TOO STRESSED TO WRITE AND READ AND DO WHATEVER

Hey yaa.
What's up? I know, it's been a long time since I last posted on this blog, but I have excusesreasons.
You'd THINK I didn't write here because I didn't feel like it, but honestly I actually didn't read anything.
Which is, possibly, even worse.
Fact is, people say how teenager life is easy, void of the problems 'real life' presents. And in a way, that's true. We kind of live on a seperate planet in these years. But, it's not exactly stress-free.
School is hard, I've been stressing a lot over college choices and what I really want to do with my life, and with all of these things to do I really didn't have the time to read. And when I did, I was too stressed out to really concentrate on what I was reading so yeah. It's been a tough month and I bet the next ones won't be easier.
But at least Christmas' on its way! Yay! I'm happy. Lots of time to relax and read, I'm hoping. I'm gonna post something useful as soon as possible.
Sooo.. yeah. Keep reading and DON'T STRESS. :) (keep calm and read?)

Elena

[Book Review] Stephen Chbosky ~ The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Author: Stephen Chbosky
Book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Rating: 

Synopsis: Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But Charlie can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.


Review:


I went through stages with this one.
When I first started Perks, after all the good reviews my mind was set on liking it and I had pretty high expectations.
Halfway through the first fifty pages, though, I realized I wasn't liking this in the least. The writing sounded so impersonal, and flat. I just couldn't relate to Charlie at all, which is a pity because he was telling of things we've all got to go through at some point.
Also, Charlie was really naïve. Which would be good, if that was done realistically. But honestly? I cannot imagine a fifteen-year-old boy who's that naïve. I myself wasn't that naïve at fiteen. Not even at thirteen, to be honest.
He constantly cried. Constantly! Who cries that much?
Although in the end the reason was kind of was explained so I sort of relented on that point.

One character I really liked is Patrick. He was great! I enjoyed getting to know more about him. He looked so tough at the beginning but actually he was just a scared little boy. He was definitely more realistic than Charlie, to tell you the truth.
The thing with Charlie is that he's supposed to represent all of us teenagers. And in a way he kind of does. But there was this sort of wall between his thoughts and his actions.
Sometimes he would say something and I'd be like, "wow. That happens to me a lot." But then he'd go out and do things NO NORMAL TEEN would ever do. Like breaking down in front of all his friends for such stupid reasons?
He really did look like a little kid. It would've just been better if the book was centered on a ten-year-old or something.

What made me like the book a little more, though, was the ending. Finally, at the end of the book, Charlie realizes he can't always be a wallflower. He's got to stand up and hold his own ground. Not always be pushed around by others.
So finally there's some growth on the main character's side, which is what I'd been waiting for all along.
Also, all Charlie's break-downs were kind of explained which is why I can say that The Perks of Being a Wallflower kind of reedemed itself at last.

Also, there was this scene in which Patrick (or Sam, I can't remember who) asks Charlie was his favorite book is. And when they ask the reason of Charlie's choice, he's like, "Because it's the last one I've read." I really liked it because, as a bookworm, I can relate to that. I especially appreciated it because it meant that he liked books so much that each of them was his favorite. It made me smile.

So my final opinion on The Perks of Being a Wallflower? I'd say 3.5 stars.
I do think it's a bit overrated, but all in all it was pretty cute.
I wouldn't say Perks is one of my favorite books, but if you get through all of it I believe you can definitely learn something from it.

This review can also be found at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/364629229

[New Read] Wendy Higgins ~ Sweet Evil

And I've finally gotten my hands on this book!
I've been meaning to read it for MONTHS. But for some stupid reasons I never actually did.
Until now.
To be honest, I was reading Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer. It doesn't really have good reviews but the storyline sounded so cool that I wanted to try it anyway and shove in everbody's face how much I loved it.
But unfortunately everybody was right.
I've reached the half book line and things still haven't gotten better, so I decided to start Sweet Evil, too, because I was dying to read it and getting stuck on that other one wasn't in my plans.

So, about the book. So far it's good, but I haven't really read much of it yet. I just met Kayden, the male MC, and he doesn't seem to be bad. Anna is kinda cool, too, although she freaks me out a bit.
The storyline sounds about as fresh as you can get with the billions of PN books coming out these days, so I'm quite satisfied. It does have some pretty high reviews on goodreads, so I do have some expectations.
I just hope SE will do it for me.
I like the cover, although from what I've read so far the models don't really match up with the descriptions.
But oh well, that dress is adorable.

[New Read] The Perks of Being a Wallflower!

I have made it. I finally have.
I have started reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

This book has been advertized so much I don't think I could've seen more of it if it hung outside my front door day and night. Seriously.
I'd been wanting to read this for months, waiting to find out what the fuss was all about, and now I've finally started it.

What bugs me about this book, though, is that I didn't find out about it myself.
Now you have to know a peculiar thing about me: I like finding things on my own. I like being able to say, "oh, no one told me to watch/read this. I found it by myself and loved it."
I guess I kind of like the pride I take in saying that.
And now I can't.
As I've said, Perks has been advertized and commercialized very much in the last months. I guess it has to do with the movie coming out (which I'm going to watch as soon as I finish the book).
And that's the thing about things going mainstream.
That they kind of lose a bit of that sparkle they had before. I'm not saying a movie makes a book worse, but somehow it takes the imagination out of it. And it attracts those people who wouldn't be interested in it otherwise.


