My Novel . . . sort of

Although, I am not continuing my book reviewing blog, I still want to continue my writing. What I have never done is make my writing public for the world to see, as I am a wuss when it comes to taking criticism. However, I want to change myself for the better and have decided to upload what I wrote for NaNoWriMo onto wattpad and fiction press. I currently have five chapters up (out of about thirteen which I have already written) online. If you would like to give it ago, click the links below.

Fiction Press - War of Lies
Wattpad - War of Lies

I Might Not Be Back For A While

If any of you haven't noticed, I haven't posted anything new in over a month and this is largely because I haven't been reading as much. I could call this a reading slump but I feel like it is a lot more than just this. I haven't been wanting to read for a long time and I have started developing passions in other fields, such as art and music. I am sad to say that my love for books has diminished as it was such a large part of my life. I want to try to continue to read and write but trying to regain my passion for books as well as maintaining a blog is just not something I can do right now. I am sorry to anyone who found joy and/or interest in my book reviews and am sorry to be leaving.
Goodbye for now. Keep on reading!

I'm Back

Hello there, readers! As November comes to a close I will be returning to my book blog. As some of you know, I was taking a break to pursue NaNoWriMo, however around the 15 day mark, I had the revelation that I wasn't proud of anything that I was writing. I have learnt through this process that forcing myself to write words to meet a limit by a set time results in writing below my standard. Simply writing for the sake of writing is not healthy for me because it both causes me stress and leaves me unsatisfied. I decided to quit NaNoWriMo at that half-way mark and have been spending the past few weeks giving myself a break from the stress of both writing creatively and writing critically for this blog.

Starting December 1st, I will begin reading again and writing reviews, though the exact date of my next review is unknown.

Unpopular Opinions - A.K.A. Filler Time

As you may know from my previous post about NaNoWriMo, I have very little time to read with daily writing and my school assessments. In order to keep my blog updated and keep myself in the habit of writing blog posts, I decided to write an unpopular opinions post. Yeah, this will end well.

Before I started I just want to say, these are purely opinion. You do not have to agree with them, you likely will not. This is merely my way of presenting my kind of mindset as a reader and reviewer. Let's begin.

#1. Because of Cassandra Clare's previous scandals with plagiarism, I am very skeptical when it comes to starting the Mortal Instruments series or Infernal Devices series.

#2. Despite their popularity, I am not that interested in thriller novels. Even the successful ones like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.

#3. I tried to read Illuminae and I really wanted to like it, but I couldn't get into the story so I stopped reading about 100 pages in.

#4. I really liked The Last 13 series despite everyone saying it was cliche and stereotypical.

#5. My least favourite books from both Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus were the last books. I found myself so focused on getting to the end that I didn't pay much attention to the individual plots.

#6. I hate 'pre-loved' books and can barely stand sharing my books. I am extremely territorial when it comes to my books.

#7. As much as I love Les Miserables, I can only stand Les Amis de l'ABC. I have issues with Valjean, Javert, Fantine, Cosette, Eponine and Marius. Might be influenced by the musicals and movies.

#8. Many people say Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is there favourite HP book but I found it a little tedious to finish.

And those are my unpopular opinions. If you have any problems with my opinions, guess what? There is nothing in the universe that says that they are valid. Instead of writing a nasty comment in an attempt to discourage me, go and write a nice comment on something that you agree with. If you agree with any of my opinions, let me know so I can feel a little normal in this large universe of unpopularity.

The Reason For My Lack of Posting - NaNoWriMo

Hello to my readers. For anyone out there who might be wondering why I have not been posting any reviews lately, I have an explanation for you.

As many avid readers and writers know, November 1st sparks the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and for the first time I am going to attempt to write and finish a novel. I have been spending the past week planning and getting ready for the tough month ahead.

For those who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, it is a non-profit organisation which encourages and challenges people to write 50 000 words of a novel during the month of November. NaNoWriMo has been the origin of many successfully published novels such as Fangirl, The Night Circus and the first three books in The Lunar Chronicles series. As much as I love reading books, it has been my dream to write a book with my name on it that sells and gets recognition.

If you are interested in joining NaNoWriMo click here and if you would like to follow me as I write my novel click here.

Starting December, I will hopefully get back into a schedule of reading and reviewing books for all you lovely readers.

What a Peculiar Book - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is the story of Jacob, a completely ordinary teenage boy, whose life becomes not-so-ordinary after the traumatic death of his grandfather. After hearing his grandfather’s very cryptic last words, Jacob travels to a mysterious island where he finds the titular Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The main focus of the story is Jacob’s journey to discover the truth about his grandfather’s children and the truth about himself.

Going into this book, I was told that it was a good read for Harry Potter lovers and so I expected it to be very similar to that series but, after the first chapter, I was completely surprised by where the story was heading because it was very unexpected. Throughout the story, I could never predict what would happen next and every time I thought I was one step ahead, it would head in a direction. That kept me hooked and I loved every second of the story.

