theyaaddict

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looking back on 2018

looking back on 2018

Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash 2018 was wonderful & scary & intense.

It was a year of coming to terms with the things I cannot change and trusting that whatever happens, I’ll be okay. It felt endless when I was in the midst of things but here we are now. I’m going to jump right in and share the things I did this year!

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5 things book lovers struggle with

5 things book lovers struggle with

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

The last time I wrote a discussion post was approximately…two (?) years ago so bear with me. Today, I’m discussing some of the struggles I’ve experienced as a book lover. So sit down, grab a drink, get comfortable, and be prepared to (hopefully) relate. 

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mini reviews for books i read last month

mini reviews for books i read last month

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Today, I’m back with mini reviews of Emergency Contact and The Loneliest Girl in the Universe. As you can probably guess from the blog title, I’m falling behind on writing reviews! But the good news is that I am now 7 books ahead on my Goodreads Reading Challenge!! Realizing that I have less than a month until college starts (at which point I won’t have much time…

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leah on the offbeat ~ a book that made me cry happy tears

leah on the offbeat ~ a book that made me cry happy tears

Publisher:HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray Release Date: April 24 2018 Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Rating: 5 stars Goodreads Blurb: Leah Burke—girl-band drummer, master of deadpan, and Simon Spier’s best friend from the award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda—takes center stage in this novel of first love and senior-year angst.

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but…

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Okay I know I’m late to this but HELLO EVERYONE. I wasn’t tagged but I decided to participate after seeing this tag around the blogosphere. (Also, Jasmine @ Jasmine’s Reading tagged everyone who hasn’t done this tag yet so thank you Jasmine!) I think the tag was originally created by Chami and Ely. And I just wanted to spread some love to bloggers I follow who did this tag so here are some blogs you should check out (I linked to their book tag post!): A Frolic Through Fiction, This Dark Material, Librae Paints Pages, Forever and Everly, A Whisper of Ink, Free Perspectives, and Paper Fury.

My Goodreads Reading Challenge Progress

As you can tell, I’m falling behind!!! *whispers* How did this happen?!

1. best book(s) you’ve read so far this year

  I’ve had a pretty good reading year so far because I started ditching books I’m not enjoying. So the books I do finish are usually solid four or five star reads. (Sadly, there are exceptions to this rule.) I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction books this year and they turned into unexpected faves!

I don’t even know where to start when it comes to my love for The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. This book has such a beautiful, diverse, cast of characters that take care of each other and it’s completely unlike anything I’ve read before. I am definitely going to be finishing this series. As for Leah on the Offbeat, it was just really cute and perfectly imperfect and the ending made me very happy. There’s a full review coming soon! I also plan to review Let’s Talk About Love which gave me ALL THE FEELS. Sleeping Giants is a sci-fi book that I loved for its unique formatting and cool premise. The plot twists are unpredictable and I couldn’t stop reading. Lastly, The City of Brass is the fantasy that EVERYONE needs to read. It’s complex, full of political intrigue and fascinating creatures (the djinn!!). It’s the kind of book that stayed with me and I often found myself wondering what the characters are up to when I couldn’t fall asleep late at night. 

2. best sequel you’ve read so far this year

  Turns out I’ve read five or six sequels this year. It was a struggle to narrow it down but I managed (mostly because my memory is giving out on me and I can’t describe all these books without the help of Goodreads).  

The Evolution of Mara Dyer is the first book I read this year and it was amazing. This series is just so freaking weird, it’s hard to describe or explain (and also I don’t want to spoil it for you guys). Mara is THE unreliable narrator of the century and it’s so trippy reading this book because it’s hard to figure out whether the things that are happening are real or not. Also Noah is another character I have a huge crush on. 

I love Waking Gods but it’s hard (for me at least) to talk about this book without dropping fifty spoilers so just going to say that I highly recommend this series!

The Subtle Knife is the second book in the His Dark Materials series and honestly, I feel like this series gets stranger with every book. There are angels and witches and a knife that can cut through anything (literally ANYTHING). I liked seeing Will and Lyra’s friendship develop over the course of this novel and I just love fierce, brave, Lyra so much. She fights tooth and nail for her friends and her loyalty is impressive. 

3. new release you haven’t read yet, but want to

    Erm…there are A LOT of new releases I haven’t gotten around to reading yet but DESPERATELy want to so I tried to prioritise. The key word is TRIED. I’m going to read all of these books as soon as I can. VERY SOON. 

