Stacking the Shelves (51)

Stacking the Shelves is a book haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews -This is a great way for us to share what books we added to our shelves each week.

Purchased:

Borrowed:

SO EXCITED ABOUT BOTH OF THESE!!! I borrowed A Clash of Kings from my friend, Matt, who was kind enough to let me borrow his copy of A Game of Thrones for almost a year... I'm definitely not going to take as long with this one though! I've already started and love it! And I just got Into the Still Blue yesterday and cannot wait to dig into it! I've been really busy all week with high school/uni, as well as I've been working on translating a fire report from French to English for a friend of my mum's, so I haven't really had any free time to read/blog/anything, but hopefully next week it'll be better!

What did you get this week in books? Let me know in the comments or leave me a link to your haul!

Happy reading!
~Kristy

Top Ten Tuesday: Why I Love Being a Reader

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.This week's topic is: Why I Love Being a Reader/Blogger.

1. I love being a reader because... I get to live in a different world whenever I want. I can go to a world of dragons and castles or a world of destruction and danger, whatever it is, I can be there when this world feels a bit dreary.

2. I love being a reader because... I can learn so much about human nature and other people... Being inside another person's head helps me learn about others in real life.

3. I love being a reader because...  When there's a power outage, I still have entertainment! I don't need to rely on technology to keep me occupied!

4. I love being a reader because... I can never get bored. Having so many books on my unread shelf makes it easy for me to always be able to find something to do, which is so nice!

5. I love being a reader because... Reading keeps my spirit up. I always feel better when I'm reading!

6. I love being a reader because... I can connect with people and have great conversations about books and other similar interests! I've met some amazing friends because of books (*cough cough* Michelle and Brad *cough*)

7. I love being a book blogger because...  I can vent and rant and squeal and fangirl about alllll the amazing books I read and let others know about them!

8. I love being a book blogger because... there are so many amazing book recommendations in the book blogosphere and I've discovered some of my favourite books from fellow book bloggers!

9. I love being a book blogger because... It has given me the ability to interact with my rockstars --> authors! I've been able to meet amazing authors and have twitter conversations with them and interviews them, etc.

10. I love being a reader/book blogger because... Both of these things help me improve my writing! I get practice from blogging and reading helps me study different styles, etc. You get the deal.


Reading and blogging are two of my favourite things in the world! These are only ten reasons, but there are plenty more reasons why I love them! Why do you love being a reader/blogger? Leave me a link if you put up a TTT this week and I'll check it out!

Happy reading!
~Kristy

Review: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publisher: HarperCollins

Page Count: 408 Pages, International Paperback

Date Published: February 4th, 2014

Find it on Goodreads: Ignite Me

Source: Purchased

The heart-stopping conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, which Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, called "a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love"
Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.
In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined the best of dystopian and paranormal and was praised by Publishers Weekly as "a gripping read from an author who's not afraid to take risks." The sequel, Unravel Me, blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was "dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense." Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end.

*No real spoilers, but I put anything I thought could be considered spoilery in white,BLUE BECAUSE MY BACKGROUND IS BLUE SUPPOSEDLY so just highlight if you want to see!*

So... the time has come. The Shatter Me series has come to and end and um.... 

This trilogy is one of my absolute favourite book series...  it's up there with Harry Potter. Yeah. That's right. I said it. 

I was so scared to start this, afraid that it would be disappointing and that I wouldn't like it, but well, that didn't happen. Of course, there were some issues I had with it, but overall I really loved it and am happy with how it ended... Kind of. I mean, I really wish there were a couple of things that went differently, especially with Adam, but at the same time I understood why it happened and what needed to be. I wasn't really on a specific team coming out of Unravel Me, so going into this one my heart was kind of free for the taking, in a sense. And wow. It was taken, that's for sure. 

becoming such a jerk and all,

I guess I won't say much more about that, because I wouldn't want to spoil anything for those who haven't read it, but I will say this: I thought Juliette's character development was absolutely beautiful. Seeing her transform from a frail girl who was scared of her own shadow to this strong, independent woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it was inspiring and exceptionally well done. Juliette is a character that I have always felt very close to, so to see her grow so much in this last book was amazing. I loved it. 

