Book Review: A Clash of Kings

Title: A Clash of Kings
Author: George R.R. Martin
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire (Book 2)

I am in love with this series. The first book was amazing, and the whole second-book pitfall was avoided! I generally do not have good luck with sequels because they always seem repetitive to me... but this seemed fresh, original, and it advanced the plot!

I'm finding it so hard to review this series, mostly because a) it's insanely complicated and b) I can't just point at one thing and go "I LOVED IT" like I love the book as a whole, and so trying to find the little itty-bitty details are hard.

But I'm going to try anyway.

SUPER-LOVES:
+ No one magically gets healed. One of my pet peeves is when someone is dying of an obviously fatal wound but somehow magically are like "I'm okay!" and then go off to win some gigantic battle when 30 seconds ago they were struggling to breathe. Like I get that it's fantasy but let's have some realistic elements please.
+ Also, no one is safe. NO ONE. Martin kills/harms/destroys anyone and anything that he pleases. Who cares if you've had 20 million chapters, when your time has come you're dead! I'm on the edge of my seat the whole time just because the character deaths aren't predictable like in most books. It doesn't matter if it's a main character or some random person who has two lines of text in the whole book and never talks, they could die at any moment. Suspense much?
+ The plot twists are A+. Like one second I think I have everything figured out and the next second someone is giving birth to a shadow on a boat. (Seriously though, what the heck even was this? Like... Just... Help.) You can never settle into this comfortable rut because Martin is continuously throwing bombshells at you, yet it's not so rushed that I have to leave the book and go calm down in a corner because the overload is real. There's like this super tiny line between too much and too little action, and this book walks it PERFECTLY.
+ Betrayal is a major thing, which I guess ties in with plot twists but man you can't trust ANYONE in this book. Like ever. Because if you do you'll wind up with no head. Literally.

Teeny-Tiny List of Dislikes (In tiny font because I'M SO CREATIVE)
- Why did Daenerys have like two chapters in this book and that was it. This was something that bothered me in the last book and instead of getting more chapters I got less! Also literally everybody just wants her for her dragons. Like all of her conversations with people go like:
                      Person: Hey I like you--
                      Daenerys: Awww thank you!
                      Person: --r dragons let's get married so that I can have them.
Seriously I mean I get it it's DRAGONS but still.
- The battle at the end went on WAAAAYYY too long for my tastes. Fire death boom ship ahhhh I GOT IT.
- The whole birthing-shadows scene I just don't understand...

This was still an awesome book, and I still stand by my statement that everyone should read this awesome series. And by everyone I mean everyone in appropriate audiences like not a 10 year-old or anything that would probably not end well.

See this review on Goodreads.

Book Review: A Game of Thrones

Title: A Game of Thrones
Author: George R.R. Martin
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire (Book 1)

Why is there not an option for more than 5 stars? Like if I could I would rate this book 224 stars without hesitation (224 is one of my favorite numbers because 2+2 =4 and 2x2=4 and 4/2 = 2 and a bunch of other math calculations that make my slightly number/pattern-obsessed self happy).

So, I have major problems writing review for books that I love this much for a couple of reasons:

1. My brain doesn't function normally because I am so obsessed
2. I don't want to super-analyze it because I LOVE IT and I don't want to ruin it

I am going to list a small list of like super-loves and a teeny-tiny list of no-likes and then pat myself on the back for being able to review a book that I love this much.

