2015 Challenge Wrap-up

Challenges weren't for me this year. Despite reading a little over my Goodreads goal of 50 books, i went a bit off course with my reading and only managed to complete The Flights of Fantasy Challenge with 10/10. I managed 7/10 2015 debut authors, 3 short of my goal... and don't even get me started on my Around The World Challenge *bows head in shame*

Flights Of Fantasy

My Goal: 10 Books

- Throne Of Glass (Sarah J. Maas)

- Magic Bites (Ilona Andrews)

- Of Beast and Beauty (Stacey Jay)
- The Sin Eater's Daughter (Melinda Salisbury)
- Magic Burns (Ilona Andrews)
- Magic Strike (Ilona Andrews)
-The Wrath and The Dawn (Renee Ahdieh)
-A Tale of Two Castles (Gail Carson Levine)
-Cinder (Marissa Meyer)
-The Merciless (Danielle Vega)

Completed: 10/10

2015 Debut Author Challenge

My Goal: 10 Books

- The Sin Eater's Daughter (Melinda Salisbury)

- Everything, Everything (Nicola Yoon)
-Date with a Rockstar (Sarah Gagnon)
-The Wrath and The Dawn (Renee Ahdieh)
-Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda (Becky Albertalli)
-First and Then (Emma Mills)
-Playlist For The Dea (Michelle Falkoff)

Completed: 7/10

Around The World

My Goal: Try and read a book from each continent.

Continents:
- The Trouble with Flirting (Rachel Morgan)- Africa
- Biggest Flirts (Jennifer Echols) - North America

Completed: 2/7

Top Ten Tuesday (27)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the amazing Broke And The Bookish.

Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the First Half of 2016

There are so many good looking books coming out in 2016, my TBR list is getting ridiculously long. Especially with all the books that I missed out on reading this year! (But that's for another list). Anyway I've totally gone over the allotted number of 10, but hey, rules were meant for breaking.... so here are the books I'm most excited for in 2016.

YA Contemporary

It was so hard to narrow this list down for contemporary reads. There are a lot of ones that I am super excited for next year, but these are the ones I can't wait to read.  

       

Sequels

I read the first books of both these series this year and loved them. They are both full of political intrigue and romance and I'm glad I don't have to wait to long until the next installments. 

 

Fantasy

I haven't been in to fantasy as much as I once was. But the books below definitely have me excited to dive back into the realm of the unknown.

        

What are your most anticipated books for 2016? 

2015 Challenges Update

Only 3 more months left to the end of the year, and I am seriously behind in all my challeges Eeek!

This month I'm focusing on debut authors, and next month I'm going to focus a bit on fantasy I think. But here is what I have achieved so far...

Flights Of Fantasy

My Goal: 10 Books

- Throne Of Glass (Sarah J. Maas)

- Magic Bites (Ilona Andrews)

- Of Beast and Beauty (Stacey Jay)
- The Sin Eater's Daughter (Melinda Salisbury)
- Magic Burns (Ilona Andrews
- Magic Strike (Ilona Andrews

Completed: 5/10

2015 Debut Author Challenge

My Goal: 10 Books

- The Sin Eater's Daughter (Melinda Salisbury)

- Everything, Everything (Nicola Yoon)

Completed: 2/10

Around The World

My Goal: Try and read a book from each continent.

Continents:
- The Trouble with Flirting (Rachel Morgan)- Africa
- Biggest Flirts (Jennifer Echols) - North America

Completed: 2/7

September Wrap-up

September was comic book month at my library, so I felt inspired to catch up on some graphic novels and manga. All in all I did pretty well. I read 10 graphics and 2 novels. I feel a bit like a cheat though since I read so many comics, so this month I'm going to try and flesh it out with some novels.

Finished

     

If I Stay, was good, but I'm unsure if I want to continue on with Where She Went. I feel like the book ended well, and could be left up to interpretation what happened next. But I'd love to know what you think if you read both the books, or even if you didn't. Is it worth the read??

Everything, Everything was the standout for the month. I don't have words to describe how much I loved this book. I know there has been a lot of hype around it, and sometimes that puts people off (it usually puts me off). But I liked almost everything about the book, although somewhat predictable in my opinion. It flowed beautifully and the ending was perfect. 

 

   

 

Pretty much all of these graphic novels were awesome. I'm really loving Btooom!, which I highly recommend if you are into manga, and if you're looking for a dark twist on the hunger games books. There is plenty of blood and gore in these ones, but they are so highly addicting.

Ms. Marvel was a great intro into the Marvel world and I really enjoyed it. I liked that the main character was unique and had real life struggles regarding her culture, being a teen etc in addition to receiving her super powers. 

Both Zombillenium and Boneyard are produced by the same company, and have a similar feel about them. They're both kind of spoof comedies surrounding werewolves, vampires etc. Zombillenium also had neat art that I haven't seen much in graphics which was a nice surprise. 

The Wicked + The Divine was the let down this month. You can find my full review here. But all in all, the story was a bit lacking, but the illustrations were gorgeous.  If your a fan of art it might be worth the read. 

Up Next In October

I think this month I'm going to try and focus on 2015 debut authors and 2015 releases, since I'm severely lacking in my goal for the 2015 debut authors challenge (which if you're interested can be found here). 

       

 If you've read any of the above, which should I start with?