4. most anticipated release for the second half of the year

  Once again, I was like HOW DO I EVEN PICK?!? So I went down my mental list of favorite authors and happily remembered that they have books coming out this year!! I’m so excited to read these and fall in love with them and hug them (books need love and affection too okay!!). 

5. biggest disappointment

  Um I feel awkward saying this when Marie Lu is one of my favorite authors (I loved the Legend series!!) but Batman: Nightwalker was a bit of a let down. I wrote a review talking about why I felt that way. MY DNF shelf on Goodreads has been steadily growing over the last few years and that’s because I added the rest of the books above to it. I feel like this may as well be a book tag where I express unpopular opinions because I know Caraval is an very popular book. I might give it another shot later but for some reason, I couldn’t get into it and I found myself bored. I had the same problem with Heartless. I was pretty disappointed by Wild Beauty because I love Anna-Marie McLemore’s other books and I expected to fall in love with this one too. Instead, I found myself confused and the book was too slow-paced to hold my interest. 

6. biggest surprise

A Discovery of Witches is a dense book. When I flipped through it and skimmed a few pages, I found it hard to believe that I would enjoy it. I also don’t usually read adult fantasy novels but I was intrigued by the Goodreads blurb. And well, it turned out to be complicated and slow (so basically a book I would DNF under normal circumstances) but I..actually enjoyed reading it a lot. This is one of my favorite books of the year (I know I didn’t mention it above but I’m trying to avoid being repetitive and talking about the same books all the time). 

7. favorite new author (debut or new to you)

  The Golden Compass was published four years before I was born but Philip Pullman is an author whose work I just discovered this year. I love the His Dark Materials series so much, it’s so fascinating and complex. It’s everything I expect in good fantasy. The same can be said for The City of Brass! 

8. newest fictional crushes

I genuinely thought this list would be longer but ah well.. I think it’s just proof that I need to read more!! (And also, I did mention two fictional crushes I had last year because they were renewed in intensity this year when I read other books in the series.) 

Takumi from Let’s Talk About Love // I’m reading this book right now and every time his character shows up, I’m just making HEART EYES and swooning. He sounds incredible and I just wish I could meet him in real life!! 

Noah from The Evolution of Mara Dyer // He’s awesome. Enough said. 

Warner from Restore Me // Like I would hate to separate him from Juliette because they’ve always been the best power couple BUT I have a crush. * sigh *

Dara from The City of Brass // He’s all mysterious and brooding. Basically he sounds perfect. 

9. newest favorite character

I thought I would have more favorite characters but…here we are. 

Nahri from City of Brass // She’s brave and I really admire how she takes things in stride. She’s thrown into this new world with different rules when she arrives at Daevabad but doesn’t let it deter her. Her character realistically develops over the course of the book and I related to her because she never has all the answers or knows what to do (which is how I feel sometimes!) so she just tries her hardest…and hopes things will work out!

Laylee from Whichwood // Whichwood is one of the few middle grade books I read this year and I enjoyed reading it so much. I related to Laylee’s loneliness because I had few friends when I was her age (thanks to changing schools!). But this book reminded me again of just how powerful and healing friendships can be. 

10. book that made you cry

  I don’t usually cry over books so…this was hard to answer. Anil’s Ghost was a book I read for English class and it was definitely an unexpected fave. This book hit me so hard. Whichwood also made me cry. Not as much as Anil’s Ghost but there were a few moments where I really felt for Laylee.  

11. book that made you happy

I finished reading Let’s Talk About Love and I was smiling so much my face hurt. Alice and Takumi GIVE ME LIFE. Alice is working through some things and there are some heavy moments but despite all that, Let’s Talk About Love is a book that made me squeal and giggle. (Sidenote: PLEASE recommend more books like it to me if you read it too!) 

12. favorite book-to-movie adaptation you saw this year

I know Love, Simon is the most popular answer to this question but I haven’t seen that many adaptations this year. (Also, Shadowhunters (the TV show) was pretty good and it’s based on the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. Magnus and Alec are my favorite fictional couple so I just had to mention it.)

13. favorite review you’ve written

I’ve only published five or six blog posts this year so far (including this one) and two of those posts were reviews. So I chose my review of Lady Midnight from last year because this is a series I absolutely love and I’m still surprised I managed to organize my thoughts into some kind of coherent review. 

14. most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)

I usually buy ebooks to read on my Kindle but I love the cover of my physical copy of The Book of Dust, which I’m definitely going to read as soon as I finish the His Dark Materials series. I’m almost done with it!! ALMOST THERE.

15. what books do you need to read by the end of the year?

UM THIS IS A LONG LIST. Like a really long list. Please refer to my answer to the question about new releases I want to read because those are all books I intend to read. But here are some more!! (Please feel free to comment below and suggest which of these I should read!)

    what are the books you absolutely fell in love with and can’t stop thinking about? are you keeping up with your goodreads reading challenge? who are your favorite characters? who are your latest book crushes? tell me everything!! (and thank you for reading this super long post!)

the mid-year book freakout tag (let’s pretend it’s still june & fangirl together!!) Okay I know I'm late to this but HELLO EVERYONE. I wasn't tagged but I decided to participate after seeing this tag around the blogosphere.

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book review: gena/finn ~ a quirky must read

book review: gena/finn ~ a quirky must read

Publisher: Chronicle Books Release Date: May 17 2016 Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Rating: 5 stars Goodreads Blurb: 

The story follows the unlikely friendship of two young women forged via fan fiction and message boards, and is told entirely in texts, chats, and blog posts.

Gena (short for Genevieve) and Finn (short for Stephanie) have little in common. Book-smart Gena is preparing to leave her…

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mini reviews for 5 star reads

mini reviews for 5 star reads

Photo by Studio 7042 from Pexels

I was going through old drafts of blog posts when I found a bunch of book reviews I never got around to publishing. Today, I’m finally sharing those reviews with you. This is the 5 star reads edition which means I’ll be gushing about two Young Adult fiction books I really enjoyed reading, Gena/Finn and Splintered!

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book review: batman: nightwalker ~ a disappointing read

book review: batman: nightwalker ~ a disappointing read

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers Release Date: January 2nd 2018 Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Rating: 3 stars Goodreads Blurb: 

Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.

The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list.

One by one, the city’s elites are being executed as…

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book review: a crown of wishes ~ a gorgeous diverse fantasy

I reviewed A Crown of Wishes on the blog! It's a gorgeous diverse fantasy ft great characters.

Publisher:St. Martin’s Griffin Release Date: March 28 2017 Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Rating: 5 stars Goodreads Blurb:  An ancient mystery. An unlikely union. For one young princess in a state of peril, a dangerous wish could be the only answer… She is the princess of Bharata—captured by her kingdom’s enemies, a prisoner of war. Now that she faces a future of exile and scorn, Gauri has nothing…

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beautiful people #26 ft. my writing process

beautiful people #26 ft. my writing process

HI EVERYONE! Now that summer break has arrived, I finally have more time to blog and write. This year, I decided to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo for the first time ever. I’m usually traveling during July but this time I’m spending the summer at home so I decided to make some progress in writing my book. I have never won NaNoWriMo before although I have attempted it several times (and regretted…

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Hey everyone! 

I noticed this book tag on two of my favorite blogs (more specifically: Happy Indulgence and Paper Fury) and decided to try it out myself! (Sidenote: This tag was created by Chami @ ReadLikeWildFire and Ely @ Ely Jayne.)

Hopefully it isn’t too late to join in haha. So without further ado, here are the questions and my answers!

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2017?

I have read 39 books in 2017 so far and I think the best book is probably Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did but I absolutely loved the characters. It’s a very relatable book for someone like me who is very obsessed with academics and grades and also stresses about getting into college. 

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2017?

This is definitely Our Dark Duet. Victoria Schwab always slays me with her writing. Kate and August were as fabulous as ever. 

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET, BUT WANT TO?

Haha I can’t pick one. I HAVE SO MANY BOOKS I WANT TO READ OK…but here are some that are at the very top of my list. 

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2017?

Once again, I have too many to choose from so I’ve included four! I’ve already heard so many great things about these books on Twitter. 

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT?

Probably Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz. I had high expectations and..well..I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style or the main character or the romance. I think it is an important book though because it’s #ownvoices and provides an accurate portrayal of the Asian immigrant experience. 

BIGGEST SURPRISE?

That would probably be Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik. This is probably the first Chick Lit or Women’s Fiction book I’ve ever read and I enjoyed it SO much. It’s hilarious and honest. I devoured the sequel immediately after finishing this book because I just couldn’t get enough of the characters!! 

FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR?