SUPER-LOVES:
+ One of my pet-peeves is authors refusing to kill their characters even when they are CLEARLY dead. Mission Impossible? Dude's dead. James Bond? Dead. You get my drift. So the fact that Martin can clearly see when a character is coming to the end of their time/arc/whatever and not only kills them off but kills them off in a manner that still fits the storyline? Happy me. I realize this sounds like I'm wishing people/characters dead and I'm not, I'm just tired of movie franchises/books/TV shows allowing characters that clearly should not have survived just magically pop up and be like "I'm good!" like no you just hit your head on a doorframe going like a million miles per hour I'm sorry but you are not okay. So basically, yay for realistic elements! Even though it's a fantasy!
+ The length. I love love love bigger books (but only if they are good because otherwise tears) and Martin managed to create like 800+ pages of pure awesomeness and I was obsessed. Still am obsessed. This allowed for plenty of character development, world-building, etc. It didn't feel rushed at all, yet it didn't drag, and when I reached the end I was desperate for more. And there are 4 (and, hopefully, eventually 6) more books to go through!
+ The characters. The characters that you should hate were just so despicable that you had no choice, and you loved the characters that you should love. The others you were left to decide for yourself, but they were just so well-written that by the end you had a firm opinion on them, there weren't any characters where I was just like "meh"
+ Daenerys is officially my new favorite character in all of ever (sorry Kell). I'm not exactly sure why I liked her so much, but it was just one of those things where I kept looking forward to her chapters and her story and I was like "Hurry up and shush Ned I wanna know what happens with Daenerys."
+ Dragons. If this needs an explanation I just... don't know what to do with you. Sorry.

Teeny-Tiny List of Dislikes:
- So. Many. Characters. So. Many. Names. (internal meltdown)
- Ned = Lord Stark. Didn't know that.
- Ned like dominated this book I wanted more Daenerys!!!

I cannot emphasize enough how much I loved this book. If you can only read one book this year, read this one.

Note on the illustrated version versus regular: I did not pick this for the pictures, it was just available sooner than the normal version and I'm impatient. I mean the pictures are cool but they don't make or break the book.

See this review on Goodreads.

"How Do You Have Time to Read So Much?" (The Answer!)

So the number one question I always get when I talk to other people about reading is:

"How do you have time to read so much?"

(or one of 128473662 different variations of this question)

And the short answer that I normally give people is that I don't necessarily have all this time to read whenever I want and never go to work or to school or do homework or any of that. Although that really isn't a short answer. It's not easy (at least for me) to study for all these tests and write all these essays and still have time to read and take pictures and write reviews. So, I decided I would compile the long version of my answer to my most frequently received question.

How I Read So Much:

1. I multitask. And by "multitask" I mean I walk into a lot of walls (hang on, I'll get there). I read when I'm eating, I read when I'm brushing my teeth, I read while I'm watching TV, and I read while walking up and down the stairs (don't do this, seriously. I've almost killed myself a couple times because a) I've missed a step or b) my puppy decided that HE wanted the step and then I have 60+ pounds of I'M-NOT-MOVING that I have to sneak around). Some people like to aimlessly stare at the ceiling while in the waiting room, I have my book. If there is ever a break, I'm reading. There are tons of minutes wasted throughout the day that could be spent reading, they are just so small that you don't think about them.
2. I weave it into my schedule. I have a running to-do list that, like my TBR, will never be quite completed or conquered. I try to get in at least half a book to a book per day (depends on the size of the book) and so I make that a box that I need to check off. I HATE leaving boxes unchecked, and so that nasty little voice living inside my head that flips out when boxes are unchecked will remind me throughout the day that I need to keep reading.
3. eBooks. For some reason bringing your phone to an information session is normal but books? Now people are looking at you funny. So I have a tendency to download eBooks from my TBR and keep them on hand just in case I need to go somewhere where it would be weird to have a book but perfectly acceptable to be on my phone. Plus they are much more convenient so that's another plus (but not nearly as fun to read...)
4. I use it as a reward system. Wrote an essay? Have 5 chapters! Studied for that test? Another 5 chapters! By using reading as a reward for completing specific tasks, not only do I get a break in-between mind-numbing boredom and headaches, but I also get to read! The only downside to this tactic is that sometimes I'll get to a super good part and it will have been 8 chapters before everything dies down and at that point I gotta go to 10 chapters because multiples of 10 are important and oh look it's exciting again and this cycle just goes on and on forever...
5. I've learned to be efficient(ish). I have a tendency to work on essays and do to homework at the weirdest times and in the weirdest places so that I can read when I get home. I try and set goals like "I will be done with this essay by 6 pm" so that I don't dawdle on certain tasks and get my stuff done so that I can read. Basically I make reading a priority like writing essays or studying for tests.
6. I put stuff off. 😅 Let's not talk about this one it's embarrassing.
7. I read fast. I've always been a naturally fast reader, but when I get super into something the pages just fly by. This really helps because it takes me a day to read the same book that would take someone else a week, and so I can squish more books in (I'm giving my parents credit for this one for starting me on books before kindergarten.)
8. I can read anywhere. Except maybe the car because motion sickness is a thing. I don't have problems reading in large crowds or in noisy areas because I just tune everybody out... which is great when you want to get reading done but bad when you miss your bus stop or someone has to yell your name 5000 times to get your attention. Also, I miss a lot of conversations because people will have like full-on discussions with me but not get my attention first and then they'll be like "what do you think?" and that's the first clue I've gotten that they were talking to me.

