Hi, peeps! Welcome to my bookish account’s clearing for April =D We have a wrap up, a shy book haul and a TBR for May =D Follow me!
Tag: blogger
Mini guide for sexual terms and acronyms in Erotic Books for clueless pandas
*post recommended for mature readers, as we’re going to talk about sex*
Guys, can I just go straight to the point here? Let’s talk about sex in books.
I love it, you love it, everybody loves it – of course, we all have our preferences, as erotic books are just one more gender or sub gender in our shelves. If you have been following me for a while or for a week or two, you may know I ALWAYS pend to male/male books when we talk about sex and steamy scenes, for example. It doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good heterosexual sex scene or even a lesbian sex scene or even a ménage or an orgy scene.
The thing is, I must confess: I positively PANIC when I read a blurb and I find that soup letter of acronyms and really weird words that go far away from their original meaning to describe sexual stereotypes and situations. I don’t know if this is due the fact that this panda isn’t a native English speaker or if I just didn’t spend enough time with the cool panda kids to know my way around the sexual vocabulary, but it’s a given fact. I panic, I get frustrated, I try to google terms and, well, that is ALWAYS THE WORST THING. Apparently, sexual vocabulary is one of those things that you either know or not and end of discussion.
BUT. NO. MORE. Because this panda had enough.
Thinking of how much I struggle to understand many popular acronyms and terms, both in the heterosexual and the gay fields (I can’t promise in the lesbian and other genres, as I’ve read few erotic books in any other erotic category so far),
I DECIDED TO PUT TOGETHER A FREAKING DICTIONARY.
And then this mini guide was born.
So seat back, make yourself comfortable and grab your pens and notebooks. TODAY, WE LEAVE THE DARKNESS TOWARDS THE LIGHT.
BOOK BLITZ: The Supernatural Pet Sitter, by Diane Moat (The Magic Thief #1)
Hello, dearies! Welcome to the book blitz for The Supernatural Pet Sitter, first book in The Magic Thief series, by Diane Moat! =D In this post, you’ll find overall info on the book and author, an excerpt, a link to my cover analysis and an awesome giveaway =D
The Supernatural Pet Sitter
by Diane Moat
The Magic Thief #1
Publication date: March 5th, 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Middle-Grade
Every animal can talk to you. You just have to know how to listen.
Pepper Neely is better at this than most, especially because she is in charge of pet sitting all the familiars in her neighborhood. A familiar is a pet magically linked to a witch or warlock. As a gnome, Pepper is no stranger to spells and sorcery. She also knows that, despite their special name, familiars aren’t all that different from regular animals. They get anxious when separated from their people, so Pepper uses her special gnome powers to calm them down. She watches Cranky the high-strung ferret, Frank the laid-back parrot, King Arthur the elderly tortoise, and many others.
Then, something terrible begins happening to the familiars. Someone is stealing their magic! It not only prevents Pepper from communicating with them but breaks their magical connection with their people. When King Arthur’s magic is stolen, his owner’s powers stop working too. Pepper can sense that the tortoise is very scared.
In order to protect the animal’s magic, Pepper decides to track down the culprit. With the help of her best friend, Luna, and her brother, Jax, Pepper fights to protect all of the special pets.
The Road Home, from Elsa Winters & Brad Vance
(Alternative title: ridding a roller coaster wouldn’t have given me more emotions)
Moorning, everyone! Welcome to the review for my first read of 2017! I’d say we started the year with the right foot if only I could just forget about the 748543303 reviews from 2016 I still own you. Ugh.
Today I’ll be talking about another M/M romance that I received from Hidden Gems in exchange for an honest review: The Road Home, from Elsa Winters & Brad Vance. The time has arrived =D Thank you so much for my copy, guys!
Nick Carpenter grew up in the foster system after watching his parents die in a car crash. Now, he’s finally found a place for himself as an EMT. Partnered with a gruff but very competent paramedic as his first assignment in Seattle, he figures that it’s best to keep this working relationship strictly professional, even if Andrew is hot as hell.
Andrew Hazard loves his job, even if he gets paired with a different EMT every couple weeks. Once an EMT proves himself incompetent, Andrew makes no effort to be friends with them. That’s why it’s such a relief when Nick comes along. He keeps the ambulance stocked, he can drive well, and he knows how to start an IV. He’s great at saving lives, and also a great person to hang out with. From hiking to movies, they find themselves spending a lot of time with each other. Nick’s homosexuality definitely isn’t a problem, even though Andrew’s girlfriend jokes that he wants to spend more time with Nick than with her.
When Andrew gets the chance of a lifetime – going to the prestigious UCLA Medical School – his girlfriend doesn’t share his enthusiasm. And so, freshly broken up, Andrew asks Nick to go with him on a road trip down south to check out the area. Nick wants to keep him as his best friend, even though his romantic feelings have reached a fever pitch. But he also realizes that this could be his last chance to let Andrew know how he feels. Will Andrew let Nick into his heart, or will this road trip be their last hurrah?
