Why I haven't been around lately

So I know that my blog has been very slow lately, and that I haven't actually posted anything in a WEEK! But I have some reasonable excuses (honest!)

First of all, I've come to the end of my college course. And with the end of year show, I've been there non stop getting ready for it. And on top of that, I've had a 6-10 work shift every weeknight after college. Sometimes I'd come back from college as late as 5pm and then be off to work in half an hour. The final show was yesterday, and last week has been stressfully busy, and I've had no time to read - let alone blog!

Another thing is that I've been reading a few classics lately, and even though there's no rule, I like to keep the theme of YA on this blog. Which is why I haven't posted any reviews since last week.

But alas, college is pretty much over. And even though I'm still working, I'll have the daytime free to catch up on my reading/blogging.

Review: City of Ashes

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Published: 2008

Pages: 464

My Rating: 4/5

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go -- especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother....
I read City of Bones back in February, and I enjoyed and understood why it was so popular. But I wasn't as invested into it as most other people were with the series. I'm more of just a casual fan. As it had been so long since I read the first book, my memory of the story and the characters was a little faded. I know I should of probably recapped myself before going back into the series, but I just wanted to get started on it straight away.

As a whole, I enjoyed the book. The second half a lot more than the first. I really felt like they spent the whole first half of the book just talking. Talking and explaining. As I'm not that invested in the series, and am not really that interested in all the little details of the plot, I found this very boring. And I ended up reading it just to get through it, rather than finding it entertaining. But alas it picked up a lot in the second half and I found myself zooming through it eagerly. There were lots of twists and turns and action packed scenes. There was also one particular plot twist that I thought was brilliant and really loved.

One thing I love about Clare's writing, is that she paints such a perfect picture in your head of what's going on.  The way she writes her dialog is so real and believable, and also very funny at times. There's nothing stilted in the conversations the characters have. Their conversations bounce off each other so well. And their relationships are so relatable (save perhaps Jace's and Clary's, haha).

Of the characters in the book, I loved Simon the most. He started off as the usual geeky best-friend, but he's developed so much since then, and the things that happen to him in this book are both scary but great. Another character who's grown on me a lot is Jace. In the first book, I wasn't too keen on him because he just seemed like the typical mysterious guy love interest. But in this book, you can see how the events in the last have really taken their toll on him. He seems so conflicted, and doesn't seem to know what to think any more. And in showing this human side, I've began to love him some more.

So overall, I did quite enjoy this book. I'm in know rush to read the next one, but I definitely will sometime. I very much see why everyone loves this series so much, and I definitely recommend it if you're into Fantasy and Urban Fantasy.

Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (16)

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee!

Q. The magic book fairy pops out of your cereal box and says "you and your favorite character (from a book of course) can switch places!" Who are you going to switch with?

Oh wow, I'm going to be exceptionally boring again and go with Hermione. She's not my favorite character, but I would love to switch places with her and live in the Wizarding World, go to Hogwarts and be mates with Harry and Ron. 

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books!

Question COMING SOON :D

Review: Warm Bodies

Title: Warm Bodies

Author: Isaac Marion

Published: 2011

Pages: 226

My Rating: 3/5

R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams.
After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world.

I was interested in this book a long time before I actually got it. I love zombie books and have read many different kinds of zombie books. But this one had the most interesting premise by far. Mainly because not only is it a zombie romance but it is in the point of view of......a zombie.

First off, I was quite shocked to see how short this book was. At just over 200 pages, I expected to get through it quickly. This was not the case however. The book started off with our lead zombie, R, telling us, with surprising intelligence and innocence, about his extremely simple day-to-day life as a zombie. Which was hilarious. It's written so well with R just casually explaining in brilliant detail these absurd things that zombies do in their everyday life. We also find out that zombies can actually speak, to a degree, and form (exceptionally simple) relationships. They have no knowledge of who they were but do have a vague understanding of how the human race used to live. 

Later on in the book we meet Julie. And R starts to feel alien affections for her after devouring her boyfriend's brain (which can give zombies a glimpse of the persons life). Throughout the book, we have chapters with 'clips' of his life through R's eyes. All the way from his childhood to when he met Julie. This starts to give R extra knowledge and make him different from the rest of the zombies. 

Julie was an interesting character and I really liked her. She was rebellious and quirky, but also very intelligent. One problem I found with her though, was how easily she accepted R. One of the mindless monsters that the Living have feared and fought off her entire life, and after the initial shock at seeing her boyfriend and team eaten alive while she is taken back to their home, she seems completely cool about it. I don't know if this is just part of her character, but I found it quite strange. 

Another part of the book I found odd, was how human R was. I know that he was supposed to be different than the rest after what he experienced, but I personally found him too real and human. He just seemed to forget he was a zombie and that his soul purpose was to eat people. And with that, I started to lose interest in the book. I found it interesting and funny at the beginning, but it became quite slow-moving, and I couldn't really figure out where it was going, causing me to take a while to read it.

