Meg & Linus, from Hanna Nowinski

Hello, dearies! Today we’re going to talk about of a book that has one of the prettiest covers I’ve seen in 2017: Meg & Linus, from Hanna Nowinski! I have received my review copy from Xpresso Book Tours through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and this is it! Thank you, guys! And mega thanks to the wonderful Giselle ❤ ❤

Can friendship, Star Trek, drama club, and a whole lot of coffee get two nerdy best friends through the beginning of their senior year of high school?

Meg and Linus are best friends bound by a shared love of school, a coffee obsession, and being queer. It’s not always easy to be the nerdy lesbian or gay kid in a suburban town. But they have each other. And a few Star Trek boxed sets. They’re pretty happy.

But then Sophia, Meg’s longtime girlfriend, breaks up with Meg. Linus starts tutoring the totally dreamy new kid, Danny, and Meg thinks setting them up is the perfect project to distract herself from her own heartbreak. But Linus isn’t so sure Danny even likes guys, and maybe Sophia isn’t quite as out of the picture as Meg thought she was. . . .

From crowdsourced young adult imprint Swoon Reads, comes Meg & Linus by Hanna Nowinski, a fun friendship story about two quirky teens who must learn to get out of their comfort zones and take risk – even if that means joining the drama club, making new friends, and learning how to stand on your own.

Me after finishing this book:

Of the Trees, from E. M. Fitch

Good morning, lovelies! Welcome to my review for Of the Trees, by E. M. Fitch! Boy, this was a hell of a ride for me and I didn’t expect to be left in the dark [haha] for so long =O I received my ebook copy from the publisher, Month9Books, in exchange for an honest review. Here we goo!

Cassie and Laney fancy themselves amateur ghost hunters. When a carnival comes to town, Cassie embraces the chance to try something new.

Carnival workers watch the girls with a collective gaze that ignites in Laney a dark and dangerous fascination, leaving Cassie unnerved.

It’s not just their age or the unsettling way they stare. There is something in the shifting of their skin and the way their features seem to change in the shadows.

Cassie can’s shake this sickening feeling that there’s more to the carnival than meets the eye.

When townspeople suddenly start dying and bloody warnings appear around town, Cassie is lured into a nightmare where trees whisper and strange, shape-shifting men haunt the backwoods she once hunted for ghosts with her best friend.

Then Laney goes missing, and only Cassie can get her back. But the creatures of the trees aren’t simply going to hand Laney over to Cassie without getting something in return.

Me after finishing this book:

Guarding Mr. Fine, by HelenKay Dimon (Tough Love #3)

(alternative title: Mr. Fine INDEED, where do I find myself one of those to keep guarded in my room? *–*)

Good night, everyone! Welcome to a very special moment in the form of my review for the third book in the Tough Love series, by goddess HelenKay Dimon: Guarding Mr. Fine! ❤

You see, this book holds a special place in my heart because the first volume of the series was my first ever spies gay romance ❤ I looooove action/adventure books and sadly is still hard to find good ones in the diverse shelves, aka my favorites, so it was a huuuge moment for me to have virtually met HelenKay’s work *–* I’ve read and reviewed all books so far and since I had finished The Talented Mr. Rivers I knew I just had to have Guarding Mr. Fine ❤

Now that I’m done with all the raving, let’s go to the particulars: I have received this book from Loveswept, the publisher, in exchange for an honest review and this is the moment of truth! [haha]

As an agent with the CIA’s special activities division, Seth Lang lives for risk—and yet he’s stuck playing bodyguard to the U.S. consul general in Munich. Although Seth’s last assignment nearly killed him, babysitting some desk jockey in a suit sounds way too easy. But when he lays eyes on the new top man, tactical expert Rick Fine, Seth’s thrilled to see just how hard this job is going to get. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Quiet has a body worth guarding—and he requires hands-on attention day and night.

Dispatched to a German consulate to expose the murder of his predecessor, Rick finds himself in an extremely vulnerable position. He needs a man like Seth—in so many ways. This mission will inevitably plunge them both into jeopardy, but each new threat only brings them closer. Rick just hopes that he can keep his deepest, darkest secret hidden—or else risk imperiling a relationship they’re both fighting for their lives to protect.