Example.
Twilight.
Don't booh me now, please. Listen up. Twilight was not an exceptional book, but it's not as bad as some make it sound, either. The thing about it, though, is that going mainstream it also aquired some of those fans that I personally would not be proud to call fans. What I mean is that now there's a bunch of people who fake themselves literary experts, and at the fatidic question, what's your favorite book? (which, by the way, is a very stupid question, if you ask me), they answer TWILIGHT without a shadow of doubt.

And the readers community is all one big, fat facepalm.


But why was I saying this? Oh, yeah, The Perks of Being a Wallflower being made into a movie.
No, I am not in any way saying this book is as bad as Twilight (principally 'cause I haven't even finished it yet so I can't say). What I'm saying is that with the movie coming out it will aquire a lot of fans who do not actually like the book for the right reasons, but because it's just the movie.
I don't know if you get why I mean so I will try to say it more clearly.
People will like it because its popular and they will not get the true meaning that's behind it, and the geniality of it all.
It happens.
A lot of times, it happens.
But that's the way things goes, so I guess I can't complain much. I should just be glad that a nice book is receiving attention, I guess.


So yeah, I have currently just the passed the half book line and I'm nearing the ending. I'll tell you in a new post what I thought about the book! and if you have read it, or if you plan to, or even if you don't, comment or say something and tell me what you think about it. :)

Thank you for reading,


Elena

[Review] Chelsea M. Cameron ~ My Favorite Mistake

Author: Chelsea M. Cameron
Book: My Favorite Mistake
Rating: 

Synopsis: Taylor Caldwell can't decide if she wants to kiss her new college roommate or punch him.

On the one hand, Hunter Zaccadelli is a handsome, blue-eyed bundle of charm. On the other, he's a tattooed, guitar-playing bundle of bad boy. Maybe that's why Taylor's afraid of falling in love with him, or anyone else. She doesn't want to get burned, and even though her other roommates adore him, she wants him gone before it's too late.

Hunter himself has been been burned before, but the fact that Taylor calls him out on his crap and has the sexiest laugh ever make him decide maybe love isn't a lost cause. They make a bet: if she can convince him she truly loves or hates him, he'll leave the apartment--and leave her alone. The problem is, the more time they spend together, the less she hates him, and the more she moves toward love.

But when the man who holds the key to Taylor's fear of giving up her heart resurfaces and threatens to wreck everything, she has to decide: trust Hunter with her greatest secret, or do everything in her power to win that bet and drive him away forever.




Review:
(guys, there may be a few spoilers ahead)



Oh well.
This one took quite a lot of my energies, didn't it?



I first read of My Favorite Mistake on goodreads, because it was supposed to be similar to Beautiful Disaster, by Jamie McGuire, a book I personally love.
Which such a premise, I already knew it would be hard for this one to beat BD, not to count that I couldn't help comparing the two of them.
Result: I am sorry, Chelsea M. Cameron, but you lost.



My Favorite Mistake is the story of Taylor, a sophomore girl with a traumatic past attending UMaine college, and Hunter, a sophomore boy with a traumatic past attending UMain college.
Oh wait, did I repeat myself?
Oh dear, yes I did.
In fact, my darlings, our author here exceeded herself. You know how some readers are continuously lamenting that the guy with a traumatic past is so clichè and needs to be given up? Well here, guys, we've got BOTH OF THEM with a traumatic past.
That makes for a pretty messed up storyline.

First of all, I would like to state a few points about our main character, Taylor.
Taylor is nuts.
Not as in, "oh, she's a bit nuts, but in a cute way."
No.
She's nuts.
When Hunter makes his first appearance, the girl pretty much has a neurotic crisis (it's a lot that she didn't faint or anything!).
Here you already undersand that she's had some kind of trauma that prevents her from getting to close to people (or guys). I got that. I even pretty much figured out what her trauma was, although I wasn't sure at the time.
However, she was definitely out of line in that. She didn't just fear Hunter, she treated him like shit. For about a quarter of the book, she insults him (both saying it to us and saying it to his face) and tells him to fuck off, because she hates him.
Now. I do not know this girl personally (since she doesn't exist and all), but I highly doubt this was the first boy she saw in eight years. True, he was the first one to have to sleep in her same room, but hating him like that? The guy had done absolutely nothing wrong.
It didn't make sense.
And I'm blaming this on the author. Whatever made YA writers think that teens hating on each other are hot..

Next, there's Hunter.
Now here's a cool guy. I liked his character, as a person.
But as for his background.. eh. Could've been better. I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but.. ugh. Whatever. I'm a bitch. Get on with it.

It's not that I don't get these guys' traumas. I do. But I just feel they're not <i>enough.</i> Enough of an excuse to behave the way they did. Hunter was kind of okay, 'cause he hadn't that many problems in the end, but Taylor..
it just felt like everything was too forced to suit the author's wishes. Semi-rape so the MC would still be a virgin and we could have this really good first time with the tattoed guy.
Aaagh, it's really hard for to write this review. Because I know I'm being a bitch and I'm being stupid.
When I think about it, there's nothing wrong with this book. Nothing at all. It's kinda good. But I just didn't like it.
I told you, I couldn't help comparing it to BD and it didn't live up to Beautiful Disaster's standards.

