dystopian
Top 5 Wednesday: Characters I Wouldn’t Want to Trade Places With
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
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 »
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
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
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 »
Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Feel Differently About
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’m pretty excited about this topic because most of the time, I never go back to talk about a book after I post my review. For this topic, we’re supposed to discuss books that we feel differently about now that we’ve had more time to think about them, and I’m sure that my opinions vary over time. We could talk about books that we either loved, and now, looking back, we don’t like as much, or we could talk about books that we didn’t like, and now, we have a greater appreciation for. At first, I tried to come with examples of both, but generally, once I dislike a book, there is no redemption for it. I couldn’t think of any, so this list will only have books that I once liked, and now, I don’t.
A few of these are probably controversial opinions, so please be wary of that.
Books that I liked at first, and now? Not so much.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Okay, so I’m not hating on this book. I will always appreciate this series for getting me back into reading all those years ago when I was 14 years old. However, after getting back into a reading groove and after so many years and so many books, I do not think that this series was as wonderful as I thought it was when I was younger. Now, I do have many frustrations with it although I never see myself getting rid of my copies of the books. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Nerve by Jeanne Ryan
I’m sure many people are now aware that the movie is coming out later this month, and for the most part, that is why I read this book. Judging by what I’ve seen from the trailer, there is essentially nothing being translated from book to movie. I cannot believe I’m about to say this, but that’s pretty okay with me. The movie looks like it takes everything to the next level in terms of intensity and excitement, and regardless of how I feel about the book, I am greatly looking forward to the film. If you are just interested in this book because of the movie trailer, I would not recommend reading it.
And that’s not to say this is a bad book. It’s not. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
A Mini Update First: I know I have been completely MIA for the past couple of months. I’m sorry about that, but my college classes always come before reading for myself. Steelheart is actually the first book I’ve finished since coming back to college, and the major reason for that is because of my fall break. I also neglected posting this because I honestly forgot about it. Unfortunately, I do not know how often I will be able to read in the coming months. I’m sorry for that, but it is what it is.
On to the review!
You can’t be so frightened of what might happen that you are unwilling to act.
Many people have enjoyed Steelheart before me, and I have no doubts that many more will continue to enjoy it after me. I am in the minority here as I did not like this novel. It really is a shame because I wanted to love it; I expected to love it actually. I have heard wonderful things about this author, and I will try out his other books. Steelheart, however, didn’t do much for me. Read the rest of this entry »
Top 5 Wednesday on a Sunday: Tropes I Hate
Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created be gingerreadslainey on YouTube. The Goodreads group page can be found here.
Side note: If you have been wondering where I have been, college is upon me. I have been busy packing, spending time with family and friends, and driving across the country to my school. (That’s why this post is late.) This transition is probably going to last for the next week or so. As such, I may or may not be very active here on my blog. I apologize, but I promise to be back as soon as I’ve adjusted back into the swing of things.
I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am for this topic. I have been waiting for this ever since it was announced at the end of July. For the most part, I hate tropes. They are cliché themes and details used in multiple books, and to be honest, they get old. They get old quite quickly. If you missed my post about my Favorite Character Tropes, you can find that here. Anyway, let’s get on to the list!
Please note that just because a book appears as an example of a specific trope doesn’t mean that I hated the book.
1. One Girl Against the Government
This trope has been prominent in the Young Adult (YA) genre as of late. There are many books that portray this. To my knowledge, the first was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins followed by Divergent by Veronica Roth and so on. I know that these books are meant to empower young girls, and while I think that’s great, in my opinion, there should be a greater focus on teamwork. Life doesn’t always magically work out so that one person changes the world. I adored these two books when I read them, but I get the feeling that if I read them again, I wouldn’t enjoy them nearly as much.
2. Love Triangles
I know that some people enjoy these when they are done well, but I don’t know what that means. I have never read a book where a love triangle is done well. To me, they are completely unnecessary and unbelievable. In real life, these things don’t happen. It causes ridiculous drama, and it feels like the author is just writing it to fill space up in the book. Additionally, in most cases, I can guess who the girl will end up with at the end. If it is that obvious to me, shouldn’t it be obvious to the main character too? The most well-known example of this is Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Read the rest of this entry »
Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Required Reading
Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created be gingerreadslainey on YouTube. The Goodreads group page can be found here.
Funnily enough, English was actually my least favorite subject in high school. While I have always loved reading, I hated being told what to read. For the most part, I actually read all of the books that I was supposed to read for class. There were only two that I never completed and still haven’t. Shhhh, don’t tell my past teachers. Anyway, I’d say that most of the books that I read for required reading I reasonably liked, but I wouldn’t consider them to be amazing. However, the ones that made it onto this list are novels that I genuinely enjoyed.
1.The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I read this book the same year that the movie was released, and I absolutely loved both. This was one of the first books that I read during high school that I really enjoyed. In fact, I even had my dad read it so that we could compare thoughts on both the movie and the book.
2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
This is the second classical dystopian that I’ve read, and between this and 1984, I prefer this one. I like the satirical elements and just the different ways in which you can think about the novel. Read the rest of this entry »
August 2015 Unhaul
This is my very first unhaul on this blog. An unhaul consists of books that I’m getting rid of; although, in this case, all of the books listed below are no longer in my possession. A few days ago, I went to my local, independent bookstore that buys used books for store credit, and they bought these books from me. Just fair notice: there might be a part two to this eventually, for I still have books that I’d like to get rid of.
First, I’d like to say that I’m not trying to be intentionally rude about any books that you may or may not like. This is just my personal opinion.
A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas
This book came out in February of this year, and I read it in April. It’s a Sleeping Beauty retelling, and it fell incredibly flat for me. Perhaps, it is because I had such high expectations, but I was disappointed in almost every single facet of this novel. I didn’t care for the characters because there was little to no development, and I disliked the turn of the plot near the end of the novel. In short, I have no desire to continue reading this series, so I decided to get the book off my shelves.
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
I can’t say anything really negative about this book because I never finished it. I had tried numerous times to finish the book, and eventually, I lost interest. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd
V for Vendetta, what could I possibly say that could describe the way I feel about you? The 2006 film V for Vendetta is my all-time favorite movie ever. To be perfectly honest, I cannot imagine that changing anytime soon. I suppose I knew going into this graphic novel that it would be a very difficult sell for me because of my adoration of the movie. That being said, there aren’t many things that are inherently wrong with this book, but overall, it just didn’t sit with me as well as its film version did.
Remember, remember the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.
If you are not aware, V for Vendetta is an incredibly complex tale of a corrupt, fascist government and one man’s journey to bring it down. It follows a large group of characters from the mysterious, masked V, his young follower Evey, to an investigator by the name of Finch. There is a high level of complications within the government, betrayals, and schemes. As the reader, you are never quite certain with where it will lead. Read the rest of this entry »
It's a Novelty 