Every Day by David Levithan

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Series: Every Day Book One
Synopsis: "Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day." -Goodreads.

Review: This book is amazing, first of all. I needed to get that out of the way right away. I can't even begin to explain all of the intricacies of this book or the amount of thought that David Levithan must have put into it. Even though A wakes up in the body of only sixteen year olds in the state of Maryland, none of the stories become repetitive. Every body is unique, every experience is unique. 

This book also manages to tackle some pretty big topics, some surrounding love, but not all of them. It handles LGBTQIA issues with David Levithan's usual ease, while also having chapters that deal with drug addiction and depression, as well as many different types of families in general. All of them were presented in ways which showed respect and understanding for the people who are dealing with the problems that they may be dealing with on a regular basis.

Seeing as I can't really go much further into a discussion without spoilers, and I really don't want to spoil anybody on this glorious book, I shall have to end my review here. Just know that I absolutely loved this book, and the only problems I really had with it were the last two chapters, and the relative insta-love quality that it has, at least on one side. The saving grace for the love story was the fact that the love wasn't reciprocated off of the bat, and in fact all of the issues surrounding the love story were addressed as the story went on. 

But seriously, this book is amazing. GO READ IT.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Shelved on Goodreads as:

1. Read
2. Books of 2015
3. Favorites
4. Unbelievably Cute

Landry Park by Bethany Hagen

Title: Landry Park
Author: Bethany Hagen
Series: Landry Park, Book One
Synopsis: "Downton Abbey meets The Selection in this dystopian tale of love and betrayal
In a fragmented future United States ruled by the lavish gentry, seventeen-year-old Madeline Landry dreams of going to the university. Unfortunately, gentry decorum and her domineering father won't allow that. Madeline must marry, like a good Landry woman, and run the family estate. But her world is turned upside down when she discovers the devastating consequences her lifestyle is having on those less fortunate. As Madeline begins to question everything she has ever learned, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana. Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself and David at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty - her family and the estate she loves dearly - and desire." - Goodreads.

Review: I listened to this on an audiobook which I got from Scribd, a site which I have absolutely fallen in love with. I have to say that I'm really glad that I did because I don't know if I would have finished it if I had just been reading it like any other book.

The thing is, the writing in this book was absolutely stunning. It was weirdly poetic and super descriptive, and an absolute pleasure to read, but sometimes the pacing of the book was just a tad too slow for my liking. I feel like, even though a fair bit did actually happen within the span of this book, it didn't FEEL like a whole lot happened. Sometimes the descriptions, which were beautifully well done, would kind of take away from the actual story.

I had a couple of issues with the characters. Madeline and David both fell quite flat for me, especially considering that they were supposed to be the two main-ish characters. Unfortunately, their flatness wasn't saved by any of the side characters either. All of the characters were fairly flat (at least in my opinion), and none of them were particularly likable. I don't know if it was just me, but even though I could connect with Madeline on several levels as we have some similar tendencies, I just couldn't stand listening to her back and forth constantly going. The relationship between her and David, which did take a long time to actually become anything, still managed to feel rather insta-lovey. After seeing David for the first time, Madeline never stopped thinking about him, which did get rather annoying.

Over all, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought that I would. It was okay, but I don't think I'll be continuing on with the series. That being said, if Bethany Hagen ever puts out a different book, whether it be a stand alone or a new series, I will definitely give it a shot if only for her amazing writing.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Shelved on Goodreads as:

1. Read
2. Books of 2015

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Title: The House of the Scorpion
Author: Nancy Farmer
Series: Matteo Alacran, Book One
Synopsis: "Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested with the DNA from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium. Can a boy who was bred to guarantee another’s survival find his own purpose in life? And can he ever be free?" -Goodreads.


Review: Earlier this moth, I was having a lot of trouble with a reading slump. I had finished a book around the third of April, and then finished nothing until I finished this book, which happened on April twenty-third. I had tried to pick up several books, but none of them was able to keep my attention until I picked up this book. I was enjoying it so much that I started a little book club on goodreads, so that I could enjoy it with others if they so chose.


I initially picked up this book last year from a second hand shop after hearing Regan from PeruseProject talk about how much she enjoyed it in a wrap up. As per usual, I took forever to actually pick it up, but MAN am I ever glad that I did.

This book took me a bit by surprise, as I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about it. The title gives absolutely nothing away about the story itself, and in fact doesn't make sense until a fair way into the book, but when it makes sense, does it ever make sense. I have such a love for this book now, I can't even begin to explain it. All I can really say is that if you haven't picked up this book yet, that you really, really should. It will surprise you, and it will make you fall in love with it. It will make you feel so many different kinds of emotions, and it will make you frustrated in the most fantastic way.

I need the next book in this series. I have to know where the story is going to go, what is going to happen to the characters. I want to say that I am ready for all of the twists and turns it will throw at me, but I could never be prepared for what Nancy Farmer will give me. I can just hope and pray that it will live up to the expectations that I have for it after reading this book.

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Shelved on Goodreads as:

1. Read
2. Books of 2015
3. Favorites

Wow, It's Been a While...

Wow, I've just realized how long its been since I posted on here.
Its been almost six months, and that is just not good.

