Review: Age of Miracles

Please take a moment to read the note at the bottom of this review. Thank you! <3 <3  

Title: Age of Miracles
Author: Karen Thompson Walker
Category/Genre: Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi, Fiction, YA


See it at Goodreads


“It’s never the disasters you see coming that finally come to pass—it’s the ones you don’t expect at all,” says Julia, in this spellbinding novel of catastrophe and survival by a superb new writer. Luminous, suspenseful, unforgettable, The Age of Miracles tells the haunting and beautiful story of Julia and her family as they struggle to live in a time of extraordinary change.

On an ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia awakes to discover that something has happened to the rotation of the earth. The days and nights are growing longer and longer; gravity is affected; the birds, the tides, human behavior, and cosmic rhythms are thrown into disarray. In a world that seems filled with danger and loss, Julia also must face surprising developments in herself, and in her personal world—divisions widening between her parents, strange behavior by her friends, the pain and vulnerability of first love, a growing sense of isolation, and a surprising, rebellious new strength. With crystalline prose and the indelible magic of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker gives us a breathtaking portrait of people finding ways to go on in an ever-evolving world.


Age of Miracles probably would have never happened for me if it hadn’t been for Kara’s recommendation of it-- I mean, she insisted on this title until I found myself putting it on my wish list and then before I knew it, she’d gifted it to me (I believe if I remember correctly it was for my birthday or Christmas in 2013). But you know how most of us are… we can get some of our most-wished books and they can still end up sitting on our shelves for months due to books and books stacking up to be read.

Well, I finally sat down and picked it up. And I’m so so so so glad I did. (I’m sorry I let it sit on the shelf collecting dust for so long though.)

This may sound a bit funny to you, but I’m practically prepared for an apocalyptic situation. Whether it’s zombies, heavy war fall-out, environmental, or whatever. If I should find our world in a crumbling state that required us to shut down, close up and be stocked up to last a while, I can nearly safely say my home would be ready depending on the situation and timeframe. Probably not anything as far as going into some bunker, but enough to lock down and be stocked up.

But that’s the problem. Someone isn’t ready for just everything, right? Especially something as sudden and drastic as the rotation of the earth slowing, changing the gravity, affecting so much else like hours, environment, tides, weather, and more. Who could really expect something like that? After all the years of global warming research or years of dealing with tensions of war or even years of strange experimental science? It was a complete blindside!

And this is where Age of Miracles picks up. Julia, a young eleven-year-old girl, growing into her adolescence and a curious mind, tells the strange story of this phenomena that Karen Thompson Walker weaves for the reader. Making sure not to leave out any details. Julia even includes the sad deaths of the falling birds-- because the gravity is different after the slowing of the earth as she tries to explain-- and the odd illnesses that people get, and I sympathize with her worries and her deep sense of only wanting to help anything and everyone she can try. I also get a sense of motherly protectiveness when she begins her first crush, and has other experiences that crush me (I don’t want to go into too many details afraid of spoilers) and relatable experiences as a growing pre-teen. I liked that Walker tried portray to Julia’s growth and life moving forward despite the current Armageddon.

Age of Miracles was one of the last reads I finished before 2014 ended. I’m glad I ended the year off on such a good note with this fantastic book. A tragically sad one, but beautiful. The way it ended openly, leaving the reader with many questions and thoughts still left me satisfied because it leaves you to your own conclusions. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys end-of-the-world type reads, fiction, family drama, teen drama, contemporary, or surrealism.




Speaking of end-of-year reads: This may very well be my last review for The Bookaholic unless I guest post for Taylor from time to time. I’m making my final move to blog over at Great Imaginations and I hope to see you all there as well. You can still contact me at the provided places in the contact section if needed or find me on Twitter or Goodreads. The Bookaholic has been up for four wonderful years. I’ve been blogging for four wonderful years. I can only hope to continue doing fantastic things for many more.

Thank you everyone for the continued support. <3 <3

 

Review: Belzhar

Title: Belzhar
Author: Meg Wolitzer
Category/Genre: YA, Contemporary, Fantasy, Magical Realism


See it at Goodreads


If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be  at home in New Jersey with her sweet British  boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching  old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing  him in the library stacks.

She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.

But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.

Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss.

From New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer comes a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance.


Let me start by saying that Belzhar has one of the covers I can’t seem to stop staring at. It’s one of my favorite covers in the last few years for some strange reason--despite that I don’t think there’s anything different about it really, but it’s just out there, and it sticks out particular to me. If I hadn’t picked it up at BEA, I still would have grabbed it up immediately from a bookstore without bothering to find out what it could be about first. And I didn’t know at the time of pick-up what it was even going to be about, I just felt inexplicably drawn to this title and wanted it badly. It was at the top of my list of must-haves for the cover alone. I know… how wrong of me as a reader, right? But it happens to the best of us. 