Me after finishing this book:

The Farther He Runs, from Lynda Aicher (Kick #3)

Good night, people! Are you ready to rock?!! I hope so, as the book I’ll be reviewing Tonight r o c k e d my world ❤ I’m talking about the third book of the Kick series, from Lynda Aicher: The Farther He Runs! Please, on’t get sad that we are “already” on the review for book 3! All books in the Kick series can be read as standalones, so you can pick your favorite and devour it without worrying about losing content =D

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, so buckle your seatbelts and let’s do this! Thanks so much to Loveswept for my copy, I loved it!

Read here my reviews for the previous books in the series!

The Harder He Falls (Kick #1) | The Deeper He Hurts (Kick #2)

Finn’s survival and recovery from a tragic accident with his cousin and best friend ten months ago can only be described as miraculous. After many months spent into a comma and struggling to recover his movements and basic motor coordination, anyone would be happy to know they are alive.

Not Finn. His Marine pride insists on reminding him all that he had lost in the accident. His shape. His dignity. His best friend. Finn was now just a broken and shallow vessel of the man he used to be – the man he loved to be. And now his remaining best friend and long-term platonic crush, Tanner Dorsey, came home after deployment.

How is Finn supposed to look Tanner in the eye and feel worthy of his attention now?

If anyone ever cares to find out how a true bitch-slap from life can hurt, just ask Tanner Dorsey. After months with barely any communication outside the military world, Tanner comes home to find out one of his best friends is dead and the other, broken.

Tanner has mixed feelings about the tragic accident that took Chris’ life away. While his heart won’t stop bleeding for his best friend any time soon, it’s also his one in a million chance to show Finn, his platonic soul mate, that he is no lesser of a man for relying on others. For relaying on Tanner. However, how could he prove to Finn he would always be there for him?

How is Tanner supposed to convince Finn they could work together?

Me after finishing this book

Junior Jolt, from Elaine Ashford (Straight College Guys #3)

(Alternative title: Oh boy, how do I love fake relationships!!)

Hello, my precious people! Just like the goddess Kelly Clarkson, piece by piece I’m slowly getting back to a nice posting pace =) I know you are all too proud of me, but please, hold your horses. I’ll accept the congratulations and all when we go back to 1-3 posts per day, haha!

We’re here gathered today to witness my first book review for one of Elaine Ashford’s romances after months of blind fangirling! A big moment, my people! As I told you yesterday on the biggest bookish news post of my history as a blogger, I ended up on Elaine’s ARC mailing list somehow and received a copy of the third book in the Straight College Guys series, released on this Monday, Nov. 21th, in exchange for an honest review: Junior Jolt! Thanks so much once again to Elaine and her team for selecting mee!! I still don’t understand why it happened, but OMG THANK YOU! I don’t need to understand, I’ll settle for just being insanely happy, haha!

Parker Gagner is one of those guys who knows exactly what he wants and where he’s going. As the captain of the college’s Hockey team, Parker knows his priorities and lives by the code of honor inside and out of the ice rings. That’s why he steps up in the middle of Eli’s fight with his ex-lover and promptly sends the guy off by telling him that Parker and Eli are together. Not because Parker can’t stop thinking about Eli those last weeks and how good a kisser he might be. Nope, definitely not – after all, Parker is straight… Isn’t he?

Eli Martin still doesn’t understand what’s happening on his life. Since Parker meddled on his fight with his ex, the Hockey captain came in crashing Eli’s world. How can it be so easy to pretend to date a man with so many responsibilities and so incredibly popular with pretty much everyone? And how can a fake boyfriend put up such an effort to make Eli feel cherished when none of his real previous dates did so?

On one thing, Parker and Eli can agree on: their lives won’t ever be the same.

Me after finishing the book

Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂

THIS WAS EVERYTHING I’VE BEEN HOPING FOR ON AN ELAINE ASHFORD’S BOOK AND MORE! #discretion #youwontfindhere This book was really short, with only 23k words, but I made a point of taking my time reading it, to savor all the cuteness, the romance and the really funny quotes. It was exactly what my heart called for and it would have made to the big five stars if Elaine hadn’t used the oh-so-famous-line “I released a breath that I didn’t even realize I was holding” not once, but twice (with slightly different wording, but still sounding too similar to the deal-breaker for my tastes). All in all, four beautiful stars ❤

The narrative was first person styled, with switching points of views between Parker and Eli. If you have been around for a review or two and, as I’m really discreet about my tastes, it just may ring you a bell when I say I first person isn’t my usual go-to kind of narrative – you know, it leaves too much space for hate for the characters on my head, haha! Junior Jolt was another delicious exception for this concept of mine and I loved getting inside Parker and Eli’s heads. I admit, Eli and I had our tough moments, as the guy screws up a little on some part during the story I’m so precise, I know, but nothing too serious for me to roll up my eyes and hate him ❤ Also, the fact that this is a short book helped as well. I would have loved to see more of Eli and Parker’s world, but the story had the perfect size, truly.

