5 Books to Read this Spring

Reading styles change. And so does the seasons, so I thought I'd recommend 5 books that I think would be perfect reading for Spring.

Along For the Ride by Sarah Dessen

This book follows Auden, who wants to escape her boring life for the summer. She stays with her father and her new step-mother (Who are expecting a baby). There, at this seaside town, she makes new friends and finds love with a mysterious guy with a harbouring secret. I completely fell in love with this book. It was a cute, fluffy read that left me wanting more.

Angelfall by Susan EE

Angelfall is a YA post-apocalyptic novel that follows Penryn. Her disabled sister has been kidnapped by a group of Angels and her schizophrenic mother has gone off somewhere. All alone and needing to find her sister, she uses Raffe, a fallen angel who's injured to find where they're keeping her. But trust me, this book isn't what you think it is. It's dark, creepy and intense with a kick-ass protagonist!

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

I don't know what it is about Spring that makes me want to travel and visit the beaches, I just do. But Just One Day is literally perfect! We visit England, Paris, Boston and Amsterdam -  which are all amazingly described - and we have an earth shattering romance to compete with August and Hazel (without the cancer and death). I seriously couldn't put Just One Day down.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

No one really want to read about school when it's sunny and warm, but Fangirl is a hilarious novel with Boy x Boy Fan Fiction. It follows Cath who's starting college with her twin sister, Wren. However, Wren wants to move on, be her own person, while Cath doesn't want anything to change. And then she meets her roommate and her best friend, Levi. And so starts their slightly awkward relationship.

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

Fire and Flood is probably one of the most unusual books I've read in a while. It's basically The Hunger Games meets Pokémon. The book focuses on Tella who's older brother has Cancer. She then gets the chance to enter the Brimstone Bleed: A 4 terrain competition. The winner receives the cure to any disease. I literally loved it. And the romantic interest is so......charming.


Have you read any of these books?
Let me know in the comments.

March Favourites | 2015

Hi there, and welcome to my March Favourites! At the end of every month I will show you the things I have been loving recently, from Makeup products and books to films and music, and I am sure that other things like Instagram (bookstagram) accounts will come up as well. I hope you enjoy!

No7 face powder and Essense lipstick // £15

As a boy who wears makeup, it is essential for me to find the perfect face powders. I need ones that will give me that flawless look, while also keeping all of my make up on, and the translucent loose face powder from No7 does that, it looks white, but really has a beautiful finish to it. And while my OTT bold lips are the topic of a lot of controversy with some people, I can go neutral. This Essence Barely There lipstick is one of my favourites, it's a little darker than a nude, but works really well if you have a paler complexion than most. And what's better than an amazing nude lipstick? A nude lipstick that's cheap!

 

Quote Charm Necklace // £9.50 // Oh Panda Eyes

 

When I found out about Oh Panda Eyes on Etsy, I impatiently waited for the owner to put up her personalised prices and then as soon as they were up I put in an order! I decided to go with the charm necklace as it added a lot more character, as you can see on the picture I chose a musical note.

 

"You were so busy trying to be my saviour that you left me all alone" Where She Went, Gayle Forman.

 

It arrived within 3 days after it being dispatched and I am so happy with the product. It's definitely worth the price and the owner is so lovely and easy to work with. If you have a book in mind and a quote, but not sure on what charm then she will help you with that. And these aren't just good for yourself, but make the perfect birthday/Christmas gift to all bookish people.

 

 

Confess by Colleen Hoover and The Winners Curse by Marie Rutkoski // The Book Depository

I'm currently reading The Winners Curse by Mari Rutkoski, it's a YA Fantasy which is one of the genre's I am not a fan of. It can be good sometimes, but I find it hard to get into, however, The Winners Curse is so good. I'm 70 pages into it and the characters are so real, funny. The writing is also so poetic, lyrical. I love it!

My favourite book of the month was definitely Confess by Colleen Hoover. I am a huge fan of New Adult books, but I'm also a fan of art, so combining the 2 really worked well for me. I was crying within the first 10 pages and then the story got better and better, the more I read. If you haven't picked up a Colleen Hoover book yet, then you must!













  












I have 2 TV shows to talk about this month, the first is Once Upon A Time which has just got on
Netflix UK. I wasn't too sure if I'd like it, but after 3 episodes I was hooked. I'm currently on Season 2 Episode 2, I'm definitely liking the direction it's going in. My favourite characters are Snow White/Mary Margaret, Rumplestiltskin and Jefferson/Mad Hatter.

The other show I want to talk about is RuPauls Drag Race. Season 7 started this month and I am so glad that it is back, because I have missed it so much. This season definitely isn't as good as past seasons, but it's still an entertaining show. My favourite Queen is Trixie Mattel, although she sadly got eliminated in Episode 4. RuPaul has now made the worst decision in Drag Race Herstory!

 

 

#JusticeForTrixie

 

 

If I Stay // Chloe Grace Moretz and Jamie Blackley

 

I watched If I Stay this month and absolutely fell in love with it. I read the book back last year and enjoyed it, but got a little confused, the movie is a lot better with it's flashbacks. Chloe Grace Moretz definitely was the star in the movie and she deserves every success!

 

 

Free Fall // Hanna Koffler and Max Riemelt

 

Free Fall isn't exactly my favourite movie of the month, in fact it's my all time favourite movie. Free Fall is a German LGBT movie about two police officers, Mark and Kay (Pronounced Kai) who fall in love, despite the fact that Mark has a child on the way with his girlfriend.

The reason as to why I have listed it on my favourites is because the producer announced this week that there may be a sequel, which I have wanted since watching Free Fall (You can also watch it on UK Netflix). The ending broke my heart and I need to now what happens......

Now, there is only one way us fans will get the sequel and that is by crowd funding. There is a Free Fall 2 page set up and crowd funding will begin within the next month or two!

The last favourites I want to talk about are songs. I'm quite the picky person when it comes to music, but this month I have listened to some amazingly beautiful songs.

Hold Back the River // James Bay

 

Eye of the Needle // Sia

 

Sacrifice // Zella Day

 

What have you been loving this month?

Reviews, no more!

Picture used from @LovelyReads on Instagram

 

A few weeks ago I entered my depressive state and started thinking about stopping blogging for good, but then I listed my least favourite reasons of being a book blogger and there was only one thing: writing up book reviews.

 

Book reviews are not at all easy to write, in fact they are very time worthy. A review may take me up to 2 hours to write, whereas in that time scale I could've written up 3 or 4 other blog posts. And the real truth about book reviews are that they are the least viewed/watched. People are scared to read a review in case they are spoiled, which I understand, because no one likes being spoiled on a book.

 

So this morning I woke up to an eye opening blog post from Queen of Contemporary - Bye, bye reviews! In the post she discussed that writing book reviews are seen as being a "real" book blogger, but in fact, is not.

 

So from now on, I am shaking the book blogging core and bringing my own way of introducing you guys to great books. Every 3 months, I will be posting up specific book recommendations from the books I have read during that time period (Dystopian, Fantasy, Contemporary and New Adult Recommendations). Each and every genre will have their own recommendation posts, which I hope everyone will like.

 

Writing book reviews doesn't show our love for books, our love for books come from our hearts and my heart is brought out while writing about any book, whether that be in a book tag post or a book recommendation post. But just know, I am so happy about this change! And I hope you welcome it with open arms.

The Fights of a Teenager - Depression

As most of you guys can tell, I have been away from my blog for quite a long time and it's not because I've fallen out of love with blogging or reading, it's because I have relapsed. Again. Back in 2013 I was diagnosed with Severe Depression after a long stint on bullying.

Since 2012 I've been battling with Depression, but it took me a year to finally go and see the doctor who could officially diagnose me. And while I not always down and glum, I still feel different on the inside.

A few weeks ago, I did something that changed my whole world again. I began to get suicidal thoughts and just wanted to throw it all away. My family. My friends. But most importantly, my life. Attempting suicide isn't new to me, back when I first came out I tried to commit suicide twice before finally telling my parents that something was wrong with me. And while I have changed over the years, everything felt the same. I felt like I was back to my 16 year old self, who had no confidence, hardly any friends and was just in a hard place. I didn't see a way out and while I feel like I can talk to my family, friends, you guys, I just didn't want too.

My life has always been hard. It's not like it's scarce. But when you're dealing with suicidal thoughts everything bleeds away and you find yourself trapped in your own mind. My life became my death and I hated that. But I can't force myself to get better, just like a drug addict can't force themselves to get off the drugs. It has to happen naturally.

"Faking a smile is so much easier than explaining why you're sad."

Right now I am not 100% myself.

I took time off to get better, but I've only gotten worse. I'm still active on facebook, twitter and instagram but that is it. I don't really talk, it's just an update here and there and I feel like it's time you guys got to know why.

At the minute I'm still on my break and sadly will be for another 2 weeks, but someone from Hodder publicity got in contact with me asking for my review of a book they sent me. A book I've read and have yet to review because of my break. And while I feel like I should review that book ASAP, I also feel that I need to focus on my own life and get better all round.

Being a reviewer for such amazing publishers is something that I can only thank you guys for, and I have every bit of respect for the publishers and the people who work there, however, it would be nice to have my life taken into consideration. My review policy states it can take up to 4 weeks to get a review on the blog and that's not changed since I've started. So, yes, I will get the review up of the books I was sent, but they'll be uploaded when I am back from my break.

If I come back from my break.

I'm not crying out for attention. I never have and I never will. Who I am is who I am, and I love myself. Nothing can stop me, but Depression is a life long battle, one that I will continue to fight while you all live your lives.

I hope you take into consideration that I am trying my hardest to recover and get back up on my feet and that I won't be not reviewing the books I've been sent. They will get a review at some point.

Now, have a good week and I'll talk when I'm back.

January Wrap up!

January started off to be a very good reading month for me. Normally I'm always a little behind, especially since my goal is only 40 books for the entire year, so it means I can slack a little and watch crappy Netflix films. Anyhow, this month I've surprised myself by reading Ten books. Two of those were DNF's, but the other 8 I read right through until the end.