But in the end, it picked up and I got into it again. The ending was quite epic and hollywood in a good way, and I thought that it ended well. Other than it being a bit slow-moving and hard to believe (even though it's a zombie book, I know), I did quite enjoy it. It was really interesting and I recommend it if you're a zombie lover (no pun intended).

Review: The Perks of being a Wallflower

Title: The Perks of being a Wallflower
Author: Stephen Chbosky
Published: 1999
Pages: 214
My Rating: 4.5/5

Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as 
growing up.


I've been sitting here for the past ten minutes, really trying to decide what to write about this book. First of all, I have to say that it was fantastic, and I absolutely loved it. It reminded me of other books that I've read and loved like Looking for Alaska. But I'm really struggling with how to structure this review, so just bare with me on this one. 


This book is written through anonymous letters to a stranger by a high-school boy called Charlie. It's clear very soon that this isn't just your run of the mill 'awkward-guy-likes-girl-in-high-school'. It's obvious that Charlie has inner demons and looks at the world in a very unique way. The writing, for one, shows all his thoughts about people, situations and events in his special way. It's written in very short, simple and to-the-point sentences, and this is what makes it shine. Even with the short to-the-point sentences, there is just enough detail, and brilliantly worded out descriptions to make you truly get what Charlie is telling you.  


Charlie's narration is very blunt, but innocent at the same time. He is incredibly selfless in the way he writes. He's always thinking and worrying about other people, even while he is suffering himself. There are different aspects about him that everyone in some way will find relatable. You also can't help but love him. He is so innocent and loving, and hardly any of the characters even come off that badly because he doesn't think of them in too hateful ways. It's almost like he can't because the biggest enemy he has is his-self.


As for the other characters, what makes them so believable is that they are all very real. None of them are described in tiny detail, even some of the main characters. That is left for our imagination and how we choose to see them. Also, none of the characters are at all cliche and none of them are black-and-white bad or good. They all have their downsides and their upsides.


Overall, this book was just brilliant. It's possibly one of the most perfectly written coming-of-age books. It has all the themes and grounds covered really well. Made perfect from Charlie's lovable perspective. I certainly recommend it if you're into John Green books like Looking for Alaska, as I mentioned earlier. It should be essential to all people, old and young.    


      

Teaser Tuesday (10)

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should be Reading!

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

'As Alec traced the patterns of runes along the backs of Isabelle's hands and the insides of her wrists, he glanced over at Clary. "You should probably head home."'

Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (15)

Follow Friday, as always, is hosted by Parajunkee!

This week's question is:

Q. What are you doing to prepare for an upcoming zombie apocalypse and/or the return of Mel Gibson to the silver screen? (Both of which could be terrifying.)

(Sorry, for this epic ramble. This is more what I'm going to do if there is a zombie apocalypse rather than how I am preparing)

Haha, well I don't know about the Mel Gibson thing, but I've thought about what I would do in a zombie apocalypse many times (being a bit of a zombie fiction freak). I love this question.

It all depends on where I am at the time. I would like to think that I would have enough time to get back to my house, with my family. Once we are all there, I would make sure that we have a nice selection of weapons to fight off the zombies with (these could be, cricket bats, poles, hammers, mallets, swords lol). I'm hoping that at this point we are not completely overrun, and have time to gather up what supplies we need (these being, water....lots of it, non-perishable foods, the weapons, phones and communicators with chargers (if there is still electricity), first aid kit, blankets and clothing, a ladder, tools, hygiene supplies, important documents and books duh). I would then gather my family (this includes my cats of course) up into the attic with the supplies and somehow destroy or block the stairs. I would also make sure that our house is covered in blood and guts to block the smell of us living from the zombies. 

We would hide out there in the attic for as long as we could, and wait for the apocalypse to calm down. Then we would carefully send out scouts (which would probably be me) using the ladder, to check the coast. If it is clear, cover the car in blood and guts (again, for the smell). I would then carefully, bit-by-bit carrying down whats left of the supplies and food, and if there's any left in the house, to the car. We would then using maps, plan what would be the safest places to go (most likely out in the countryside), as well as meeting points, if we were to get lost. While going we would try and pick up more supplies, petrol and join up with any other groups of people who have made it, and then make our way into a safe-zone in the country, and try and hook up with any remaining military units. 

Wow, what do you know? Turns out I do have a detailed plan!

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books! 

This week's question is:

Share your favorite post from the last month and tell us why it’s close to your heart!

It was probably my review of Between Shades of Grey here!

There isn't really any special reason, other than it was a really amazing and important book that I loved.

May Round-Up!

I kinda went through a slight dry reading spell this month. I couldn't really get into any books. But saying that, I still managed to read 6 books, which I'm quite shocked by.

I've linked the titles to their reviews!

Books read this month:

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
Stolen by Lucy Christopher
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys


Have a great month everybody!