My Life in Books Tag

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to MEEE!

Happy Birthday to me!

In case you haven't realised (because I was super subtle) it's my birthday. Well it's my birthday tomorrow but it's practically the same thing. So to celebrate I thought it would be fun to do a tag all about me and my love for books so you can get to know me a little better.

Let's go!

1- Find a book for each initial in your forename.

Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant; Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi; Am I Normal Yet by Holly Bourne

2-Count your age along your bookshelf- what book is it?

16- Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman

17 (for tomorrow!)- The Beginning Woods by Malcolm McNeill

3- Pick a book set in your city/state/country.

I couldn't think of any set in Belgium, but The 3 Serpents of the North Door by Saul Penfold is set in Norwich (where I was born).

4-Pick a world in a book you want to travel to.

Harry Potter (obviously) or Amulet by Kazu Kishubi

5- Pick a book that's your favourite colour.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.

6- Pick a book you have the fondest memories of.

Either A Series of Unfortunate Events or Faceless.

7- Which book did you have the most difficulty reading?

1984 by George Orwell; it took me almost 4 years before I finally finished this book.

8- Which book on TBR would give you the greatest sense of accomplishment when you finish it?

The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. It looks so massive on my bookshelf that I can't wait for the day I finally finish it!

What's your favourite book? When's your birthday?

Let me know in the comments below!

And until next time, keep reading!

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Release Date: May 30, 2017
Page: 360
Rating: 💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

5 people walk into detention together. But only 4 people come out alive.
Each of them has a motive for murder.
But who did it?

Full synopsis here

I really loved this book. I know a lot of people called it cliche and predictable, but I had fun reading this story. Even if it was inspired very heavily by Breakfast Club, I think it was a good book.

Each of the characters has a secret that could destroy them, and for this reason they will do whatever it takes to keep their secret from getting out. When the 'secret leaker' of the school dies in detention with the four protagonists they are immediately the prime suspects. We then spend the remainder of the book seeing these characters trying to solve the murder mystery and stay out of trouble. I really enjoyed this 'Breakfast Club with a twist' and, as a big Agatha Christie fan, had a fun time trying to solve the mystery alongside the other characters. To me the plot wasn't at all predictable, although maybe I'm just a very unobservant person!

The characters were all very likeable as well. Sure, their cliche personalities were debunked in a very basic way but they were all likeable in their own ways. There wasn't a point in this book where I didn't like any of the characters (apart from maybe Simon) because they all seemed fairly real. They were rounded individuals who had personalities, motives and flaws. They felt real and, as soon as their secrets were revealed, not cliche at all. There was definitely no Mary-Sue in this book.

Of course, this book wasn't perfect. There were times in this book where I had to flick back to start of chapters to remember whose POV I was reading. This became less of a problem as I got further into the book and became more familiar with the characters, but there was literally no difference between the writing style for Bronwyn and Cooper, who are in different situations and are different genders! This problem made my reading experience a little jerky (I had to keep on stopping and starting) but it didn't take too much away from the story.

Overall, this was a fun YA murder mystery. There was some diversity (bi-racial character, gay character) which was nice to see, especially as it didn't use this fact as a selling point. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a light murder story, especially if you are in the YA age group.

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Pages: 465
Rating: 💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

It should have taken Juliette one touch to kill Warner. But his immunity to her deadly power has left her shaken, wondering why her ultimate defense mechanism failed against the person she most needs protection from. She and Adam were able to escape Warner and join a group of rebels with their own powers. Juliette will now fight against The Reestablishment to try and fix her broken world.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than Shatter Me; the writing style didn't feel so jerky and there were times where everything seemed to flow together effortlessly. The characters were so much more developed in this book and I loved all the interactions between Juliette and Kenji because they are both so funny and sassy.

My main problem with this book was the actual plot. There were times throughout the story where everything that everyone was doing wasn't logical and should have been thought out more. Obviously there are times when people just jump to conclusions but in Unravel Me it seemed like they were constantly jumping to conclusions. The story takes place in a military base yet they couldn't sit down for five minutes to decide what they were going to do. And when they did think and planned one of two things happened: 1) something would happen that would mean the plans needed to change or 2) they would go out without a backup plan to save them! Which inevitably meant that something was going to go wrong!

My favourite part of this book was definitely the characters; they made the book a 4 star instead of a 3 star book. They were a lot more developed than in Shatter Me and I actually began to fall in love with all of them. Juliette is so weak and broken that I just want to climb into the book and hug her because she really needs a friend in her life. She is a lot stronger in this book, and I felt like we really get to see her character grow. Kenji is the same funny, sarcastic character that we got introduced to in Shatter Me, although we did get to see more of him in this book (last book he kind of just popped in halfway through).

And now onto the two main boys of this story: Adam and Warner. I loved both of them equally but I was frustrated with Tahereh Mafi and the way she was writing these characters. I adored Adam in the first book; he was kind and considerate and honestly everything that Juliette needed in her life. He risked everything he had to stay with Juliette including his own brother's safety. Honestly he was perfect. Warner was the polar opposite of Adam. He was evil and manipulative and he was one of those villains that I loved to hate. He treated Juliette like garbage and I was so glad when Adam took her out of that toxic relationship. But then I read this book and it was so obvious what Tahereh was trying to do because suddenly Adam was all distant and secretive but Warner was all kind and understanding and had a troubled past and I am not into it. I'm really sorry to all the Warnette shippers but I 'm not ready to ship them yet. Maybe in Ignite Me, but not right now.

