Fairytale Retelling Challenge 2016

I don't usually ever do challenges other than my usual Goodreads challenge. Last 6 months in high school kind of stirred something in my, and Lord knows I love me some retellings. So here I am. This past year (2015) I've read things like ACOTAR (which was lovely) and in 2016 I can't wait to read more books like this.

This challenge is hosted by the lovely Mel over at The Daily Prophecy.

-Enchanted Moura: 1 – 4 books.

-Goose Girl: 5 - 9 books.

-Evil Queen: 10 – 15 books.

-Wise princess: 16 – 20 books.

-Kuma Lisa: 21 – 25 books.

-Cheshire cat: 26+ books

.

While participating in this challenge, my goals to reach the EVIL QUEEN level. I even have a Pinterest Board ready made for my achievement.

And an outfit for my coronation. You're all invited. We'll be serving pomegranates, figs, prosciutto, and espresso.

Good luck to all participating! Do any of y'all have a retelling suggestion for me to read? Leave it in the comments.

All the Jazz of 2015

HOLY FREAKING DOUNTS AND CHEESEBALLS AND PEANUTS ALMIGHTY.

I graduate high school in June. Do you understand? I freaking graduate high school in June.  I HAVEN'T EVEN ORDERED MY CAP AND GOWN YET. WHAT AM I DOING?

I STILL HAVE TO GET MY YEARBOOK.

What am I doing?

Well, let me tell you what I'm doing.

I published children's book, all of the proceeds going to The Children's Heart Foundation. I'm officially an Intern for the awesome and all-knowing women's health and feminist blog The FloDown starting, well, January 1.

I'm still running this blog and am making fantastic friends. Like Tika and Brian and my darling author friend S. Usher Evans.

Tika and Brian are my New Adult besties. Besides these two being total kick-butt bloggers, they've also listened to my rants (COUGH TOUCH ME NOT COUGH) (COUGH L A ROSE COUGH)

(COUGH THE BONE SEASON COUGH)

I coordinated Self-Worth Week. This promoted self-worth for everyone. Authors and bloggers shared their thoughts, gave me books to donate to my school, as well as books to giveaway to readers.

I loved a lot of books. Besides the one's above, I also reviewed these twelve show-stoppers: Come Back to Texas by K.K. Hendin, The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons, After the Rain by Renee Carlino, Until You Find Me by Amber Hart, Joyride by Anna Banks, Boys Like You by Juliana Stone, It's You by Jane Porter, Moonshine by Tess Oliver, A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston, The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett, Sweet Temptation by Wendy Higgins, Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom.

Then there was that time I cringed SO HARD at this one.

I talked about superpowers, strong YA females, Noah Shaw (what year is complete without my love?), and cute clothes.

I talked about music.

I gobbled up these pretty words like they were pie on Thanksgiving:

"She was not my kind, yet there was some power to her that was not human, not quite. She did not die, and I wondered if I might at last have found a queen for whom I could set the desert on fire.” A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston (ARC)

"You can only give your heart away once, after that, everything chases your first love." The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher 



OKAY. So 2015 was a pretty good year all in all. 

How was your year? I NEED MORE BLOGS TO FOLLOW! Leave me a link.

If you dare.

Book Review: The Killing Jar by Jennifer Bosworth

The Killing Jar by Jennifer Bosworth
Goodreads // Amazon // Spooky Reads
ARC via Andye // ReadingTeen.net
Published January 2016

“I try not to think about it, what I did to that boy.”

Seventeen-year-old Kenna Marsden has a secret. 

She’s haunted by a violent tragedy she can’t explain. Kenna’s past has kept people—even her own mother—at a distance for years. Just when she finds a friend who loves her and life begins to improve, she’s plunged into a new nightmare. Her mom and twin sister are attacked, and the dark powers Kenna has struggled to suppress awaken with a vengeance. 

On the heels of the assault, Kenna is exiled to a nearby commune, known as Eclipse, to live with a relative she never knew she had. There, she discovers an extraordinary new way of life as she learns who she really is, and the wonders she’s capable of. For the first time, she starts to feel like she belongs somewhere. That her terrible secret makes her beautiful and strong, not dangerous. But the longer she stays at Eclipse, the more she senses there is something malignant lurking underneath it all. And she begins to suspect that her new family has sinister plans for her… 

“I’ll be here when you wake, so you won’t be afraid to dream alone. To dream alone” (ARC).

Let me tell you a quick little something about how I like my creepy. I like it cold, served with kisses that taste a whole lot like danger. I like it when I see every single terrible part of what makes the antagonist so terrifying. I like my creepy with a dash of cinnamon (so I can feel the burn) and a little bit of maple syrup (so that I can taste the fear in the November leaves).

THE KILLING JAR by Jennifer Bosworth gave me creepy in moderation, and with a book title like THE KILLING JAR I have to say I expected a little more.

The story begins with death. Kenna has a secret, and as she learns more about her own dark past she delves deeper into her family history and what it really means to bear her last name, as well as the consequences that come with it. Kenna killed a boy when she was a child, and because of it she is not allowed to touch anyone, or allow anyone to touch her, for fear of taking their life as well.

In all honesty, there wasn’t a specific aspect of the book that I was entirely opposed to. I wasn’t a fan of Kenna. Or her mom. Or the boy Kenna sort of has a crush on. Or that other boy that Kenna sort of has a crush on. The overall character building felt. . .hollow. And I suppose because I wanted to love it with all my teen-angsty-ness, that when it fell short I just lost interest.

