High School... was not what I was expecting.

Sooo... I'm a freshman now! High school kind of sucks to be honest. :/ And I'm not as busy as I thought I would be so I might possibly retract what I said earlier about quitting blogging... we'll see ;)

And I'm already reading Great Expectations! If you read it, what do you think about it? Tell me below in the comments!

Heart,
Jen :)

Bye for Now! :D

So, I barely start blogging and already I'm stopping. Shame on me, right?! I just got back from a vacation to San Jose (it was awesome, if you wanted to know) and I'm back in Texas with my A/C broken. And Texas' temperatures usually reach over 100 degrees... 
After getting all of that fixed, SCHOOL STARTS! Yes, the dreaded school. What's worse is that I'm going into my freshman year (I'm a little fishy!) so A LOT of work ahead of me... eep! 
This little blog will be temporarily closed for now until I get the time and energy to start blogging again! The little vacation I had made me reevaluate my life and I'm not so sure it's healthy to be behind the computer 24/7...

Love you all <3 nbsp="">
Jennifer :)

P.S. Any advice for a fishy? Any? :) Or if you're in high school and are a blogger, HOW DO YOU MANAGE IT?! 

Waiting on Wednesday: The Indigo Spell

*Click on the meme button to know more about Waiting on Wednesday!*

So this week, I am CLIMBING THE WALLS for the Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead! Ah, the ending of the Golden Lily was just heart-wrenching and a cruel cliffhanger. Why must Richelle Mead do this to us?!

*Click on the cover to be directed to the Goodreads page and synopsis!*

Luckily, Richelle Mead released the first chapter of The Indigo Spell! Click here to go to the site! Also, she released a couple of quotes because Adrian won the YA Crush Tourney (Ah, I was advocating for him like crazy on Twitter!) Check out the quotes over at Richelle Mead's blog: http://blue-succubus.livejournal.com/293284.html Make sure to follow her too!

So what are you waiting for? Link me up, baby! :)

Heart,

Jennifer

The Golden Lily Review

Click on the book to be redirected to the Goodreads page.

The Golden Lily - Richelle Mead

Well... this book was slightly disappointing, I must say. I'll be brutally honest- not much happened. To be honest, if so many people hadn't pointed that out, I probably would've missed it. Watching Sydney's interactions with the other characters that I had grown to love, including Adrian (he totally deserves a special mention) was enrapturing and truly interesting yet more action really would have rounded out the whole book. But...

I loved Sydney. She's like me in so many ways. Seriously. She sticks to her beliefs and is scared to let them go, to risk the thought that maybe, just maybe, her beliefs are morally wrong. She is such an interesting character to read about and in some ways, she reminds me of myself. Her social awkwardness is equivalent to mine, or perhaps even less! (That's truly sad on my part.) In some situations, her naivety annoyed me but the more I thought about it, it was actually quite reasonable. Even the smartest person in the world might not understand when someone is asking them out. (Ahem. Totally not me. No way. Psh...)

Adrian is also another character I love! If you don't know, he's my book boyfriend. I'm not joking. I created a T-shirt just for him. I'm totally fine with being Mrs. Ivashkov. It has a nice ring to it! Anyway, in this book, you got to see the softer sides to him that you did not get to see in the VA series nor Bloodlines! I loved seeing him open up and he truly just pulled at my heartstrings. Especially because of how much he cared for Sydney. So, so sweet.

I feel the need to mention the whole Jill x Eddie x Angeline situation. I am a little frustrated with Jill but I won't reveal anymore. *lips sealed*

*lips unsealed* Aha, anyway, the romance in this book was awkward. Not because of Adrian (no way!) but because of Brayden. Ugh. What a jerk. What an asshole. What a bum. I mean each of my words. (I don't cuss unless necessary!) He reaches a whole new level of arrogance and I just wanted to slap him until all of cockiness disappeared! Sigh. Sydney sucks with guys which made me want to pull all of my hair out!

Writing was brilliant as always and the dialogue was so realistic and smooth. I was sucked into the story throughout. But the plot. The plot, the plot, the plot. It had no direction really and there was zilch action. Whatever action there was, it lasted pretty much a page or even two paragraphs. I understand Sydney is a little boring but SOMETHING should happen throughout 400 pages! Seriously! The story honestly had not progressed at all. This was such an eye-opener for me. Have her other books have zero action? Was it only The Golden Lily? My lapse of judgement has dazed me, as you can tell.