Here is what I read:

The Precious Stone Trilogy by Kerstin Gier - 4.5/5

I loved this trilogy. It was such a fun, quick series and I loved the characters of Gwendolyn, Lesley and Gideon. There were a few errors with translating and the pacing wasn't perfect in Emerald Green, but I had the best time reading it. A great way to start the new year!

Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover - 3.5/5

I loved Slammed so much and thought it should've been a standalone, but I was eager to continue on. However, Point of Retreat was a really messy, cliché piece of fiction and I was just read upset that I had decided to read it because it's affected the way I see Slammed. I still love Colleen Hoover though and I'm thoroughly looking forward to the release of Confess.






Tempt Me by Isabel Morin - 3/5

I somewhat enjoyed this book, but there was a lot of work needed to improve it. There were grammar and spelling errors in the book that stood out, the characters were a little flat and the ending wasn't satisfying.








Three Amazing Things About You by Jill Mansell - 5/5

I loved this book so much. It was a gorgeous read that opened my eyes to life and how short a lifespan can be if you don't live it to the fullest. The writing was beautiful, the characters were very real and flawed. My only slight critique would be the insta-love for one of the characters, other than that it was pretty perfect.






A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Mass - 4.5/5

I received an ARC copy of this from the publishers and de
spite not liking Throne of Glass, I really loved A Court of Thorns and Roses. It was a beautiful, action pact fantasy novel that had me compelled from page 1. I didn't want to put it down and the fact that it did that shows just how good a book it is. I seriously can't wait for you all to meet Tamlin because he is everything you'd want in a Book Boyfriend. Or Book Husband.




Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins - 4.5/5

I really enjoyed this book. It was a super fun read with witches, vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters and faeries. Paranormal has really become a favourite genre of mine lately and I cannot stop reading it. I am currently reading the sequel, Demonglass and I can say that I'm not enjoying it as much as Hex Hall.

 

Books I DNF'd

 

 

 

 

How many books did you read this month?

Let me know in the comments.



#BookishWISHES with The Darkest Part of the Forest

To celebrate the upcoming release of The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, we were asked to come up with some ideas for a tag called #BookishWISHES

‘IN THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR’

 

We were given examples of what we could do, but it all came down to what we wanted. Our bookish wishes. Some of the examples included :

 

. The book you wish you had written

. A book you wish an author would write

. An author you'd like to meet

 

Some people have two #bookishWISHES for this year, but I only have one. My wish is to hopefully write a Non-Fiction/Self-help book directed at teenagers based on Depression and Suicide. There are books out there, but none of them are directed at teenagers, for teenagers. I think it's important to get the message out there in a way that isn't so mumble jumble. I want it to be straight to the point, but also very simple.

 

FAIRY GOD MOTHER HAS.....ARRIVED!

 

I, the team at Indigo Publishers and Holly Black are passing on the magic to one of you readers. To be in with a chance of winning your very own copy of The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black [UK Only] all you have to do is tweet me @GayMonst3r with your #BookishWISHES and also tag @FierceFiction and then leave the link of the tweet in this blog posts comment section.

Good luck!

 

[Giveaway runs until 11th February 2015]

 

 

The Darkest Part of the Forest

 

 

 

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once. At the centre of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointy as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does… As the world turns upside down and a hero is needed to save them all, Hazel tries to remember her years spent pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST by Holly Black will be published by Indigo on 5 February 2015 9781780621739/ Hardback at £10.99 and ebook at £5.99

 

 

 

About HOLLY BLACK:

Holly Black is the bestselling author of YA and children's books including being co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles, a NEW YORK TIMES No.1 bestselling phenomenon and hugely successful film. She has been a finalist for the MYTHOPOEIC AWARD, the EISNER AWARD and a recipient of the ANDRE NORTON AWARD and a NEWBERY HONOR. She currently lives in New England in a house with a secret door.

 

 

Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Hex Hall

Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Published: March 2nd 2010
Page Number: 323
Rating: 4.5/5

Summary:

 

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father—an elusive European warlock—only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tag-along ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Review:

I wasn't too sure what I was to expect as I went into this book. I love anything to do with Witches and magic, but Young Adult Paranormal isn't exactly a favourite genre of mine. Until Recently. All I want to do is read Paranormal books and this one was absolutely perfect. I felt like I was reading a less cheesy version of a Disney Channel Movie.

Normally I wouldn't compare movies to books, but if you did like the Disney Channel movies Twitches and Halloween Town then you'd definitely like this. It's a fun, quick read with pure action. The main character Sophie is a fresh voice in YA Paranormal. She's spunky, but also very vulnerable and I connected with her so much.

Rachel Hawkins' writing was pretty much flawless and she definitely knew her characters. My absolute favourite was Jenna, Sophie's Vampire best friend and roommate. Jenna was hilarious and the book would not have been the same without her in it, even in parts that she weren't in you could tell that there was a presence missing.

Through the journey of self-discovery, secrets and love, Hex Hall really packs a punch into your gut. Romance is scarce, but that's what built this book up.

I just loved it and I'm so pumped to read books 2 and 3, Demonglass and Spellbound.