When I pulled myself from my reading slump recently, I knew which title I was going to go for: Belzhar. The cover was calling to me again from my shelf, and I had to know if the contents inside was just as good. I’d finally learned what it was supposed to be about by then, too, and it sounded intriguing. Reviews from my peers were up and down though. Half seemed to really like it, and the other half seemed to really dislike it. So I was stuck at a crossroads on which side I could end up on. 

From the start, I adored the story. The details and background into The Wooden Barn were interesting, along with the variety of the characters. I also really liked how the story drew parallels to The Bell Jar and each character had their own little world. It had a strong beginning to the introduction of each individual and their tragedies, along with the development of their personalities. 

However, toward the end of the middle and the last portion of the read is where it began to fall flat. This is where I begin to pick up minor details (and some annoyances) that just felt off to me mostly. I didn’t particularly like the characterization of DJ--the girl with the ‘eating problems’ because well, I didn’t feel like she was displayed properly as someone who deals with this. From my own personal experiences, DJ’s character was certainly treated like a joke in my honest opinion… and I would’ve like more from her so that a reader could understand. If the author wanted to portray characters dealing with real issues, then portray them. Otherwise, maybe DJ shouldn’t have felt like such a forced character. This is only my opinion naturally. I did like that she was open in her feelings and sexuality later. I just wanted MORE. 

It’s such a hard book for me to review without revealing spoilers. I kind of want to talk about THAT ENDING but I can’t. It just didn’t satisfy though. I feel like it could’ve been more also though. It was a good twist, I’ll give it that. But I do feel it would still have more impact had it been what readers thought it was going to be from the beginning. Maybe some changes--but I didn’t feel the impact. And the twist disappointed in the long run leaving me to feel deflated and blah when the last page turned. I still had more questions of the characters and their stories, too. So yeah... 

The romance, though slow and subtle throughout, was strange for the most part. I couldn’t connect. When it happened toward the end of the middle I was just left feeling “okay.” I liked him as a character overall and was glad to finally know his story as well, but it was underwhelming to say the least. 

Saying all of this, you’d think I’d hated the book. But I didn’t. There was an odd sense of likeness throughout and I never wanted to put the book down because I had the desire to keep reading this odd story, up until the end as I said above. Mostly, I just really like the general idea and the Bell Jar theme of the overall piece. It’s a book I will still keep in my thoughts for a long time and will continue to recommend to others when looking for something different to read. 


I would definitely read more from this author in the future, for that I'm certain. :)

ARC Review & Discussion: The Darkest Part of the Forest (Read-A-Long)

Title: The Darkest Part of the Forest
Author: Holly Black
Category/Genre: YA, Contemporary, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Release Date: January 13, 2015

See it at Goodreads

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?



Lyn of Great Imaginations and I recently read The Darkest Part of the Forest and then had a fun discussion review on it! Today we are sharing our thoughts on the read, and as you can see had slightly different experiences. I always love having read-alongs like this and sharing our discussions since it gives an edge to the review process and changes the pace sometimes. :P

From my perspective, you can tell that I really loved The Darkest Part of the Forest. It was one of my favorite reads of the year, and I was so excited after finishing it. I will be highly recommending it to many!

Lyn: Alright! Pixie and I did a co-reading of Holly Black’s The Darkest Part of the Forest. Now we’re co-reviewing the book together!

Alright, Pixie! You seemed very whipped up over the book. What was your overall take of the novel?

Pixie: I was immersed into the story from the very first page! I seriously could not stop reading this book. Haha.

Lyn: I LOVED that the book started with a glass casket. That is one of my top attention-grabbers: anything that sounds like it could be ripped right out of a D&D game. Big plus there.

Pixie: Yes! There were some very easy visuals because the descriptions were amazing.

Lyn: This was my first Holly Black novel, so I was very nervous about picking up this novel, since I had no previous exposure to her writing. Is this your first HB book?

Pixie: No. I’ve been a big fan of hers for years. She was one of my first YA authors after I picked up Melissa Marr in my early twenties. :)

Lyn: How did it compare to her other books?


Pixie: DPotF had a more contemporary vibe to it. I liked that. Despite the fantasy elements, it felt as if she gave her characters (and world) a more modern approach.


Lyn: I do love some contemporary fantasy. I suppose you could label this urban fantasy.

I suppose I should come out and be honest - I wasn’t crazy over this book. I gave it three stars. :( Womp Womp. The descriptions were beautiful and I really loved the plot, but the characters were very dull and flat for me.