Ending this on a cheerier note, despite its lack of action, The Golden Lily truly makes up for it with its amazing character development and interactions that are so incredible to witness... I mean read about. :) You should totally read it. For Adrian. Seriously. You won't regret Adrian. *swoon*

~Two memes coming soon, guys!~

Heart,
Jennifer :)

Did Adrian win/lose in the YA Crush Tourney?

Adrian...

WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoever voted him, thank you so much! Each vote really did count. We gained over 500 votes in 45 minutes (and we were losing!)!! Richelle Mead is releasing quotes because of this fabulous win <3 nbsp="">

Anyway, I will be releasing my Golden Lily review soon as well as that meme I was hinting about! And guys, if you can, please spread word of this blog to others, it would mean the world <3 br="" nbsp="">
Heart,
Jennifer :)

YA Crush Tourney FINAL!!!

OKAY ADRIAN MADE IT INTO THE FINALS AND IT WASN'T FOR NOTHING. GO VOTE FOR HIM NOW HERE: http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com/2012/08/grand-finale-will-1-vs-adrian-2.html
Vote on all internet browsers, laptops, computers, phones, Wii's, tablets, Kindles, devices that can connect to the internet, EVERYTHING, GODDARNIT!
Please spread the word too- friends, family members, strangers, etc!
Adrian is losing by about 1000 votes. That's A LOT. Please vote!!!

Heart,
Jennifer :)

Short and Simple: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

*Click on the book cover to be redirected to the synopsis, as always!*

My Life Next Door - Huntley Fitzpatrick

This book is one of the best YA contemporaries I've ever read. A refreshing romance between two likable characters that are easy to relate to! They had one of the sweetest relationships ever, of course with bumps down the road, but they manage to get past that, thank god! It's a really moving book that will put more things into perspective. I'm giving this 4.5 stars, partly because the ending didn't provide enough closure with Nan, Clay, and her mom but it was a sweet ending so that's good enough! :)

#YACrushTourney ~ #TeamVA

Well guys, unless you've been on a remote island for the past month, you should know about the YA Crush Tourney over at YA Sisterhood! Well today, Adrian is up against Patch and Dimitri is against Daemon! Ah, Patch and Daemon are both very difficult competitors to deal with!
SO I NEED YOUR HELP. Head over to http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com and go vote for Adrian and Dimitri in their matches now! They need your help! We need to show the YA world who's boss! ^_^
And if you need more convincing, just read what their advocates are saying about them. It's sure to make you swoon! And... a little teaser from the Indigo Spell will be released if Adrian and Dimitri win their rounds! (I believe...)
Plus (I know this is kind of unfair), it's my birthday today! Woo! I'm turning 14 today and... nothing exciting has happened yet. But if Adrian & Dimitri win, I'd be the happiest girl in the world! So head over to YA Sisterhood and vote for #TeamVA! Or just #TeamAdrian because he's my book boyfriend... ;)

*Click on Adrian to be redirected to his match!*

GO VOTE NOW PEOPLE. SHOO. 

Heart,
Jennifer :)

Anxiously Awaiting... (1)

So... I bet you're wondering... what is that now, Jennifer? I guess most people would say that it's a meme. And I guess it could be considered as that! Whenever I feel like it, I'll just do an "Anxiously Awaiting" post to feature a book that I'm going crazy for! These books have made me bounce off the walls and my friends sick of its name being mentioned 24/7! I apologize for that crappy picture. I understand copyright laws so I photographed that little background (Taking pics yourself doubles your awesomeness, I believe!).

Enough of that, let's head onto my featured book for today! That would have to be...

*As always, the book cover is linked to its GoodReads page!*

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor! It's the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone which is my absolute favorite of all time! Its scheduled release date was originally in September but then got pushed back to November. Jennifer not happy. >:( But I'm sure that means this book is more epic than the first!! Here's a SHORT synopsis about it...

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.

I have to say... that's a bunch of words that overall says nothing, and I mean NOTHING about the book. Vague, much? How will I survive until its release date- November 6, 2012?!

Heart,
Jennifer (:

Tiger Lily Review

Click on the book to be redirected to the Goodreads page.

Tiger Lily - Jodi Lynn Anderson

Oh my goodness, this book was incredible. Stunning. I am in awe of Jodi Lynn Anderson. I BOW DOWN TO YOU. This retelling of Peter Pan was incredible and just pierced my heart and will forever stay with me. It teaches a great lesson that most people need to learn. And the love story is heartwarming although tragic towards the end.