Heidi Heilig!! I fell in love with The Girl From Everywhere series this year and this was also a bit of a surprise because I don’t usually read historical fiction.  

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH?

Here are a few: Kashmir from The Girl From Everywhere, Rishi from When Dimple Met Rishi, Daniel from The Sun is also a Star, Kell from A Conjuring of Light, and Caius from The Girl at Midnight. 

NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER?

Julian from Lady Midnight. He’s so fierce and brave and protective of his younger siblings! I also like how he can be ruthless and calculating depending on the situation. He’s not 100% good all the time.  

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY?

I read this book for class but I enjoyed it quite a lot (even though it’s a very dark book). 

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY?

This book made me smile a lot while reading. It’s light and funny. Mim is still figuring things out and makes a lot of mistakes. I really empathized with her. I also loved all the descriptions of perfumes.

FAVOURITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION THAT YOU SAW THIS YEAR?

Not sure if this counts but I love the Shadowhunter TV series. It’s not accurate and the first season is a mess (and the second season isn’t amazing either) but for some reason, I really enjoyed watching it. Also Magnus and Alec are SO CUTE !!! 

FAVOURITE REVIEW YOU’VE WRITTEN THIS YEAR?

This reminds me – I need to write more reviews this year!! I had massive plans to post a review once in two weeks but failed because..reviewing is hard and I fall into blogging slumps spontaneously. ANYWAYS, my favorite review this year is probably the one I wrote last week for Lady Midnight. 

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU BOUGHT SO FAR THIS YEAR?

It’s either Our Dark Duet or A Conjuring of Light! And yes both of these books are by the same (AMAZING) author haha. 

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR?

I didn’t even ask myself this until I read this question..Hmm…My goal is to read some more diverse books by the end of the year but I already have ebook copies of A Crown of Wishes, The Bone Witch, and Iron Cast so I’m hoping to finish these books first. After that, I’ll be going through Goodreads and Twitter recommendations to decide my next read! 

How about you? What are some amazing books you’ve read this year? What books disappointed you? Do you have any recommendations for me? Oh and who are some of your fictional crushes? 

MID-YEAR BOOK FREAK OUT TAG

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book review: lady midnight by cassandra clare ~ an wildly compelling story

book review: lady midnight by cassandra clare ~ an wildly compelling story

Publisher: McElderry Books Release Date: March 8 2016 Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Rating: 5 stars Goodreads Blurb:  In a kingdom by the sea… In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word. A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love. Emma…

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book review: the perfectionists // murder & rumors & betrayal galore

Book Review:

Rating: 5 stars Goodreads Blurb: From the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series Pretty Little Liars comes a thrilling new novel about five perfect girls who are framed for a murder they didn’t commit. In Beacon Heights, Washington, five girls—Ava, Caitlin, Mackenzie, Julie, and Parker—know that you don’t have to be good to be perfect. At first the girls think they have nothing in…

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#AmWriting: In Which I Haven't Made much Progress..

#AmWriting: In Which I Haven’t Made much Progress..

Hey everyone, I’m back from my accidental hiatus to share some writing updates. In my “new year’s resolution” blog post in January, I talked about wanting to write ALL THE THINGS.. and I attempted to do this. I’ve written about 12,000 words worth of short stories (mostly first drafts) so far this year. I’ve also written about 40 poems (this is an estimate). I also wanted to submit my writing to…

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book review: splintered by a.g. howard

book review: splintered by a.g. howard

Publisher: Amulet Books Release Date: January 1 2013 Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Rating: 5 stars Goodreads Blurb:  This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family…

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poetry: language of smoke

poetry: language of smoke

First published in Lockjaw Magazine     every poem i’ve ever written is hungry in a slow-wheeze way, as if foxes were tearing apart a rabbit as i spoke. they huddled near the underbelly of something prehistorical and now, a pitted coconut or a plum heaving from it’s perch, remind me of how shiva spoke to me in the language of smoke. as a tinderbox blushes red, birch trees eulogized, an almond is…

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poetry: sweet

  First published in Sooth Swarm Journal   suppose i dress for another night, hair unfurled, skimming my bruised shadow. i wait out the rain & raise the damp month to dry, the days fluttering with all the grace of moths battered against a window. it’s oct 14th & i have one chance to leave. creamy pinpricks of light fist my hair & it’s shorn in one go, forming an exit wound, sweet & unfamiliar…