Hello everybody, if you are still looking at this, I'm sorry I've been away for so long. Things have been a bit hectic with this semester of school and I've been moving all of my stuff into storage so that I can go back home for the summer. Today I wrote my last final exam, so I thought it would be a good time to reboot my blog.

I'm hoping that I can do a bit of an overhaul over the summer. I don't know how much I will truly be able to do, but I hope that I can make it a habit to write on here again.

What will this overhaul entail?

Well, mostly, it will be me actually using this damn thing again. I have lots of books to read, which means I have lots of books to review. I really want to start reviewing all of the books that I read again I loved doing it when I did it, and I still don't know why I ever stopped.

That being said, I also don't want this blog to be nothing but book reviews. I want to have some fun with it! I'm still not entirely sure what other types of posts I will be making, but you can expect to see something different from time to time. It might be a tag, it might be a personal ramble, it might be something about Scarlett (my NaNoWriMo novel) and editing my manuscript, maybe it will even be the return of TARDIS Tuesdays! We will have to wait and see.

I hope that you all are having a lovely day, wherever you may be.
What books are you reading right now? Let me know down below!
I respond to every comment, and I love hearing from you!

Until next time,
Helen.

January 2015 TBR

Hello Everybody,
Since I do not currently have the use of my camera and I can't post any videos on my channel for a while, I thought I would make a blog post with my January 2015 To Be Read, just in case its too late into the month to do it on my channel by the time I have the use of my camera back.

The first thing I plan to read this month is Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I have been too intimidated to read this book for a very long time because of how long it is. However, I have always wanted to watch the show and read the books, and I think I'm finally ready to take on the challenge. I did start this in December of last year, but only read about 77 pages. I am loving it so far, I just had some other things that I wanted to read, and unfortunately I am terrible at reading more than one book at once, even if I am doing it right now.

I hope to have this book finished by the end of the month!

I am also currently reading Prophesy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink. I also started this in December, but have only read about 40 pages of it so far. My understanding of it is that Alice and Lia, twin sisters, are prophesied to fight against one another. They both have the same goal, but go about it in opposite ways. So far, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book, but I do want to finish it seeing as I also own the second book in this trilogy.

I am also currently reading Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography. (For someone who doesn't do well with reading more than one book at once, it is probably a bad idea to be reading three). I am listening to the Audiobook of this one, which is Narrated by Neil Patrick Harris himself. I am just over 10% of the way through, and I am absolutely loving it.

The first book that I plan to pick up after I have finished the previous three is The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. I read The Maze Runner in September, in order to prepare myself for the movie, and I ended up really enjoying it. I finally got my hands on a copy of the sequel, so I am looking forward to reading it. However, if The Maze Runner has mixed reviews, I don't even want to talk about the reviews for this one. In general, the rating is lower than it is for the first book and everyone seems to agree that it isn't as good, but I am still looking forward to seeing what happens to our cast of characters. Who knows? Maybe having such low expectations going into it will make me like it a bit more.

And of course, as if it is any surprise, when I finish The Scorch Trials, I want to pick up The Death Cure by James Dashner, which is the third and final book in The Maze Runner Trilogy. If I do manage to finish this book, which I think I will, then this will be my first completed series of 2015.

I am also hoping that, if I am lucky, I can also start Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. I did technically start this book back in October, but I was in a bit of a slump and couldn't get into it. Now, I am hoping that my mood will be much better and that I can enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed Along For the Ride by Sarah Dessen, which I read in October of 2013.

And finally, if I manage to get through all of those, I hope to read From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry my Justin Pearson. This is another sort-of autobiography about Justin's life before, during, and after he played in some of the largest band names in the punk sphere. I got this book from my friend Colton for Christmas, and when I flipped through it and read the chapter heads, I was doubled over laughing already, so I'm excited to dive into this one, because it promises a lot of good times and good laughs.










That's it! These are all of the books that I plan to read this month. If you have read any of these books, please feel free to tell me your thoughts in the comments down below. I do respond to every comment I receive, and I love hearing from you!

Lots of Love,
Helen.

Channel Hiatus

Hello everybody,
For those of you who follow my youtube channel, you may have already seen the very very low quality webcam video that I posted yesterday about my channel going on a bit of a hiatus. I have already been gone for a while because while I was at home, my computer wouldn't connect to the internet, so with three weeks of already having no videos, this wasn't fun for me to post.

The cord that I need to use to connect my camera to the computer so that I can upload its contents, as well as to charge it, was accidentally left at my parents house over Christmas break. My Mumzie says that she is going to attempt to send it out as soon as possible, if she can find it. If not, I have to scour tech stores to see if they have a cord that I can use for my camera, and if not, then I will have to buy a new camera all together, and I might not be able to afford that, depending on the price. I'm hoping that she will be able to find the cord quickly and send it to me so that videos can be up as soon as possible.

Videos that you can expect once my cord is back include:
December Book Haul
December Wrap Up
January TBR
Year in Books (2014)
Top 10 Books of 2014
and maybe (but that is a big maybe) a tour of my University book 'shelf'

Hopefully, expecting these videos will be enough to keep you guys here, but I also totally understand if you decide to leave. I'll be back as soon as possible, I promise you that.

Lots of Love,
Helen.