Month: May 2015

Taylor Swift Book Tag

The Taylor Swift Book Tag, created by The Book Life, pairs book titles to Taylor Swift’s songs. I saw it go around a bunch of blogs a while back, and it looked like SO MUCH FUN, so I put it on my list to get around to sometime even though nobody had actually tagged me. Psh rules! We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together A Book/Series That I Was Pretty Sure I Was In Love With, But Then Wanted To Break Up With Divergent was one of the first books I picked up after I finished reading The Hunger Games, and at the time, I […]

Posted May 21, 2015 by Debby in Memes / 3 Comments

ARC Book Review: Valiant by Sarah McGuire

When I first heard about Valiant, a fairy tale retelling with gender bending set at court and involving battles with giants, I knew I had to have this book in my life. It had so many of my favorite things that I couldn’t resist. And while I’m late in reviewing the book because the release date was moved up without my knowledge, I’m so glad I managed to fit this one into my schedule after all. Let me take a moment and give this brilliant and fun debut novel some of the publicity it so rightly deserves, so it doesn’t fall into the forgotten wasteland […]

Posted May 20, 2015 by Debby in Reviews / 2 Comments

Top Ten Failed Cover Redesigns

This is a meme from The Broke and the Bookish. For info about the topics and how to participate, click here. I was blanking for this week’s freebie topic, until Steph from Cuddlebuggery suggested failed cover redesigns. OH YES. I am prepared to talk about iffy cover redesigns all day erry day. (Though in making this, I’ve discovered there are far more redesigns I’m actually okay with.) Let’s go! 1. Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn These covers were SO perfect! So whimsical and cute and now we’re left with blahhhhh. I am not amused. I haven’t bought the first book yet […]

Posted May 19, 2015 by Debby in Memes, Top Ten Tuesdays / 14 Comments

ARC Book Review: Illusionarium by Heather Dixon

Having heard amazing things about Dixon’s debut, Entwined, that I have had on my shelf for years but shamefully not read yet, when the option to review Illusionarium came up, I jumped on that instantly. I’m generally a sucker for all things labeled steampunk anyway. But. Well, I think I may have learned my lesson not to jump the gun like that again. From the very start, Illusionarium and I didn’t get along – to the point where I honestly should have just stopped reading. But my sense of obligation bade me to continue. The problem with Illusionarium lies mostly in the premise and the […]

Posted May 18, 2015 by Debby in Reviews / 8 Comments

ARC Book Review: Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

When I first heard about Made You Up, I was instantly excited about it. I’m usually all about the light and fluffy contemporaries, but a main character with schizophrenia? A completely unreliable narrator, unsure of what is real and what is not? That was a premise that was way too interesting to pass up. And I’m glad I didn’t. This is a stunning debut by Francesca Zappia, and a story that will stay with me for a very long time. Made You Up follows Alex, a paranoid schizophrenic, who is starting out at a new school for senior year after a breakdown at her last […]

Posted May 15, 2015 by Debby in Reviews / 4 Comments

Unpopular Opinions Tag

I saw Christina (A Reader of Fictions) and Gillian (Writer of Wrongs) doing this last week, so obviously I considered myself tagged for reasons (mostly being that this looked like fun). This tag originated on Booktube, apparently, so I did not make it but I will gladly answer these questions! A popular book or series that you didn’t like Three tremendously popular series starters (probably *glares at AEitA*) that I didn’t care for one bit. The 5th Wave actually made an alien invasion boring and featured cardboard characters and creeeepy instalove. An Ember in the Ashes wasn’t actively terrible, but it was just meh all […]

Posted May 14, 2015 by Debby in Memes / 5 Comments

ARC Book Review: Lion Heart by A.C. Gaughen

The Scarlet series by A.C. Gaughen has been one of my favorite ongoing series since I dove into it last year, so obviously I started reading Lion Heart with equal parts excitement and nervousness. Gaughen has been all about the brutal endings so far, but surely she’ll give us a happy ending here, right? Lion Heart delivers a satisfying ending for sure and has cemented this series as one of my all-time favorites. What a wonderful feminist take on Robin Hood! I must admit that I had a bit of trouble getting back into the series when I started reading Lion Heart. It’s been more […]

Posted May 13, 2015 by Debby in Reviews / 3 Comments

Ten Authors I REALLY Want To Meet

This is a meme from The Broke and the Bookish. For info about the topics and how to participate, click here. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of my very favorite authors: Samantha Shannon, Tahereh Mafi, Kody Keplinger, Cora Carmack, Sarah J. Maas, and Neil Gaiman – but obviously, there are still a bunch that I wish I could meet. Here are ten at the top of that list ♥ 1. J.K. Rowling Duh. The queen. The only author that got me reading enthusiastically as a kid. The one who made me a fangirl first. The one who changed my life. I WISH. 2. Rick Riordan […]

Posted May 12, 2015 by Debby in Memes, Top Ten Tuesdays / 5 Comments