I think a huge part of my reading so much is that I make it a priority. It's something that is important to me, something that I love, and I try and juggle it as best I can with everything else in life. Do I get to read every day, or as much as I would like to? No, but I do my best.

How do you guys fit reading into your schedules?

Book Review: Our Dark Duet

Title: Our Dark Duet
Author: Victoria Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Monsters of Verity (Book 2)

Reread Count: 2

I am a pile of mush. I loved (almost) everything about this book. The story, the irony, the Lord of the Flies parallels... I loved the fact that the humans were just as bad as the monsters, that it was super clear that everyone was dealing with the consequences of the previous book (they didn't just magically pop up and be a-okay after what happened), and Ilsa became like this super computer-whiz so that was icing on the cake!

So because I could go on and on about how awesome this book is, I'm gonna break it down and make 2 small lists of likes and dislikes...

LIKES:
+ "Even monsters have weak hearts"
+ Soro's character, and their insight. Each Sunai sees the world through a different lens, and for me Soro' was one of the more objective ones. I really liked the no-nonsence approach that they took to their job and to their expectations, but I also loved their character development.
+ This book really addresses the problem of black-and-white judgement (i.e. there are no grey areas) because there will always be some times where what the punishment should be according to the rules isn't necessarily the right course of action
+ I loved the Wardens. Computer hackers for the win!
+ The irony of a monster who won't face his own monsters
+ Allegro, because he reflects which side August is on
+ The whole story just pulled me in and I couldn't stop reading!

DISLIKES:
- The fragment chapters were not my thing. My brain just can't handle fragments and short sentences and this was driving it nuts.
- August does a lot of flinching. Like the phrase "August flinched" and all of its variations showed up a lot...
- Wasn't a huge fan of the Kate/Wardens relationship, it seemed a little stereotypical?
- The Alice/Sloan relationship was just...weird
- As someone who is a long-distance runner, the fact that Kate took months off of running and then ran like 7 miles and THEN was tired and decided to stop running... I mean adrenaline does wonders but I'm not sure it can do that...
- Also did Kate never learn the whole stranger-danger thing?!
- And my big, overarching question: How does Ilsa reap?! I can't see her doing it like Leo but idk I was confused.

I love this book. I love this series. If you haven't already--read it!

See this review on Goodreads.

Things I Wish I Had Known Before Starting a Bookstagram (and a blog)

When I first decided to start a Bookstagram, I thought it would be super easy. Take pictures of pretty books, post, and *boom* hundreds of followers instantly and all that jazz. I've only had mine for a month or two, and now I've realized that it's actually a heck of a lot harder. And then I started a website, with the same idea in mind. Also got a swift reality check. So, without further ado, what I wish I had known before I decided to become a bookstagrammer and review books.

1. Light matters. You can't just stick your book down in any random place, take a picture, and have it look like the best thing in all of ever. Outside? Might get washed out. Inside, but not by windows? Too dark. Artificial light? Now all my pictures are yellow. So you have to find the best spot for pictures (which, for me, happens to be my desk. Or my stairs, if the lighting on my desk is bad at that time), and then the best time. Because pictures taken on my desk at 5:00 at night look great, but at 8:00 pm they look awful. Or at 7 am because lighting.
2. Take pictures ahead of time. Because when it decides to rain for 7 days straight you aren't getting any pretty lighting or outdoor shots, and there's only so many different ways you can rotate that book so it won't reflect the light straight back into the camera. So when it's 8 pm at night and you don't have the lighting to do anything, you will have backups and can post away!
3. It will take a while to find a theme. I've seen all of these super pretty pictures with tons of color and flowers (a really good example is @paperfury because her pictures are AMAZING) and I so wanted to do that but I've figured out that, because I have like no props, I'm more of a minimalist-desky person (when the lighting is good. Stupid lighting.). You just have to figure out what works for you with what you have.
4. Library books are a PAIN to photograph. Because I can't afford to buy a new book basically every other day I get A LOT of my books from the library. But those shiny jackets are so hard to take pictures of because GLARE! This has played a large role in the time that I chose to take photos because if the lighting is juuuussst right then you won't get glare.
5. Taking notes helps A LOT for reviews. Instead of just trying to remember everything that you want to say and all of the things that you want to point out, write them down, cry because you can't understand your own writing, and start over! I'm kidding about this (kind of), it really does help, a lot! I just recently started taking notes and I've realized that it makes my life much easier, although a little sad because my notes are ugly.
6. It gets hard when you get busy. Duh, right, but all of a sudden you are trying to read books and write reviews and post every day and sometimes my brain just wants to go *boom* because why are there only 24 hours in a day? Also sleep. I need sleep but I also need to write a review or read a book and priorities get screwed up.
7. Interact with people. I didn't know this when I started and I am SO SORRY to all those nice people who reached out to me in the comments and I didn't respond. I had no clue what I was doing and my life was a little bit of a mess (just a little *laugh/sobs quietly*). If you interact with others it's a heck of a lot more fun and who knows, you may just find some people who like a random book just as much as you do!
8. Don't type your blog post in Pages and then paste it into your blog because then the font gets all funky.
9. Links don't work in Instagram posts 😕. I mean I still post links there because maybe it's helpful (?) but it took someone pointing it out to me for me to realize what was going on. Whoopsies.

I'm sure that in a couple more months I will have even more to add to this list. Although my dreams of becoming some awesome professional photographer have definitely been shattered, I would say that I've (hopefully) improved! And one day I will have photos waiting just in case. One day. Just... not today.

For fellow bookstagrammers/bloggers out there, what were some things that you wish you had known when you started? Anything that you've learned that would be helpful for someone who is awful at taking photographs?

Book Review: The Passenger

Title: The Passenger
Author: Lisa Lutz
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: N/A

...My head hurts. There was just so much going on in this book that I'm not even sure where to begin. Not to mention that I did not take notes when reading this about stuff I liked/didn't like (BIG mistake) and so now I'm not even sure what time zone I am in. And this, fellow readers, is why you do not decide to read an entire book between information sessions. Because the brain just cannot handle that type of commitment.

We are introduced to Tanya Dubois at the same time we are introduced to her now-dead husband, Frank. Who she definitely didn't kill, as she repeatedly assures us (I just met you, I don't trust you. We aren't there yet), but she's going to go on the run anyway because she doesn't want the police to look too closely into her background. What follows next is a whirlwind of action complete with murder, sneaking around, breaking-and-entering, and a possible bomb plot (?). Holy crud there was a TON crammed into this little book. I know on Goodreads it says 320 pages but I make the writing super tiny on my phone because my vision is awful anyway why not just ruin it completely, so it was only like 250 for me? And there was a ton going on.

If you've read any of my other reviews you probably know that I tend to like slower, longer books. I just need more processing time than the average reader, even though I read super fast IDK it's weird just ignore me. Anyway, this book was a little hard for me just because it was so fast, but that's kind of the point of the thriller-type genre so putting my obvious bias aside this book was really good! I was interested in the characters (and confused as heck because I can barely keep one name straight for one person much less like 20), I was super shocked by the ending (like what the heck that is so messed up) and Blue was obviously my favorite character in all of ever in this book. She was like some kick-ass guardian angel/vengeful angel/manipulator person and man I liked her more than I liked the main character!

As someone who is not super into the whole thriller thing because I like sleep and being able to have a brain process without inadvertently missing a million things in a book, this was a pretty good read! Obviously I read it really fast, and every time I had to put it down for the next session I was really sad because I wanted to know what happened! The only major complaint I had besides the whole confusion-factor was kinda the plot twist at the end, I have a hard time believing that [insert character here] was able to manipulate THAT many people in order to cover something like that up and then one day everyone just decides to be like "actually..." because let's be real that's stretching it jussstt a little bit. I did, however, really like the whole identity-shopping thing, not necessarily the act because stalking funeral homes is creepy but just because the process of doing it was so elaborate and so complex that it really made you realize what great lengths Tanya was going to in order to hide. Like that's dedication.

Side/late note: the emails were a pretty cool break from the action although it took me AGES to figure out who Jo was like man I REALLY should have taken notes.

In short: I would definitely recommend this. There's a ton of action, it's interesting, and the plot never stops twisting! The only reason it got 3 stars instead of 4 was just because of how confused I got but let's be honest here I get confused easily. Ask me what day and month it is randomly and unless it's a major holiday or a special day will I have any idea? Nooope.

Read this review on Goodreads.

Book Review: This Savage Song

Title: This Savage Song
Author: Victoria Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Monsters of Verity (Book 1)

Reread Count: 2

Hehehe I love Victoria Schwab and her books so much I can't even deal right now.

I am a very happy bookworm.

I am going to attempt to make an organized list of All the Reasons Why This Book Is Awesome:

• First off, monsters. Who are not like the boogyman monsters or those monsters that show up in every other YA fantasy novel, and not those awful things in The Twelve that made me scared of the dark for weeks, but almost like (going out on a limb here) physical representations of the monsters present within the human race? The bigger the act of violence, the more you lose (like when you create a Sunai, you give up your soul because the act was that bad). No idea if that is actually what Schwab meant for them to represent but that's what I thought about when I though monsters so... anyway I just really liked the depths of the monsters, and how, excluding the hive-mind Corsai, were super intelligent and knew exactly what they wanted and it was a nice change from the usual brainless and violent monster. Who most of the time happens to have no face do you know how creepy that is?
• I loved the dual storyline/narration. On one hand you have Kate, a human who is determined to make herself a monster so she can please her extremely violent and nasty father. It honestly made me sad to read some of her parts because the lengths that she goes to to try and impress her father are pretty extreme and I think that it's just sad that she has to prove to her father that she's "worthy" instead of being loved for who she is. And then you have August, a monster who desperately wants to be human. And he's trying to escape this stereotype that everyone has and that his nasty brother who I HATE is trying to enforce. Even with the whole "you always want to be what you can't" narrative yet the characters never stop trying...
• Ilsa deserves her own special bullet point. I just loved the air of mystery around her in the beginning and then the explanations that come at the end. She is, hands down, my favorite character, and she doesn't even appear that often. And the cat. The cat is awesome too.
• Plot twists and evil characters GALORE. I obviously knew what was going to happen already because I already read the book but I still loved the twists, most of them aren't predictable (there are one or two that are pretty obvious but idk if it was because I've read too many fantasy books or if its because I've read this book before or if they were just predictable in general but this was minority of the twists).
• The message behind this book. The monsters were only created because of the violent acts of humans, and honestly the humans in this book were also way worse than the monsters to be honest. Also, greed and money was a huge part of this book. Probably my favorite message though was that you can't control the lot you get in life, but you can choose how you react to it. I feel like these all apply to human nature and life/society in general so it was not only an entertaining read but an educational one as well.

Do I still like the Shades of Magic series better? Definitely, I feel like it is much more complex with a bit more development and more surprising plot twists. But hey, an enjoyable read is an enjoyable read!

See this review on Goodreads.