I did enjoy this book for the most part (it was much better than Shatter Me), but there were certain things that annoyed me. Obviously you'd have to read Shatter Me before reading this book otherwise you'll be very lost with the plot. I would recommend you read this series though before it is a fun take on the dystopian future idea, with a very prominent romance plot.

The (Birthday) Cake Tag

It's my birthday next week and I'm super excited! There'll be presents, parties and the main attraction: cake. I love cake so much; it's the type of food you eat when you need to feel better after a long, hard week. So to celebrate cake I thought I'd do this tag.

I'm not too sure of the origins of this tag, but if you do know please leave a comment with where you found it. And now onto the questions!

Chocolate Cake:

A dark book you absolutely love.

It's not very dark but I loved The Wave by Morton Rhue. It was such a twisted story about control and obedience that I was terrifed of my teachers for months after reading it.

Vanilla Cake:

A light read.

I love contemporary books; they're so cheerful that you can't help but feel happy after you've read one. My favourite light read has got to be Lola and the Boy Next Door because it is so adorable, but also so realistic!

Red Velvet:

A book that gave you mixed emotions.

There have been a lot of books over the years that I've had mixed emotions about. However the one I always think of whenever someone asks me is Allegiant by Veronica Roth. I loved it when I first read but over time I started to spot the flaws in the story and now I'm not so sure about it.

Cheesecake:

A book you would recommend to anyone.

People ask me to recommend books to them all the time so I've gotten pretty good at guessing the types of books a person might enjoy. However I am absolutely awful at recommend a book to a big group of people because I just want everyone to read my favourite books. At the moment I think I would recommend the Amulet series because a such fun books to read.

Coffee Cake:

A book you started but never finished.

Most recently I DNF-ed After Alice by Gregory Maguire because the story just dragged on without any real excitement. I wish I could go back and get back the time I wasted trying to finish this book!

Carrot Cake:

A book with great writing.

So much choice! I'm going to go with The Book Theif by Marcus Zusak because the narrative in this book is absolutely beautiful. I loved the whole concept of this book and how delicate every sentence seemed.

Tiramisu:

A book that left you wanting more.

Basically any Rainbow Rowell book because I always have so many unanswered questions after reading one of her books. I grow too attached to her characters and then I want to find out every little detail about what happens after the books finish.

Cupcakes:

A series with 4+ books.

Most series I read have 4+ books (otherwise they're a duology/trilogy) but my favourite series has to be the Shadowhunter series. There are definitely more than 4 books in this series, and I don't think Cassandra Clare is ever going to finish this series!

Fruit Cake:

A book that wasn't what you anticipated.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I was expecting to hate this book (having just given up on Twilight and all other supernatural books) but I was pleasantly surprised by it.

What is your favourite and least favourite type of cake? Do you prefer light or dark reads?

Let me know in the comments below!

And until next time, keep reading! 

Authors I discovered last year

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme run by the ladies over at The Broke and Bookish.

Last year I tried to read from new and more diverse authors, and I think I did a pretty good job. Obviously I had to read books from some of my favourite authors, but I also found some new favourite authors this year.

1- Siobhan Vivian: I read The List right at the start of the year and loved it. It was such a great book, so I'm going to try read more of her books this year. 

2- Marissa Meyer: I finally started to read the Lunar Chronicles, reading both Cinder and Scarlet last year. I've already bought Cress, and I'm planning to read it this year.

3- Jenny Han: I read a lot of Jenny Han last year. I read The Summer I Turned Pretty, It's Not Summer Without You, To All The Boys I Loved Before, and P.S I Still Love You. They were all fun reads, and I want to finish both series soon!

4- Nicola Yoon: I read both of Nicola Yoon's books last year, and was really pleased with the amount of representation in both books. I'm not sure if the representation was completely accurate but it was nice to see it there.

5- Tahereh Mafi: I have a sort of love-hate relationship with Tahereh Mafi; at first I didn't really enjoy her writing style, but as time went on I appreciated it more and more. I can't wait for her new book next year!

6- Jandy Nelson: I read The Sky is Everywhere, and it stayed one of my favourite books of all year. I loved her writing style and how art plays a major role in her story. I'm going to read I'll Give You The Sun this summer because I've heard it is even better than her other book.

7- Alyssa B. Sheinmal: My favourite book of the year, Faceless, was written by this woman, and I never realised she had written other books. Her story captivated me entirely, and I want to see how good her other books are.

8- Sarah Dessan: I'm a little late (very, very, extremely late) on the Sarah Dessan train, but I'm glad I finally jumped on her train. I read Once and for all in December, and really enjoined it. I think I'm in a contemporary kick at the moment so I might have to pick up some more of her books soon!

9- Morgan Matson: Another author I'm late to, but once again I really enjoyed what I read. So far I've only read The Unexpected Everything but I'm sure I'll read more, especially now that I'm in a contemporary kick.

10- Robin LaFevers: I've had Grave Mercy on my shelf for a few years now, and I finally got to it this Summer. I have no idea why I left it so long because this book is amazing! At some point I'll get to the rest of the series because I loved Robin LaFever's writing style.

Which new authors did you discover last year? Are any of them on my list?
Let me know in the comments below!

And until next time, keep reading!