The only thing I guess I didn't really love was the ending. It felt too rushed, or maybe that's just because I didn't want it to end, I don't know. But I thought it could have gone on a few more chapters, but nevertheless I did really love the book as a whole and cannot wait to reread with everything that happens in mind... I have not loved a set of characters in a trilogy like this ever... I feel so many different things about each of them and my emotions conflict with each other constantly. All I know is this: 

And with that, I will say to all of those people who have yet to read Tahereh Mafi's brilliant Shatter Me series... WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GO READ THEM NOW!!! (or you know, if they're not your thing, no biggie, but um, they're like, really good.)

Happy reading!

~Kristy

Stacking the Shelves (50)

Stacking the Shelves is a book haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews -This is a great way for us to share what books we added to our shelves each week.

Purchased:

YES I'VE ALREADY READ IT AND YES IT WAS AMAZING AND YES I CRIED A LITTLE BIT, NOT GOING TO LIE. MY REVIEW WILL BE UP TOMORROW!

That's the only book I got this week, but it was incredible and worth the wait and made my heart smile, What did you get this week? Leave me a link to your haul and I'll check it out!

Happy reading!
~Kristy

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Made Me Cry (Inside)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.This week's topic  is: Top Ten Books That Made Me Cry, or in my case, almost cry. One thing I know to be true with me is that it take quite a bit for me to cry with a book... I feel like I'm about to cry, but to actually bring out tears, it all depends on my mood and how much I felt for the characters and story... But I'm not 100% heartless, (even though some may disagree with me not crying with TFiOS.) 

Here are ten books that made me tear up or ALMOST cry. 

(I think it's safe to say, for these ^ two, there were physical tears. And quite a few of them at that.)

After a while, I realised that I really don't know which books have made me cry, so the majority of these are ones that just had my heart breaking so overwhelmingly that I should have cried, but the tears just didn't come out. Anywho, what about you? What books have you cried over? Leave me a link to your TTT or comment below! 

Happy reading!
~Kristy

Review: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Author: Sarah Dessen

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Page Count: 435 Pages, Hardcover

Date Published: June 4th, 2013

Find it on Goodreads: The Moon and More

Source: Purchased

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.
Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.
Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?
Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?
Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

As a long time Sarah Dessen fan, I'm sad to say I'm a little bit disappointed... When I first started The Moon and More, I loved it. I went in with high hopes, especially since it was set in Colby and there were references to some of past characters that I loved, like Auden from Along for the Ride. There were also a lot of situations that I could relate to that Emaline went through, especially with her parents. Some of the things discussed in the book were so similar to my own life that I felt like Dessen had taken if from my head. But as I continued to read, I fell out of the beach-read daze and it fell flat.

While reading, I felt as if nothing really happened in the story. The family issues were the only part that really kept me reading, especially Emaline's relationship with her little brother, but I felt like the romance aspect of the novel was almost... unnecessary. Which is weird, considering it's a Dessen book. Right? There was a love triangle, which was probably one of my main problems with this book and it keeping my attention... I just didn't really feel anything for either of the guys. I liked Theo, I guess... he was geeky and artsy and very enthusiastic, but it just felt really forced for me. Then there was Luke, Emaline's long-time boyfriend who was sweet and all, but he also could be kind of a.... nincompoop. I just didn't feel anything for either of them, which was weird, considering I usually love the romances Dessen writes.

I am happy to say that I did like how the book ended, but by that time I had been trying to lug through it for a month and I just wanted to finish it. This wasn't my favourite Dessen novel, but I did like it in the beginning and the end... It was just the middle that had me disappointed.

Happy reading!

~Kristy