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

Posted May 16, 2016 in Reviews / 27 Comments
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas | The Book That Stole My Soul

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
We Should All Be Feminists- A Book Buddies Discussion

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
The Importance of Personal Aesthetic in Literature

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
Two Summers by Aimee Friedman | ARC Review

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
In Which I Somehow Acquired ALL the Books

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
YALLWest Round 2: A Quintessentially California Tradition

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 […]


Let’s Get Political: YA Book Recs For the Politically Inclined

Let’s Get Political: YA Book Recs For the Politically Inclined

This year is an election year in the United States, which means politics are even more in the limelight than usual and campaigns stickers can be found everywhere from backpacks to car bumpers. While this year’s election is arguably the biggest media circus in recent history (and it proves to be somewhat slim pickings, just saying) the focus on politics has reminded me of how much I love contemporary YA with political undertones. I’ve read a few great ones, and the political thread that runs through these novels impacts so many aspects of the story dynamics, from family tension to […]


Proposal (Mediator #6.5) & Remembrance (Mediator #7) by Meg Cabot | Review

Posted April 18, 2016 in Reviews / 3 Comments
Proposal (Mediator #6.5) & Remembrance (Mediator #7) by Meg Cabot | Review

After the success of Royal Wedding (the adult sequel to the YA Princess Diaries series) I have been beyond excited for the new Mediator books. I ordered this novella as a physical paperback (it’s tiny!) and it reminded me of the days I used to buy the Princess Diaries novellas at the bookstore, before e-readers were really a common thing. I had been seriously slumping since I finished Queen of Shadows, so switching up genres to paranormal and revisiting some of my favorite characters from the past (not to mention one of my first book boyfriends) seemed like the perfect […]


Sunday Funday: Where I Bring the Books Back [33]

Posted April 17, 2016 in Sunday Funday, Weekly Features/Memes / 6 Comments
Sunday Funday: Where I Bring the Books Back [33]

Sunday Funday is a weekly(ish) post I’ve started to recap the bookish (and sometimes not-so-bookish) happenings in my life the past week! Feel free to participate, just link back! April 11-17, 2016 Life Hello friends! It’s been a while since I did a weekly recap, but this week a lot of bookish things happened so I figured there was no time like the present to revive this feature from the dusty metaphorical shelf it’s been sitting on. This week was my mom’s birthday, so Max and I made the drive up to my parent’s house on Saturday (they live a […]


Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas | The Ultimate Book Hangover

Posted April 13, 2016 in Reviews / 7 Comments
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas | The Ultimate Book Hangover

“You make me want to live, Rowan. Not survive; not exist. Live.” It was only a few weeks ago that I was shouting from the rooftop (of my blog) about how much I loved Heir of Fire, and how the Throne of Glass series has come to shatter all of my preconceived notions of it after reading the first book. Now four books in, I have given each book that followed the first novel a solid 5 star rating. I am completely, devastatingly in love with this series, these characters, this universe, and anything Sarah J Maas writes in general. […]