Uglies
Scott Westerfeld

Genre: YA, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Series: Uglies, #1
Publication Date: 8 February 2005
Number of Pages: 406
Source: Purchased

My Rating: ★★★★

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license - for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all.

The choice Tally makes changes her world forever... (Goodreads)

A long time ago in the year 2007, I attempted to read this. It did not work. I think I made it to page 80. Maybe. All I remembered about this book was that there were hoverboards. It didn't really grab my attention as fast as I had hoped then. It didn't this time either, but I know enough about the concept that I continued this time. After finishing this book, I feel like this is really half a book. It feels like it has half a story arc. That's not really a bad thing, but this book really is just entirely setup. The plot will hopefully move on a lot in the next book.

As for characters, I couldn't help but want Shay and Tally to be a thing. I didn't really find myself connecting with any of them in particular, not that it's bad but it makes me a lot less attached to the series in general.

This book also really rides the line between preachy and not preachy about the whole loving how you look deal. I never felt like it was yelling in my face about how I look, but it's there in the background. I knew that going into reading it though. The first two books are called Uglies and Pretties. It's kind of a premise of the novel.

I just felt very unfinished at the end of this book. Nothing is really finalized and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Maybe 3.75 but overall I definitely enjoyed it.

April Book Haul aka WHERE DO THESE BOOKS KEEP COMING FROM

Alrighty, the end of April is nigh and somehow I have ended up with 10 more books. I have recently gotten rid of a ton of books, though. So this isn't too bad. I don't feel bad about this. (Especially since I've read 7 of those 10 already.)

Enjoy the video!

Books in This Video:

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Wither by Lauren Destefano
Grave Mercy by Robin Lafevers
The Hitchhiker's Trilogy by Douglas Adams

Reboot by Amy Tintera | Book Review

Reboot
Amy Tintera

Genre: YA, Dystopia, Science Fiction
Series: Reboot, #1
Publication Date: 7 May 2013
Number of Pages: 365
Source: eBook Overdrive Library2go

My Rating: ★★★★

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

I've been thinking about how to review this book without spoilers and I'm going to do my best and just believe me when I tell you there are plot points that surprised me because I didn't really think that hard about the premise of the book, but I'm pretty excited about where it's going to go.

First off, I did not know this was going to be a series and I am now extra anxious for the final in the duology. Also, after Google research, I'm glad I read this when I did because the second book comes out in about a month. It thankfully didn't end on the world's biggest cliffhanger and I'm glad that Amy Tintera made the choice of duology (which is much less popular than it should be) because I think that's about all this series should/could have. Planned or not, good choice.

Secondly, I had no idea what this book was going to be about other than people came to life after they died and I was pleasantly surprised. So that's great. The plot flowed very well although it might have been a bit repetitive at times, but not enough to hinder reading or anything. The setting was very believable and I loved how readers are given just enough backstory to understand what's going on and not so much that it gets boring. Just the right amount.

Characters. I loved the characters. I love how the descriptions Wren uses to differ between humans and Reboots - even the individual words were so well used. I also just really love Wren and I like Callum. My only weird thing is why did Ever have to be named Ever? It just confused me while reading because it doesn't stand out as a name.

There are a lot of very subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, ideas and social commentaries in this book. Which as a student taking many literature classes with lots of analyzing going on, I am very happy. This brings me to the parts that I must leave out for spoilers sake, but I am planning on doing a video discussion of this with spoilers and all that.

I really love Amy Tintera's writing and the ideas that are being presented in this book. Basically pretty damn awesome.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Welcome Back Me

Oh hello there.

It's weird being back. How have you been? I've been good and neglecting any self appointed responsibilities for the past couple months. Now I am back though. I promise.

Please don't hold me to that promise I'm a 19 year old girl and I haven't grown up enough to hold myself to those kind of promises yet.

I'm going to try though.

This is my Spring Resolution post.

My Spring Resolution is to actually post on this blog. I haven't stopped reading or making videos, I just haven't been posting on this here blog thing at all. So I'm going to do that more. Starting with my book review coming up in a couple of minutes after I write it and all that.