Pixie: LOL, don’t feel bad. I gave it four stars. I don’t think it was her best (Coldest Girl in Coldtown still wins, I’m almost sure), but I liked the story and world-building for the most part. My biggest complaint were the characters also. I felt they could have used more. Especially in the romance.

Lyn: The romance REALLY killed it for me. I am very critical when it comes to pairing, and I seemed to get side-tracked by the constant “Who does s/he like more/the best?” The whole “let’s play fantasy pairing!” issue really killed a lot of my enthusiasm. I know it sounds horrible, because I so loved the whole GLBT angle, but it just didn’t end up working for me. I wanted more fae and court life.

Pixie: Oh I agree! I almost want to say that if it were longer or more detailed in some areas to better explain some things, it’d be even better for that area. It can be difficult for stand-alones in my opinion to gain some perspective for romances. I think I could’ve done without a romance and would’ve loved the whole general story.

Lyn: I have to give props to the author for writing a stand alone. I love my series, but it seems that a multi-book series is all the rage right now. I think it would have helped if the book was longer. There was quite a bit going on for such a short page count.

Pixie: Major props to her. I’m the same way. I love stand alones. :) I always find myself going to Holly Black’s books because that’s what she writes a lot. Fantasy and stand alones. But I agree, would’ve been nice seeing more. Or maybe I’m just selfish and wanted more of that pretty writing. Lol.


Lyn: I am excited to read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, so I have a basis of comparison. The descriptions were awesome, but the writing left something to be desired. It almost felt like this was a short story that the publishers pushed to become a novel, so the writing felt a bit forced. Maybe it was just boredom setting in, but I really didn’t feel the heart of the writer in this one, you know?

Pixie: I understand what you’re saying. I have seen her writing through the course of the years and it does come off a bit differently here. I’m excited to see what you think of Coldest Girl!

Lyn: Same here! Is there anything else we want to cover?

My take away from this is flat characters that i wanted to like in the worst way, but the plot was awesome and the description of the fae and the magic of the forest was very dazzling.

Pixie: That is almost my same take, except I think I was a bit more enchanted than you by the book. :P Other than that, I don’t think there’s really anything else I have to discuss without
putting in spoilers and I don’t want to go doing that. Lol.

Lyn: So agree!


 

Pixie's Rating: 4



 

Dual Review: Made For You

This a two part review coming from both of us today since we read this title together!

Title: Made For You
Author: Melissa Marr
Genre/Category: Contemporary, YA, Realism, Mystery, Fantasy

See it at Goodreads

Bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely books Melissa Marr’s first contemporary YA novel is a twisted southern gothic tale of obsession, romance, and murder. A killer is obsessed with Eva Tilling. Can she stop him, or will he claim her?

When Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital, she’s confused—who in her sleepy little North Carolina town could have hit her with their car? And why? But before she can consider the question, she finds that she’s awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people’s deaths when they touch her. While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old flame, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva’s power to keep her friends—and themselves—alive. But while Eva and Nate grow closer, the killer grows increasingly frantic in his attempt to get to Eva.

For the first time, New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr has applied her extraordinary talent to contemporary realism. Chilling twists, unrequited obsession, and high-stakes romance drive this Gothic, racy thriller—a story of small-town oppression and salvation. Melissa’s fans, and every YA reader, will find its wild ride enthralling.

Pixie's Review

Melissa Marr is perhaps one of my favorite authors EVER. Ever. Ever.

I was a bit star-struck when I met her finally at BEA. She’s such a huge inspiration to me and my own writing, and I’ve absolutely adored everything I’ve read of hers through the years. Picking up Made For You possibly had me slightly worried in the beginning because this time around, it was a little more special. This was probably one of the books I’d been anticipating most throughout the year, or at least at the very top of that list of a short list of books, and from a reviewer’s perspective I didn’t want to give it any different treatment either. I’m not. After finishing it, I can be honest with my review, just like I can be honest when I say Johnny Depp has his ups and downs in his roles. So that’s good and a bit of a relief on my part. If I felt like I couldn’t give my full, honest opinion, I wouldn’t have even posted my thoughts.

But here I am.

Made For You was certainly a different read for me from what I’m used to with Marr. And it wasn’t the best I’ve picked up from her. Maybe it was because of the Contemporary aspects, not quite the fantasy I adore in her usual style, but I still enjoyed it. There was an addictive quality to the story that kept me flipping the pages to find out what was going to happen next--and I was held in a constant suspense. My biggest issue was I predicted the mystery pretty early on, but I’m always a good guesser at these things and so when I realized I was right later, it took so much out of the supposed twist I felt a bit of a disappointment.

I really enjoyed the presence of the parents and their interactions. We didn’t have our usual absentee parents (though I thought that was how it was going to be at first) for a teen, and instead had some interactive ones. They were obviously still trying to learn about their child. And that was pretty realistic in my opinion. A teen changes and grows a lot through those years. Communication is key.

The romance didn’t do it much for me. I liked it to an extent. It was cute. It built up nicely even, but I felt the background lacked some. I wanted to know more and had some burning questions of why’s. But there were interesting pieces put in that left me feeling like FINALLY, NORMAL TEENAGERS. NORMAL RELATIONSHIPS. So for that, I really enjoyed the realistic aspects of the story and character developments.

I felt like Marr may have wrote out of her comfort zone for this book when I finished reading. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I rather enjoyed reading something different from her. I hope she continues to deliver work in other styles and genres and shows that she can do whatever she likes. It takes a lot of skill to do that. It wasn’t my favorite Marr novel, but I still read through it rather quickly and enjoyed it. I’d certainly recommend if you enjoy mystery and unusual contemporary with fantastical elements.

Pixie's Rating:

Taylor's Review

Well it's no secret that Melissa Marr is one of my absolute favorite authors! If you know me even a little bit that's a fact that is well known lol. I adore her books there isn't a single one I've read over the years that I haven't liked. But not only that, she's just an awesome person! I love her personality and she's such a big inspiration and I am determind to meet her one day in person!! That being said, I was pretty darn jealous of everyone who went to BEA this year and got to meet her. And when I say "pretty jealous" I really mean Wicked-Witch-Of-The-West green with envy lol.

But anyways, lets talk about this book Made For You!

As soon as I read the synopsis I was immediately intrigued, of course because it was Melissa Marr it went right on my TBR list and I featured it on one of my Waiting on Wednesday posts as well. The thing that caught my attention the most was the fact that it's something totally different than any of the other books I've read by Marr, I love her Wicked Lovely series with a passion and all of her other books lean more towards the fantasy realm but this one is a contemporary type, which I do happen to be a fan of as well.

I'll go ahead and say it wasn't the best book I've read by her, but even so it still strongly held my attention and I couldn't put it down because I was ready to see what would happen next in the story! And like Pixie mentioned in her review, I figured out the mystery fairly early into the book and I kept my fingers crossed that I'd be wrong when it was all said and done, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. So there was a little disappointment there because I was hoping for more of a twist and that the mystery aspect wouldn't be so predictable.

I liked the way Marr portrayed the romance in the story, it was one of the more realistic ones I've come across in quite awhile and I thought it was well paced and didn't just happen all of a sudden. I'm not a fan of the whole insta-love thing at all. But at the same time I do wish there had been a little something more to it, maybe that's just my inner hopeless romantic side coming out. But I couldn't help feeling like it was lacking a little bit, and there were some questions I would have liked to have answers to. But as far as characters go, I thought they were very well written and they grew and developed well throughout the story.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was a nice quick read and it was cool to see one of my most favorite authors step out and do something different. If you're a fan of mystery and contemporary I would definitely recommend giving this a read! And of course becasue I love her other books so much if you haven't read any of them I very highly recommend those as well!

Taylor's Rating:

 

           

 

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

Guidelines

1. Thank the blogger that nominated you and link back to their website.
2. Post the award's logo on your blog.
3. Answer the ten questions you have been asked.
4.Nominate ten other bloggers and ask them ten other questions.

 
I was nominated by Bekka of Great Imaginations! Thank you so much! I love surveys like this, and I really needed something fun and different to put on the blog this week anyway while I wait for some reviews to come through soon so this worked out perfectly. Have a look after my answers to see the list of questions and who I nominated!

　

　

1. What is your biggest reading pet peeve?

Only one? Really? Ugh. I have a few though. If I had to choose from dog-earing to touching a book’s pages with greasy food hands to being interrupted constantly, I guess I would choose the interruptions. I HATE being interrupted while I’m lost in a book--especially if it’s good and all I want to do is just sit there and be immersed in it. “What are you doing?” DUH I’M READING. LEAVE ME ALONE.

2. Do you prefer paperback, hardcover, or ebook?

Hardcovers are prettier on the shelves, I’ll say that. But paperbacks are cheaper and easier for me to hold/tote around. So I do prefer paperback…but I generally hate the wait on them to release if the book released in hardcover first (it takes about nine months before it will come out on paperback after hardcover and sometimes I just can’t wait that long, dang it). Ebooks are great for when I just really need a space saver or have no other option, but on a personal level I read them a lot slower--the screen hurts my eyes after so long--so unless they’re ARCs, I usually don’t get them too often.