This tale is told in Tinker Bell's perspective about Tiger Lily's little story with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. At first, it annoyed me a little that I couldn't just be in Tiger Lily's head and understand her without a third voice butting in, but as the story continued, Tiger Lily's and Tinker Bell's personalities really grew and each became their own person. Tink is mute and is only an observer of all of this which could be rough at times. But, it gave the story more of a third person point of view which was fabulous. Tink is such an amazing spirit and I loved her little thoughts about everything.

Tiger Lily is a girl of very, very few words. As a reader, it was hard to emotionally connect to her in the beginning and even the middle. I could never know what she was really thinking despite Tink's thought-reading narration and Tiger Lily was so unpredictable. She definitely had a wall up and had an air of mystery. It made it more unbelievable that Peter fell in love with her. (I can see it now, how Peter's curiosity drew him to her) Towards the end of the middle, I grew to love her. 

Tik Tok was an awesome father and it's a shame what happened to him. Despite his cross-dressing, he was one of the best villagers in the tribe.

Peter was as charming as ever! I fell in love with his fun spirit, along with Tink and Tiger Lily. He was such an amazing leader and one of the best hunters. He also had a really good potential of being a father. He wanted more than he got, unfortunately.

This story was incredible. The plot was very intricate and I loved the plot twists! It is such a touching story and experience. An incredible journey. Although this is a retelling, it was still quite unpredictable and a particular death really saddened me. The romance in this book is really cute and a little quick actually! It was a really good love story though, all of their feelings described in the tiny motions (like lingering eyes...). Of course, Wendy comes into the story so this love story had a heartbreaking end.

THE ENDING. Oh my goodness. As you can see from above, it was heartbreaking. Worst break-up ever. I had fallen in love with Peter at some point in this book and it just crushed me- what happened at the end. I cried TWICE during this book. That's... amazing. The ability for a book to make you cry is a gift that few authors are able to do. Just... incredible despite its few flaws. People, go read this NOW!

4.5 stars!

Heart,
Jennifer (:

*Coming up next is My Life Next Door review! Keep your eyes peeled for that! :)*

Review of Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

Click the book to be redirected to the Goodreads page.

Storm - Brigid Kemmerer

I love this book. I really do. I just want to hug it and marry it... no, not marry. Just squeeze it to my bosom. Ok, that sounded really creepy. Whatever. 

The Characters
I can say now that I liked Becca. Not the most amazing heroine ever, but I did admire her bravery and guts. And her humor. But there were times in the book where she was so dumb and making the unwisest decisions and I just wanted to growl in frustration. That, fortunately, did not happen. 
Chris Merrick. Hmm... I adored him. I truly did. I was afraid in the beginning that he would be one of those cold, indifferent love interests, and in a way he was... but he wasn't. He was so much MORE. He actually had a personality... character! He cracked me up with his wisecracks and really lightened the tension at points. And I understood his annoyance and intolerance with his brothers at points... I would have moved out awhile ago if I were him. It's a wonder he didn't crack!
The twins were pretty awesome. Each had their own thing, but I grew to love them both. Nicky was such a sweet natured guy and pretty smart too, which is something to admire these days. I loved Gabriel and his playfulness... and even his moments with his temper... Despite all of the destruction he caused, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him although I admit I got angry at points. He's just so misunderstood and a lost soul, waiting for his voice to be heard. In my opinion.
Michael was an amazing older brother. I hated how they all treated him because he was trying so hard to take care of them and help them not get into life-threatening situations and they repay him back by getting into more situations like those, because of their need for "revenge." Michael matured so much for his brothers and I truly admired him. By the end... I loved him the most out of all of the brothers. I admit it! 
Hunter was pretty hot... at first. He seemed really nice and caring and it just didn't seem right with his appearance. (I'm not judging, just saying) It hit a false note for me towards the middle and compared to Chris, he wasn't too funny. And by the plot twist, I barely liked him at all.
The point of this long, long rant is to point out how the Merrick brothers ROCK. MERRICK ALL THE WAY. NO JOKE.

The Story/Plot/Writing
Although this story isn't the ORIGINAL-EST story out there, it is pretty original for an element book. This story kept me interested and turning the pages! I have always been pretty fascinated about elements and this book did not dissatisfy in that area. Plenty of elemental scenes to keep me on the edge of my seat... or bed. I wish the author played more with the elementals though... make the Guides more threatening? The only real threat seemed to be Tyler and Seth. Not too interesting to read about, honestly and they had no depth to them. This made the story move like a blur! 
As for the plot, in the middle, I felt like that it had no direction. It seemed a little pointless and would lead to nowhere. It seemed to fizzle out. But luckily, the author spiced it up with a villain and lots of action. Plus the plot twists! Although they did surprise me somewhat, I had seen the hints here and there so it didn't come as a huge shock, sadly enough. Surprise element is very important! 
The writing was absolutely magnificent. If there was one thing I would commend Storm about, it would be the writing. I felt it flowed so smoothly and the words were beautiful and seemed to jump off the pages. There was never a scene that was awkward... all seemed right and perfect. And most of that was due to the writing. The vivid descriptions were incredible too!

Hm... am I missing anything? Oh yes. How could I? THE ROMANCE.
As you should know, the romance is between two guys. Hunter and Chris. Now at the beginning, I was stuck between the two because they were so similar to each other. Honestly. But then Hunter's serious side appeared along with Chris's wit and humor. The fact that Chris could take a joke attracted to me more and I became Team Merrick boys. She shares something with both boys though and it's clear that there's chemistry with both boys. Argh. What aggravates me is how Hunter got two awesome kiss scenes and Chris got none. I know, I know, but STILL. And for the Drew thing... I have no words except for that I'm happy it never got to that extent.

Anyways, this was a fabulous read and I'm dying to read Spark. Like literally. I'm DYING. I can't wait til September. Just no. NOOOOOOOOOO. I need Gabriel's story NOW.

And I'll leave you with a quote from the last page. 
"Because he had her face in his hands, and he'd brought his lips to hers." (What an ending.)
TEAM MERRICK! 

3.75 Stars!

*I've never worked so hard on a review. Oh my goodness, it's long.*

Richelle Mead Author Signing!

I met Richelle Mead last month and I never got to gush about it. The signing was AH-MAZING. I mean, I got to meet my idol in the book world so why wouldn't it be?! I fell kind of sick during the event (I had awful pizza earlier and then developed a terrible headache that only affected half of my head... argh!) but it was still amazing! She read a scene from her newest book, The Golden Lily, and answered some questions!
And of course, I got my three books signed! She was really kind and I am so lucky to have met her!
And remember that scrapbook I'd been telling you about? The one me and my two other friends were making in honor of VA and Bloodlines? Well, we pulled through with it and managed to give it to her! Also, me and a friend made Team Adrian T-shirts (hers saying Bite Me, Adrian; mine saying Love Drunk Off of Adrian, pun intended) and managed to show it off too! I have quite a bit of pictures but why look at mine when you could look at Richelle Mead's pics of us?! http://blue-succubus.livejournal.com/292049.html
I am the Asian girl in the pink shirt in Houston with the long hair, haha. I am still shocked that I was MENTIONED. I feel so special. :)

And before I leave, I must say that this blog was first developed for giveaways and such. But now, I've decided to really START this blog and get things moving. So, I hope everyone sticks around for my posts and introduces more people to my blog! I'd love the followers! And who knows- maybe I'll host my own giveaway! I have so many signed books in my pile... like Divergent, Insurgent, Cinder, Curse Workers series, VA, Bloodlines, The Golden Lily, Dragonswood, etc... and I might need some help clearing off the shelves ;D Thanks to my... 5 followers out there!

My Exciting Day! (Not Really)

Hello blog readers! :) I'm sure only a handful of people are reading this but I'll share it anyway!
So much has happened today yet nothing has happened. I'm sure you're thinking I'm delusional at this point. OH WELL! Anyway, I'd like to share some of the amazing news that I discovered!

My favorite author of all time, Richelle Mead, is coming to my local bookstore on June 19 to promote her new book, The Golden Lily, that's scheduled to release in August! When I discovered this on Facebook, I screamed and jumped up and down crazily. I then proceeded to roll around on the tiled floor (disgusting, I know, but I'm a teen so don't blame me) and then started to talk unintelligibly. I was THAT excited.
I never dreamed in a million years that Richelle Mead, THE Richelle Mead, would be coming to my city! I expected to grow up one day and just come to her house to get her autograph. Kind of creepy but I'm creepy so who cares?
I am planning on doing something really special to just express my love for her work. Although her work is based on vampires, which are totally overrated these days, I am in love with her writing.

I am in possession of an Insurgent ARC (Lucky me!) and have been holding out on it, partly because I don't remember for the life of me, anything that happened in Divergent, and am too busy/lazy to reread Divergent. Luckily, Veronica Roth recently made a blog post recapping everything in Divergent! How convenient for me! So I was so grateful for her to take her time and recap everything for her readers, which helped me tremendously.

I also received my new glasses today and my prescription is pretty high. :( It's dizzying and unflattering on me so I have switched back to my old one for the time being.

Like I said, not much happened today but just the fact that Richelle Mead is coming has filled my day with joy. I just thought to share that with y'all. :)
Below this is a Wordle I made to express my love for her work!

Short and Simple: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Click on the book to be redirected to the Goodreads page.

Spell Bound - Rachel Hawkins

This book is the last in a trilogy, Hex Hall. I just LOVED the first two books, so I couldn't wait for this one! But, it unfortunately disappointed me... :(

My Review: 
This book was pretty good! I found this book to be a tad disappointing though.
Firstly, real teens do not talk like Jenna and Sophie. I should know since I am one! We don't joke around at every second. We can be deep. So, I felt the dialogue in this book was forced. :/ Plus, the humor just wasn't hilarious anymore. :(
Second, the writing seemed a little amateur-ish. Maybe it's because I've been reading mature books, but it seemed like this book was for children. That's how bad it got. (Even though there were some cuss words in there and suggestive stuff...)
The love triangle in this one was disappointment. (Seems to be a recurring word!) Let's be honest- Cal never stood a chance. I hate pointless love triangles so much!!! :( I felt Rachel Hawkins took the easy way out too... and I'd love to explain how but it's a major spoiler. Let's just say that I felt no need to do that and there could've been a better solution.
I also found myself easily distracted from this book. It took me FIVE days to finish... that's saying something! The ending didn't tie up all of the loose strings unfortunately so it left unsatisfied.
The action was pretty well done and the twists were nice as well :)
DESPITE all of my complaints, it is a good book and it's worth reading!

RATING: 3.5 STARS!

xx Jennifer

Short and Simple: Dreaming Awake

Synopsis of the prequel can be found here and this book's synopsis can be found here.
My Review:
I found this to be a huge improvement from Falling Under! Her prose was incredible. Her writing flowed so well and it was hard to step away from the book! The romance was so incredibly steamy which is good once in awhile, if you know what I mean. ;)
I forgot most of Falling Under (the prequel) but Gwen Hayes managed to refresh me on all the necessary events that occurred in the previous book, which is crucial to the whole book's development!
My only fault in this book was that this whole plot/story seemed totally unoriginal. I mean... bad boy likes girl but could potentially kill her, tries to stay away, can't resist, end up together... Doesn't that sound like most YA these days? Ugh. Despite the imitative story line, her prose was amazing and I'm definitely reading her future books! :)

Short and Simple: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Hi everyone :) This is my first review, so here we go...

Click on the book to be redirected to the Goodreads page.

Pandemonium - Lauren Oliver

Boy oh boy did I love it! *Takes deep, deep breaths*Lena was so strong and brave, which is a relief these days. I found it easy to connect with her, as well as Julian. Julian was really easy to love, even with all of his silly beliefs at first!
The plot was excellent! I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for what would happen next, throughout the whole book!
The layout of the book was confusing at times, switching from one timeline to another. But other times, it was pure genius! I felt the "Now" and "Then" were two separate stories and whenever I had to switch to the other one, it would usually leave me at a cliffhanger- just pure genius! This layout made the reader read more, you just couldn't!
The writing was lyrical and stunningly beautiful. In Before I Fall and Delirium, I didn't love the writing to be frank. The descriptions were so long, and it was just too easy to skim and get distracted. But in this story, there was definitely more action and dialogue to keep the reader enraptured and interested!
There was one thing I felt the author should have focused more on. She needed to really recap everything that happened in Delirium. Because some readers, like me, forget EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING in the prequel. Coming into this, I did not know the main character's name (Lena) and the love interest. Or the premise. So, when the author referenced these different places and events from Delirium, I was SO confused.
Other than that, this book was stunning!
5 stars!
I recommend this to dystopian and romance lovers. :)
(WARNING: Please be ready for a stunning cliffhanger and be prepared to be on some emotional roller coasters. Thank you.)

xx Jennifer