The Book Sacrifice Tag

My return to blogging will remain at just one post a week for the next few weeks, hopefully I'll then be able to write and upload two posts a week when my schedule starts clearing up a lot more than what it is at the moment. So I thought I'd do something quick and simple; a book tag. The Book Sacrifice Tag was created by Ariel Bissett and only consists of 4 questions all based on books you'd sacrifice.


Question One:

An Over-Hyped book - Let's start this off with a Zombie Apocalypse! Let's say you're in a book store, just browsing, when BAM! ZOMBIE ATTACK. An announcement comes over the PA System saying that the military has discovered that the zombies' only weakness is over-hyped books. What book that everyone else says is amazing but you really hated do you start chucking at the zombies knowing that it will count as an over-hyped book and successfully wipe them out?!

Answer:

So for this Question I chose 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before'. At the moment the book is getting even more hype due to the recent movie that's just become available on Netflix but I honestly felt like the book itself was written for Tweens when it was marketed as Young Adult. The writing felt very immature and in fact I stopped reading 50 pages in because the character said the word "Biotch". Biotch was a word made popular by the movie 'Wild Child'. It was popular for a few months, then deceased all together so I had no idea as to why Jenny used it as something Lara would say because it felt so awkward.


Question Two:

A Sequel - Let's say you've just left the salon with a SMASHING new haircut and BOOM: Torrential downpour. What sequel are you willing to use as an umbrella to protect yourself?

Answer:

This book honestly goes down as the worst sequel I have ever read. Literally. I absolutely loved 'The 5th Wave' The setting of the book captured my attention, I loved the world building and the character growth was some of the best I've ever read. It was even one of my favourite books of all time. And then 'The Infinite Sea' released. It was just a mess. Our main characters got pushed to the side for some boring side character who was very 2D. The book was filled with plot hole after plot hole and overall it left a sour enough taste in my mouth that I never went on to reading the last book in the trilogy and I honestly never will pick it up.


Question Three:

A Classic - Let's say you're in a lecture and your English teacher is going on and on about how this classic changed the world, how it revolutionized literature and you get so sick of it that you chuck the classic right at his face because you know what? This classic is stupid and it's worth detention just to show everyone how you feel! What Classic did you chuck?

Answer:

I think every school made you read a classic that you absolutely hated and surprisingly my school was no different. They made us read 'Lord of the Flies' which was quite fitting since I attended an all boys school filled with a bunch of assholes. Now 'Lord of the Flies' was just completely awful in my opinion. The writing was very stiff and I found it didn't flow very well, not only that but the author tried bringing in so many characters that it made it all very confusing - even after seeing the movie; twice. I never understood why the only character who had his head on straight was killed off? Also the ending never made any sense.


Question Four:

Your least favourite book of life! - Let's say that you're hanging out at the library when BAM global warming explodes and the world outside becomes a frozen wasteland. You're trapped and your only chance for survival is to burn a book. What is the book you first run to, your least favourite book of all life, what book do you not fully regret lighting?

Answer:

I think I've made it pretty well known that I absolutely hate 'The Hunger Games'. It's not just for it's lack lustre characters and writing but also for the plot as well. I appreciate that 'The Hunger Games' was a starting base for the Dystopia genre but nothing about this series was entertaining. In the first book everything was slowly paced until the games started, even when the games started it never really picked up a lot. In Book Two I found the beginning to be well paced and then the actual games very slow paced. Book Three was just a big ol' mess. It's a rare occurrence for me to say that the movies are actually better than the books.

Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Genre: YA Dystopia
Publisher: Quercus Children's Books
Published: November 17th 2016
Page Number: 528
Rating: 3/5

Summary:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.

REVIEW

With the movie having come out yesterday in the UK I knew I had to read the book first. Back in 2013 I read 50 pages of the book and put it aside, until now. Despite the book being pretty chunky I actually flew through it and I have quite a lot of thoughts. Both positive and negative.

The book actually started out well. We were seeing Ruby working away at the weeds in the garden and then being knocked to the floor from the sound of high pitches and waking up in a ward with a female doctor telling her she's going to be killed. Just the thought of that alone sucked me right into the story, but it went all downhill as soon as Ruby left Thurmond. Ruby ends up running away from those helping her escape and meets 3 other children, who end up becoming her friends and together they all set out to find the Slip Kid who they hope can help them all go home to their families. Their adventure was filled with some intense moments, which really gave a great atmosphere from the writing. It was quick paced and seeing these powers be put into use gave us so much more depth into our characters.

But one thing kept nagging in my mind. My dislike for Ruby. She was naïve and acted on things without thinking anything through, creating destruction along her journey. Not only that but she ended up falling in love with one of the first boy she's seen in 6 years and I couldn't help but eye roll the entire time something romantic was happening between them both. Has The Darkest Minds been told from Chubbs' or Zu's perspective then I probably would have enjoyed the story a lot more as those two were the only characters I even cared about.

So with that, I won't be continuing on with the series. But I will be watching the movie and since the book was mediocre the movie cannot be any worse.

My Favourite Books of 2018 (So far)

Guess who's back in the house,
heels click clacking about?

That's right everyone, I'm finally back from a super long time away from the blog. It's been over a year since my last blog post and so, so much has changed in my life. So today's post I thought I'd make it something that is very easy and fun for me. I've read quite a lot of books so far, especially compared to last year and think this is a great time to showcase some of my favourite books of 2018, so far!

CRASH INTO YOU BY KATIE MCGARRY

Crash into You is the third book in the 'Pushing the Limits' series and I honestly thought no book could out do my love for Pushing the Limits, until Crash into You. Isaiah's back story broke my heart and I loved how much he truly cared and loved Rachel, despite knowing that he may not be her best option for a boyfriend. This book was filled with intense dramatic scenes and the grittiness of the illegal car scenes had me giddy with excitement and while I didn't think Rachel had the guts to continue and help Isaiah she truly outdid herself and showed the boys exactly how it's done. Honestly my favourite couple Katie has ever written.


LORD OF SHADOWS BY CASSANDRA CLARE

I finally got round to reading Lord of Shadows and let me tell you right now that Cassandra Clare did not disappoint with this sequel. Lady Midnight started off slow so I was worried that Lord of Shadows may continue on with that slow pace but it certainly wasn't. So much stuff happened in this sequel and I loved the constant action after action. Seeing the characters work through their teenage life while also finding a murderer and battling demons is ever so fun.


LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT BY BECKY ALBERTALLI

I honestly was never a fan of Leah in Simon VS the Homosapiens Agenda, mainly because I hardly got to know her character. We knew very little, however, in her own book she shines. Leah is a self confessed big girl with a lot of sarcastic wit and a love for both men and women. I really enjoyed getting to see everything from her perspective and I loved this so much more than Simon VS. Becky's writing has gotten so much stronger and the relationships between her characters are so special.


LETTERS TO THE LOST BY BRIGID KEMMERER

Can I just say that I think this book will always remain as the biggest surprise of my life. I went into the book without knowing anything about it. I was suffering badly with my depression and my mind was nagging at me to pick up the book and I'm glad I did. Letters to the Lost is a raw, luscious, heart wrenching novel that makes you emotionally invested. Anyone who has ever lost a loved one will understand the pain Juliet was feeling.


MORE THAN WE CAN TELL BY BRIGID KEMMERER

More Than We Can Tell packs a punch. Literally. It tells the story of Emma who's trying to survive in the game world that's predominantly male and Rev who's trying to overcome his horrible past. At first both characters aren't sure how to act around each other, mainly because despite going to the same school they've never actually met before. But it's pretty sure to say that their love grew from strength to strength. I absolutely loved this book!