Even the ending bothered me. What happened to Taylor was eight years ago. I know that Travis (ha! Travis! BD reference again) really hurt her and pretty much killed her innocence, but still. There should be space for redemption, shouldn't it? This guy had spent eight years of his life in jail. He had to have thought and considered what he'd done. Maybe he really had repented. Maybe he'd understood the weight of his actions and he was really sorry. But they didn't even give him the benefit of the doubt.
This wasn't a book about growth, it was a book about moving on. Taylor just moved on in the sense that she abandoned what had happened to her. She didn't try to analize it. She didn't go up to Travis and say, "are you even sorry?" She didn't go up to him and tell him what she really thought of him. She just let the tribunal do it for her with no second thoughts.
I didn't like that, people.

Also, two questions that've been bugging me every since I finished the book:

1) Hadn't Taylor said at the beginning of the book that she couldn't move out of the house because she had, like, a special scolarship that made her stay there? So why at the end of the book happens what happens?

2) How can Travis have a girlfriend if he spent eight years in prison? Was she in jail too or what?



In the end My Favorite Mistake wasn't a bad book, but it didn't even hook me the way I expected and hoped for. I love the title, I hate the cover, the book's a mix of the two.
Three stars to make it a tie.

IN MY MAILBOX. :)

Helloooooooooo!
Whhhhaaazzzup.


I haven't posted on this blog for about a week? So sorry. School keeps me busy and.. yeah. Life's hard.
So what have you been reading these days? As you can see in the right sidebar overe here ----->
I am currently reading When Summer Ends by Isabelle Rae and My Favorite Mistake by Chelsea M. Cameron. My honest opinion? They both suck. Bad. I'm at about half of each one of them, and so far none has hooked me up. Much.
The thing is that My Favorite Mistake was supposed to be kind of like Beautiful Disaster, by Jamie McGuire, which is one of my favorite books (despite all the critics it got), but MFM just aint' got anything on BD.
I'm sorry.
I can see the author trying to make it out, but it's just not. I'm surprised because MFM has received a lot of positive reviews on goodreads, but I just can't bring myself to like it. It did have strong competition, since I've mentioned how BD is one of my fave books, but still. It could be a whooole lot better.



Anyway, I wasn't going to talk about this, was I?
Recently, in my mailbox came three really cool books. Two of them I've already mentioned multiple times in my posts ('cause I just love the series), and they are Obsidian and Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I'd read them both on my kindle and finally the paperback copy arrived so that now I can gaze lovingly at them anytime I want.
And the third book.. *drums rolling* is The Ring by Danielle Steel.
It IS kind of a funny story, because at first I was looking for The ring by Koji Suzuki (you know, the one the horror movie is based on?) 'cause I'm a freak like that. But then I saw this one which had a sort of nice synopsis and it only cost three euros because there was some kinda special discount (dunno why).
So yeah, I said, 'why not?' And now here the baby is. And the more time pass, the more I'm eager to start it. I've always been obsessed with stories set during the World Wars, 'specially number two. And this one is about number two.
Also, I'm kind of a sucker for all this romance/affair that's going on here, so I'm definitely woohoo-ing for this one. I just hope it's worth it!

So yeah, this is what came in my mailbox and I'm soo excited for all of these babies.
I'm so awkward, seriously, when I'm talking about books, btw. My friends always look at me weird when I start 'nerding' about them, ahahah. Thank God I have a friend that's just like me with 'em so we get each other ;)




Elena

Trip to the bookstore! :)

Heeeeeeeeeeeellooo there readers.

I am in SUUUCHH A GOOOD MOOOOOD. :) Today I went to the bookstore after school! (yay! for the bookstore not for school) and guess what I found!??!?!?
NEVER LET ME GO - KAZUO ISHIGURO.

Now.

This book had been recommended to me by a friend of mine about one year and a half ago. I know, I know, I'm so on with friends' recommendations. It's just that with school and all the books I was always reading and the fact that it's pretty hard in Italy to find a paperback of an English book you're looking for (correction: it's hard in my damn stupid city), I didn't really have a chance to check it out.
But toooday, I was there at the bookstore and I was scanning every single title to see if there was soemthing I'd already seen on goodreads and bam! there it was. The baby beauty. (The friend who was with me, who's not into books as much as I am, kind of looked at me weird when I actually called the book the baby beauty/the child in front of her, but oh well)

Here's a pic of the paosjmgoieg <3 :

This is actually not the cover I was looking for, but I can just as well have this one. I think it's even better. The first time I saw the cover of this book it was on the internet and there was the face of this girl with the title "Never let me go" written across it.

So I'd kind of gotten used to that. Anyway, this one is what I found and the more I look at it the more I like it. I think I like it even more than the other one. This one expresses the book more.

Anyways, has any of you read Never Let Me Go? If so, please do comment and let me know what you thought of it. My friend said she loved it, but she and I have different tastes so I'm not really sure what to make of her opinion. D:

[Review] Jess Rothenberg ~ The Catastrophic History of You and Me

  

                                         

Book: The Catastrophic History of You and Me
Author: Jess Rothenberg
Rating:

Synopsis: Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever. 

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally. 

