book series

On Audiobooks: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

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the-false-prince

Valuable lessons were code words for pain that no one apologized for.

Story

I didn’t expect much walking into this novel. I have heard vaguely good things about it, but I didn’t expect it to sweep me away. It was bloody fantastic. The False Prince follows four boys as they compete for the opportunity to become the prince in a deadly plan forged by a man named Conner. Here, you grow especially close to the main character, Sage. He is so sarcastic and confident, and he is simply irresistible as a main character. For him alone, I would reread this book. (Seriously, I would. Actually, just thinking about this book makes me happy.) Read the rest of this entry »

Books I Brought With Me to College

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I brought a handful or so of books with me to college. Will I even touch them? I have no idea. I’ve been favoring audiobooks lately because the only thing that I legitimately read are textbooks. Yes, it’s a sad thing, but if you’re curious about which books I brought with me to college, stay tuned.

For the most part, these are books that I could theoretically fly through, so you won’t find any hardcore fantasy here.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Beauty and the Beast retelling with faeries, so I’m told. I’ve been aching to read this one for a while. I got about 20 pages in before having to stop because college got in the way. Read the rest of this entry »

Top 5 Wednesday: Characters I Wouldn’t Want to Trade Places With

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Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created be gingerreadslainey on YouTube, but it is now managed by Thoughts on Tomes. The Goodreads group page can be found here.

This week, the topic is about characters that you wouldn’t want to be. Often times, we talk about characters that we would love to be, so this time, we’re switching it up. My mind went straight to fantasy, dystopian, and science fiction, so let’s get started.

Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone

Now, I love Harry Potter as much as the next person, but I would never want to be The Chosen One. There’s a lot riding on his shoulders. I’d love to be his friend, but I wouldn’t want that kind of responsibility of saving the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.

With that lovely quote, I will begin by merely saying that I did not like this book. If you loved it, I’m a little hesitant on whether or not you should continue reading this review/rant, but I shall leave that up to you. I will be explaining exactly why certain things did not work for me, and it will probably come out harshly. So, you have been warned.

{Story time: I actually had an encounter with someone at a shoe store. The lady behind the counter commented on my HP tank top. She said, “Have you heard that a new book was released?”

It’s terrible. Stay away from it.” I still can’t believe that I had the knee-jerk reaction to say that.} Read the rest of this entry »

Musical Mondays: September 12, 2016

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Musical Mondays

How to Participate In Musical Mondays:

  1. Link your Musical Mondays post back to Escape Inside the Pages
  2. Include the instructions in your post
  3. Share anywhere from 1-3 songs that either:
  • Remind you of a book you’ve read or are currently reading
  • You’ve been listening to or have discovered in the past week
  • You feel you must absolutely share with the world
  1. Link your shared songs to their YouTube video (even if it’s a lyrics video)
  2. Paste the link to your Musical Mondays post in the Comments of my Musical Mondays post each week
  3. Have the greatest time discovering new music and artists!

Read the rest of this entry »

Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White

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And I Darken

But there are many ways to be powerful. There is power in stillness. There is power in watching, waiting, saying the right thing at the right time to the right person. There is power in being a woman—oh yes, power in these bodies you gaze upon with derision…. When you have something someone else wants, there is always an element of power.

I have been utterly destroyed by this wonderful book, and you know what? I couldn’t be happier about it. I have no idea what to do with my life while I lie in wait for the sequel for another year, but that is beside the point. I actually called my (now ex) boyfriend after I finished the novel and told him that I didn’t know how to exist in a world where I physically cannot go buy the sequel instantaneously, right now. He didn’t have any suitable advice for me—not from a lack of trying, but because I was inconsolable. For that reason, I’m going to blather on about my feelings for this book here. I hope you enjoy.

And I Darken is a gender-swapped retelling of Vlad the Impaler, who was a notoriously violent prince in 1400s’ Ottoman Empire. In this story, Lada—our Vlad—grows up in Wallachia with her younger brother Radu. She is raised to be cruel as a means of survival in a world that clearly favors men of wealth. Used as pawns in a political game, Lada and Radu have to cleverly outmaneuver all of the foes that move against their very lives. Read the rest of this entry »

Mean Girls Book Tag

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Mean Girls Book Tag

I was tagged in this almost a year ago by the lovely Kacie at A Bumble in Books (see her post here), and if you haven’t checked out her blog, I suggest you do so. I’m so sorry that I haven’t done this yet, but I’m doing it now. I’m also currently watching the movie to get myself in the mood for it, and let’s be honest here. Mean Girls is fantastic and hilarious.

{Story time: my roommate literally came running when she heard the movie playing through my door. “Are you watching Mean Girls?!”}

On to the tag!

“It’s pronounced like ‘Cady.’” – Which fictional characters’ names did you get completely wrong?

Basically everyone from And I Darken by Kiersten White. Ladislav Dragwlya, Mehmed. It’s not that I necessarily got their names wrong, but I don’t know how to pronounce their names in general. When I first read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, I had no idea how to pronounce Carlisle. I vividly remember debating about the pronunciation with my friend in middle school. Read the rest of this entry »

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Will Never Read

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Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created be gingerreadslainey on YouTube, but it is now managed by Thoughts on Tomes. The Goodreads group page can be found here.

I don’t know exactly how to go about this list. On one hand, I’m excited because there is a long list of books that I don’t plan on reading. On the other, I really don’t want people to be offended because I never plan on reading what could possibly be their favorite book, so please keep in mind that everyone has their own taste in what they like and do not like to read.

With that said, I would also like to put a disclaimer on this. I will probably never read these. Never say never. Let’s get to it!

Passion by Lauren Kate

Passion

At one point in my life, I owned this one. It’s the third book in the Fallen series, and I actually unhauled it. I have zero interest in continuing with the series because I can’t even remember what happened in the second book. Read the rest of this entry »

August 2016 Book Haul

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I’m back with what will probably be my last book haul for a while. I’ve been getting quite a few books lately, and now that I’m back at college, I’m going to take a step back from purchasing books when I have so much to read for my courses. (But I bet we all say that, so who knows.)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (The Illustrated Edition)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone illustrated edition

I have been itching to get this one for a while now. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and I cannot wait to reread the series in these editions. Read the rest of this entry »

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite First Sentences

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Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created be gingerreadslainey on YouTube, but it is now managed by Thoughts on Tomes. The Goodreads group page can be found here.

Okay, can I just first say that I absolutely love this topic? The first sentence of a book is so important. It is your first exposure to the author’s writing in a novel, the characters, and the setting. I want it to pack a punch and peak my interest to make me want to keep reading—not that I’ve ever wanted to put down a book after reading the first line, but you know what I mean. While I was picking out these books, I actually went through and read the first sentence of every single book that I own that I have read, so this is actually completely accurate. I don’t think I have mentioned most of these books on my blog before, but incidentally, all of these books got a high rating from me. So, are you ready?

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield

The night before Amelia Anne Richardson bled her life away on a parched dirt road outside of town, I bled out my dignity in the back of a pickup truck under a starpricked sky. Read the rest of this entry »