3. What is the very first book you remember reading?

I read Green Eggs and Ham with my dad when I was maybe 4 or 5? If you’re talking my first big, ‘grown-up’ title, it was The Shining when I was around 11. Still, there were many books before that one. I always remember being a reader.

4. If you could experience reading one book for the first time again, what book would you pick?

Harry Potter. I have many beloved favorites, but I think that’s the one series I would love to experience “first time” feelings for all over again because it’s HARRY POTTER. Enough said.

5. What is your favorite cover trend? Show some examples.

I love covers that show objects more than people I think. And darker shades. I’ve always loved Melissa Marr’s covers. Flowers or unusual looking bugs. Fantasy covers are usually eye-catching for me. Masks. Here are some of my latest most favorite covers in the last few years:



　

6. If you had to pick one genre to read for the rest of your life, which would it be?

Wow that’s tough. If I say Fantasy, that’s not exactly being too specific, is it? I guess it could toward any of its sub-genres like Contemporary Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Epic…etc.. If that counts--that’s what I’d pick. I could probably find enough enjoyment out of that for the rest of my life. Haha. Although I would miss a lot of my regular Contemporary romances and horror that I read regularly as well. Boo.

7. Who are your top three authors?

Rude Bekka is rude.

Melissa Marr. Stephen King. Laini Taylor.

This changes sometimes. Though Marr and King are always in my top two at least. And Taylor is always in my top ten at least. It’s so hard narrowing a top three.

8. What has been your favorite read this year?

I’m not finished with it yet, but I’m pretty certain it’s going to be Dreams of Gods and Monsters. Lyn gifted it to me before BEA and I’m just starting to get around to it in the last few weeks (I know, sad) and though I’m a bit slow reading it… I LOVE IT.

9. What book or book series would you like to see made into a television show?

I was going to say Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but the more I think on that the more I realize I’d rather that be films--more of a budget so it can have the effects and makeup it needs. Television show though, I was really holding out hope for that Delirium (Lauren Oliver) show. Or maybe a do-over with Vampire Academy and turn that into a show.

10. Tell us one weird fact about you.

Ha! One.

Okay then…

I have a bit of OCD. Not self-diagnosed or anything like that-- it’s an actual issue, and while I joke around about it and stuff, it’s not really a joke in the end. I have to have certain order with things. People can’t take books off my shelves. I must take them myself, and then they can look, hand them back to me and I’ll put them back. Dishes can’t go in the left side of the sink until they are rinsed properly (because rinsing is done in the right side only). Etc… There’s a list I don’t want to get into really on everything. Lol. But yeah, that’s my “weird” fact. I do get picked on for it, but oh well. I used to get bothered by it, but I don’t so much anymore. Now I’ve just learned to joke around mostly while continuing to keep up with my own routine.

　
　

So that’s it!


　

Who do I tag?

Well I tag my co-blogger, Taylor, for sure! I want to see her answers pop up here sometime soon at least.

I also want to tag Lyn of Great Imaginations. Jessie of Ageless Pages Reviews. Christina of Reader of Fictions. Alexia of Adventures in Reading. Nikki of There Were Books Involved. And the other five tags can just go to anyone else reading this that want to do it! :P


My questions:

1. Tell us three interesting facts about you.

2. What’s your favorite memory that involves books/reading?

3. Who are your top five fave authors?

4. What’s the worst book you read this year?

5. What’s the best?

6. Who is your favorite character of all time? (If there hasn’t been a film and you could cast them, would you? If so, who would you choose?)

7. What book would you choose to turn into a movie or tv show right now if you could?

8. What covers usually catch your attention? Give examples.

9. If you had to reread your favorite book only for the next two years anytime you wanted to read, or give it up entirely for the rest of your life and read a new book instead--except the new book could be really bad--would you?

10.What’s the worst thing you could do to a book out of these: fold pages, spill food/drink, read in the bathtub, write inside, or bend the spine back?

　

　

　

　


 

　

Blogger Trick-Or-Treat Hop: Year Two!

It's already been a year, an exciting one, and I'm happy to be joining the ladies from Great Imaginations for another wonderful edition of Blogger Trick or Treat! Want to know what the Blogger Trick or Treat is about? Go check out more info at the link above on Great Imaginations for all the fun!

This is actually going to be a dual post with two different topics between my co-blogger, Taylor and me, so I hope you enjoy! We love Halloween and had a lot of fun creating this for you guys!

First up is Pixie!

What kind of costumes I think my favorite characters would wear if they dressed up for Halloween:

 Karou (Daughter of Smoke and Bone) - I think this might be too obvious but I would totally see her dress up as Maleficent. And she'd rock that costume!