But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after. 
With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

Review: Awh, this book is so completely, adorably, awesomely.. cute. (not the word you were expecting, huh?)

The Catastrophic History of You and Me is a lovestory. It's a lovestory mixed with so many feelings and so many events that you don't exactly perceive it as that at first. You only see it when you look at the big scheme of things once the book is over.
TCHOYAM is the story of a girl, Aubrie "Brie" (like the cheese) Eagan, who dies of heartbreak. 
Literally.
When her boyfriend Jacob, whom she completely was in love with, tells her he doesn't love her, the whole world stops, she feels a pain so deep in her chest that she can't even breath..e and then nothing.
She's gone.
Her little heart unexplicably divided in two perfect halves.

The book tells us how she deals with the knowledge of her death, following the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. These are also the parts in which the book is divided, so that the whole story is about Brie's feelings and her slow coming to terms with reality.


Brie was a very interesting character and somehow at the end of the book I still wasn't sure whether I liked her or not.
She was really angry for about half of the book, if not a little more. And that was completely understandable. She hated her boyfriend for having treated her like that and, basically, for killing her. Even if he hadn't meant to.
Then another occurence adds up to her already raw feelings and she really can't take it anymore. She starts venting her anger on the ex, Jacob, and even though she feels a bit guilty about it she just can't stop feeling so much anger. I was so sad for her and what she'd been through. Dying at fifteen, such a young age, and just because first love didn't work out. She had lost so much.

Then there was Patrick. Patrick is the guy she meets in the "afterlife", in a place similar to the real world but not quite like it.
I knew something was up to him from about 20% of the book, and I think most of the people who read this book did, too.
On that point, a lot of things were easily understandable from some little detail that the author let slip throughout the book, therefore there wasn't muchsurprise at the end of TCHOYAM. At least not for me.

However, there was Jacob's secret. That I did not expect at all. And even though we found out in a bad occasion, when Brie read the letter I honestly burst out laughing. I know, I know, I'm heartless. But it just.. made me laugh. All she'd done to make him suffer and in the end that was the sole reason.
Poor darlings. Both of them.

I liked the way the story was written. Brie's POV was funny to read and she actually spoke like a teenager (most of the time).
I really liked the ending and it kind of made me swoon. Okay, it did make me swoon.
In short, I liked every single thing about The Catastrophic History of You and Me.
I liked how Brie came through every stage of grief that was expected from her, and we had the possibility to witness that. I felt her grief and I felt really close to her. At the beginning I even wanted to cry. (though I didn't 'cause that would have slowed me down with the reading + there were people in the house)
Also, it was not only a story about love and grief but about forgiving and moving on. About coming to terms with reality and starting over.

So yeah, I was honestly braced not to like this book very much, but the contrary happened.
I am really glad I decided to buy it (after staring at it for about fiteen minutes, weighting my options, deciding not to buy it, leaving the bookstore and then coming back a few minutes later, then changing my mind again and then being forced by my exasperated friend to make a damn choice) and I'm looking forward to more books by this author.

It's not one of those books that you're sure most of the people will like, gotta admit that. But I definitely liked it, in my own way.
Four stars. :D


P.S.: I really liked Brie's musical tastes, too! And the way each chapter was named after a really good song. ;)

My review on goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/355942202


Thanks for reading! ;)

that was a looong time ago

Dude. I just came back to my blog which I now and then consider to then ignore for the following three or four months.
Poor blog.

Anyway, I was checking it out again right now to see if anyone had commented or anything (as if! the horror), and I stumbled into a blog post which, had I had this blog before, should have belonged here.

I'm posting the link here: http://xdarkwriter.blogspot.it/2011/11/catching-up.html
Basically I talk about books I've just finished and books I'm about to start. Though I'd post it here to, you know, post it here.
Yeah.

IN MY MAILBOX :)

Hey guys! Sorry I've been absent for the past two days, but I've been busy with school stuff and all. (ugh)

Anyway, to brighten up my day (which really did need to be brightened up, since it was raining) guess what I found in my mailbox?!?

yeeeeah baby!

I'd read this some time ago but on my kindle. AND NOW I HAVE PAPERBACK!

NOW EVERYTIME I FEEL LIKE IT, I CAN GO TO MY BOOKSHELF AND GAZE AT IT WITH LOVING EYES. ISN'T THAT BEAUTIFUL? <33

Although it came with weird pages. Don't know if it's supposed to be like that or not. But I think it is.

WAAAAHH *does happy dance around the room*

I. am. so. cheerful. And it even stopped raining!

Today has officially transformed into a good day.

Thanks to Anna and The French Kiss.

Seriously, do you need any more reasons to read it?

TTR ~ Books you seriously HAVE TO read

HOLA HOLA HOLAAA. :)

Okay so today is RTT so I'm going to recommend really great books to you, and I know you're gonna love them.
I mostly read about paranormal, so I'm going to recommend mostly those, all right? Though I think what genres I'm into was pretty clear by my blog. Anyway. I'm also going to write about "normal" books, so yeah. No problem. :D


The first book I'm going to recommend today is Angelfall, by Susan Ee.
This is seriously one of the best paranormal, dystopic novels I've ever read. And it's only the first book in the series! Woo hoo.