The plot of THE KILLING JAR was not fast-moving. It wasn’t slow-moving. It was juuuust right. And this, my friends, is what saved it from being a two-star novel.

I feel like this should have totally been my kind of novel. I wish it was fleshed out a little more. I want to know the characters a little more and know the reasons behind what they’re doing. Not save it all for a grand-final last minuet thing.

I suppose you’re wondering what it was that I did like. The grandmother. I love her. I can’t say pretty much anything about her, but I feel like she was the character that was most explored and the association and creep-factor with her just just stellar. (can I have a novella just on her back story? I would so buy that.)

Merry Christmas, Loves!

Hello all you celebrators of Christmas! Happy holidays to all y'all to all those who celebrate all the other darling holidays that make themselves known this time of year.

WOW. What a year it has been. (whew. like omg y'all.)

I'll be doing a wrap up on this years accomplishments next week. For now, just enjoy the time off and be merry. Drink hot chocolate and cider and coffee. Or mulled wine if that's what you fancy. Watch Matt Bomber stalk across the screen in White Collar (it's on Netflix) or any of the digital variation of the much loved Mr. Darcy.

He's all the swoons.

Here are some of my recommendation for your new year reading. TELL ME THREE THINGS and WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED must be pre-ordered. My new favorite human, Tika, got me to finally read THE BONE SEASON. Warden is a total swoon-tastic combo of The Darkling and Mr. Darcy, Who I've previously mentioned having an obsession with.

And of course, one can't go wrong with some Rachel Hawthorne. She's soooooo darling.

SNOW ON THE BAYOU was sent to me last year by GCP. I loved it so much. So much fun. Short and sweet and hot hot hoooot.


MY LOVES:

What are some 2016 reads you're totally coveting? 

Brief Reactions to the End of Books: Young Adult

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass // I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED AND READ IT SOONER AND FEY AND MAGIC AND THAT EVIL DUDE IS SO ATTRACTIVE.

Wolf by Wolf by RyanGraudin // Well that wasn’t what I was hoping for.

The Wizard’s Heir byDevri Walls // YOU HAVE ONCE AGAIN TOTALLY SLAYED.

The 100 by KassMorgan// Woah. There’s even more differences in this and the TV show than I thought there would be. (ALSO SEASON TWO IS ON NETFLIX)

Uprooted by NaomiNovik // It was fine. But then the more I think about it the more I totally love it. Wait. MAGIC. Hehehe.

Everything by this author is worth reading

Hello my darling little loves! Today, I'll be sharing three of my most beloved books with you and gifs that properly represent how in love I am with them.

And their totally swoon-inducing love interests, of course.

What would a post be without swoons? Pfft. I mean really.

SO LET ME INTRODUCE L.A. ROSE. I rated every one of her books as a 5-star read.

They were all legitimately perfect.

Goodreads // August 2014

If there’s one thing Cleo Reynolds knows, it’s that she’s not into Adrian King.

The son of a model with the looks to prove it, the experienced author of her school newspaper’s sex advice column, the cocky playboy with a hint of darkness. That Adrian King.

Nope. Nuh-uh. No way.

The problem is, he’s very into her.

After accidentally flashing him, and slightly-less-accidentally-but-still-totally-unintentionally making out with him in front of the whole class, she expects to be called crazy. Instead, he asks her out.

Cleo’s determined not to end up as another notch on his bedpost. Except she hasn’t done…you know…it in a while. (Read: ever.) And as a girl who pays her tuition by writing all the sex scenes in her roommate’s bestselling romance series, the lack of inspiration has served up a fat slice of writer’s block.

Until her roommate proposes that Cleo and Adrian act out all the steamy scenes in her book.

It’s just research. No feelings involved.

Nope. Nuh-uh.

No way.

Goodreads // November 2014

Glass-doll beauty. A shy, proper smile. Georgette Montgomery is the perfect billionaire’s fiancé.

Or she would be, if she existed.

A dark past. A smile that hides everything. At nineteen, Rae Grove escapes her disaster life by pretending to be other people—specifically, whoever the man paying her that night wants her to be.

Until she’s offered enough money for a one-way ticket to a better life. All she has to do is fly to Paris and pretend to be the fiancé of young business tycoon Cohen Ashworth for one month. Within an hour of meeting Cohen, Rae knows three things about him:

1. He hates everyone and everything.

2. He has abundant wit and a knife-sharp tongue.

3. He uses 2 to make everyone aware of 1.

Before long, Rae’s determined to crack open his unbreakable shell. Cohen’s determined to stay unbroken.

But no one escapes unscathed when two opposite worlds collide.

Goodreads // September 2014

very year, the girls of Phi Delta Chi, Fiona Arlett’s dream sorority, hold a competition.

The prize?

James Reid, king size bar of eye candy and famous actor turned haughty undergrad.

The rules?

No girl but the winner can touch him.

The problem?

Fiona miiight have unknowingly banged his brains out last week.

Losing the competition may mean wearing a chicken suit to the sexiest Halloween costume contest, but she’d rather have feathers up her butt than let the truth out.

Unfortunately, she and James have lots in common and more chemistry than the science wing. Soon they’re sneaking around behind the backs of UCSD’s hottest and most vengeful girls.

If they find out?

Fiona’s screwed.