I have to say that I fell in love with the lightness and cuteness that flows through Ashford’s writing style. She managed to build real, strong and funny characters without needing many pages and deep intense thoughts on their parts – come on, that’s just fabulous. And I didn’t even get to tell you yet about all the pop culture references inside the book!!

The plot was simple and fluffy, with all the cuteness my heart had been craving from my latest gay reads. Don’t get me wrong, I love deep and complex stories (I actually have an offline friend that likes to say I “breathe complexity”, haha!), but sometimes I miss the harmony between sad/tense/intense/rough moments with fluffy/cute/funny/light moments. After all, isn’t this what makes a real relationship? Ups and downs? A rollercoaster that never allows you to get down and vomit in peace? #what #gross

Sorry, that metaphor didn’t quite go as expected, haha! My point is, despite the lack of real depth in Junior Jolt, I do prefer reading them to the completely dramatic ones. Offline life itself is already full of drama, so I don’t feel like absorbing a hit to my guts that was meant for someone fictional that I really care about. I need to stay strong for my friends, for my family, but books are supposed to be strong for me. Otherwise, how am I going to keep sane?

However, of course, I stray from my original path. Nothing new, but I’m sorry nevertheless! Let’s discuss our characters, right? 🙂 As this is the third book of the series, despite the tranquility of reading it as a standalone, I don’t feel safe to say much about sidekicks, sorry! This time, exceptionally, I’ll just talk about the main couple.

Parker is your dream gentleman hidden beneath his hockey player captain status. He always puts his friends and the people he cares about before himself and go really out of his way to make them happy. I loved how he protected and wooed Eli without Eli even realizing it all before it was too late, haha! I really loved that Ashford was able to build such a male and gentle guy at the same time, burling the stereotypes like a boss ❤

Regardless of my feelings for Eli’s life decisions or panics, he was also very well constructed. He was funny and charismatic without pulling the effort and charmed his way into any social group, which is mildly fantastic! Especially if you, like me, prefer to walk always with the same people, haha! (Don’t get me wrong, I swear I have plenty of friends, but my coolest parties are always with the same girls, oops! I’d totally include Eli on my parties from now on, tho!)

Also, I feel like is my duty to inform this book has steamy hot scenes and it’s not for those faint of heart. Parker and Eli go good at each other and I really like their chemistry pretty much all the time, haha!

Now, how about some quotes? Of course we have cool quotes! How else would I woo you guys into fangirling about it with me?? =O Here we go!!

“I’m a fucking catch, thank you very much. Except I remember that Parker just insinuated he’s my boyfriend, and wait, what?” – Eli’s thoughts

~*~

“It takes a little while for my brain to get back online, distracted by Parker’s…everything.” – Eli’s thoughts

~*~

“I’m full of excellent decisions, what can I say?” – Eli’s thoughts

~*~

“Opening the door, I motion for him [Eli] to go in first. He fake curtsies, and I laugh. Just force of habit, I guess – I open the doors for everyone, male or female.” – Parker’s thoughts

~*~

“You just said you needed a diagram to fully explain it. That sounds pretty complicated, Parker.” – Eli

~*~

“I still don’t know what I’m doing, but a little bravery never hurt anyone, right?” – Parker’s thoughts

~*~

To wrap things up: if you are a gay romance lover, a fake relationships lover, a fluffly books lover and you’re ready for that quick and delicious read to relax you all over, you MUST read Junior Jolt ❤

Thank you for reaching the bottom of this review! It always means a lot to me to know you came all the way down ❤ Also, thanks so much again to Elaine Ashford and to her team for selecting me for this ARC, I was made a very happy and satisfied girl!

Love you all and see you around!

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,

The Dreamer, from E.J. Mellow (Dreamland #1)

(Alternative title: The book that I was dying to read since I entered bookstagram on 2015 and disappointed me more than the new chicken sandwich at McDonald’s)

Hi, there! I knooow, twice in the same week? It must be a miracle! HAHAHA

Anyway, hope you all are doing ok! Today I’ll talk about one of the books that Jess, from the Mud and Stars, and I read on our book club: The Dreamer, first book in the Dreamland series, from E. J. Mellow! Jess posted her review up here and, while I know I won’t do such a good job, I wanted to share my opinions on it as well 🙂

Oh, and I received my copy of the book from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. I can’t even begin to apologize to them for the delay in reviewing it, but better late than never, right??

Anyway, let’s talk about The Dreamer 🙂

Molly hasn’t slept well since the night of her twenty-fourth birthday. Being struck by lightning might have something to do with it, but then again, her chicken did look a little undercooked at dinner. Whatever the culprit, her life quickly catapults from mundane to insane as, night after night, Molly is transported through her once dreamless sleep to a mysterious land illuminated by shooting stars.

There she meets the captivating but frustrating Dev, and together they discover Molly possesses a power coveted by his people—the ability to conjure almost anything she desires into existence. Seduced by the possibilities of this gift, Molly shifts her attention from waking life toward the man, the magic, and the world found in her dreams.

But Molly must ask herself—does something truly exist if you only see it when you close your eyes?

Faced with the threat of losing everything—her job, best friend, boyfriend, and most importantly, that little thing called her sanity—Molly will learn just how far she’ll go to uncover what is real and what is merely a figment of her imagination.

Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂

As I mentioned above, I was dying to read this book since the moment I entered bookstagram, in 2015. When I had the opportunity to do so, I actually giggled in joy and high-fived the universe. Everybody said such good things about it! The concept was amazing – I mean, who never wanted to consciously be able to go somewhere else when sleeping? – and the mystery sounded delicious. It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that I was a victim of foul marketing. The reading experience of this book for me was very bad. I only ended up rating it 3 stars because the concept was so amazing and I have to keep recognizing that. I just wished the execution was better. Oh well. Now let’s get even more ranty, shall we?

The narrative was one of the few things that pleased me. The pace was good – not too fast, not too slow – and we are introduced to Molly’s reality and dreams on a sane level. I mean, don’t expect a hundred pages explaining why things are happening and revealing it all right before the end. I liked to be slowly presented to the reality of things 🙂 Also, Mellow’s writing is very good and she has good humor catches. You have to take the hat off to her!

BUT we have a first person narrator – Molly – and if you used to hang around here much before my crisis, you know how I have a… Difficult?… Relationship with first person narrators. I usually love or hate them and the hate usually surpasses the love. And oh God, how I hated Molly. It wasn’t unusual for me to start conversations with Jess by saying “OMG JESS I HATE HER SO MUCH”. I know, poor Jess! Hahaha!

Now, as I’m talking about Molly, let me just skip over to the characters. I didn’t like a single character on this book. I know I am a bore and have really high expectations, but no one in this book has a hobby. Molly and her bff only talk about boys, her life is her work and her boyfriend, her boyfriend’s hobby seems to be hang out with Molly, the people on her dreams only seemed to be around doing nothing, even when they were on their break from their “work”. I can’t relate to this. Even workaholics have a hobby: THEIR JOB! Not Molly’s case, I assure you.

To be honest, I could have overlooked all of this if it wasn’t for this really tiny detail: INSTALOVE.

And not only that. Instalove + amorous triangle + a forceful male + the chosen one. I can’t respect a girl that allows a guy to try to hurt her just to make a point, sorry. This was so not sexy! But again, everything about Dev just made me mad. If you are thinking me a heartless bitch just by reading this review, imagine what Jess had to go through during the month of this reading, haha! Just go there and offer a virtual hug, she deserves it!

Okay, now the plot. As I said, I really like this concept and I think Mellow had a wonderful idea. Another land reachable only through dreams? A girl hit by a lightening? The border between dreams and reality? PERFECTION!

Oh, also! Can we just take a moment to forget all my ranting and just appreciate the MARVELOUS cover of this book? I wish I had a poster of it! SOOO PRETTY *–* I’d totally buy it just for display purposes as I’m sure as hell I won’t be reading it again.

I do apologize to Mellow, as I don’t want to be mean, but I felt like she said “great, I have a million dollar idea. Now let me just add here every cliché that I know of”. My other bff friend, @thepagemistress (if you are on Instagram, you just have to follow her!), taught me to flip a switch in my head every time I read the line: “I released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding” and all its adaptations. She really hates it, as she claims it is overused (and she is so right!), so I ended up always noticing when this is used and Mellow uses it SO MUCH! Honestly, it was a deal breaker for me. I don’t have many problems in seeing it being used at some point of the book, but more than once? Come ooooon!

I wanted to wrap it up by saying that, while I won’t keep reading this series, I wanted for you all to understand that if I am laying such heavy critics on something, it was because I cared about what I was reading. When I don’t, I simply say the book wasn’t for me (it has already happened). But I cared about The Dreamer. I think this book was meant for me, but for my 12-year-old self. Sometimes, it sucks to be a journalist and seeing all that could have been instead of what it really is, haha!

Wow, that was a heavy and boring review! What are you guys still doing here? HAHA! Thanks for reaching the bottom of this post and thanks once again to Xpresso Book Tours for my review copy 🙂 I hope you guys aren’t feeling discouraged to read this book – I mean, have you seen the amount of 5 stars reviews it has? I mean, what do I know about life? I’m just a vampire with the 16 face and the 86 mind. I’m sure that, if you like fantasy and Red Queen, you’ll love this one. Actually, I’m glad to see an indie author to gather so much attention, so keep reading E. J. Mellow’s books, guys! And tell me bellow what you thought of them, please, haha! 🙂

Love you all and see you another time,

27 Days to Midnight, from Kristine Kruppa

Hi, there! I’m back with a review for a book that destroyed me. Seriously, this book just grabbed my heart, squeezed, stomped on it and left me. Just like that. I’m talking about the painful standalone 27 Days to Midnight, from Kristinne Kruppa!

I’ve received my copy from YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone in Dahlia’s world knows when they’re going to die. Except her.

Her father has never shown her the pocket watch counting down the days she has left to live. When he sacrifices himself to save her from her scheduled death, Dahlia abandons her comfortable home and sets off after his murderer to uncover the secrets her father died to protect…and the time research that could bring him back to life.

Then she meets Farren Reed. She should hate him. He’s an enemy soldier, a cowardly deserter, and the most insufferable man Dahlia’s ever met. Still, she needs all the help she can get, and Farren is the only chance she has to find the man who murdered her father. But Farren has only twenty-seven days left on his watch.

In that time, Dahlia must recover her father’s time research, foil a psychotic general’s plot, and learn to survive in a world that will never be the same. But the research holds secrets more dangerous than she had ever imagined. She will have to choose what is most important: revenge, Farren’s life, or her own. And time is running out.

Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂

Did I mentioned that this book destroyed me? Seriously, it did. The notion of having your exact lifetime engraved in a watch was so romantic and so creative! I loved the world building, the characters, the narrative style, the humor, the drama, the steampunk element, EVERYTHING! I fell in love with both Dahlia and Farren and I couldn’t get enough of them. The end was so perfect that led me to tears in my second confirmed case of tears due over-perfection. Five stars is not even close to watch this book really deserves: A MILLION INFINITE STARS!

The narrative style was third person with switching points of view. We follow Dahlia and Farren most of the time, but we can also see the story from the POV of other characters whose identifies will be kept a secret due spoilers. Despite being a mystery book, the switching is very well done and helps the reader to have all the pieces to put together. However, Kruppa waits until the very last moment to give us the glue, haha! You saw what I did there.

Kruppa’s writing also was wonderful, as the book had a good pace, was packed with feelings, a lot of humorous moments to break the dramatic and desperate scenario of both Dahlia and Farren, and a fluid language that made the reader fly through the pages without noticing it.

The plot was BRILLIANT AND A WORK OF ART! Ahem, ok, I’m controlled. I think. Maybe not. Let’s move on? Hahaha!

I loved how Kruppa slowly eases the reader into her world, without rushes or endless pages of explanations. Each time that she switches POVs, the author manages to bring her own world in a new way, on the way in which that particular character sees it, giving more importance to some elements over others. For example, when we follow Farren’s mind, the nature and the freedom are the main themes, because those are the things that matter for him. Isn’t this magical?

As I already ran myself over, let’s get deep on characters, haha! Talking about Farren: he is one of the sweetest boys ALL TIME and made it to my bookish boyfriends list with ease since his first scene. I love smooth talkers, oops! Also, come on: the guy is gorgeous. You have to give me a break, haha!

I loved how Kruppa portrayed his struggle to accept his eminent death and how not okay he was about it despite the brave face he put on. Farren gives value to every breath that he has and he honestly loves to be alive, so it makes us think. Would he be like that if he didn’t know how much time he had?

