Review: The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily

The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily by Rachel Cohn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm still not sure how I feel about this book as it was very different from the first book. In this one, Lily's grandfather is not doing well and leaves Lily very depressed and sad while Dash tries hard to bring back her light. This book, although short, left me with a sense of heaviness and sadness. There was no lightheartedness in this one.
I loved Dash and Lily's book of Dares so much and I suppose I was expecting something similar. This was a hard read.

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Review: Anne of Avonlea

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These book are so light and fun and easy to read. This is the second installment in the Anne of Green Gables series and follows Anne from Age 16 to 18 where she teaches at the local school. It was so much fun following Anne on the cusp of adulthood while still having that terrific childlike imagination. I can't wait to move on to the third book as Anne embarks on a new journey and possibly even love.

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Review: The Mistletoe Secret

The Mistletoe Secret by Richard Paul Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can't say enough good things about this series. I will definitely be rereading the Mistletoe series every December. Just so good!

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Review: The Mistletoe Promise

The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Swoon-worthy holiday romance. This explores love, acceptance and healing. I just love this series and this author in general.

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Review: The Rose Society

The Rose Society by Marie Lu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great book that did not suffer from middle book syndrome. I enjoyed this as much as i enjoyed the first book.
The book took off from where the first book left off. It had as much action as the first book and I absolutely loved it. I cannot wait to dive into the third book soon.

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Review: The Young Elites

The Young Elites by Marie Lu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book! This is a 4.5 stars for me. The main character is like nothing I've read before as she is an anti-hero. I didn't really know what that meant until I read the book. The Young Elites is a great start to a dark fantasy series.

This book follows a world where some young people have unusual marks and magical powers. A few years back, a disease, called the Blood Fever, swept the world and many people, adults and children, died of the disease. Some of the children that were sick but survived, developed certain magical abilities and were known as the young elites. Each person that has an ability was unique in what they could do. As time went by, most citizens began to fear these children thinking them unnatural and they were cast out of society.
The main protagonist is Adelina and she wants nothing more that to flee the harsh life that she has been leading. She is one of the marked individuals and has been abused much of her life because of this. Upon fleeing, and nearly being executed, Adelina has the opportunity to hone any magical gift she might possess. She is recruited by a group called the Dagger Society who seek others young elites and train them to use their powers before the government finds them. She may also possess enough drive to seek revenge on a society that has outcast her and others like her.

The plot is fast paced with many twists and turns. There is also a great cast of side characters that had their own story and character development. Adelina is great heroine who also has a really dark side which was refreshing. This series explores acceptance and equality and also the good and bad side of each person. This is definitely a great start to a series and one I can't wait to continue on with.

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Review: The Mistletoe Inn

The Mistletoe Inn by Richard Paul Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Such a wonderful romance. I just love the way the author writes. Although most of the book takes place in Vermont, it also has a touch of Christmas in New York City.
Kim, the main character, is an aspiring writer with a troubled past. In an effort to get away for a bit and go after her dream, she decides to attend a writer's conference in Vermont at the Mistletoe Inn. What is especially enticing to her, besides the workshops and agents that will be there, is that the keynote will be an author who has inspired her for years.
Zeke is also an aspiring author at this conference and after meeting, Kim and Zeke form a friendship, bond and even the possibility of something more.
However, Kim needs to face the shadows of her past to move forward.
I also want to stress that there is so much more to this book than just the romance. This is about love in all aspects of life including family. The side story of Kim, the main character, and her parents was so touching and heart warming. The family aspect was a much a part a book as the romance. I highly recommend this or any other Christmas book by this author. Loved it!!!!!

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Review: Miracle on 5th Avenue

Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was so perfect for the season!! I adored this one from the very start and it has all of the bells and whistles of love at Christmas with lots of snow thrown in. :)

The main characters are Evie and Lucas. Evie is struggling to get through Christmas without her beloved Grandma who was everything to her and raised her while also trying to build her new business with her best friends. Evie has kind of cocooned herself in the past year and just feels very alone although she masks it well at work.

Lucas hates Christmas and just barely drags himself through each day since losing his wife. Lucas is also a crime writer who is struggling to write his latest novel before his deadline at the end of the year. The problem is that he hasn't written one word and his grief and self loathing is too overpowering to allow him to do anything but wallow. He wants nothing more than to just hide from civilization.

However, a wrench is thrown in his plans when he finds Evie in his apartment having been hired by his grandmother to bring some Christmas cheer to his pristine penthouse apartment. Through very funny circumstances and dialog there is potential that these two might just be who the other needs to open up.

I absolutely love Christmas romances and this book really fit the bill. I adore this author and this will definitely I reread each year. I went through all of the emotions in this book and I really felt invested in the characters which isn't always easy to do in these types of books. I was heartbroken at times while reading and also swooning at times.

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Review: Empire of Storms

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can't get enough of this series and cannot wait for the final book next year. My heart just can't take the suspense. OMG!!

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The Fantastic Beasts Tag!

The Fantastic Beasts Tag!

I was tagged by Meg. Please check out her channel as well as the original channel linked below.

Meg Talks Life Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbkUvztPvo5miaEaxKNTDlg Original Tag Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdHj6fEm9HQ&feature=youtu.be

Questions:
1. Niffler - Seeking out treasure like jewelry or coins and stealing whatever they can get their claws on is their greatest skill. What is a book you've borrowed or stolen?
2. Bowtruckle - Pickett is one of Newt’s favorite creatures who has a talent for picking locks. What is your "personal favorite" book that unlocks the key to your true personality?
3. Thunderbird – One flap of a Thunderbird’s wings can create enormous storms and their power gives them the ability to sense danger. What is a book that creates a storm of discussion because of the danger it attracts?
4. Swooping Evil – An extremely scary creature that is capable of sucking out brains and whose venom can erase any bad memory. What is a book you'd like to forget?
5. Demiguise – Peaceful beasts that can turn invisible and have light precognitive abilities, allowing them to “feel the future” and change it by anticipating outcomes. What is a book that depicts and predicts a possibly visible future, bleak or otherwise?
6. Occamy – They can grow to the size of a football field or shrink to the size of a tiny teacup. What is the largest book you own and the smallest book you own?
7. Nundu – Difficult to catch, they can move silently despite their immense size. What is an audio book you listen to silently whilst traveling?
8. Graphorn – Newt has saved the last breeding pair and without him the species as a whole would’ve gone extinct. What is a book that is going extinct that you want to save?
9¾. Billywig – Their powerful sting can affect both muggles and magical folk alike. What is a book you’ve read with someone else that stung you both emotionally?
10. Erumpent – A friendly creature unless you’re a foe… their thick hide can repel most spells and charms. What is an extremely dense read that was hard for you to get through?

Answers:
1. Does a Library book count? I currently just finished The Light between Oceans which is borrowed from my library.
2. My personal favorite book is Jane Eyre. The personality of the main character is somewhat similar to me. I am quiet, reserved and very much an introvert.
3. I think any book from the “New Adult” genre causes controversy in some circles. For me personally, they are hit or miss. An example is Beautiful Disaster or Fifty Shades of Grey.
4. The book that comes to mind is Allegiant by Veronica Roth but since Meg said that answer, I’m going to go with Frankenstein. I really felt horrible to for the monster and the entire bleakness of the world.
5. I think The Martian is a good one. Especially, nowadays that scientists are seeing that as a very real possibility for the future.
  6. Hamilton: The Revolution is my largest and any of my Little Black Classics published by Penguin could count as my smallest.
7. I only recently started listening to Audiobooks but the last one I listened to while traveling to work was Trigger Warnings by Neil Gaiman.
8. I think that so many of my favorite classics are in danger of going extinct. Aside from high school or college mandatory reading, there are so many great books that I have heard nobody every mention and no one I know has read them. Examples include The Coquette and Iola Leroy.
9. I’ve never done a buddy read. However, I have read a few books that were recommended by a friend. Last year, I read Legend by Jude Deveraux which is a historical romance. It was somewhat of an emotional read and we got to fangirl over it afterward which was fun.
10. Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin was extremely dense.

Review: Ten Thousand Skies Above You

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am loving these books so much. I can't say much about this book without spoilers since it is the second in a trilogy. All I can say is that is took off from where the first book left off and ended with a huge cliffhanger. It will leave you reaching immediately for the third and final book.
Claudia Gray has not disappointed with this book.

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Review: Waistcoats & Weaponry

Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good third book to the series. Although I think is was my least favorite thus far. However, I am eager to read the fourth and final book to see how this series wraps up.

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Review: The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this book to be just okay. I really had a hard time connecting to the characters even in the general sense of likability.

This book follows Tom, a lighthouse keeper on a small island a couple of miles from the coast off the Australian mainland during the 1920's. Tom, like anyone else who has previously taken this position, is cut off from civilization and only can get supplies every 3 months or so. It is quite a lonely and isolating job that last three years at a time. As Tom is war veteran, he finds the isolation peaceful and finds that he can live a good life on this island.

During one of his stays on the mainland, he courts and marries a young woman names Isabel who wants nothing more than to settle down and have a baby. After several miscarriages and other troubles, a boat washes onshore with two passengers, a deceased man and a baby. Isabel, believing this to be a gift from above, convinces Tom that they should keep the baby and raise it as their own.

This is a very emotional read and I knew that going in. I wanted to read this mainly because of the movie having just come out. This book basically follows the theme of how good people can make terrible decisions and how those decisions can disrupt and destroy. I really found the character of Isabel to be so unlikable. I also found Tom to be very much a pushover. The only redeemable quality of this book really was the beautiful descriptions of the setting and the time period.

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Review: A Thousand Pieces of You

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! 5 Stars! This book was just so great and blew my mind so many times. I hope everyone gives this book a shot.

This book follows Marguerite who is the daughter of two famous physicists. At the start of this book, we know that Marguerite's parents have discovered a way to travel to other dimensions (like parallel universes). There are two grad students also who work with Marguerite's parents, Theo and Paul.
We also find out that soon after this discovery, Marguerite s father Henry, is killed and Paul is suspected of the murder.

This book is so wonderful at explaining how everything works. It was so easy to follow and so easy to understand. So in this story, Marguerite and Theo vow to avenge Henry's killer. To do that, they must go after Paul who has already leaped into another dimension.

The only other thing I'll say is that when a person goes to a different dimension, they take over the the alternate version of themselves in that other dimension. So Marguerite gets to experience other versions of her life. It gets so interesting. In some dimensions, technology is so much more advanced and in others, technology hasn't yet existed to the point where it is like living in the 1800's.
So Marguerite goes on this wild journey to find the truth of what happened and finds that not all things are as they seem.

I hope everyone reward this book but it is just that good.


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Review: The Forgetting

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book! This is a Dystopian novel about a society that lives in a city surrounded by Stone Walls. Everything in the city is regulated by a ruling council. Every citizen is identified by profession and every person is also required to carry their personal book in which they record their lives, thoughts and feelings (Like a diary of sorts). The reason for all of this is every twelve years, every person experiences a phenomenon called "the forgetting" where all of their memories are wiped out. They look to their personal books in order to try and piece their lives together again.

So, in this book the main character is Nadia. Nadia, unlike everyone else in this society, has always remembered everything. And partly because of this, she risks everything every night sneaking over the walls that surround the city in order to try and find out what else might be out there and why things are the way they are. Nadia also begins to work with a boy named Gray, who after seeing Nadia climb the wall, convinces (partly blackmails) her to take him with her next time.
So, this book follows Nadia and Gray as they explore behind the walls and begin to learn more about the history of their society and history of "the forgetting."

Like I said earlier, I really liked this book. I thought it was well written and fast paced. There were revelations that I did not see coming. The only negative was that I wish there could have been a little bit more of a conclusion.
Overall, this was a great read!



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Review: The Hating Game

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this in one sitting and loved it! This was a perfect romantic comedy and I enjoyed every second of it.

This book follows two Executive Assistants, Lucy and Josh. After a company merger, their bosses became Co-CEOs and from the start, Lucy and Josh have a hatred and rivalry for each other. Of course, as these stories go, the hatred has a chance to blossom into something completely opposite.

This book made me laugh out loud at times and also tear up at times. I couldn't get enough of these characters and the story. I do think that anyone who enjoys romance would love this book.

