Because You Love To Hate Me Review

Title: Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy
Author: Ameriie +12 other authors and 13 other booktubers.
My rating: 3.1/5 stars
Date Read: 8/31/17

I used a calculator.

If you haven't heard of Because You Love to hate me is an anthology where 13 authors teamed up with 13 booktubers. Each author is paired up with a booktuber and the booktuber gives the author a writing prompt about a villain. I LOVED some of the stories but others I wanted to DNF.

The Blood of Imuriv by Renee Ahdieh
4/5 stars
I really enjoyed this short story. I honestly wanted more from the world and I think that this could of been a full novel. There is so much to explore in this world. I was very disappointed when this story ended. I just wanted more. I did really enjoy Ahdieh's Wrath and the Dawn Duology but wasn't a big fan of The Flame in The Mist. I will say though is is one of my favourite stories in this Anthology.

Jack by Ameriie
1/5 stars
I have never heard of Ameriie . Let me be honest, I found this story very boring. I skimmed the the majority of the story. This story was honestly not for me.

Gwen and Art and Lance by Soman Chainani
1.5/5 stars
I feel like the format of this story is what ruined this short story. This book is written through text messaging. I did read this story very quickly and I did understand what was going on so that was the good thing. Honestly if this was written differently it would probably be more enjoyable. Also there is no text talk so that is a plus.

Shirley & Jim by Susan Dennard
3/5 stars
It was average. I didn't care that much about the characters but I was curious to see what happens at the end. I enjoyed the writing and I think it could of been better but it was still enjoyable.

The Blessing of Little Wants by Sarah Enni
2.5/5 stars
I wasn't that interested in the beginning of this story. By the time I was interested I was confused since I did skim most of the the first half. I may go back to reread it but as for now I will leave my rating at 2.5 stars. I also never heard of Sarah Enni before.

The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer
5/5 stars
I loved this story. It is my favourite out of all of them. I loved the writing and was interested in the story since the first page. It was just everything I wanted. It is so hard to explain why.

Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon
3.5/5 stars
I never heard of Cindy Pon and need to add her books to my tbr. I also thought that Benjamin's essay in very important as well and if you plan on skipping the booktubers essays I would recommend reading this one over all of them. Back to the short story. I liked that it had an Asian setting and it was very unique from anything I ever read. The writing was also really good.

Death Knell by Victoria Schwab
5/5 stars
This story is probably my second favourite. I loved the way it was written and it was very unique and I never read anything like it before.

Marigold by Samantha Shannon
3.5/5 stars
I never read anything by Samantha Shannon before and need to add her series the Bone Season to my TBR. I found this story very interesting and I wanted to know what happened. I also think that this world could be explored more and I want a full novel in this world. I would say the beginning was a little confusing to me but overall I really liked it.

You, You, It's all About You by Adam Silvera
1/5 stars
I really liked Adam Silvera's book More Happy Than Not but I was so bored when reading this story. I was excited to read it but I ended up skimming most of it. It is just not for me.

Julian Breaks Every Rule by Andrew Smith
4.5/5 stars
I never was really interested in reading Andrew Smith's other book but that has now changed and I want to read all of his books. I surprising loved this story. It was interesting, the writing was really good. This was honestly a surprise because I didn't think I would like this story as much as I did.

Indigo Shade by April Genevieve Tucholke
2.5/5 stars
I never heard or read anything by this author. I did enjoy it but some parts are very confusing. I still am confused. I think it is because it needed more explanations.

Sera by Nicola Yoon
4/5 stars
It took me a bit to understand what was going on but the story eventually pieced together and I loved it. It was unique and I loved the way it was written. Overall a very solid short story. I do want to see what happens next.


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September 2017 Wrap up (+TBR)

Hello everyone,

Today I thought I would do a wrap up of all the books I read and all the post I have done on my Blog etc.

The Books I Read:

This month was a good reading month. I read 4 new books and I reread 4 book which means I have read 8 books. I did enjoy all the books I read. 

Because You Love To Hate Me: 3.1/5 stars

The Mirror King: 3.5 stars

A Gathering of Shadows 4.5/5 stars

(Reread) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: 5/5 stars

(Reread) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: 5/5 stars

(Reread) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 5/5 stars

(Reread) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 5/5 stars

 

Blog Posts:

This month I posted 5 book reviews. 

Those reviews are:

Passenger by Alexandra Braken

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sanhya Menon

A List of Cages by Robin Roe

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Bookstagram:

I posted 28 pictures on my bookstagram. All the photos did well and most of them got around 100 likes. I gained about 20 followers and I followed about 5 new amazing accounts.My account is @andreasbookishthoughts by the way. Also Bloomsbury, Jessethereader, and Disney books liked one of my photos!!!!!! (different photo each)

October TBR:

I have never set a TBR before but I want to try it out. 

Rereads



Books I want to read that I haven't read yet:


A you can tell I am very ambitious this month but I feel like having a monthly TBR will help motivate me to read more.

Well that is it! Let me know if you like these wrap ups. They are not the same as the BookTube wrap ups obviously. I will probably do my next one in a similar format and may include more detail.We will see what happens. Thank You or reading and I hope to see you in my next post.

Frostblood Review

Title: Frostblood
Author: Elly Blake
Series: Frostblood Saga #1
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
Date Read: 9/16/17

I went into this book with low expectation and I honestly enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Keep in mind this book is not the most original book in the world and can be very predictable.

This books is a fantasy novel and it is told in first person. We follow the main character Ruby's POV. If you hate when books change perspectives you are in luck since we only have one POV in this book! Ruby is a fireblood living in a world ruled by a frostblood king. Her mother is killed and she is taken to the prison. She then escapes with the help of some rebel frostbloods and agrees to help them overthrow the king.