Oh the other hand, we have Dahlia. She didn’t know how much time she had until the incident with her father and she lives as if life isn’t a present, but a granted deal. A scene that really dug on my heart was right on the beginning, when a street lady freaks out because her watch is about to stop and asks Dahlia for help. Dahlia has a very immature and selfish behavior towards the woman and never gave her a second thought. I was so shocked then that I swore I’d hate Dahlia. Well, I didn’t know how much she would grow as a person during her adventure or how much Farren would change her for good. I just wished Dahlia had remembered that woman at some point after her change, to seal it, but I guess she doesn’t need closure as I do, haha!

Also, I thought it amazing of Kruppa to come up with a heroine that wasn’t white. YA books are notoriously in need of more diversity of gender and race without the big drama behind being anything other than straight and white. Double round of applause for Kruppa, that managed to have a non-white heroine and not make a big deal about minorities at the same time!! ❤

I fell hard for the villain, as he was crazy, sexy and murderous at the same time, haha! Oh, and beautiful. I love beautiful, crazy and very fictional men on those circumstances ;D And he took the final steps into the madness hole for love. I find this so romantic, in a dramatic and gothic way! I may need therapy.

Everything has been wonderful, everybody is happy, the book is perfect and made me cry and I need more. Cool, nice. HOWEVER, I did have some problems with it. As I mentioned above, I’m one of those people that need closure in life, of any sort. It just needs to close, seriously. And there were many loose ends on this book AND THE END SHOT ME IN THE HEART AND KICKED ME IN THE BACK WHEN I FELL ON THE FLOOR. As it is a standalone book, I got really angry and cried more, as I’ll never see this characters again in new situations. I may re-read and find new bits, it’s true, but nothing major. Not straight forward answers. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO LIVE WITH THIS.

Also, I didn’t like the fact that the chapters had titles. THEY WERE HUGE SPOILERS D: Sometimes, this works in books. This isn’t one of those cases.

Okay, I’m good now. Let’s go back to the place where this book is all perfect and move to the cover, because I decided to always make a meaningful comment on the covers now. (#what) The cover was what drawn me to this book in the first place. Then I read the summary and was done for, haha! I usually am not a fan of illustrations, but this one was so delicate and romantic and mysterios AND BEAUTIFUL that I couldn’t bring myself to be a bore about it. I just want to hug it, haha! Also, the golden details really matched the blue shades. This one made it to my personal list of beautiful covers ❤ (Yes, I have lists for EVERYTHING. Judge me)

However, despite the dramatic and brilliant title, this book may be misjudged for a children’s book easily, especially the ebook version in which you can’t see how long it is. Just saying.

Now, I took the liberty of selecting some of the most awesome quotes in the book for you to understand how cool it is 🙂

“Dahlia tried to ignore him (as much as anyone could ignore an eight-foot-tall cyborg). She was too busy putting together a few choice phrases to use in her argument once he [the cyborg] quieted down.”

~*~

“The physical wounds were infinitely more manageable than the emotional ones.”

~*~

“He was back at the beginning, more alone than he’d been before he knew what it was like to not be lonely.”

~*~

And this killer dialogue:

Farrren: You okay, sweetheart?

Dahlia: Yes. I was just thinking.

Farren: Ah. Dangerous stuff.

Dahlia: Dangerous, yes, but necessary. It’s a pastime you might want to consider.

Farren: Ouch.

~*~

If you ask me, the strongest points on this book are the steampunk element, the characters construction and the humor behind it 🙂

Overall, this book had some flaws, but nothing that shadowed its perfection. Kruppa made a hell of a job here and I find it hard to believe that this is her debut novel. If you like steampunk, adventure and heart shattering books, you need 27 Days to Midnight in your life. NOW.

Thanks for reading my review and thanks so much to YA Bound Book Tours for my review copy and spot on this tour!

Happy 1st Blog Anniversary to The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange!

Hi, there!! Yesterday was a very important day for me, but sadly I was beaten up and couldn’t muster the efforts to celebrate. Well, I’m making up for that now: IT’S MY FIRST BLOGGING ANNIVERSARY!

You got it right: On June 22th, The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange completed its first anniversary! ❤ A lot has changed since last June, not only for me, but for the blog as well. That’s what I’m going to talk about today: our firsts, lasts, good and bad experiences. If you don’t feel like reading a long (and possibly grandma-sounding) post, you better give me an hour or two to go back to my regular schedule for the day, haha!

The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange wasn’t my first blog, but it definitely is the first that survived. I know it sounds harsh, but it’s the truth. I can remember having seven blogs since I’m a child and none survived before this one. My first one was a gif blog (way before Tumblr times) that I had with a friend. I think it worker for a month – we were children, after all. With the same friend, I started a blog for the Olsen twins in 2004. Didn’t last too, as they were already slipping from the spotlight – and from our interest.

I miss watching those funny romantic comedies with them.

Then I had a famous people blog in a God forsaken format that I’m not sure if it existed outside Brazil followed by an attempt at writing a blog as if I was a pirate. Maybe that would have been a nice idea. Anyway, this was followed by a comic stories blog about my own life – all my college teachers said I should have become a stand up comedian – and it didn’t last too. Then, we had this project on college classes to build a blog talking about cool places in our State. As soon as the classes were over, so was the blog, but I didn’t care about that one.

Then a friend called me over to write with her on her blog and that’s where my book blogging started. I’d talk about books, weird things, nerd things, anything. And at some point of this, The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange was born. It has the same name since the start and while it is oh-so-freaking-long-and-a-pain-to-type kind of name, it couldn’t be more true, as all my adventures happen in books.

I mentioned once in a tag that I am an extremely detached person for good and bad and this applies to hobbies too. In my whole life, the only obsession that never eventually left me were my books. And I’m glad to see that this blog isn’t an obsession anymore, but my fortress. Obsessions fade with time and boredom; fortress get stronger and safer. I pride myself on my reviews, as I’m always honest and try to not be rude – if I am, that wasn’t my intention at all!

I won’t lie, it’s hard to keep the blog running. You have to take the time to write the post, choose the picture, format it all – sometimes, with WordPress against you – and still have to make a time to stop at your friends’ blogs and honor their work. It’s exhausting, but in my humble opinion, it’s all worth it.

Despite being a digital professional, in the sense that I do that for a living in my offline life, I don’t consider myself a successful blogger, just a very fortunate one. I have almost 300 followers, which is not much for a year of blogging, but I made so many wonderful friends that I don’t get upset for not being more successful and big. I started the whole thing as a hobby and to discuss books with people. I got exactly what I wanted and I feel blessed ❤

Thank you all for sticking around even if it hasn’t been for long. You mean the world to me! But now let’s talk about the firsts of The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange:

– The blog was originally hosted on blogger, but I changed my mind and transferred it for WordPress. Best decision ever, if you ask me, haha!

– My first published review here was The Murders in The Rue Morgue, from Edgar Allan Poe;

– My first book sent for review purposes was Sharp love, by my goddess Ava March, way before I even had this blog;

– My first book received through this blog was Breach Point, from Steve Spatucci;

– My first book tour was for Mystical, by Michel Weekly;

– My first won giveaway was hosted by my now bff @thepagemistress at Instagram;

– My first book received through NetGalley was Shattered Blue, from Lauren Bird Horowitz;

– My first paperback book received from an author was also Shattered Blue; (<3)

– My first (and only, for now) movie review was for Austenland;

– My first manga review was for Desire, from Maki Kazumi and Yukine Homani;

– My first all HTML made post was for Unicorn Attacks book blitz – it was fun, but a one time thing, as HTML takes so damn long, haha!

– On April, I designed a simple title head banner and smaller banners to give the blog some id and that was the first design change that I did since the creation of the blog;

And, to end this os-so-grandma-like post: the first time I tried to record a vlog was last February with miserable flaws due lack of proper equipment. However, it wasn’t my last. I really want to open a channel at YouTube and taking my book randomness there too ❤

Thanks so much for reading all of this and for putting up with me though this all! I love you all from the bottom of my heart! ❤

SECOND ANNIVERSARY, BRING IT ON!

About blogging, working and taking care of the house… All at the same time

Hi, guys! It’s me again.

I know I’m not one to write personal posts that don’t include books very often and that’s a choice of mine – I mean, blogging is a kind of getaway from real life for me, so it seems a bit weird to talk about real life here when there is no connection to books. However, I’ve been feeling the need to talk about the changes in my life since I started working again. So, if you don’t feel like reading a personal post, stop now and give me half an hour to post my scheduled posts for the day over here 🙂

You may want to sit, this will be a long ride.

For those who haven’t been around very long, hello! I’m Annelise, a 21 year old journalist that just got her degree last December. I’ve been released from my former agency last July,thanks to my country’s economical crisis, and just got back to work on the last week of May, on the 25th. It was pratically a year at home, only taking my last classes at college and working on my dissertation.

As I still live with my parents – who work out – and I’m an only child, it was natural for me to unburden my mom from her house chores and absorb them into my day. She didn’t ask me, I simply did it. I was jobless, it was the least I could do in my vision. And I had the blog, that will complete its first year this month, on June 22th. I’d love to say that I have wonderful things planned for the date, but that would be a lie. But we’ll get there.

Anyway, I had a big apartment to run, a legacy of better financial times for my family, an old and lovely dog to take care of (yes, I’m talking about my princess Lady, she’s 14) and a blog to keep running. Oh, and my bookstagram account. For 11 months, this was my routine: take care of the house, make lunch for my parents, take care of my dog and when it all was ready to go, blog and Instagram away.

As wonderful as my life was, I felt constantly judged because I couldn’t get a job. It felt like the working spots were there for everyone but me, no one seemed to need what I can offer as a professional. My parents wouldn’t say anything, but honestly? They didn’t have to, especially my mom. No matter if the house was perfect and tidy, if I was getting review request after review request, or if I was meeting awesome people that became offline friends as much as online. I wasn’t making money, so I logically was wasting my time.

With my family with really low on cash, all the non-spoken pressure and the sense of social failture for leaving college without a steady income, I started to freak out a little. And then I blogged more. Because here I could control my life, I could let my passions run free. Being chubby wasn’t a problem. The lack of a boyfriend wasn’t a problem. The lack of money wasn’t a problem. The sick dog wasn’t a problem. My only problems over here are whether a book deserses a certain rating or not, how to say constructive things for all the books that I read, if I answered all my friends and am up to date with their blogs.

Life on WordPress is wonderful, seriously.

And then last month my ex-boss, a wonderful woman that taught me everything I know about my job, who I deeply admire and am proud to call my personal friend nowadays, gave my name to another former co-worker of ours, for a spot on my area. I was called on the agency, made it through the interview and was hired on the same day.

Honestly, I was so happy – and still am. I felt like my life was on some sort of cosmical pause and that everyday looked exactly like the same, I needed the change of scenario and I feel blessed to have a job among a very huge political and economical crisis. But things changed.

As it happens to everything in life, it’s time to adjust now and that’s where lays the problem. I’m not being able to perform my house chores alone anymore and now I feel my mom silent jugding me because I can’t help her enough. My poor Lady spends the whole day alone and my heart breaks everyday to think that I may not be there for her if the wost happens. I feel like my blogposts are not the same anymore, not even half as complete as I’d like to – hell, I can’t even keep up with myself. I’m reading way more than I can review.

All of this has been bothering me a lot because I honestly don’t know how much of this is really my new routine interfering in my private activities and how much this is actually my fault. And the worst part is that no one can answer this but me. I’m confused and messed up.

I know that sooner or later I will adjust and make room for all my chores + blogging on my daily routine, but I’d rather not freak out until then.

What I’m trying to say with this post is that I’m really, really scared. Living my own life is terrifying. I’ll keep trying until I win this war, but it doesn’t make me more comfortable or brave. Just more… Scared, haha.

Since I entered college, I made a point of not giving up anything in life that I really wanted or believed in. Right now, I want this job to be awesome, I want to keep being a blogger and I want to be able to do my house chores and try to make my mom’s life easier. And, more than anything, I want this choices that I’ve made so far to be the right bets.

My whole point is: you believe in something, you keep fighting for it. That’s my plan and not even all my insecurities, reservations and problems will keep me from it. I will adjust, I will go back to a better post quality (in my humble vision) and I will still have time left to clean up my house. All I need is time.

… And to convince myself of all of that.

Thanks so much for reading and I’m really sorry for this so-out-of-nowhere post, but I needed to unload my heart without being too heard offline. I’m very tired of offline people around me blatantly ignoring my previous experience of three years working in agencies and assuming that all my personal problems are due my new job. I mean, hello? This is the only damn thing that is working out for me right now!! Ugh.

Seriously, you are a hero if you made it to this far and, for that, I thank you 🙂 Sorry for turning my blog into a temporary therapy session, but hey, not my fault if I can’t afford a therapist, hahaha!

See you again in some mintures, when I come back at pretending everything is only rainbows, flowers and love.