A thing that most people know about this book is that is includes a series of photographs which are referenced throughout the story. This is something I have never seen before in a book. Illustrations, yes. Photos from movie adaptations, yes. Original photographs which contribute to the story, no. The photos chosen really contributed to the mood of the story and added another element of mystery. The cover of the book is merely a glimpse at what is in store.

The characters is this story were so unique and interesting and their powers only added to my intrigue. I originally thought that the powers of the peculiar children would be the generic ones that I see all throughout fantasy novels. This person can fly, this person can make fire, this person can see into the future. And guess what? I got exactly that . . . but it was the people in which Riggs gave these powers to that made them unique. The person who can fly wears lead shoes to keep her down, the person with fire is a hot-head,the person who can see the future is a little kid who freaks out whenever he sees something. He also introduced powers which no one thought would be written about, like a boy who houses bees on his body or a boy who creates Homunculi and can reanimate the dead. And the most astonishing thing is that all of these powers are put into children, no older (physically) than early teens.

You know what, I’m gonna give this book a 10 out 10. It is only the first book of the series but I am already Peculiar trash. There are two more books in the series and I am just itching to read them. I’m not going to say read this if you love fantasy or if you’re a teenager. I am going to say to just read it.

Goodreads

Book Depository

You Read This For Solangelo - The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo series) by Rick Riordan

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan is Riordan’s first book in his new series, The Trials of Apollo, which exists in the universe of his awarding winning series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This is his eleventh book of his Greek/Roman mythology universe and follows the god Apollo, when Zeus turns him human as punishment. The story follows Apollo, now Lester, adjusting to his new form and trying to help Camp Half-Blood when campers begin to go missing.

For those familiar with Riordan’s work, you will know that his stories have a lot of humour, a lot of action and a lot of reference to mythology and history. He amazes me by connecting all of these elements together and creating unique and compelling stories which are very character-driven. After the PJO and HoO series, I didn’t think he would continue this universe but I believe I can speak on behalf of many that when I say that good old Uncle Rick surprised us with this new series.

I loved Riordan’s decision to make his protagonist a (former) god because it gives us a different perspective. All of his previous protagonists have been, for the most part, human or at least mortal and so they have always known their limits and have never been rendered less powerful they were before. However, with Apollo, we see a character that has always been in control and has never had to fear death being thrust into a situation where everyone else it more powerful than him. With the first person narration, we get an insight into Apollo’s thoughts and see how he reacts to his new situation. The development of Apollo’s character in only this first book was a very important part of this story for me.

One of the best things about this book for me as a Percy Jackson fan was that I got to see my favourite characters again and continue to experience their journey but I also loved being able to see characters from the original series whom I skipped over and didn’t learn a lot about. The combination of new and old characters made the story very attractive to previous fans.

Overall I gave this book a 9.5 out of 10 because I loved the characters, the plot and the universe, but I might be slightly biased because I have loved this universe and Riordan’s books for so long. This is great for young teens up to young adults but I would highly recommend reading the two previous series.

Goodreads

Book Depository - The Hidden Oracle

Book Depository - Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Good vs. Evil: A History - The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani is a fantastical story where two girls named Sophie and Agatha, one pretty and one ugly, are kidnapped from their village to attend the School for Good and Evil (roll credits) where Good students are taught to be our beloved fairy tale heroes and Evil students are taught to be their biggest adversaries. However, when Sophie and Agatha end up in the ‘wrong’ schools, they need to find a way to get home . . . but is that what Sophie wants?

I was hooked on this book from the very first sentence. ‘Sophie has waited all her life to be kidnapped.’ From the very first page, I was invested in the story and the characters and couldn’t wait to see what else was in store. The premise of the novel was one that I had heard of before but the way Chainani executes the idea is unlike any other.

The characters of Sophie and Agatha are so intriguing, whether you like them or not. I personally didn’t like Sophie’s personality much and yet she still interested me and drew me further into the story. They are seem like obvious Good vs. Evil stereotypes and I believe that is what Chainani wanted his readers to think. He wanted us to expect things to be as they seem but then he goes deeper into the truth about these characters. He gives everyone a different motive and pits them against each other.

I loved how the story shows the different ideals and beliefs of both the good and evil sides and demonstrated how the segregation had affected their opinions of the opposite side. We hear their beliefs and arguments and then see how the other side truly is. It was also interesting to see how the two girls reacted when they were put in an environment which they didn’t believe suited them. We see Agatha trying to put up with prissy, pink princesses and Sophie gag at the people she is forced to live amongst.

I’d give this book a 7.5 out of 10, because I loved to message that it presents and I loved to concept but I found some of the plot to be confusing or not greatly explained. I think anyone who is into fantasy novels read this book because it has a really good moral and the characters are honestly fantastic, whether you like them or not.

Goodreads
Book Depository