Month: May 2016

Cristina’s Close Look [4]: Abuse and Assault in Fantasy Featuring A Court of Mist and Fury

Posted May 30, 2016 in Cristina's Close Look, Discussions / 19 Comments

Cristina’s Close Look is a more specific type of discussion here at Girl in the Pages, where I find a trope, topic, or theme and explore the topics more in depth with a little bit of analysis and a lot of enthusiasm. Feel free to join into the discussion in the comments! Topic: Abuse and Assault in Fantasy Featuring A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas *Warning: This post will contain spoilers for the novel A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Thorns and Roses. Just a heads up if you haven’t read it […]

The Crown by Kiera Cass (Selection Series #5) | Review

Posted May 23, 2016 in Reviews / 10 Comments

I think it’s clear to everyone that this series has stunning covers and an addictive presence, and therefore makes many a reader and blogger hit the “purchase” button even if we’re on the fence about this series. This has both served me well and disappointed me depending on which book in the series I am reviewing, as some of the books (The Selection, The One, The Heir) I’ve found decent, quick reads, while others (The Elite, the novellas, etc.) were a chore to read. I went into The Crown with high hopes, seeing as I much preferred Eadlyn to America […]

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas | The Book That Stole My Soul

Posted May 16, 2016 in Reviews / 27 Comments

Here- here was the most powerful High Lord ever born. The face of dreams and nightmares (408). *Disclaimer: The first part of this review will be *relatively* spoiler-free, and the second half below the line will discuss spoiler elements. You’ve been warned! I am a book blogger. I read a large volume of books every year. I review almost all of them. Some I love, some I hate, few I flail over. Yet when I do find a book that completely enraptures me, I am always convinced it’s going to be the best book of the year, that I’ll never […]

We Should All Be Feminists- A Book Buddies Discussion

Posted May 12, 2016 in Book Buddies Reviews / 4 Comments

Cristina and Lauren Read: Book Buddies is a discussion style review I participate in every other month with my friend Lauren who runs the blog Bookmarklit. We choose a themed book for the month, read it, and the have a discussion where we both discuss themes and aspects that really stood out to us. Book Buddy Reviews are posted during the last week of the month.You can see our review in a Q&A format with half posted here, and half on Lauren’s blog! This month Lauren and I chose a topic that has shaped and taught both of us: feminism. […]

The Importance of Personal Aesthetic in Literature

Posted May 11, 2016 in Discussions / 19 Comments

There are so many elements I love about the young adult genre, especially themes such as acceptance, self-exploration, and the valuation of personality over aesthetic. However, it’s also come to my attention that in some ways the genre has tried so hard to elevate the normal protagonist or fight for the underdog that it’s created inverse stereotypes in order to break others: pretty girls are mean girls, wealthy people are evil, privileged people don’t have problems, those who care about their appearance are vain and shallow (generalizations, but you see the point). The breaking of stereotypes in favor of implementing […]

Two Summers by Aimee Friedman | ARC Review

Posted May 10, 2016 in Reviews / 8 Comments

I’ve never read a parallel-universe theme booked, and I never thought when I did first read one that it would come in the form of a summer contemporary novel. However, when I was lucky enough to find an ARC of Two Summers in my hands, I found myself confronting the new-to-me sub-genre of parallel universes with equal parts skepticism and excitement. I’m extremely glad to say that Two Summers was a wonderful, compelling contemporary novel in its own right, with gorgeous settings, juicy secrets, and fascinating family dynamics. The fact that it utilized a parallel universe structure extremely cohesively and […]

In Which I Somehow Acquired ALL the Books

Posted May 8, 2016 in Book Hauls / 16 Comments

I don’t usually do “haul” posts because I’m usually pretty disciplined with my book buying (for a book blogger, at least). I try to limit myself to no more than 1 book per week, which averages out to 4 books per month or $40 a month spent on books, which I think is *fairly* reasonable. However, over the past 4 weeks I’ve acquired 20 books (thank you, YALLWEST) and I feel like I’ve only shared snippets of those purchases/gifts/acquisitions here and there. I wanted to put them all in one place (and perhaps in doing so, convince myself I don’t […]

YALLWest Round 2: A Quintessentially California Tradition

Posted May 3, 2016 in Book and Author Events, Travel / 6 Comments

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that last year I attended the inaugural YALLWest, the exclusively YA California book festival that takes place in Santa Monica every spring (affectionately deemed “Bookchella” least year since it was the same weekend as Coachella). It was my first big “bookish” event with other bloggers, authors, and publishers and I had one of the best weekends of my life. Needless to say, I knew I would be attending the sophomore year of the festival, and found it to be just as amazing, with even more structure, organization, and additions […]