Hey beautiful. :) (I'm talking to the book)

So Angelfall is a dystopic novel where angels have taken over the earth, causing destruction wherever they go as they keep fighting between each other. It's like kids chasing each other and meanwhile hitting and crushing things, and making them fall to the ground, during the chase.
Our main character is Penryn, a seventeen-year-old girl named after a street name by her crazy mother. A few weeks have passed since angels came down to our good ol' planet, their town is deserted and they have to be careful when they go in search of food. Both angels and criminals might be lurking in the shadows and they can not afford to be caught off guard.
However, while they're making their way back home, they hear a sound and then fighting angels fly on the ground. It looks like it's one against all the rest, and Penryn can't help wondering what is happening. She has to try to get her mom, her wheel-chaired sister and herself the hell away from there, but unfortunately she's not quick enough. While they're trying to make their escape, her sister is taken by an angel who flies away leaving her alone with the wounded angel and no mom to be found.
Despite what the angels have done to her world, she can't help wanting to help the guy. So she picks up his wings, that were cut by the other angels during the fight, and then gives support to the angel.

Basically this book revolves around Penryn's quest, which is to find her sister. She'll need the angel's, who goes by Raffe, help, since only he can tell her where the other angels might have taken her sister, and he in turn will have to pay her back for helping him.
They will have to face really dangerous situations and hard truths none of them was ready for.


This book is written so freaking well. It's fast-paced, but not too much. It's not insta-love, at all. Raffe and Pen's feelings develop throughout the whole book and everything was described so clearly and in such a way that I really felt part of every single scene.
This book blew me away with its fresh storyline and it was really great. The positive thing about dystopia is that there are so many worlds you could dive into, kind of like with Mythology and its never-ending list of myths. So this was totally new for me.
Angels fighting and taking it down on earth. Angels cutting off each other's wings and making hostages of humans. Weren't they supposed to be good people?

I loved the main character, too. Pen is great. She has that kickass attitude that I really love but without being robot-like as Katniss Everdeen was. This girl's got feelings, and I could see that. She's ready for anything that the future might bring, but she's also got a tender heart and that makes for an explosive combination that I definitely like.

So what can I say? Read it, read it, read it! DO IT! It's really worth it, trust me.



Do you guys like Chick-lit? Because I've just got the book for you. I believe I mentioned it in my post about the first day of school and the crazy book shopping that followed.
You guessed it..... I'm talking about Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins.

First of all, I have to say this and maybe you're thinking it too right now, this book has probably the worst title I have ever read. And wait until I show you the cover! It's truly hideous.
That's some of the reason why I didn't read this at first, and also because the plot sounded pretty average to me. However, people kept raving about it and quoting it in every single goodreads discussion I stumbled on, so I finally decided to give a try.

MAN DO I WANT TO KICK MYSELF IN MY NONEXISTENT BALLS AT TIMES LIKE THIS.
Anna and the French Kiss has since then become one of my favorite books. And I don't even include Chick-lit in my favorites list, usually.
That's how awesome it is.

AATFK is the story of Anna Olivier, an American teenage girl about to start her senior year of high school.

In Paris.

That's right, her father has decided she has to go to Europe during her last year of high school, not even giving her a choice or asking her if she was okay with it.

So here she is, shipped off to one of the most beautiful cities in the world and zero desire to be there.

That is, until she meets new friends. Meredith, Rashmi, Josh and St. Clair. Anna labels them as part of the "artistic crowd", and she likes them immediately.

Later on, though, she realizes that maybe she likes St. Clair a bit too much. And that's bad, for so many reasons. Mer being secretly in love with him? Him having a girlfriend? Does she really have to go on?

So the book tells of Anna's whole year in Paris and everything that happens during her stay there. 

I know this sounds like the typical love triangle (actually this would be a square), where the two people want to be together but can't for an unfathomable reason and in the end it's happy ever after. I mean, wait. honestly, it is kind of like that. But it's also so much more. You'll see it when and if you read it.

First of all, the characters are all so real. I know I say that a lot in my reviews, but I'd never come across this book. THIS is the real deal. All of them are so realistic in their simplicity that it's.. it's.. it's beautiful. Really.

And St. Clair is not perfect. He has crooked teeth, a bit of an underbite, and he's pretty short. And Anna has a huuuge gap between her teeth. And a sudden streak of white-blond hair in her brown head.

So they're definitely not the perfect character images described in most books, where the guy is drop-dead-gorgeous and the girl "doesn't see how beautiful she is."

No.

And then the setting. Ahhh, this book. This book! I have never been to Paris, and before AATFK I didn't even have an intention to go there. I didn't like France. Then I read this book and bam! all I've wanted to do for the past five months is go to Paris and have the time of my life.

It was just that good.

It felt like I was in Paris. It really did. Everything was described in its minimun detail and the mental pictures I got were awesome.

I'm seriously in love.

Oh, gosh, this book recommendation is quickly turning into a review. I'm sorry. I guess that's what happens when you attempt to make a short positive speech about one of your favorite books.

You fail.

SO DO READ THIS BOOK. IT'S FOR THE SAKE OF THE ENTIRE WORLD POPULATION. IT IS. I AM NOT LYING. You will love it, I am so sure!

And last but not least is The Treachery of Beautiful Things.

I read this book recently and loved it. I'm going to write something really short about it to make up for the extended time dedicated to Anna.