Me after finishing this book:
November’s Wrap Up + Book Haul + December’s TBR!
Hello, beautiful people! Welcome to my November Wrap Up and thanks for being here today ❤ All in all, November was pretty good for me, being my first month where I felt in control of my life since I started the new job and since I lost my beautiful darling Lady. The month flew off the window and I can’t believe we have just 23 days now until Christmas ❤ I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE MY FAMILY AGAIN! ❤ ❤
Soo, November was a so-so month for my standards. I’ve read 10 books, 22 volumes of manga and a comic book. I should have known I wouldn’t be able to beat my records of September (book-wise, haha!) and October (pages-wise, haha!). Maybe my reading slumped a little exactly because of all the intensity of the other months… #mystery
This is My Genre, Tell Me Yours! #booktag
Good night, lovely people! I was going to bother you all only tomorrow morning, but as Beth, from Betwixt The Pages, so kindly reminded me three times, she tagged me on the This is My Genre, Tell Me Yours! #booktag =D If you don’t know Beth yet, you totally need to #justsaying, so go check her own post and blog here, please! She rocks all the right books and jams ❤ Beth, once again, thank you for the tag!
- Credit Drew @ TheTattooedBookGeek as the creator of the tag, either use the created tag name graphic or create your own and link back to the blog;
- Answer the questions;
- Tag as many people as you want!
QUESTIONS
- What’s your favourite genre?
I’d say romance, but that’s a lie. I could say historical romance, but that is also not right. The truth is I’m picky with both, so I’ll just stick with the universal truth: gay romance. If we’re talking about a good and sugared gay romance, then I’m in heaven.
- Who’s your favourite author from the genre?
I hate when I have to choose among my children, but if for some monstrous reason I got stuck reading the same author forever and ever, it would be Ava March. She’s my goddess on earth and she knows it. Or at least she should, as I’ve been bothering her by messages on Goodreads and e-mails since I was 17 – I’m 22 today, so the math proves how much patience Ava has with me, haha! Seriously, ALL HER BOOKS ROCK. I should know, as I have read them all. #psychotic #Ilovetoohard #sorrynotsorry
- What is it about the genre that keeps pulling you back?
This question actually needs to be answered in three parts, if you all don’t mind lol Dear Annelise, of course we mind! Do you think we don’t have anything better to do than to read your babbles?
Sorry, I’m still answering it on three parts, please bear with me ❤
Part I: Historical Romance
Since I was a child, I’m a sucker for historical romances, especially the ones set in London, 19th century. At first, I only knew the heterosexual romance world – which I love dealy to this day – and what keeps pulling me back to it is to be able to see how you can find ways to rebel even when society is against you. To see how people behaved and how difficult everything was back then – can you imagine being hungry and not knowing how to turn on your own stove to bake yourself something? I honestly can’t and that’s why I keep coming back to this genre. I love to see how people were able to live and be happy with way less. How much simpler things were. If they had good toilets and tampons, I’d totally go back in time!
Part II: Gay Romance
I have such a fondness for LGBT love in general because I feel this is the last true social barrier for a relationship to actually work. If I’m reading contemporary romances and it is all about the couple getting together with some insecurity drama to it, I just don’t feel like reading it. I don’t see a valid problem, you know? But a LGBT couple has yet to deal with a lot of shit from society – many times, from their own homes. This sense of forbidden love makes me pin harder for them, in hopes that, one day, those labels won’t matter anyone and love can be truly free.
Part III: Historical Gay Romances
After Greeks and Romans turned into History [haha], pretty much all relationships posed challenges. The taboo levels varied according to the times, but no couple was safe – I hope you are seeing a pattern here, haha! On the 19th century, people loved to think they were oh-so-civilized and modern, but relationships were still very complicated. Nobles and servants together? Nope. Peasants and nobles? Nope. Royalty and beggars? NOPE. Birth itself was a barrier and there were serious punishment for marrying off your social position. Now, imagine the taboo levels for two men in love with each other when they can barely choose the women to hold their hearts? I FAINTED.
- What’s the book that started your love for your favourite genre?
I’ve been a book lover from the crib, with no particular trigger to my adoration. However, what truly awakened the gay romance lover in me wasn’t a book, but a manga series called Gravitation, by Maki Murakami. To be honest, it isn’t even that good, but I didn’t know it was a gay romance when I first bought it and started to read it. I was 13, I think, and totally ignored the big +18 on manga covers since I was 8, so you can imagine my face-fall as I reached volume 2 and the male protagonists had sex. I wish I could have a gif of that moment, it was priceless, haha! I already had a soft spot for beautiful bffs males, so the thing just naturally evolved and officially got out of control as I entered college and met J. L. Langley’s books. Life as I knew back then was over, hahaha!