 Adrian (Vampire Academy/Bloodlines) - I don't see Adrian dressing up in much other than something simple. He wouldn't want to cover his face or put a bunch of makeup on. Lol. So I'm thinking old-school mobster style when it comes to his character. Also, I'm sure he wouldn't object to the classy suit since it'd make him look good.

 Alex (The Ashes trilogy) - She's such a tough kick-butt girl, with a vulnerable side, in a dark and bleak world that I think she needed something cute and fun. Not the typical "sexy girl" costume.

 Peeta (The Hunger Games) - I couldn't resist. You know it would've been your first thought too.


And though he's not a book character, you all know I'm a huge Supernatural fan. So I just have to put this here for the fun of it:

And what if YOU want to dress up as some of your favorite book characters? I have ideas for those as well!

I'm a big fan of Pretty Little Liars also. Moreso the television series. And if you watch the show, I think you would be in agreement with me that their costumes are a great inspiration for Halloween ideas.

Katniss is an affordable and easy DIY costume. I probably have an outfit similar to this in my own closet-- minus the bow & arrow.

I loved loved the fashions of The Great Gatsby & it's one of my fave books. I think that'd be a fun costume choice!

And you can't go wrong with anything Harry Potter themed.

I could've named more characters here because this was so fun thinking about, but I didn't want to have you here all day. Taylor still needs to share her part! :P What do you think about the characters' costumes? Would you agree? Are there any characters and matching costumes you immediately think of as well? What character would you most want to dress as for Halloween? Sound off in the comments! (P.S. I'd loooovee to do anything that requires hours of makeup work and props one year. Something major!)

Taylor's turn!  She has a great little short list below so check it out! :)

Heeyyy! Oh, before I get started: I'm curious, Pixie, didn't you say one of your favorite candies at Halloween was Twizzlers? I couldn't remember for sure or not. Lol.

Pixie: Yep! I love me some Twizzlers! :D Don't you forget it. The black licorice kind is actually my fave & people think I'm really weird for it. Hahaha. :P

Taylor's Top Five Halloween Reads

Okay! For my part of the post I'm gonna share a few of my favorite Halloween Reads with y'all! So first up is: 

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I love Neil Gaiman! And this was one of the first books of his that I ever read and is easily a favorite! It had just the right amount of creep factor in there and also a great storyline. And I think the movie is pretty darn good too!

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic was a favorite of mine growing up, and back when I was younger I thiught it was kinda scary but in the good way! It was a repeat read every year, and still is to this day. And of course the movie with Sandra Bullock is on my list of favorites as well!

Ashes Trilogy by Ilsa J. Bick

This series is one I started after being recommend by Pixie! And I have to say its oh so very good! Its definitely creeptastic in the best way! I still have to read the last book but if its anything like the first two I'm sure I'll love it!

Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

I love everything about this book and its perfect for Halloween. And the movie with Gerrard Butler.. Amazing! 

And last but certainly not least......

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

I had to. Everyone knows I'm a Harry Potter fiend! Lol. So of course this would be on my list. But really, if you've never read these books you're seriously missing out one one of the best series you'll ever pick up. I can't share my love for these books enough, and they will be required reading for my future kids one day! ;) 

And I'm also gonna throw in one more book, but this one is a book that I haven't read but plan to read this year on Halloween. And that book is:

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

by Ransom Riggs

This is another one recommend by Pixie and I've heard so many good things about it from her and from other bloggers as well! So I'm really looking forward to diving right into this one!

What are some of your favorite Halloween reads? Have you read any of these books? Do you have any books you plan to read/have read this year for Halloween? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Halloween!

Review: In the End (In the After #2)

Title: In the End (In the After #2)
Author: Demitria Lunetta
Category/Genre: YA/Sci-Fi/Post-Apocalyptic


See it at Goodreads


She thought it was the end of the world... But it was only the beginning of the end.

It's been three months since Amy escaped New Hope. Since she's seen Baby, or Kay, or Rice. And she's been surviving on her own, like she did before she was "rescued" and taken to what she thought was a safe haven. Then, in the midst of foraging for supplies, her former fellow Guardian's voice rings out in her earpiece. And in a desperate tone, Kay utters the four words Any had hoped she would never hear:

Dr. Reynolds has Baby.

Now it's a race against time, for Baby is in imminent danger, her life threatened by the malevolent doctor who had helped start the end of the world. In order to save Baby, Amy will have to make her way to Fort Black, a former prison-turned-survivor colony. There she will need to find Ken—Kay's brother—for he holds the key to Baby's survival.

But before she can do any of this, she'll have to endure the darkest places—and people—of the prison. And one small slip-up could not only cost Baby and Amy their lives, but threaten the survival of he people in the After.

Demitria Lunetta has created an utterly compelling conclusion to the story she set forth in In the After. Readers of the Hunger Games trilogy will not be able to pit down this book, which is gripping from beginning to end.



I thought In the After was good, more of a well-enough read to spark a curiosity in continuing the series to see where it was going to lead. But I had no idea what to expect when I picked up its sequel, In the End.

To be fair, I have to admit I didn’t remember much how the first one ended. I had bits and pieces of memory, and In the After didn’t provide an over-abundance of refresher in the beginning, but a nice small one. Just enough for me to recall what I couldn’t, and I was glad for that. Lunetta did a great job with the little details to remind the reader of what happened in the first book in case there was any need for a refresher, without making it too clear or obvious. It tied in nicely.

It’s also pretty rare for me to love a sequel so much. There are few authors on my list that have done this, and now In the End is one of them. I like this second installment even better. It was gritty and chaotic and I loved it so much. When I turned to the last page, I was sad I couldn’t continue. I want more! I’m ready for more. This series is the kind of sci-fi futuristic weirdness I’ve been looking for since I started blogging.

We see new characters in this installment, too. A lot of them. But don’t worry, there won’t be much confusion. There’ll be some characters you hate. Some you really like. And some you can’t quite understand.

I want to talk about some particular characters in general also and so I don’t give away many spoilers (since it’s the second installment to a series, it’s hard to keep from doing this) I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail, though if you haven't read I have to just put this little warning here just in case.

There’s Tank. He’s a deranged psycho/pedophile. This isn’t said in plain simple words, but it’s easily implied several times through details and actions. His character felt very foreshadowed at times. Whenever there was a situation/something going wrong, I always knew way ahead he was either a root cause or around about to make more trouble. I often got annoyed at his character, which I guess could be the definite idea behind him… but I didn’t find him very villainous either if that makes sense. He was supposed to be pure evil. I didn’t really feel it most of the time. Just annoyance. Perhaps just me, but that was how it was. Probably my biggest issue with the whole book in general, too.

There’s Jacks. New place for Amy. She meets a new guy. And sounds fantastic. He is a tattoo artist, people. This is what I call a character soul mate. He was protective of Amy, but he had his own little secrets (that she later found out of course). He had his vulnerabilities as well. I only felt like I didn’t know him as well as I’d like to have known him by the end of reading. Maybe I’ll know him better in the next installment. I hope. I’m also pretty curious to see how things turn out because that was an awfully curious ending that seems it’s going to lead to a possible complication. And that’s all I’ll say on that in case you haven’t read it.

And the last one I’ll talk about -- The Warden. Possibly the only character I think didn’t make too much sense. Also another villain type, but not quite villain because he didn’t really seem to have that much of a role to me. I would have liked more on him. More action or words. But he felt… just there. Just a character presence and I didn’t really know him much other than a few details and that he was the leader of the place that Amy had come to stay at in this installment.

With that said, there were a couple disappointments, mostly with some character development in maybe those few areas, but it kept me reading and wanting more despite that. I liked that this installment develops more into the world-building and what the world (and humanity) has become since the outbreak. I also liked seeing more of the politics of it. And the details, despite gruesome at times, provide enough imagery to give you a vivid imagination of the story. It’s frightening. But in a good way. ;)

A definite series to read if you haven’t picked this one up yet!



 

This is my community and I love you.

Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong somewhere? That maybe you didn’t just quite fit in right? Or maybe you weren’t doing something the “right way” and you were the awkward thing sticking out like a sore thumb?

Essentially, I’ve learned that many bloggers relate to these types of feelings-- most giving this as a reason as to why they started blogging in the first place. For that release of social awkwardness… To interact with other like-minded peers… Etc…

But what if these feelings are coming at you right inside your own community? How does a blogger handle this?

(Also, I remember seeing a post once some months back about blogging cliques & interaction or something along those lines and I can’t quite remember which blog it was I saw it at now. To whomever it was, if you’re seeing this post and get back to me, I will gladly give you credit where credit is due for the inspiration to this post idea if necessary--thank you.)

This isn’t necessarily a post anything feeling clique-ish or rejected. To be fair, this is more about when a blogger has hit a hard bump in the road and is feeling discouraged. Sometimes it comes from “blogger block” or a reading slump or just simple feelings because it’s such a large community.

Here’s the thing:

I know I haven’t been as active with my blog the past few months as I once was. I don’t really want to cough out a bunch of excuses because I keep feeling like that’s all I ever give and then it just makes me feel worse. I’ve been blogging for over three years now, and it doesn’t feel that way sometimes when I look at my blog compared to the big success of others who have been around for even less time than mine. But can I put any blame on anyone other than myself? Am I jealous? Certainly not. They deserve that success for all the hard work. But I’m still not afraid to admit that it does hurt my feelings at times when I’m working on my own and it’s just… well, hardly a blip on the radar after all this time.

These last few months I’ve been in not only a reading slump, but in a writing one as well. It put me in a funk. And every time I logged on, thinking I was ready to finally blog again, I became discouraged, out-of-the-loop feeling, and just logged right back out again. There’s a pressure feeling at times when blogging, I don’t know if others would agree with that, but I’ve noticed it through the years. You have to think about schedules, upcoming releases, reviews, interviews, tons of emails, tours, etc.. and the pressure can be overwhelming. I believe I’ve felt it moreso than usual lately on myself, but the reading slump really hasn’t helped because it’s also put me far behind in reviews. As well as keeping up the blog. Then I circle back around to the discouragement all over again with the entire blog.

I became withdrawn from much of the community due to a lot of this-- stepping back from Goodreads and Twitter-- and became a bit of a hermit on my social activities, especially after BEA. When I returned, I felt awkward trying to jump in on conversations. Sometimes I would feel like I shouldn’t even bother with that again, too. Like no one was really caring if I was around or not… and I feel really ashamed to even be admitting this. These are my friends. I shouldn’t think for one second that they’d not care. But this is what happens when you get into one of these “funks” and sometimes you can’t help it. :(

This year there have been changes to The Bookaholic as well. If you haven’t been around much (partly because the blog has been so quiet throughout the year and sporadic in posts), you may not have noticed that I got a co-blogger back in January. It took us some time to work out a decent posting schedule, but I believe we are working it out now. I’m thinking by start of the year, things will be flowing properly again.

Taylor wanted to contribute to the post as well, so here’s some questions & answers from her:


　
What makes blogging so difficult at times?


I think one of the biggest struggles I have had with blogging would be TIME. Between working two jobs and all of the everyday things there are to get done, I often find myself wishing for more hours in a day. Becaus ethere are so many books I want to read and blogs I want to stalk/comment on but I seem to run out of time, and not to mention my Twitter interaction has sadly become pretty non-existent. But I'm working on getting some set time everyday to work on my blogging so I can get semi caught up. If I could sucessfully become a zombie it would actually be much easier because it would eliminate the need for sleep and free up a good 6-8 more hours everyday. Although the brain eating part would be a little bit of a downside lol.



You quit once too, but came back to join me. When you were blogging on your own, what was the hardest thing about it?


Like I mentioned before time has always been a struggle. But aside from that, when I was blogging solo I think one of the things that contributed to me taking a hiatus from the blogging world was me getting discouraged by not having as much success as I would have liked or at least me thinking I wasn't having much success. And now looking back I'm sure everyone has gone throughtthat feeling when they started blogging, and I probably could have gotten more advice if I had reached out to some other bloggers about how I was feeling but I tend to be tight lipped at times lol.



And now that you're co-blogging?



As far as co-blogging goes I don't think there's really been any hard things. I think I've still struggled a little with my time and the scheduling of posts and such. But I think I've gotten a good idea going with me making set time a few days out of the week to get my posts/half of posts typed up and scheduled and to have some time for reading. So that I can be a good asset to our blog and not make Pixie wanna stab me with a spork for not pulling my weight! lol.


And It is nice having a co-blogger now so that I have someone to bounce ideas off of and share the bulk of posting and whatnot. It does take some getting used to, because me and my ditzy brain tend to forget lol. But I do think it'll work out better than it did when I was blogging on my own.



Do you feel the blogging community is competitive?


I do think there is an element of competition between bloggers in the blogging community. Maybe not intentionally but it is there. Speaking for myself I do feel intimadated sometimes by other blogs/bloggers. But NOT by any actions of those bloggers mind you. But for the simple fact of how awesome some of these bloggers really are, I look at these blogs and I'm in awe sometimes of how great they are and how wide of a following they have. And I'll think to myself, "How can I compare to that?!?" But in all honesty I know I shouldn't compare myself to anyone else but I think we all have those times where we do and then you wonder, "Is it even worth my time?", "Will I ever been even close to as good of a blogger as they are?" But if it's something you love to do it shouldn't really turn into something that feels like a competition and I just try to remind myself of that if I'm having a down day.

　

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Taylor’s answers made me feel better. I know there are days when I feel like I have to watch the follower count or keep up with the reading/reviews or my blog will not be “as good” because the community can have a sense of competitiveness (even though I know it’s not really that intentional, in my opinion). But I have to remind myself that it’s just not that important. It’s not worth the stress.

Why am I REALLY blogging? Because reading is my passion. I want to do this because I need to share my love of reading and meet and discuss with other like-minded people. It should never get to this point of making me sad or feeling unwanted or discouraged. This is my community and I love you.