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Review: Three Dark Crowns

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great start to a series!
I really enjoyed this one. I read some reviews of people that seemed to find the first half half of this book lacking in plot and boring. I really did feel the opposite.
What I will say about this book is that is mostly character driven. Also, since this is the first in a series (I'm not sure how many books there will be), there was a great deal of world building as well as character introductions. There really isn't a whole lot of action until the last 50 pages or so.

This book follows three sisters (three POVs) who are triplets Each was born to be queen and each was born with one of three magical abilities. Katherine was born a poisoner able to ingest and create poisons. Arsinoe was born a naturalist which gives the ability to control anything living in nature. Mirabella is an elemental which means she can control the 4 elements. When these three sisters turn 16, they engage in a battle to the death for the sole right to the crown.

I really enjoyed getting to know these three girls. I grew to care about them and love them as characters. In addition to these three, there are also some great side characters which I really enjoyed. Based on the way this first book ended, I think the second book will be more action packed.

This was a great book overall which I could not put down. I fully enjoyed it and highly recommend it for fantasy lovers.

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Review: The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a very weird book and parts of it were quite chilling.

This book is about a young woman named Eleanor who is invited to stay at a large mansion called Hill House by a Dr. Montague. The doctor is a professor who is writing a book about the supernatural. The house itself is described in detail with Gothic architecture and has a reputation for being haunted. There is a backstory of tragedies that are associated with the house. The other invited guests include Theodora who is more of free spirit, Luke who is to inherit the house, and Mrs. Dudley who is the housekeeper/cook. As the days progress, many strange things start happening in the house including noises and writings on the wall. Eleanor also feels a strange connection to the house.

All we have in this book is Eleanor's point of view and there are questions as to her reliability. We are forced to view reality from her eyes and there are clues that it may be quite skewed. As for Shirley Jackson's writing, there are many beautiful passages with very detailed descriptions that allow you to see what is being described. However, there was also repetition of certain phrases that threw me off at times. I found it a little jarring.

This is not your classic horror story. There are no manifestations of ghosts or vampires or the like. This is more about the house itself and the house becomes a character in its own right. This book is more of a suspenseful mystery. What I found lacking were explanations and I found it hard to connect to the main character. A lot is left open to interpretation. However, there were times that I found myself completely creeped out with the hairs standing up on the back of my arm. This is definitely a good read for October.

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Review: Nevernight

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow! This book was amazing and very dark.
I do want to start by giving a warning. Nevernight is very dark and very graphic. It has extremely mature content and I wouldn't recommend this for young readers.
Having said that, I absolutely loved this book. Nevernight follows Mia who wants to be an assassin and avenge the wrongs done to her family. There is a school that caters to creating assassins but it very secret and a person wishing to go to this school must pass several tests including murder.
In her quest to find this school, Mia teams up with another possible candidate named Tric who has his own reasons for wanting to become an assassin.
Like I said before, this book is dark and thus has dark humor. It also switches between the present and the past where you get to see the events that led Mia to the person she is today. When Mia gets to the school, she is one of 26 candidates, all of which are already murderers including herself. She must outsmart at least 22 of the others in order to secure her spot as an assassin at the end.
Nevernight was dark and thrilling and full of intrigue and mystery. I cannot wait to see if there is a sequel as there is still much to be explored in this world.

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The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great start to a series! I decided to pick this up for the October season and it did live up to its creepy synopsis. This follow a dream demon that has the power to make a person live in a perpetual nightmare. In some cases, the dreams might not even be horrific but you lose all reality and live only in your dreams. This volume took a lot of twists and turns with some really creepy scenes. I did enjoy this and it definitely suits the Halloween vibe.

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Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dark Matter was an amazing science fiction and the first book I read by this author. It kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.

This book follows Jason Dessen, a middle aged, happily married father who teaches physics at a local university. While walking through his home town, Jason is attacked and wakes up to a different world that the one in which he built his life. In this world, Jason is an acclaimed scientist and is unmarried with no children. So the book follows Jason as he experiences what life might have been if he had taken a different road and made different choices. Despite this, the book follows Jason's desperate attempts to find out what is going on and whether he can make it back to the family he loves so much.

Dark Matter was an amazing sci-fi thriller with so many twists and turns. This book explores so many different themes and really explores the thoughts around string theory. I loved every minute of this book and highly recommend it to anyone who loves science fiction.

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