophomore and I have. This is a book that has become the talk of the school, everyone wants to get their hands on a copy because everyone feels left out when people talk about it. Divergent is the talk of my school. I absolutely adore Divergent and I sped through it when reading. I remember sitting in English class and I was just getting to the famous capture the flag scene and then I would be 80 pages ahead by the end of class. This book is just a fast read, but there are snags. Divergent can get boring at times, but it is just so good at others. I guess I’ll talk about the characters before I move onto other aspects of the book.

The main female character is Beatrice, who later becomes Tris. Tris is such a better name and thank God she changed into something actually cool and not downright silly. I liked Tris for a great portion of the book. I think she’s a strong character, who grew into herself and became her own person, but she’s also a bitch. There was that one scene after [the beating and she refused to forgive Al and even after his suicide was okay with his death. (hide spoiler)] I don’t like that at all. I get she was hurt, but what the hell? You are supposedly ranked into Abnegation (Divergent is Dauntless, Abnegation, and Erudite) and yet you can be a bitch like that. She did redeem herself because I eventually understood where she was coming from, but still. It’s easy to like her, but she also easy to hate.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 8.5

The main male character is Four, which is an incredibly stupid name and I will continue to call him Tobias in this review and the rest of the books. Tobias is just absolutely…


No words can describe my complete fangirling  that I experienced when reading Fourtris parts. He was just so perfect and I loved him. Tobias, if you turn into an ass in the next books I will go Dauntless on your ass.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 9.5

The Villain- RAGE! RAGE everywhere! Pretty much a good portion of the ending was just me feeling angry towards the Erudite and the leaders of Dauntless. They are all stupid idiots and I will personally inject Jeanine with her own control serum.

Villain Scale: 8.5

I love Christina, Will, and Al.  Christina came off as a bit of a bitch at first, but she grows on you and she easily became one of my favorite characters. Will isn't really as present as some of the characters, but I still loved him. Al, poor Al. Uriah is one of my favorite of all the minor characters! He's just so awesome. Caleb, Tris's brother, I can see through his BS and I know that since he's Erudite he shouldn't be trusted. Peter is nothing but trouble, but adding him in at the ending proves for interesting future moments.


Character Scale: 9

I love the idea of the factions. I think it is just absolutely fascinating and it’s interesting to see how easily people will allow be categorized into a group and following them like sheep. It’s incredibly interesting. Candor is obviously my favorite of the factions; because that was my faction I received after the Faction Quiz. It fits me though. I’m always honest and that’s probably why a lot of people don’t like me. Abnegation is the one faction I could not deal with being in. Amity is just there, but I know that they have more presence in the next book. Dauntless was my favorite before the end of the book and Erudite can just go die in a whole. My thoughts aren’t really intelligent at the moment and I’m easily distracted. Think of this review more as my brain throwing up fangirl thoughts, much like how Twilight was written.

I can’t wait to continue reading about Tris, Tobias, and the whole crew. I’m anxious for more! The movie looks like it will be awesome and I just can’t wait!

 

Cover Thoughts: I love the cover! It’s one of my favorite dystopian covers, but I must say that the Allegiant cover is absolutely stunning in comparison.

 
 

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

First in the Burn for Burn series

4 stars

Jar Island seems like the perfect place. It’s a safe little beach town and everyone seems to live a perfectly charmed life. But like every good town there are good girls… and bad ones. Lillia has been hurt by the people she trusted most and she’ll do anything to protect her sister from the same fate. Kat is the poor girl stuck in a rich town where she is the butt of the joke. Tired of her ex-best friend ruining her life she decides to finally teach her a lesson and she’ll need another old friend’s help and a new girl who seems to have more secrets. Mary left Jar Island because of a boy and she’s changed. She wants revenge and she’s finally found a way to get it. I read this book back in August and still when I think of it I’m left in a thought process with a thousand questions. This book was a good book and not just any good book but a good revenge book. I love revenge books. They are always so scandalous and I love the thought process of the hurt getting revenge on the wicked. Of course, in all revenge books the line between good and wicked becomes blurred. It was blurred here, but I’m not gonna lie this book is full of secrets. I enjoyed every single second of it. I went from reading a chapter to reading the whole thing before I went to bed. The drama in this book is delicious and the secrets are overflowing. I loved the alternating points of view. It created suspense and made me want to find out each girl’s secret.


The main female characters are Lillia, Mary, and Kat. Lillia is a huge focus of the novel. She struggles with hurting a friend, but it is later revealed that her revenge on her friend isn’t just for her sister. Lillia is the golden girl and everyone on Jar Island loves her. I don’t particularly like her. She loved her sister, but at the same time she was cruel and downright hateful to her. She made parts of her view frustrating and I wasn’t a fan of how she was constantly changing her mind. Mary was my favorite of the girls. Mary has had it rough. I cried for her after hearing why she left Jar Island and why she was getting revenge. Out of all the girls Mary has been handed the short end of the stick and has went through more heartache than any of them. Kat was the mastermind behind the plans. I really liked her. She was funny and sarcastic, but the thing I liked most about her was that she still missed her old friend, even though she was cruel to her.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: Lillia- 7.5 Mary- 9 Kat-8.5

The main male characters are better left unsaid because they are just jerks. I mean is there something in the air that makes Jar Island boys jerks?


Swoon Worthy Scale: Jerks everywhere!

The Villain- For once, I’m just not going to say anything about the villains because it would give away everything!

Villain Scale: 9

I really liked Lillia’s sister and I wouldn’t mind seeing her POV added in future books.

Character Scale: 8.5

That ending! It was like Carrie all over again, but not as scary. Just thinking about that ending even after reading it months ago has me in an angry pile of questions and screaming. This book was so good! I haven’t gotten my hands on the sequel yet, but I can’t wait to because I’m left with so many questions.


Cover Thoughts: Look at that cover, it’s flawless. The girls just look like they have so many secrets and they actually fit the character descriptions, I love it!