This is the story of Jane, an English girl who was only ten when her brother was "taken by the trees." She was never able to explain what really happened that night. She only knows that one second her brother was there with her, and the next he was being taken away while he yelled at her to run.
Now, seven years later, she's seventeen, about to go to university and ready to finally move on. So she goes to that place one last time, to finally let her memories go and start a new life. What she doesn't expect is to hear a music that sounds terribly like the one her brother used to play. So she's drawn into the trees, while she follows the melody, and soon enough she's lost in the forest and no idea of how to get back.



This was really great. I'm not usually into faeries, but I loved this one. It was a re-telling of A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Shakespeare, something that had already been attempted by Julie Kagawa with her Iron Fey series.
However, Ruth Frances Long's way of re-telling the tale is totally different from that one.

I found myself struggling with Jane's character. Most of the time I liked her, although at times I just couldn't figure her out.
The love interest (Jack), on the other hand, was pretty awesome and I definitely liked him.

The storyline was kickass and I truly loved the ending. Somehow RFL managed to include everything that I'd been wishing for and dreading. It blew me away.

So yeah, TTOBT is an utterly beautiful book and if you're looking for a good read mixed with Shakespeare and some good Irish folklore (how many things do you look for in a novel usually?), then try this.
I'm totally recommending it. ;)




So that's it for today! Do let me know what you think of these books. I'm so eager to hear your opinions.

Thank you for reading, and have a nice day! :)

'Waiting On' Wednesday :)

We're waiting, we're waiting, we're waiting.. have you heard P!nk's new song, "Walk of Shame"? At one point she sings "we're walking, we're walking..", it's such a good song. Wait, why was I saying this? Oh yeah, I was thinking of that song when I wrote the first line.
But you don't care.
All right.


So what am I waiting on? I'm waiting for so many books right now, I don't even know which one to despair on.
So this is what I'm choosing..

Author: Laini Taylor
Book: Days of Blood and Starlight
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone


This is the sequel to the amazing debut novel "Daughter of Smoke and Bone."
This series is set in the beautiful Prague, which is one of the European cities I'm craving to visit, so that's definitely a point in its favor for what concerns me.
The main character is Karou, a seventeen-year-old girl with blue hair and a passion for drawing.
The hottie we have here is Akiva. He is an angel, and he's unexplicably tied to Karou. At least, they don't know the reason of their connection until the end of book one.

I am so in love with this series already. I love Laini Taylor's style of writing. She is so good. She's great at descritpions and that's pretty awesome because it really gives you the feeling of being in Prague, with all the dark alleys and the cathedrals. Also the vampire tours her ex boyfriend gives give you a really nice feeling of, you know, the typical Prague customs and traditions.
Also, such fluid writing gets you lost in the book. I lost myself in the pages, as the book flew word after word, and it felt so good.

So I have high expectations on this one and I'm waiting for it! It comes out in November so it's only two months away. (yay! *happy dance*)
The paranormal twist given to this story is pretty new. As in, I've never read anything like it, so I'm  soooooo excited about it. :)

Author: A. E. Rought
Book: Broken


This is coming out in January, and I'm so hyped. Have you ever read Frankenstein? I have and I loved it.
Anyway, this book kind of reminds of it at some points, the goodreads synopsis says.

Basically Broken is the story of a girl, Emma, who's super in love with her boyfriend, Daniel.
And then he dies.
She can't seem to move on with her life, she feels him everywhere she goes. And then she meets a stranger who reminds her of him. There's something weird with him, with the way he talks and the connection she feels she has with him.
She realizes he reminds her too much of Daniel.
And when she finally discovers the truth.. her world will never be the same.

Ah, how I love finishing my bried synopsis with those big, scary sentences. I honestly hate it when authors do that, but I love it when I do it myself.
I'm weird.
Anyway, this book sounds so freaking and I'm so exicted about it. I'm a little less excited at the idea that we'll maybe be all dead by the time it's supposed to come out. (quick survey: do you believe in the end of the world? The one scheduled to happen in December? Comment!)
If we're not, then good for us and good for this author. And if we do.. I'll just be sad that I didn't have the chance to read all these amazing books.

At least Days of Blood and Starlight comes out in time. Bet Laini did in on purpose. (bet she didn't, but whatevaah.)



All right, so these are two of the books I'm waiting for right now. I have so many, maybe I'll be done listing them two per-week in a year. Of course by then I'll have another kilometric list to talk about. So yeah, NEVERENDING WAITING ON WEDNESDAY. *scary mad face* *laughs hysterically*


So tell me what you thiiink. Have you heard of this book already? Does any of you by any chance own an ARC or something? If you do, you're a lucky bi%&c. With all the affection one can tie to that word without sounding sarcastic.




Elena

[Review] Sarah Beth Durst ~ Drink, Slay, Love

Yippee! Finally RT, my review day, has come. I've been waiting all week for today because I totally love writing reviews, so I was dying to share the first one with you.
All of my reviews can also be found on my goodreads account, although some might show some slight difference in the text (or be completely different, for all I know. Who knows what my brain is up to most of the time?). Sooooooo, who's the lucky book being reviewed today?

It starts with a D..
It's kind of ironic, though. I had the idea of creating this blog after I saw an awesome facebook page called "Eat Sleep Read." The funny part is that the first book I'm reviewing is called
Drink, Slay, Love.

Ever heard of it?

Book: Drink, Slay, Love.
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Genre: YA paranormal
My Rating: 5 stars
General feeling: adorably cute.















So you’re used to vampires trying to control the world, strolling around draining people dry and occasionally falling in love with moronic humans?
So you’re used to werewolves and all that?
You want something new?
Well, then that’s the book for you.
No more vampire drama; here the feel is like you’re inside an Adam Family environment. The vampires sleep through the day, wake up at night, steal cars when they feel like it, and make out.
Oh, and play chess for fifty years trying to beat themselves.
As for werewolves, witches, and mythological creatures, guess what?
You have were-unicorns.
Yeah, you heard that right.
Honestly, when I first read that, I burst out laughing. No wonder Pearl did, too.
So, our heroine is out at nearly dawn, catching a little snack before going to sleep (how normal it sounds), and suddenly a sparkly unicorn appears in front of her. And stakes her. Hi – La – Rious. 
Pearl isn’t even angry at the unicorn—mostly she’s shocked. Not only has she just discovered an utterly funny mythological creature she'd never believed in does actually exist, with the appearance of a sparkly horse (did Stephenie Meyer think of this before writing Edward Cullen’s description?) and a nice horn protruding from his head——and his wrist, and the palm of his hand, occasionally,—— but she also gets staked by "it".
This was probably the funniest read I’ve had in a while.

I loved the main character. Her name is Pearl, and she's a badass. She doesn’t care what people say (only because they’re human and she’s got this whole vampires-are-better complex in her head, but still) and has the guts to make fun of a teacher.
Plus she humiliates the drama-queen of the school, gets a crowd of students following her every step, and has the hottest boyfriend among vampires.
Yep, she’s a badass.

All changes, anyway, when sparkly-corny decides to stake her, and she starts to go through an internal crisis. Ergo, she suddenly feels guilty for drinking from humans (seriously, when did that ever happen to a vampire? except for Edward Cullen and Stefan Salvatore, that is), she starts having conversations with humans and——tum tum tum——enjoying them.
That is so not good. She was raised to hate humans, to consider them inferior. So you see how the situation's making her desperate. She doesn’t know what to do.
It doesn’t help that her parents keep pushing her over the edge, making her work night and day——literally, not even caring how she feels.
She’s not the same, and she cannot go back.
So what will she do, betray everybody who’s been only kind to her since the beginning, or keep faithful to those who never really cared about her?
The choice sounds simple, but there’s more to it than that.

Even in this situation, though, she never lacks her sarcasm and her I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude, which is the part I like more about her. Plus when I read things like “She wasn’t one hundred percent sure she’d show up in a photo. Ordinary vampires didn’t. On the other hand, ordinary vampires didn’t attend junior proms with were-unicorn dates while plotting to sabotage plans for a mass murder”, I was literally rolling on the floor laughing.

This book had both good characters and a brilliant sense of humor going on for it, so to me it was awesome. Unicorns! Hahahaha. I can't get past that. If you're feeling like a funny read, then do read this one book. It's really hilarious. 






This can also be found at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/206772115

Back to school

And now even in Italy school's started.
Wow, this summer passed in a blink of an eye. When I think about it I see a blur and then here we are. Yet so much has happened. I can't wrap my head around it.
Anyway, today was my first day. If I was in the US, I'd be a senior. Since I'm from Italy, I still have two more years of high school ahead of me to bear.

So, what do you think I did as soon as I was out of the building, to cheer myself up?
YEAH.
BOOK SHOPPING.

First of all, I bought two books which I had already read on my kindle, but my library is kind of slow with English books so I couldn't get my hands on a paperback sooner.
That would be City of Lost Souls and Clockwork Prince, both by Cassandra Clare. To be honest, I had pre-ordered Clockwork Prince online last year, but somehow I never got it. The thing is, when no one is home, they leave the mail out of the door for everyone to see and grab. And I guess that's what someone did, because the order was marked as delivered and dispatched but I never saw it.
Story of my life.

Anyway, I also bought two new books: One I'd already seen on goodreads, and I had a half intention to give it a try. Plus I found a paperback right in front of me in the bookshop, so I just had to buy it. English YA books are hard to come by in my city, you know?
And the other one is a manga (comic book), which I bought because I felt like it and the cover was cute.

So here they are in all their bookish beautyyy

Number one: The Catastrophic History Of You And Me.
Author: Jess Rothenberg

Basically, from what I can gather from the synopsis, this book's about a girl who dies of broken heart. Literally. Her boyfriend breaks up with her and the pain is just too much so there--she's gone.
Now she has to face her grief and try to move on.




I admit the thing that draws me most about this book is the title. It's cute. I can't help it. I love cute titles.
It does have some high ratings on goodreads, particularly given by people who usually have really good taste in books, so I'm excited to start it and see how it goes.

Number two: Cosplay Animal
Author: Watari Sakou

Here the main character is a nineteen-year-old girl who's for some reason attracted to younger guys. So when she starts crushing on a high schooler, she starts faking to be his age and even dresses up as a high school student.



I love this cover! It's so unbearably sweet. Hahaha. I can't wait to see how this story develops and how the characters are structured. From the synopsis of the manga I would've ventured that the girl was the bossy one and the guy a sweetheart, but judging from this cover I have to take it back!
Do you guys read manga? Or do you just read books? I personally prefer books, because in the end a manga is just dialogues while a book is the whole deal, but sometimes it's just fun to read one.





Anyway, I'm not done with my daily shopping. I also bought three other books I recently read but I didn't have the paperback yet. These three I ordered online:

~ Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (one of my favorite books)

~ Obsidian & Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout (kickass series)

I can't wait to have the babies in my hands. Aaah. *fangirl moment*

Anna and the French Kiss was one of the BEST books I have ever read. And it's contemporary chick-lit, so it's supposed to be good and cute, but AATFK was just amazing. Stephanie Perkins wrote such real characters, such realistic ambientations and behaviours that I was just transfixed.

AND I also got a new book boyfriend.

Etienne St. Clair. Ah, St. Clair. What a beautiful person.

All right so I guess that's all for today. Oh in case you're wondering, yes, I kind of spent a lot. But books are priceless. <3

So tell me if you've read any of these books and what you thought of them! Especially TCHOYAM (title's too long to be written more than once in a blog post), since I still have to read it.

Have a good day/evening! 

Elena

Some book suggestions :)

Hello fellow readers! What's up? Since there's not many posts on this blog I thought I'd suggest you some really awesome books to read.
Of all the books I read recently, only a few were really good (sadly), so I'm gonna write a few titles with the relative cover of the book and a synopsis, so you can see if you like any. ;)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Title: Obsidian
Series: Lux (book one)

Synopsis:
"Starting over sucks.When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.And then he opened his mouth.Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens. The hot alien living next door marks me.You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. If I don't kill him first, that is."


This is a really good book I'd come across a few months ago, but I decided to read it only last week. I'm not going to write a review of it now, but just a few points in its favor:

• The main character is great. Her name is Katy, she takes not shit and she's funny.
• Daemon is hot. Like, really really hot. JLA really knows how to write a good MC.
• The storyline is pretty good, too, and you'll find your eyes glued to the book.
• I liked it, so of course it's good. haha ;)

Author: John Green
Book: Looking for Alaska

Synopsis:
"A deeply affecting coming-of-age story, Looking for Alaska traces the journey of Miles Halter, a misfit Florida teenager who leaves the safety of home for a boarding school in Alabama and a chance to explore the "Great Perhaps." 
Miles has a quirky interest in famous people's last words, especially François Rabelais's final statement, "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." Determined not to wait for death to begin a similar quest, Miles convinces his parents to let him leave home. Once settled at Culver Creek Preparatory School, he befriends a couple of equally gifted outcasts: his roommate Chip―commonly known as the Colonel—who has a predilection for memorizing long, alphabetical lists for fun; and the beautiful and unpredictable Alaska, whom Miles comes to adore. 
The kids grow closer as they make their way through a school year filled with contraband, tests, pranks, breakups, and revelations about family and life. But as the story hurtles toward its shattering climax, chapter headings like "forty-six days before" and "the last day" portend a tragic event―one that will change Miles forever and lead him to new conclusions about the value of his cherished "Great Perhaps."

When people hear the name "John Green", in light of recent facts, they immediately think of The Fault in Our Stars. At least, that's what happens to me whenever I mention this genius.
Anyway, the first book I read by this terrific author is this one. Looking for Alaska. I read it at the beginning of this year and loved it completely. It's one of those book that, if seen from the right perspective, can change your life. It did change my life. I'll never see things the same as I did before.
I can't remember the first time I heard of this book, it all happened pretty casually. One day, I came across a quote, I don't know where I was nor do I remember which quote it was. But I liked it so much that I decided to look it up and see where it was from. And boom! It was from this very book. I then decided to read it, and got hold of a copy, but for some reason I post-poned its reading for several months. If not a year or two. Anyway, at last I picked it up once and for all and started reading, and afterward cursed myself for having waited for so long. It's good in a way, though, because I'm afraid if I'd read it sooner I wouldn't have seen some parts of the story as I do now.

Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Book: Forbidden

Synopsis:
"She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.
Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right."



To those who are pretty shocked at the words "they are brother and sister" and don't intend in any way to read this book, please hear me out first. (and all the other who are interested should, though)
Forbidden is a story about incest, as it's clearly understandable from the synopsis. Incest is something not at all accepted in most societies, and people don't even wonder why. I mean, it's incest. It's sick.
That's what I thought until last year, when I finally decided to give this book a try and see where it was going. And man did it go somewhere. A particular scene in the book made me reflect. Maya was talking to her friend and she was talking about hypothetical forbidden relationships, and while her friend is of the opinion that two people who love each other should be together, the hypothesis or two siblings being together doesn't even cross her minds. That's the fact, that's what struck me the most about this book. In our society, we are so sure we allow (or not) all types of love, but actually we don't. Some of those loves sound just so wrong that we can't even think about them.





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Okay, three books that I really like are out here for you now. Take your pick. They are reeeally good, trust me. If the one about incest bothers you, then you can always try one of the other two.
These books are in order, 

• paranormal YA
• YA and coming of age
• (an innovative kind of) Young Adult romance and Drama

So all YA for today (woot! a rhyme). I hope you like my suggestions!
Have a nice day ~