5. If you had to recommend at least one book from your favourite genre to a non-reader/someone looking to start reading that genre, what book would you choose and why?
Actually, I have already been there with Jess, from the Mud and Stars! If you want to immerse yourselves on the wonders of historical gay romance, I must recommend you All In With The Duke, from the goddess Ava March! It’s simply the best historical romance of my life. I hope this is reasoning enough, but in case it isn’t… Here’s my review for it!
- Why do you read?
Why do I breathe? Why do I eat? Why do I sleep? All those questions have the same answer: despite being highly enjoyable, I NEED TO DO IT, LMAO. Books are my safe heaven, the hobby I hop on when I’m tired, bored, happy, sad, excited, hopeful, in need of a hug… Books are my life. I actually own more books than clothes and shoes put together, haha! (Just to clarify: I’m only talking about physical books. Don’t even get me started on the digital shelves, haha!)
George R. R. Martin definitely rubbed on me, I can’t even make a tag post something short… Sorry, guys! For this one, I’ll tag…
Amanda, from the Cover2CoverMom
Because I’m really sure they are ok with tags, but anyone is welcome to do it! You can even say I tagged you on your post =D Jess and Amanda, please don’t feel obligated to do this if you don’t feel like it ❤
I guess that’s it, people! Hope you found this post where I just talk about my royal panda self all the time interesting ❤ What is your favorite genre?
With love,
Nobody’s Pawn, from Amy McNulty (Never Veil #3)
Hello, lovelies! I’m here today to end this sense of eternal déjà vu from your minds as you come across the blog and similar covers hunt you: welcome to the review for the last volume of the Never Veil series, from brilliant Amy McNulty: Nobody’s Pawn! =D
One would think I would already have run out of comments over the series at this point, but one may not really know how much of a pain in the ass I can be ❤ With love, of course! #Always
All right, let’s knock protocol down so we can move on to the review. First of all, I received Nobody’s Pawn from Amy herself in exchange for an honest review – thanks so much, from the bottom of my heart! I’ll be forever grateful for having met you and your work ❤ Also, if you didn’t get a chance to take a look at my reviews for books one and two and wish to do so before continuing your journey here with me, be our guest ❤
Nobody’s Goddess (Never Veil #1) | Nobody’s Lady (Never Veil #2)
Ready, set… GO!
If Noll thought things were bad with the curse, she had to admit that without the curse, they downward tragic. With Jaron’s poor leadership, the men in the village were completely rebellious and deep into existential crisis. Now that the parties slowed down and they realized that being free wasn’t just about the good stuff, most men were feeling lost and helpless. How did you manage freedom if you never knew it in the first place? Noll’s friends were going crazy.
The women weren’t doing much better. Without their other halves helping, the village started to falter and nerves got shattered. Most of them had been left as soon as Ailill suspended marriage contracts and didn’t know how to woo their loved ones back home. Some, like Rosalyn, never would – her man had found love with another man, after all. And it was all Noll’s fault.
At least, she was given one last chance to right at least one wrong: Ailill. Against all odds, the lord is back for yet another life… But has no memories from the time he spent with Noll on his previous life. As things get trickier with the village and Jaron tries to make Jurij the new lord, Noll and Ailill are forced to travel beyond the Never Veil. No matter how great the danger, Noll will be dead and buried before anyone messes up her home – you know, more than herself.
Three people crossed the veil… how many will the kings and queens allow coming back?
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
As I reached the last page of Nobody’s Pawn, I blinked once. Twice. Like, is this for real? No more Never Veil series for me? How am I supposed to keep breathing? Once again, Amy petted me in the head on one moment as I successfully predicted a twist and kicked me in the stomach right after with another twist I would never even dream of – all metaphorically, please! Hahahaha! Seriously, this definitely is one of the best series I’ve had the pleasure of reading this year and it changed my life in levels I can’t even begin to explain. All I have left to say to Amy for now is thanks for the memories and I hope I get to fight with see Noll and Ailill again sometime! Four proud and shiny stars ❤
Ok, maybe I have some more things to say, haha! Like, talking about the narrative, again in first person style from Noll’s point of view. Also, I have to start by point out how much Noll grows as a narrator in this book – she slowly learned how to recognize the problems around her and to weight sufferings. It may sound stupid to say so, but it made all the difference for the reader: her own problems weren’t oh-so-big anymore, so she gave us a much better picture of what happened in the village. Unfortunately, I was turned really down to see the line “I released a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding” used twice with slight wording change and another time applied to tension on the muscles. I just can’t with this line =( Along other minor problems that will be mentioned later, this is one of the reasons why this book isn’t a full five stars.