The first 50 pages were really good. Then the rest of the first half was very boring. Nothing happened. I almost DNFed the book so many times but kept pushing through hoping it would get better because I absolutely hate DNFing books. I am so glad I pushed myself through the rest of the first half because the second half of the book is SO much better.

If you hate contemporary books and need a fantasy book to help you out of a reading slump you may want to try reading Frostblood. The world and magic system was very easy to understand and it is a short book.

Keep in mind that this book is very predictable. I did predict several things that happened.

Overall I enjoyed the book it was just very average.



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Passenger Review

Title: Passenger
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Series: Passenger #1
My rating: 2 /5 stars
Date Read: 8/27/7

I wanted to love this book but the first half was so boring ad nothing happened till halfway through the book. Also Etta was very annoying and I did not like her that much. I also found Nicholas to be over protective? I hated that he kept saying or thinking that Etta needed to be protected. It was just plain annoying. And the old friend instalove has returned and yes I do not like the romance.

I was very confused throughout most of the book. I felt like nothing happened in the beginning which left me sort of daydreaming while reading. You know when you are reading but thinking about other things at the same time and then you realize you have no idea what you read. Maybe it is just me.

Passenger is a book about time travel. I haven't read a time travel book in a long time ad was excited to read this. It was very disappointing as you can see I rated it two stars. I did like Alexandra Bracken's other book The Darkest Minds (3/5 stars) but I only read the first book in the trilogy and I do plan on finishing it. Passenger is a duology and I actually do want to know what happens next so I will hopefully read the next book.

We follow two characters Etta and Nicholas. Etta is a violinist living in the modern world of 2015. She soon discovers in the beginning that she and her mother are time travelers. Nicholas is or I think is a Pirate. He is free from the Ironwoods, a powerful time traveler family and lives at sea (which is why I think he is a pirate.) Both of them go on a journey to find this thing that people were trying to keep away from the Ironwoods.

When I first heard of Passenger I expected this to be a fast paced book. I did not expect it to be slow. In fact I wanted to DNF this book around chapter 4. Also keep note that the chapters are very long.

Overall this was just and okay book and it did have its interesting parts which is why it is not a 1 star book.

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Geekerella Review

Title: Geekerella
Author: Ashley Poston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Date Read: 8/22/17

I liked this book I lot. If you couldn't tell this is a modern day Cinderella retelling but with fandoms. The main character Elle lives with her stepmom and two stepsisters. She also works in a food truck called the Magic Pumpkin. Already see the Cinderella references? Any way she is obsessed with the show Starfield which is sort of like Star Wars I think. I will admit I never watched Star Wars. Before her father died he founded ExcelsiCon and when she hears there is a cosplay contest she knows she has to enter. Starfield is becoming a movie and the actor Darien Freeman is to play Carmindor. Darien also loves Starfield but is also dealing with a lot of hate from fans of the show who think he is taking the role for the money including Elle. He is also afraid of messing up the role of Carmindor because there are so many fans of the show already.

I really enjoyed this book is is very short but super cute. It is a perfect book for fangirls and boys and it is perfect for a reading slump and super easy to follow.

I loved the Cinderella references throughout the book and it is very obvious that this is a Cinderella retelling.

In this book we do follow both Elle and Darien's point of view. I honestly preferred reading Elle's POV. I think it is because I found her POV more interesting than Darien's. I do still like Darien as a character though. I actually liked most of the characters.

Sage is probably my favourite character in the book which may also be why I prefer Elle's POV. She is sort of like the fairy godmother of the story. She works at the Magic Pumpkin as well.

Overall I do recommend this book!

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When Dimple Met Rishi Review

Title: When Dimple Met Rishi
Author: Sandhya Menon
My rating: 3/5 stars
Date Read: 8/19/17

This is one of those books where I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second.

When Dimple Met Rishi follows the characters Dimple and Rishi obviously. Both of them are Indian. Dimple has her life all planned out. She wants to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers, her mom is obsessed with her finding the Ideal Indian Husband. Rishi is a romantic. Rishi hears from his parents that his future wife is going to the same summer program as he is he is ready to meet her.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book. I would rate it 4 stars. I started to lose interest around the time the romance was introduced. I guess the romance ruined the second half? I honestly have no idea. I ended up forcing myself to finish the book towards the end.

I didn't really like both Dimple and Rishi together. I wished they became best friends instead of boyfriend and girlfriend. I honestly think that would of been a more interesting story.



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A List of Cages Review

Title: A List of Cages
Author: Robin Roe
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Date Read: 8/16/17

I have a feeling I am going to think about this book for awhile. It is such a powerful read.

This story is about two boys Adam and Julian. Adam is helping the school's physiologist as his senior years elective. The doctor asks Adam to make sure a boy gets to his appointments as he keeps missing them. Adam learns that this boy is Julian. He is the foster brother Adam hasn't seen for 5 years. Adam is reunited with him but soon figures out that Julian is hiding something from him.

This book is told in first person and we follow both Julian and Adam's point of view. I loved both of their POVs and I honestly didn't prefer one over the other which is not common when I read.

I loved both characters. I liked the friendship between Adam and Julian and it is obvious that Adam does care for Julian.

This is definitely an emotional book. I rarely cry or even tear up while reading. I did tear up once during this book for emotional readers will probably be sobbing. I am also warning you this is not a cute fluffy contemporary book.

Adam has ADHD and it is constantly mentioned throughout the book. Julian, when he was younger had dyslexia.

I think this is her debut novel and if it is it is one of the best debut novels I have ever read. Overall it is such a powerful and emotional read.

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