Review- The Fill-In Boyfriend (Kasie West)

Synopsis

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend—two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party—three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.               
  - Goodreads.com

My Review 

Kasie west is by far one of my favourite contemporary authors. While the fill-in boyfriend was not my favourite book by her (nothing can beat ‘On the Fence’). The Fill in Boyfriend provided all the delightful entertainment and mishaps I was hoping for. 

When Gia’s College boyfriend Bradley dumps her outside the doors of her senior high school prom, she’s at a loss. All her friends were expecting to meet him, some even doubting his existence at all. So walking in empty handed is out of the question. Enter Fill-in Bradley who is minding his own business after dropping off his younger sister to the prom. Suddenly he’s swept into a blur of lies and pretending to be Gia’s boyfriend for the night. But will their whirlwind end after just one night….not likely.

Gia is a hard character to like at the start, she places far too much importance on what her friends think. Even going to the extent of ‘hiring’ a guy to be her prom date for the evening in an effort to save face. (The irony being that she was dumped for the exact reason that she cared too much about her friends opinion). Personally, I feel like real friendship shouldn’t be based on such superficial elements. But that is what makes this book so good. Gia starts to realise this, her character grows and so in turn dawns the realization that she may have outgrown her friends.

Of course, there is also the light romance between the two protagonists to look forward to. With Gia being instigated to repay the favour of pretend girlfriend for the evening when Fill in Bradley is invited to his ex’s party.

Fill in Bradley was the perfect mix of sweet and funny.  Not only is he willing to help a girl in need out on prom night, little questions asked. But when you find out his back story, you wonder how a guy can be so nice after the shit he’s been through.

Romance aside, this story has a lot of good messages around friendships and growing up. Learning to be happy with who you are is probably the one thing that most people struggle with growing up, usually seeking the acceptance and approval of others as a way of self-validation… Even in my 20’s I’m still learning this lesson.

My rating: 4/5


Credit: None of the above images belong to me and were found on Pinterest.
Credit is attributed below when possible
Pic 1 originally found here
Pic 2 originally found here 
Pic 3 originally found here

Mini Review- Graphic Novel Compilation

The Wicked + The Divine (Volume 1 & 2)

Gillen McKelvie & Wilson Cowles

2/5

Graphically this book is stunning the colours are vivid and the characters are so beautifully portrayed. Unfortunately the story is hard to follow, with a lack of background or proper introduction. The main character is an obsessive fan of the gods (who every 90 years get reincarnated into the bodies of teenagers) and gets wrapped up in their political battle. She goes on a mission to find out who framed one of them for killing a citizen, but it’s all rather confusing and nothing really seems to be explained.

The second volume is a continuation of the first. With the same main character. The plot seems a little bit more cohesive, maybe because I’ve come to expect its format from the first book. But it’s still rather confusing.

Bone Yard (Volume 1)

Richard Moore

4/5

Michael has inherited a piece of land in the small town of Raven Wood from his recently deceased grandfather. But little does he know that the land is actually a cemetery, and one that the local mayor wants to see gone. However Michael is determined to make an informed decision, and goes on to befriend some of the ogly booglies that reside in the ‘boneyard’ only to find that they’re not that evil after all.

The graphics and colours are simple. But the characters definitely make up for it, especially the supporting spooks. Definitely recommend if you want a bit of a spoof comedy with vampires and werewolves and the mix. Bonus the series is finished, with 7 volumes available in total.

Zombillenium (Volumes 1 & 2)

Arthur De Pins

5/5

As far as I know there are only 3 volumes currently out, but no news of anymore being made. Which is disappointing, as this series is great! Another spoof comedy about the lives of vampires and other nasties, who all happen to work at a theme park by the titles name ‘Zombillenium’. The attraction of the park is its scariness, although none of the parks visitors are aware that the employees are actually undead ghouls.

.

There are a lot of antics, interlaced with sarcastic and sometimes dark humour. The graphic design is something I haven’t come along often, which is all done in adobe illustrator which gives it a unique feel. If you want a quick, quirky read then I suggest grabbing a copy, the only disappointing aspect is the lack of follow up with more volumes.

 

Top Ten Tuesday (26)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the amazing Broke And The Bookish.

Top Ten Books On my 'Fall' (actually Spring) TBR

So the weather is getting warmer, and I've got a list of books I have been saving for the right moment. I love spring, even though it tends to be rather rainy where I am during this time, when the suns shining its beautiful. There's nothing like finding a nice place to read for the afternoon soaking up the suns rays. Anyway on to the list....

Sequels

     

I've read the first books in both these series, and with the recent releases of their next books I'm keen to dive in this spring and read them. Not to mention they both have some awesome reviews.

2015 Debut Authors 

  

These 4 are all by debut authors that I have been hearing a lot of good stuff about. Everything Everything has been getting a lot of hype lately and so did Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda when it was released. Also these will make great additions to my debut author challenge, which I am seriously behind on.

Other

So with the release of the new Maze Runner movie, the scorch trials I feel its about time that I actually give the series a go. I mean they have been sitting on my shelf quite neglected for some time now. I've been told the books are much better than the movies, and I thought the first movie was relatively good, so I'm hoping to jump into this series this Spring. 

Also a random addition to my TBR is Alice by Christina Henry, which is dark and twisted retelling of Alice in Wonderland. I'm a huge sucker for re-tellings, and Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorites (hence the blog name).

What books are on your seasonal TBR?