The other minor issues are on the plot – they are three in fact. Let’s start with those, shall we? =)
To start, I felt like Noll’s sentiments for Ailill evolved too fast without a good explanation – actually, this is a problem present on the last book already, I forgot to point it among all my late-teen angst, sorry! I felt she hated him with the force on the moment and then snap your fingers, suddenly Ailill is the dream man. I understand that some key things did happen rather suddenly, but I think someone as Noll would have been more confused and less prompted to instalove… Oh well, what do I know about feelings? Haha! Moving on.
The second aspect is Noll’s powers. I felt her magical powers were kind of left aside during the series and suddenly poof, she is indeed a goddess in the better sense of the word. I’m not a regular fan of over power characters without a good background behind them, but again, it’s a personal pet peeve. But now that I think of it, all reviews are about pointing how many pet peeves of ours that books can ruse and our rating goes higher the less our feathers are disturbed. Interesting.
Right, third aspect, back to track! The end itself was too open for my tastes. I felt as if there was a chapter missing, as I still had so many questions and McNulty had already started the acknowledgements. Another personal trace, of course, as there isn’t any rule saying ends need to tie up all strings, but I felt many important answers were missing. Oh, well, I can’t have it all, right? =)
Now, to the part of the plot I really liked: the pace. Once again McNulty’s brilliant writing style made us float from a moment to the other without ever wanting to release the book, no matter how hungry you are or how many messages your boss sends you during your lunchtime #truestory. At the same time, I loved how slowly McNulty eased us through the whole truth about the village and Noll’s world, as having everything dropped out so suddenly isn’t nice at all. As I commented on the first book’s review, this is where we understand how badly gender wars can be to a society – despite the heavy fantasy, all characters are still human and act the part. The choices made are poor and result in an unwelcoming world for both sides. As they learn to unite and ignore what’s between each other’s legs, things start to work and harmony slowly ascends.
Risking sounding repetitive, this is what the Never Veil series is truly all about: choices. Kinship. Loyalty. Responsibility. Maturity. The gender question is necessary and important, the romance is amusing, the adventure is thrilling, but they are all flourishes to McNulty’s true message: your happiness is in your hands alone. You make your own path, no matter if you are aware of it or not. As much as people try to keep you in or out of paths, it’s still your decision to follow their advice and orders. It’s all about the power of our beliefs and what we choose to do with what is given to us.
Or maybe McNulty just wanted to write a badass book and I got so drunk in Diet Coke I’m already down a really high and wasted path of thinking and saw too much into the small things. It wouldn’t be the first time, haha!
I’ll spare you all from more of my teen angst and talk about the characters =) To resume it all on one sentence: OH BOY HOW THEY GREW! As I apparently was born without the ability to stick with only one sentence to do anything on life, I’ll just keep going now, ok? Haha! Of course, Noll has the most important and notorious personal growth of the whole series, but many characters reached an important maturity level on this book, especially among the men, and this maturity is the key for them to move on. I mean, the whole village – Noll included – had their asses kicked with Noll’s interventions, but how you deal with it afterwards show your true colors.
All right, that was cheesy even for my standards, so let’s just peek at some cool quotes from Nobody’s Pawn and be done with this, haha!
“Because I was always outside, even when I thought I was in.” – Noll
~*~
“Being alone for any period of time can be a torment.” – Ailill
~*~
“Freedom can be a difficult burden.” – Ailill
~*~
“My name sounds so lovely on your tongue. Like it belongs to this special woman who isn’t me, but whom you [Ailill] believe me to be.” – Noll
~*~
“I didn’t realize I could almost faint from embarrassment without even looking at something.” – Noll
To wrap up this kick ass series, if you like dystopian, fantasy, young adult, gender equality discussions and mind-blowing books, you need to have the Never Veil series in your life ❤
Thanks so much for reading my review and coming to pay us a visit here on the blog! Also, thanks a million to Amy for sending me this book and for simply being the awesome person she is ❤ I must leave you now for the day, but I’ll be around and, most importantly, I’ve got MANY reviews and posts to read, write and discuss with you all ❤ A round of applause for this beautiful community that book blogging is!
Until some other time and love you all,
Nobody’s Lady, from Amy McNulty (Never Veil #2)
Hello, again! Aren’t you all proud of me for popping up again on your mailbox on such short notice? I knew you would, haha! #what Hope everyone survived Monday – I was barely conscious myself until a few minutes ago, being a creature of the night and darkness – and hope everyone has a great week ahead. Keep calm, Christmas is coming ❤
But I babble, as always. I’m here for much better reasons, I promise: let’s talk about the second book of the Never Veil series, from Amy McNulty: Nobody’s Lady! =D
Annelise, dear, haven’t we already seen a review for this book on this post?
Yes, my darlings, it’s true. However, I was too awestruck on the first time I’ve read this series to have a coherent and constructive review for this book, so now I’ll present you with a 2.0 one to try to do justice to such a wonderful series! =D Also, if you are experiencing a double sense of déjà vu, I must admit I just posted the review for the first book below, haha! Oops? Sorry not sorry?
Anyway, I have received this book from Chapter by Chapter’s team in exchange for an honest review for their blog tour in April and here I am again to fulfill this duty with extreme pleasure. Thanks so much again, guys! Also, if you didn’t got the memo of the review of the first volume in the series, you may want to read that before we start the second o/
Nobody’s Goodess – Never Veil #1
Now, let’s go ahead, shall we? =)
Noll finally got what she wanted: everyone on her village was free to love whomever their hearts truly desire. The men didn’t live to worship their goddesses anymore and women could see beyond their respective men. However, things aren’t going as Noll expected and that’s an understatement.
After so many bad blood between her and Ailill, he politely tossed her away from the castle and after her father and Jurij left her mother and sister, Noll felt politely tossed out from there as well. Now living on her own at an isolate area of the village and woodcarving her own pieces to make a living, all Noll wants is to be forgotten and, perhaps with a bit of luck, forgiven by her people and Ailill.
As she should have guessed, Noll hadn’t luck. Her peaceful days were short-lived as her old childhood friends made way into her heart once again and begged her for help. This time, Noll was sure she could fix things and help people rather than destroy their lives and beliefs. She knew she would do everything in her power to make things right, even if it meant her own demise.
But is Noll prepared to expose others to a danger even bigger than she knows?
Just remembering those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
If I had to use only one adjective to describe the Never Veil series, it would be ‘mind-blowing’. Like in scrambled-eggs-made-out-of-what-is-left-from-our-brains blowing. I was already in awe with the first book, but the second took things to the next level. My feelings for Noll got more clear, my love for Ailill only increased and I felt Amy pulling my blood thirst as I got to know the real personalities of some of the men of the village. This book just didn’t make for a full five stars because I was absolutely unable to care for any of the characters 98% of the time (not even Ailill) and because the line “I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding” was used. It was a huge turn off =( All in all, four proud stars just like the last time I’ve read it ❤
The narrative keeps its style from the last volume: first person from Noll’s perspective. Honestly, at first I was making so many concessions to Noll, but now I just hate her. As I read Nobody’s Lady, I remembered the wisdom of my good old friend Jenny regarding Red Queen. She told me at the time, when I stopped to breathe between rants, that no one would ever read the book because of the main character what’s-her-name. We read it because the girl was trapped into a very interesting situation with even more interesting people and the sad part was that we only got to glimpse at those marvels through what’s-her-name’s eyes. Unfortunately for Victoria Aveyard and luckily for McNulty, I was able to cut Noll much more slack than I did with what’s-her-name in Red Queen and I enjoyed the Never Veil series to the core.
Also, McNulty has the upper hand with me: her writing style is so involving and beautiful. For real. I’ve read four books and a short story by her so far and the writing always sweeps me off my feet and waltzes around with me on its arms.
The plot was, once more, wonderfully done. I have to admit I saw some of the shit hitting the fan before it did, but that was more due people’s skills than a brilliant trail of thinking into this particular story. Since elementary school, I have a special knitted group of friends and those four amazing girls were responsible for my education in predicting shit hitting the fan. Especially as, most of the time, I was the one with the bucket of water to do damage control in the afterwards. However, Noll wasn’t so fortunate: her friends left her before she got a good grip on how to recognize the signs of something foul in the air. I don’t hold her innocence against her as I would have with other characters.
I was indeed bothered with the pace of the story. Despite the incredible personal growth that Noll experiences, she keeps extremely self-absorbed and really selfish, just too happy about being the village’s martyr when they needed clear leaders and she was one of the two people that knew what was happening to everyone. Also, this volume made me realize I didn’t have a correct idea of the size of the village – while I imagined a place with like, 200 people, we get to know it was about 500 people or so. It’s something minor, but it was quite a shock, haha!
I didn’t really want to enter more in the character’s merit, but I must. You see, it’s not that they aren’t interesting people, it’s just that I’m mildly a bitch and am hard to woo into liking someone, real or fictional. Ask my cousin’s girlfriend: the girl has been trying to woo me for five years in all ways she can to make me like her because my cousin is like my twin brother, but she still isn’t going anywhere in my good sides.
I had a fling with Ailill, I admit, but he wasn’t a strong enough male for me to admire and I’m afraid I didn’t fall for the whole amorous triangle thing between Ailill, Noll and Jurij because guess what: I never liked Jurij! #bigsurprise I did like to meet Rosalyn, but her part was too small for my tastes, just like Alvilda’s. As to all the other characters, I just didn’t connect with anyone =(
As I fleetingly mentioned on the last review, the greatest catch of the Never Veil series is the questioning of society roles and the chaos that comes every time we change something on it. Of course, the happenings on the book are immediate and brutal, but it’s a perfect lesson on definitive gender equality: women and men have to learn they can’t live without each other, that no gender is superior and that everyone is screwed as long as they fight with each other. McNulty’s message is clear: we have to stick together, to unite. Then, we succeed.
As much as I allow my skeptical side to guide me through life, I like to hope for a society in which labels won’t define us or confine us to anything. A world where it won’t matter if you are men or women, if we are white or black, hetero or homosexual, tall or short, slim or fat. I honestly hope that someday the people who really have the power to bring significant change on a world level wake up to face the facts and help us build a free and less hypocrite society and series like Never Veil help me to feed my hopes even when all facts point to a continued downfall of the whole human society. Maybe someday the right person will come across it and make the difference, who knows?
All right, things got intense here too fast. I do need a therapist after this post, wow! Sorry, guys! Maybe I should stop listening to all my emo songs from the 2000’s, haha!
Anyway, let’s just wrap this up with some cool quotes from Noll =)
“So much for convincing him [Jurij] to join the ever-growing list of people who hate me.”
~*~
“I wasn’t so sure happy drinking was anything more than painful drinking under the mask of laughter.”
Also, this volume also won a new cover for the release of the third book, Nobody’s Pawn:
As it happened with the first, I already liked the first version, but the second nailed it even more! ❤ This model is so beautiful I could cry *–*
Overall, if you like awesome fantasy books with dystopian touches, you have to get your hands on this series ❤ It seriously changed my life.
Thanks so much once again to everyone who was brave enough to read this review until the very end, as I do realize this IS LONG. Who knew George R. R. Martin syndrome is contagious? Also, once again I’d like to thank the team of Chapter by Chapter for my review copy and Amy herself for all the endless patience with me ❤ You rock, Amy!
Until other time and love you all,
Forget Me Always, from Sara Wolf (Lovely Vicious #2)
Good Saturday morning to you! Nope, you’re not hallucinating from the booze you had last night, this is not an April Fool’s prank because we are kind of in November and no cameras are going to jump on you to reveal a trap! Or at least, if this happens, which I really wish you never have to experience, I can assure you it wasn’t on me and will lend you a friendly shoulder for some hate shouts towards the pranksters?
I’m back with a review and one for a series that shook my ground hard earlier this year: Lovely Vicious, from the brilliant goddess Sara Wolf. This review is for the second book in the series, Forget Me Always, which I received from the Chapter by Chapter’s team in exchange for an honest review. As always, thanks so much!
As this is the second book in the series, you may want to read what I have to say about the first book before diving into this particular review =)
Love Me Never (Lovely Vicious #1)
Ok, now we’re good to go!
There are really few things in the world able to ruin Isis Blake’s good moods. Being thrown to a wall and cracking her head open doesn’t even make her top 10 list – she’s doing very well, thank you very much. She’s just afraid her fabulous brain will root in boredom at the hospital her doctor insists she needs.
One of the top 5 things that do bother Isis Blake is Jack Hunter. Apparently, they were epic enemies at the most awesome war the world has ever seen, but Isis is sure she would remember such a beautiful and insufferable guy. She would never ever forget the most awesome war the world has ever seen as well, as she for sure would be responsible for it. To make things worse, Sophia, her friend met at the hospital, insists Isis and Jack not only knew each other, but also had something together.
Isis would remember such life changing facts, wouldn’t she? Besides, how is it possible for the dragon to fall for the prince?
~*~
Jack Hunter cares about really few things in life. One of them is Isis Blake – in fact, she is the whole center of his existence since the Halloween Party they attended together, before Isis’ attack.
For the first time in a long while, all Jack wanted was to make things right. To have peace along the most fabulous and amazing girl he’d ever met. However, it seems it isn’t his fate to find happiness: he wasn’t fast enough. He couldn’t save Isis. And now he had lost her in the worst way possible: she’s right in front of him… and remembers nothing of his existence.
Isis Blake may be the one with the head cracked open, but Jack Hunter is the truly messed up one. And then there is Sophia, closer and closer to the truth about Jack’s feelings despite all his efforts to keep loving her and only her.
Another war begins and memories can prove to be the worst enemies of all times.
Just remembering those are my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
To be honest, when I opened my ebook for Forget Me Always, I was afraid. You see, Love Me Never is one of my best 2016 reads and I was truly scared to my bones not to have all the feels back in Forget Me Always. As soon as I started it, I smiled and all my worries were gone: Isis Blake, one of my best bookish friends forever, was back and even in better shape than before.
The relief was huge and I’m afraid I may have highlighted the whole book with fabulous quotes, dialogues and general life wisdom from both Isis and Jack. You can feel their growth between the books and how much life burdens them, we finally can feel how heavy Wolf’s themes truly are behind all the brilliant jokes and ingenious come backs. We finally start to have some concret answers and still, Wolf shatters our world with another cliff hanger at the end. SERIOUSLY WOMAN, WHY KEEP PLAYING MY HEART LIKE THIS IF YOU KNOW I’LL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MAY NOW TO FINISH THIS SERIES?!
Overall, Forget Me Always has that feeling of déjà vu all over it – you kind of know what’s coming and it’s heavy, but you don’t quite believe it and it’s a shock to find out anyway. Plus, quotes even better than Love Me Never’s and omg answers, and trust me when I say we really needed those. So, all in all, five huge stars!!! ❤
The narrative pace keeps fast and light despite all the dark themes and we are once again follow Isis and Jack’s points of view. The major change is that we see much more of Jack’s POV, as he isn’t a mystery anymore – he is just still part of a bigger one. I really liked to see more of him and understand his motives better, but nothing beats Isis Blake as a narrator – not even Integrity Aidar, I’m afraid. But I’ll get to this later, haha!
The plot was twisted, but not highly complex. I was able to guess at many revelations and uncover some secrets way before they came, but the way Wolf tells you the story, she makes you feel genuinely surprised to see you were right or to watch as your own face collides with the floor. Seriously, this book is. All. The. Feels. I’m in love.
As it happened with the first volume, the characters are the main attraction. Honestly, everyone is so complex! Not a single person here is only good or only bad – not even Avery, I guarantee you. Not even Isis. Everyone has a dark side, the difference is in how much and for how long they can hide it from society. Jack is the epitome of this case, as he looks like a cool and bored teen on the outside and almost has a case of double personality about him. Isis is his perfect match in more than one way, as she seems to be bubbly and obnoxious all the time when actually she has deeper scars on her heart that won’t never ever truly heal. Both of them show us there is never only one way out to cope with grief, with fear and despair. What you do and who you chose to be after your world shatters is what truly tells how strong you are and how strong you can become.
Now that I think about it, the whole purpose of the Lovely Vicious series is how your life choices impact on who you’ll be since your childhood; how there are things you will never be able to truly erase, no matter how much you try to set things right, how much you fight your demons and how much you run from life. Some things will always be a stain to your heart, to your head and your feelings, but it’s you who will decide how much you’ll stop living to keep suffering. Only you can truly free yourself.
Of course, having people to support you and to be there for you counts a lot. Seriously, sometimes it can be the difference between you keep breathing on a moment of weakness. But in the end of the day, no one else can decide how to live your own life: it’s up to you. And this is one of the scariest shits ever.
Sorry, things got a little heavy here, haha! I think this book just hits too close from home and it makes me think so much about my own life choices, oops! I’ll stop with the motivational speech now and keep talking about Forget Me Always – I’ll leave the motivational stuff for Sarah, because if you want to talk about deep, real and serious human problems, that’s how you do it.
Also, just out of curiosity, I heard a song yesterday while working that clicked in so nicely with this book I almost dropped all I was doing and started my reading session earlier, haha! I’m not sure how many of you are acquitted with the song Part II, from Paramore, but I promise it is the perfect soundtack to Forget Me Always ❤ To be honest, I’m really proud of myself for managing to stumble on find a perfect song for this book, as I rarely have this opportunity, haha! For the ones that don’t know this particular song or even this band, I question: where have you been on the late 2000’s? leave here the link to a lyric video for it I found at Youtube:
And, just to wrap up this review, as this is oh-so-long, I wanted to leave you with some wisdom from Sarah Wolf in Forget Me Always! (Meaning: QUOTES TIME!)
“(…) people keep asking [if you’re better] anyway because it’s how you show concern for someone you care about, I guess, but frankly a giant box of chocolate truffles and a reign over a small kingdom would be acceptable stand-ins.” – Isis
~*~
“Sniffing out tragedy is sort of my entire deal.” – Isis
~*~
“I mean, most things that pop into my head are really weird, like that one time when I thought about Shrek in Victoria’s Secret underwear, but I think this actually beats Shrek’s Secret.” – Isis
~*~
“He [Jack] must’ve done something really shitty if I pulled out the medieval terminology.” – Isis
~*~
“Some normalcy has to be put between the darkness and us. That’s how you get enough strength to face it.” – Isis
~*~
“He’s my dream man, right? So, if my dream man is someone who can never really exist, then he can’t hurt me. He can’t come up and make me fall in love with him and smash my heart.” – Isis
~*~
“[Jack] Probably got in a fight with the mirror when he saw it was prettier than him.” – Isis
~*~
“Ketchup is the great illusion. Only when you put barbecue sauce on your fries will you know truth and freedom” – Isis
~*~
And these winning dialogues:
Sophia: What are you thinking?
Isis: Deep, intense thoughts. So deep. At least two indie songs’ worth of deep.
~*~
Isis: Ah, look, never mind. It’s cool. You got some secrets, I got some secrets. Our secrets should get married and have babies. Platonically. Entirely platonic baby-making.
Wren: Is that…a thing?
~*~
Isis: How you’re doing, old pal?