Here we go!

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs | Book Review

Hollow City
Ransom Riggs

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, YA
Series: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #2
Publication Date: 14 January 2014
Number of Pages: 352
Source: Purchased

My Rating: ★★★★★

The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London the peculiar capital of the world. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. Like its predecessor, this second novel in the Peculiar Children series blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reacting experience.

NOTE: This review will have some spoilers from the first book!

Hollow City picks up almost immediately after Miss Peregrine's left off. The kids recaptured Miss Peregrine and head out to find other ymbrynes, a new loop, and safety. The book is packed with action and even more pictures than the first and I absolutely loved it.

I can easily say that I enjoyed Hollow City much more than the first book and I think that's because it jumps right into the action and I already understood the world and what was happening. I didn't have as much of a connection to the characters in the first book, probably for the same reasons. Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children introduces such a new world with new rules that it just takes a while to get used to. I think if I reread the first book now I would enjoy it way more than the first time I read it.

One of the best parts about this book for me was the characters, they are all so unique and intriguing. I love Millard and Emma and, yes, even Enoch. Being able to give them such a diversity of talents as well as defining them personality wise just makes the story so much more interesting.

As I mentioned earlier this world is just so unique and it really helps this book stand out from the others. The addition of all the old pictures along with the strange, new world is just cool. It's also fun to think about where the real origin of all these pictures are. Because as fitting as these pictures are to the book, they came from somewhere and were taken years and years ago for some reason.

All in all I give Hollow City a 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. I think I might have given it a 4.75 out of 5 if I could do halves and quarters, but I round. It gets 5 out of 5. Absolutely loved this story and can't wait for the third book!

2014 Reading and Other Goals

I've always really liked setting goals as a way for me to get things done because without goals I sit around doing internet and nothing else. I think they're a great way to motivate yourself. So me being my goal-oriented self I've set a number of goals reading, blogging, and vlogging wise for the upcoming year. (I realize this post is a little late, I just haven't had time to sit down and write it until now which is 2am on a school night.)

Starting with the reading goals,

my main goal this year is to read 100 books. Which is a lot of books. I don't know if I've ever read that many books in a year but I definitely think it's possible. It's a little less than 2 books a week and I can definitely do that if I spend less time doing nothing on Tumblr for hours on end. I think I might add a fancy little widget on the sidebar to keep you up to date on that if I can figure that out.

The other reading goals are all subsets of that goal. I'd like to read:

• 5 nonfiction books
• 5 classics
• 5 comic books or graphic novels
• 5 audiobooks

I would also like to buy less than 50 books this year because I have a serious book buying problem and and even seriouser TBR pile that needs to be tackled hard.

I also have vlogging and blogging goals for the year, though these are a little less defined. In 2014, I'd love to post a lot more reviews on both my blog and YouTube channel. Originally my goal was to review every book I read on my blog which is definitely possible and theoretically I'd love to do that. However I won't be upset if I don't. Probably more the majority of books I read.

As far as vlogging and YouTube stuff goes, I'd just like to have more quality and more quantity on my channel. Far too often I find myself filming videos and then not liking them and then never doing anything with them until I delete them. The only way to get better is to practice and learn and if I just delete the videos it's never going to happen. Also maybe getting a better camera and also maybe computer would help a lot.

So that's pretty much it for my upcoming year. Let me know what you're planning on doing!

December Wrap Up and January TBR

I think I had a pretty darn good reading month in December. I didn't read nearly as many books as I had hoped I would, but I'm also okay with 6 books. Honestly I could have read more if I didn't spend so much dang time playing video games. They're just so addicting! I think my favorite book out of the month was Champion but it's a close call between that and Throne of Glass. If you ask me in an hour I might choose Throne of Glass instead.

January looks like it's shaping up to be a more middle grade focused reading month with Crown of Midnight breaking up the pattern. I'm looking forward to reliving my childhood via books this month!

Books I read in December:
William Shakespeare's Star Wars
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Prodigy by Marie Lu
Champion by Marie Lu
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

Books to read in January:
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship  of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer