November Book Wrap Up

Hello everyone it's Nicole Henderson here and it is time for my monthly wrap up. I apologize for not blogging in a little bit, November was just a very busy time for me and I just didn't have the time to blog anything, so again I apologize. I will be making it up to you by blogging a lot more next month! I read total of four books (despite it being a really busy time), and I can't believe I even read that much. Anyways, without any further ado, lets get into what I read in the month of November. 

The first book I read this month was Harmony House Nic Sheff. Now since I didn't get the chance to read any paranormal books last month, I thought I would take an advantage of it this month. Now, the issue about this one was that, it was like a typical horror movie in a book. There were a lot of horror movie tropes that I noticed and it was mostly cringe worthy to me. It personally made me enjoy the book a lot less. The overall book is about a girl named Jennifer who moves to a small town with her dad to this place called Harmony House, after her mother's death, and her job is to keep the house clean and maintain it. But while they are there, a lot of strange things start happening in the house and Jen is determined to find out more about what happened in it, and discover its past. I was intrigued to read this, but unfortunately I was let down with all the clichés. I will say that it was a fast read, so I will give it a good rating for that. So, if you want a fast read, then I suggest you pick this book up. I rated this a 3/5 stars. 

The next book I read in November was November 9 by Colleen Hoover. I have been meaning to read a book by her because I've heard amazing things about them. So, I thought I would give them a try. This plot intrigued me the most because it was most likely inspired by one of my favourite books ever! (One Day by David Nichols, duh). And the book takes place during one day in the course of 5-6 years (that day being November 9, hence the title). Fallon and Ben meet on this day and they instantly have a connection and fall in love. I loved this book so much, it was one of my favourite reads this month. But my only complaint about this book was Ben. I just thought that no 18 year old boy would ever think the way he does in this book. He was also slightly dramatic at times as well. But that didn't take away my love for this book, however Ben still did kinda bother me a little bit. I do have a full review of this on my blog here if you want to know more of my thoughts. Also, I will be reading a lot more of Colleen's work in the future. I rated this a 4/5 stars. 

The next book I managed to read was The Women in the Walls by Amy Luckavics. I didn't plan on reading this book this month. But I was very intrigued by its plot and I thought I needed another paranormal to read before this time of year was over. I actually really enjoyed it. It was definitely a lot more creepier than the previous paranormal book I read and a lot more gorier than I expected. It's about this family that has lived in this old Victorian house since Lucy was a little girl. But Lucy lost her mother at the age of three, and her dad is not a very kind man. In fact, he is very neglectful towards his daughter. She also lives with her aunt and cousin. When her aunt disappears into the woods one day, Lucy's cousin Margaret stars hearing these voices in the walls. Lucy is convinced that Margaret has gone crazy. But then she starts hearing the voices too... So yes, it was a very interesting read and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I would recommend this book if you want something creepy and gory, but if you want a fast paced book, then this is a good one to pick up. I rated this a 4/5 stars. 

The last book I read this month was A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray. This was my most anticipated read this month. I was very excited to get my hands on it, and I'm so glad I read it. This is the third and final book to the Firebird trilogy so I won't give you any source of an synopsis because it will spoil the two previous books. But I will say that it was so amazing! It gave me all of the feels and I just loved how everything worked out in the end. And I also loved how Marguerite developed so much since the first book. Now, I won't go to much into my thoughts, because there will be a full review coming on this blog soon. But it was such an amazing book and I thought that it closed up the series really nicely. I, of course, rated this a 5/5 stars.  





That is it for my monthly wrap up I hope you all enjoyed. Leave a comment below and tell me what books you've read this month. I will be blogging a lot more in December because I do have some time off, so that will be exciting. Happy reading and until my next post, goodbye for now. 

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Genre: romance, new-adult, contemporary, young-adult

Published: November 10th 2015 

Pages: 310 

Publisher: Atria Books

Synopsis 

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist. (source) 

Thoughts 

I have been wanting to read this book for quite sometime now solely because people have been raving and talking about this author non-stop. This book personally was the most intriguing to me plot wise, so that's why I wanted to give this book a read. So out of curiosity, I decided to give this book and author a go. This book was so addicting and it was very difficult to put down. Colleen's writing style was what made me keep reading. It was so easy to read and it was fast paced. The characters were also entertaining and I liked them a lot. I thought they were pretty realistic however, Ben seemed to come off as unrealistic at times because no guy who's 18-23 would ever think the way he does unless they were some kind of creepy stalker type. But that didn't take away my love for this book. I will definitely be reading more of Colleen's work in the future. And if you haven't read any of her books (or this one), I highly recommend you do. 

Thought number one: I really enjoyed reading about both characters and seeing how different their circumstances were. And I really enjoyed how realistic Fallon was towards the issues that she faced in the story. I thought it was very authentic for the story and how she reacted towards Ben in the end was also very real. I will say that even though I really loved Ben, I found him to be slightly unrealistic at times because (like I previously just mentioned) there is no way any guy ages 18-23 would be thinking the way that Ben does in this book. So in that sense, Ben was not the most realistic character I've read. But that still didn't take away my enjoyment of the book. 

Thought number two: This book was so addicting and gripping. It was so hard to put down, but when I did I just wanted to pick it back up again and keep reading. Her writing style was so easy to read and it was very fast paced I also thought this book was really intense and full of angst (like its supposed to be). I loved the inspiration behind this story, as it being based off the plot from One Day by David Nichols. In that book, there was a lot of heartbreak with a mix of happiness in between, which is exactly what I got from this book. It was amazing in so many ways, and I definitely want to read more of her work. 

Rate 

4/5

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

Genre: young-adult, science fiction, fantasy, romance 

Published: November 3rd 2015 

Pages: 426

Publisher: HarperTeen 

Synopsis 

Marguerite Caine has done the impossible, traveling to alternate dimensions with the Firebird—the brilliant invention of her parents, her boyfriend, Paul, and their friend Theo. But she has also caught the attention of enemies willing to kidnap, blackmail, and even kill to use the Firebird for themselves. 

When Paul’s soul is splintered into four pieces—pieces that are trapped within Pauls in other dimensions—Marguerite will do anything, and travel anywhere, to save him. But the price of his safe return is steep. If she doesn’t sabotage her parents in multiple universes, Paul will be lost forever.

Unwilling to sacrifice her family, Marguerite enlists the brilliant Theo to help. The two forge a plan to save Paul and the Firebird, but succeeding means outsmarting a genius and risking not only their lives but also the lives of their counterparts in every other dimension.

Their mission takes them to the most dangerous universes yet: a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each leap brings Marguerite closer to saving Paul—but her journey reveals dark truths that lead her to doubt the one constant she’s found between worlds: their love for each other. (source) 

Thoughts 

I just want to address that this book is literally one of the best books I've read in a really long time (besides Three Dark Crowns of course). There was so much drama, romance and it was very action-packed. If anything I enjoyed it way more than the first book, which I highly recommend you guys go check out as well. I loved how I got see different sides to each of the characters, as well as the different places they went throughout the story (like Paris, one of my favourite cities ever!). There were so also some amazing and intense plot twists that I really enjoyed. I could go on and on about how amazing this book is, but of course this is just the intro so I'm going through my thoughts vaguely. Anyways, I highly recommend you guys go read this book, and might as well read the rest of the series. 

Now on to the more detailed points. Like I previously mentioned, this is one of the best I've best books I've read in a long time. Here's why: 

My first thought is that the romances with the three main characters was very well done. I enjoyed the little romantic development going on between Marguerite and Theo. In this book you could kind of see a possible romance between the two, and I actually like them together. To be honest, if they ever were an actual thing, I wouldn't be too upset. Anyways, I also thought the romance with Marguerite and Paul was also developed well. Even though their apart for most of the book, it was nice to see that their romance was still going strong before everything got complicated. I honestly don't know who I ship with Marguerite more, but I do like both of the male characters. So yes, romances were on point! 

My second thought is the character development. The character development with all the characters was so fantastic. I really enjoyed getting to see the different sides to Theo, Paul and also Marguerite. With Theo, I got to see more of an vulnerable and gentle side to him that I didn't get to see in the first book. And with Paul, I saw more of an angry and dark side to him. While with Marguerite, she is a slightly different person than she was in the first book. So that really signifies her character development. Going back to Theo, I definitely liked him better in this book than in the previous. He was much more kinder and (for lack of better terms) sweet. I found that in the first book, he was very cocky and ignorant. And that very much turned me off from his character. But yes, the three main characters were incredible and I can't wait to read more about them in the final book soon. 

 My third thought is the unpredictable plot twists. There were moments in the book where I just didn't expect for them to happen and I was left confused asking myself: "Why did this happen? What is happening?!" But I felt like these plot twists were necessary for the book and for the rest of the series going forward. Personally, I thought they were played out very well and it made me even more excited to read the final book. (If you guys couldn't tell already, I'm very excited to read this last book). *Note: I won't reveal what these plot twists are because of spoilers, but go read the book to find out what they are.* Anyways, there's nothing more to say on this topic so let's just move on to my last thought. 

My last and final thought is the incredible world building. Again, Claudia Gray has done a fantastic job on the world building and constantly keeping it fresh and unique. This is definitely a different world that I don't believe anyone else can create better than she can. It was just so fantastic and it made the overall book more entertaining. 

Rate 

5/5

October Wrap Up

Hello everyone it's Nicole Henderson and this is my October wrap up. In terms of reading, this was a pretty good reading month for me. I really enjoyed a lot of the books I read, but only one was mostly a disappointment. I read a total of six books this month, which is great. Hopefully I'll read a little more next month, but I don't know we'll see. Let's get into this months wrap up. 

The first book I read was Messenger by Lois Lowry. This is the third book in the Givers quartet. I read Gathering Blue in September, but I was really disappointed with the book and I thought this one would be better. As it turns out, it was a lot better than I thought. I enjoyed this one a lot more than the previous one, but I still wouldn't say this book was better than The Giver. This book would have to be my second favourite out of the quartet (The Giver being my most fave). I enjoyed reading more about Matty's life and the world building was great. I also like how it was a short book, so I flew threw this one pretty quickly. I have a full review on this blog if you want read more about my thoughts. I rated this a 3/5 stars. 

The second book I read was American Born Chinese by Gene Leun Yang. This is a graphic novel that I had to read for one of my classes. I had heard awesome things about this book, but I never would have picked it up on my own. I'm so glad I read it because I really enjoyed this one. It's about fitting in and figuring out your identity (coming of age). And there is a lot of religious meaning behind this book (which is probably why my prof thought it would be a good idea to read this). Since it's a graphic novel, and it's pretty short I flew threw this book as well. I highly recommend it. And I'm also interested in reading some of his other books as well. I rated this a 4/5 stars.  

The third book I read this month was As I Descended by Robin Talley. This is a modern LGBT+ retelling of the Shakespearean play Macbeth. I absolutely loved this book, and it is one of my favourite books this year so far. I thought the author did a good job with incorporating the play with some modern twists, making the story her own. I have a full review of this book on my blog if you want to read more of my thoughts. I rated this book a 5/5 stars. 

The fourth book I read was Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. This was my most anticipated release for this year, and I was so excited to finally getting my hands on it. I have read other books by this author and they were so amazing. I loved the premise of the story and I thought this would be the perfect book to read in the fall. I really enjoyed this book, but my only issue was the pacing. The pacing for the first 100 pages or so were very slow. But I think it was really slow because it was introducing me to the characters and the world. Once I got past 100 pages, the book just flew by quickly, and it is worth the read. I can't wait to read the second book. If you want to hear more of my thoughts, then I have a full review on this blog. I rated this a 4.5/5 stars. 

The fifth book I read was Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten. I thought this book was the perfect fall read as it is a mystery/thriller type of story. However, I didn't really enjoy the book and I was disappointed with how it was executed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first half of the book where June (protagonist) was asking question about her best friends death and finding out the truth. But once the huge plot twist was revealed, I didn't love it as much. I thought it was unnecessary for the book. If it was just the first half all the way through, then I would of like the story as a whole. I have a full review if you to know more of my thoughts. I rated this a 3/5 stars. 

The last book I read in the month of October was Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray. This is the second book to the Firebird trilogy. This was one of my favourite reads this month and it was so perfect. For me, this was definitely better than the first book. There was more romance, drama and it was action-packed. And I also got to see a different side to all the characters, especially Theo. I will have a review up soon discussing more of my thoughts in detail. I'm very excited to read the last book in November. I rated this a 5/5 stars. 




That is it for my monthly wrap up, I hope you all enjoyed reading it. Let me know what books you read this month in the comments below. Happy reading and until my next post, goodbye for now.