Knife Guy: We’ve known each other five months.
Isis: Five months in dog years is like, ten years. We’re practically family.
Knife Guy: Are you crying?
Isis: What, this? Nah, just a piece of teen angst stuck in my eye. Nirvana would be proud.
~*~
Isis: Oh, I hate you so much.
Jack: Good. I prefer it to the silence.
~*~
Kayla: You can’t even say ‘dick’ without vomiting in your mouth a little. And sometimes on desks. And small children.
Isis: That was one time, and that kid totally walked into the flight path of my vomit. It’s not my fault if he had no grasp of liquid physics.
~*~
Soo, wrapping things up really quick because EVERYTHING happened at this review: deep reflections, quotes, fangirlings, songs that fit books, omg! I’m so sorry to make you come all this way down, but I swear I’m done, haha! All is left to say is: if you like contemporary YA, strong characters, a touch of mystery and pop culture references all over, you need Lovely Vicious in your life and bookshelves!
Again, nice to see everyone again and let’s hope we meet more times per week from now on =) Love you, guys!
What I have been reading during my hiatus
Hello! It’s been a while, haha! I was taking a look on my last posts and I realized I didn’t post a wrap up on SUCH A LONG TIME =O I mean, ok, I don’t post at all in a long time, but not even on my last active month blogging, I don’t post a wrap up since June, oops! Haha!
Well, I’m going to totally ignore the books I bought during this time, focusing on the ones I have read and how I’ll try to review them all 🙂
JUNE WRAP UP
BOOKS
I’ve read 15 books and 3 mangas on June – I know, pretty low comparing to April and May, ugh! My job stole a lot of my reading time besides all of my energy, haha!
- It’s Not Your Journey, by Rebecca Lombardo;
- The Way to Game The Walk of Shame, by Jenn P. Nguyen;
- The Reluctant Sacrifice, by Kerr-Ann Dempster;
- The Harder He Falls, by Lynda Aicher;
- Maisy and the Mystery Manor, by Elizabeth Woodrum;
- The Dreamer, by E. L. Mellow;
- Grimm & White, by Emily Ann Hansen;
- Daughter of Magic, by Teresa Roman;
- Black Water Tales: The Unwanted, by JeanNicole Rivers;
- Eyes Only For Me, by Andrew Grey;
- Alice In Wonderland (My Little Golden Book);
- 27 Days to Midnight, by Kristine Kruppa;
- Boyband, by Jacqueline E. Smith;
- Backstage, by Jacqueline E. Smith;
- Werewolf Happy Hour, by Tavia Lark;
- A Game of Cat & Wolf, by Tavia Lark;
MANGAS
- Kuroneko Kareshi no Amaekata, by Aya Sakyo
- Kuroneko Kareshi no Nakasekata, by Aya Sakyo
- Jackass! – Sawatte Ii tte Dare ga Itta yo?, by Scarlet Beriko
JULY AND AUGUST WRAP UP (so far)
July and August weren’t my months to live, so it’s to be expected that they weren’t my reading months either. This is all that I have read until today and I don’t trust myself to finish more books until the end of August – one day at a time, right? Hahaha!
- The Fox and The Grapes (childhood fairy tale)
- A Frozen Heart, by Elizabeth Rudnick
- Melophobia, by James Morris
- Wonder, by R. J. Palacio
- Emma, by Jane Austen
- Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, by Martina McAtee
- Weekend Lovers, by Kiriko Fuwa (manga)
- The Journalists – Disney Comic Book Special
- Two Pokémon Guides on Pokémon Alpha Sapphire & Omega Ruby
Yup, from the very same person with 20 books read in the same month, we now have 5 in two months. I’m such a winner. #sarcasm
What I’m currently reading? I’m trying to rule out my started books from “before” all this. I’m missing only 100 pages until the end of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I just started Dark Dreams and Dead Things – which, so far, is not doing any justice to the first book – and I’m on the middle of Frankenstein. I’m reading the last one with Jess from Mud and Stars, so I can say with ease that this one I shall finish until the end of the month, haha! Btw, do you guys know Jess, right? If you don’t, well, please go follow her. She is BRILLIANT, both as a blogger and as a person ❤ Love you, Jess!! *–*
Well, now, you may be wondering: “hmm, so many books, Annelise! What about the reviews?”. Good question. What about the reviews.
Honestly? I will first review books that were sent to me and then books from my book club with Jess. Then, I’ll try to review all the others. If for some reason the fate allows me to succeed, I’ll review the mangas. If that also goes according to plan, I will review the comic books. Deal? 🙂
Oh, but of course that you can totally ask me for specifically reviews inside this list! I want you to guys to be as happy as I am trying to be, haha! ❤
That’s it for now. I won’t make any promises, as this didn’t go well in the past, but I’ll be around, haha! What have you been reading on those past few months? 😀
See you later and love you!
The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange 