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Top 5 Books of 2015

12/28/2015

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So, the time has come for my favorites of 2015. I can't believe the year is already almost over. Its been almost a full year since we started OUSF and I hope there are many more years to come. Already, I feel like I have a place in the book community and I'm so grateful to all my booktube friends and reader friends alike.

I was originally going to do my top 15 books, but I really can't find 15 books that I genuinely loved this year, especially since I started so many series this year but haven't had the time to read the second book. I have a rule that I have to read the first two books in a series to put it on my favorites list, since so much can go wrong after that first book.

So, in no particular order, these are my five favorites of 2015. I hope there are many more favorites to come afterwards, and that a lot of the first books I read this year will be on next year's list.

5. Jennifer E. Smith- I've read almost all of Jennifer E. Smith's books this year and have loved them. Even though they have their cheesy moments, they still have this warm feeling about them that I find only with her books. They're written really well and I love the characters that she crafts. I'm really excited for more of her books to come!

4. The Mara Dyer series- I read the Mara Dyer series in June, and they were such a breath of fresh air. They were the only real supernatural books that i read this year, which I'd been craving after all the fantasy and contemporaries that I'd been reading. I finished each one of them in one night, so captivated by the story and how well it was delivered. This is definitely going to be a reread in the near future, to add a bit of excitement in between all the contemporary and fantasy.

3. Stephanie Perkins- If you are in a book slump or a mourning period, the best remedy is Stephenie Perkins. She writes some of the cutest contemporaries I've ever read and helped pull me out of the book slump that shall be known as 2014. I love her characters and she chooses amazing settings to have her stories in. Ignore the cheesy titles and the awful original covers, since her books are definitely better than them.

2. Rainbow. Rowell.- If you haven't read a Rainbow Rowell book yet, you are missing something in your life. Go pick one up. I read my first Rainbow Rowell book this year, which was Fangirl, and fell in love with her books. She is a contemporary writer, although she wrote Carry On, which is fantasy, and Landline, which has magical elements. All her characters are so relatable, even though they're all so different. Even her darkest storylines are like cotton candy, just because she weaves dark and light together. I'm so glad that I found her books because they're a treasure worth holding on to.

And, finally:

1. Cassandra Clare- Cassie's books. Sigh. Here's a funny story entitled "My Stupidity and Ignorance: A Memoir." Back when I was 12, my cousin raved about City of Bones. She was obsessed to say the least. She'd always tell me to read it, but I never actually got to it. I could've joined the fandom so much earlier if I'd bothered to listen to her, but that didn't happen. Last year, after hearing Christine go on and on about them, I finally decided to pick them up. Whoever is on the other side of this screen, if you haven't read Cassie's books yet, make it your New Year's resolution because you need them in your life. It doesn't matter if you don't like fantasy because they are as comprehensible as contemporaries. If you tried City of Bones and didn't really like it, power. through. Read Clockwork Angel if you were confused by the world building. But please, do yourself a favor, do me a favor, do the entire world a favor and read Cassie's books. You won't regret it. Also, if you do decide to read them, please read them in the intended order:

City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
Clockwork Angel
City of Fallen Angels
Clockwork Prince
City of Lost Souls
Clockwork Princess
City of Heavenly Fire

It looks weird, but this is the order of publication and helps you not get spoiled. Basically, you want to read The Infernal Devices before City of Heavenly Fire. Now, you have the order. Go to your library, your bookstore, your e-reader, whatever you use and get City of Bones. Now.

So that's it for my faves of 2015, please let me know in the comments what your favorite books this year were.

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November Wrap-Up and December TBR

12/6/2015

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Hi guys,

So, this month hasn't exactly been the most productive reading month. I read a grand total of two books (one of them was for school), but I do have a reason. If you take a look to the sidebar, I actually participated in NaNoWriMo this month and WON! I wrote 50,000 words (which took up my reading and blogging time) which still amazes me. A million late nights and baggy eyes were totally worth it in the end for this huge accomplishment.

Anyways, here are the books that I read in the month of November:
  • Never Always Sometimes: So, I picked this book up at Barnes and Noble and have absolutely no idea why, especially because I NEVER buy books at full price, but I needed Carry On and this managed to sneak over to the counter with it. So I gave this three stars on Goodreads, just because it felt like such a forgettable book. If you don't know what Never Always Sometimes is about, it is about these two best friends named Dave and Julia who make a list about cliches that they'll never do in high school, but come senior year, they decide to do all of them. Some of them are completely true, like dyeing your hair an obscure color (which has pretty much become the norm at my school) but others don't really apply to school anymore, like hooking up with a teacher. Coming from a high schooler, that DOES NOT HAPPEN. Just as a side note about the whole hair dyeing thing, that is so common at my school: I know one person with legitimately red hair, two people who have dyed their hair orange, a bunch who have bleached their hair, one kid with mustard yellow hair, one person who used to have green hair, someone with blue hair and the entire girls' swim team dyed their hair purple. Rubik's Cubes are also a huge trend, so a good chunk of the school all knows how to solve them and goes to competitions, so I am no longer impressed by people who can solve a Rubik's Cube (sorry, not sorry). Back to the book, when they do all these different 'cliches,' they find that they actually enjoy a lot of the things that they are doing. I felt like Never Always Sometimes was really forgettable, even though the whole book was about defeating cliches. It was meant to be entirely different but, honestly, another book about the flat indie characters that are too good for everyone else just blends in with so many other contemporaries. There was nothing spectacular about the storyline or the writing, but nothing terrible either. It felt like a contemporary you read just to get a break, but not one that you find yourself picking up for a sheer desire to read something amazing.
  • A Parcel of Patterns: I actually read this book for school, so I have to write a full review of it for school, but I'm not a hundred percent sure that I will get to post it here too. Our teacher is having us publish our reviews on Goodreads, so keep checking up on my Goodreads for that. A Parcel of Patterns is about a girl named Mall who lives in Eyam, England during the 1500s. Her life is pretty good, she has parents and a secret boyfriend, who she's hoping to marry soon. One day, a parcel is shipped to Eyam from London, containing fabric that has fleas that have the bubonic plague. Since that part of England was previously unaffected by the plague, they decide to completely isolate the entire village until it's gone. No one in and no one out. The whole book is written in old English, so I took it a bit slowly at first, just to try and get used to the rhythm of the style. Once I adjusted, I flew through it. I love learning about the bubonic plague, it's one of my favorite things to study, so the book was really interesting for me. The main character, Mall, was a great narrator, but she skipped around time in the beginning. I took one star off for that, just because the order was a bit confusing at first. Despite that, I had a great time reading this book and discussing it with the other people reading it. Highly recommend if you're looking for something different or a bit more challenging.

So those are the books that I've read in November.

This is what I'm planning to read for December:
  • Carry On by the fabulous Rainbow Rowell. I'm already about halfway through this, but I hope to finish it before winter break. If you don't already know that it's about, in Rainbow's other book, Fangirl, Cath is obsessed with this equivalent to Harry Potter called Simon Snow. She writes a fanfiction about the series, called Carry On Simon, but that's not the book. The book isn't canon either, meaning it's not what Rainbow referred to as the actual Simon Snow series. It is basically Rainbow's fanfiction about the series. I know that it's kind of hard to explain and I was confused about it for a while, but this is what I've taken from the author's note at the end. You don't need to read Fangirl to read this, but I do love Fangirl, so I still do recommend reading that, even if it's after you read Carry On.
  • David by Mary Hoffman. Since I finished A Parcel of Patterns early, I chose to read another one of the selections for a 16th century novel. This was my second choice, which is about Italian art and politics during that time. It follows the model for a statue of David and all the problems that follow him. I'm really enjoying it so far and hopefully will have it done within another one or two weeks.
  • Mystical by Michael Weekly. I was actually lucky enough to recieve an ARC of this book from the author, so I will be posting a review of it on Goodreads and Amazon. It's basically about this girl named Eliza, who is a witch but not the kind that casts spells. She has a broomstick, but it definitely doesn't fly, instead it's a deadly weapon. The book follows her on her journey discovering what it means to be a witch and learning more about the mystical world that has elves and mermaids. You can read the first ten chapters on Wattpad and the whole book comes out on December 8, so make sure to go pick it up when you have a chance.
  • Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. This is another book that I'm reading for class, so I'm hoping to have it finished some time in January, but I'm going to try and keep reading it. Sarah's Key is a parallel plotline following a nine year old girl during the Vel d'Hiv Roundup in France and an American journalist who is writing about that time and stumbles upon Sarah's story. It's a rather dark story, but very well written.
  • Secrets in Phoenix by Gabriella Lepore. I don't know too much about this book, but I recieved a review copy from the publisher, Of Tomes publishing. I hope to have a full review of this book, but my review will be done by the end of the month. I've heard really good things about this book, so I'm definitely excited to read it.

Those are all the books that I want to read for sure in December. I hope to get to more, but I really want to have those done first.

Make sure to follow us on all the links below to keep up to date on all of our reading, reviewing and more!

​Caramel
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September Wrap-Up

10/9/2015

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Hey guys,

So if you haven't noticed, I've been in this back-to-school reading slump. I've been loaded with extracurriculars and homework, and I took 4 tests this week. I'm trying to set aside time for reading, but I'm barely getting by with sleep. 

I haven't really met anyone at school that reads, which makes me sad, so I really don't have much book interaction. I'm trying my hardest to read, but grades have to come first.

So here is my September Wrap-Up for this month:
  • To Kill a Mockingbird: I have a full review of TKAM already up, explaining all my thoughts on it, so you can find that here
  • Lois Lane: Fallout: Fallout is basically like a giant fanfic of Lois Lane. I was excited when I saw this book, because Lois' character has never really been explored that much. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I still had my problems with it. The book felt slow at times and very underexplained. The whole virtual gaming thing didn't exactly make sense, especially early on, but I started to comprehend it more as the book went on. I'm not sure if confusion was what the author was going for, but it was definitely present. I loved the fact that she was internet friends with Superman, but I wish they get to meet in real life (even if it happens in a later book). Most of the book was very enjoyable for me, but it did seem to get slow at times. 
  • P.S. I Still Love You: Oh my goodness guys, this book was ADORABLE! I think I enjoyed it a little more than To All the Boys I've Loved Before, just because it had all the components you hope for in a contemporary. You get to see a couple together (I'm trying not to spoil anything) which is nice because that doesn't happen very often in contemporary novels. We also met a wonderful new character, John Ambrose McClaren, who I felt was slightly TOO perfect, but I'm not complaining. I read the whole book in one sitting and smiled the whole way throught. 5 out of 5 stars.
  • Slammed: Slammed was our September book of the month. It's about a girl who has just moved to the Detroit suburbs from Texas. She just lost her dad and is just trying to stay afloat. There's a lot of poetry involved and despite the fact that it's a contemporary romance, it's a rather dark book. I loved the poetry aspect of the book and just thouroughly enjoyed the book. My only problem was that it didn't accurately depict the Detroit suburbs (and yes, I am speaking from experience). If you are a poetry lover, I'd highly recommend this book.
  • Finding Audrey: Finding Audrey is a book by Sophie Kinsella about a girl named Audrey who has severe social anxiety. Throughout the book, she deals with it and tries to overcome it. I felt like a lot of the book was rushed with her healing process, because it moved along so fast. Also, I'm not sure that I really liked the actual romance of the book, just because it seemed weirdly thrust upon us. One second, Audrey was hiding, the next she had a crush on Linus. I enjoyed the family aspect, because families rarely play such a big role in YA books. Overall, it was a good book, but I feel like Sophie Kinsella should've made it more authentic.

So those are all the books I read in September. I'm going to do my TBR and Bookhaul very soon, so be on the lookout for those.

Make sure to follow us on the links below, because we tend to update those a lot with OUSF news. Also, sign up for our weekly newsletter containing updates on our posts that week!

​Caramel
B L O G | I N S T A G R A M | T W I T T E R | E M A I L | G O O D R E A D S | G O O G L E +
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August Wrap-Up

9/3/2015

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Hi guys, today I have my August Wrap-Up. I can't believe summer is already over, and I'm going back to class soon. I will do my best to post at least once a week once classes start up again. With the PJO challenge, I read A TON of books this month, so without further ado, here are the books that I've read this month.
  • Percy Jackson's Greek Gods: I randomly picked this up because it was the only Riordan book I hadn't read (except for the latest Carter/Sadie/Percy/Annabeth crossover). Obviously, Percy did a great job narrating, and bringing in the perfect amount of humor (also simplyfying complicated names). It did get a little dull at times because it was basically an informational book. Despite that, I enjoyed it all the same and gave it 5 stars because, its Percy! How could I NOT give it 5 out of 5 stars?
  • Across the Universe: Across the Universe by Beth Revis is a science fiction book where a new planet has been discovered, and a team of people are being sent out to see if it is habitable. Among these people is 17-year-old Amy, who is leaving behind her boyfriend, her extended family, and her promising future as a runner to follow her parents as a member aboard the ship. They are cryogenically frozen and told they will be woken up in 300 years when the ship lands upon the new planet, Centauri-Earth. Yet, 250 years later, Amy is unplugged, and would've lost her life if it wasn't for the future leader of Godspeed (the ship) finding her and saving her. Now she has to figure out who unplugged her and stop them as more frozen members are being unplugged and killed. I gave this book 4 stars, because it was very promising for a first book to a series, but it took me a while to get into. It's told in two points of view, by Amy and Elder, and even though they both think very differently, they didn't seem to have very different voices, and I would get really confused whose point of view I was reading from. I really liked some of the abnormal text, where the words formatted like a staircase (I'd say the page number but I don't own the book). I felt like Amy was bursting at the seams with opinions and whatnot, and I didn't really like her. Elder somewhat fell flat, he just didn't really have any flaws, which kind of bugged me. I also didn't really appreciate the insta-love between them, which was mainly on Elder's part. You honestly can't just force two characters together because they're the same age and opposite genders. There's also just this massive info dump at the end which bugged me just because I waited a few weeks before reading the next review, and forgot almost everything in the info dump, so how is someone supposed to wait a year and remember every little detail? Usually, I hate when books recap, but in this case, you need one if there's an info dump at the end. Now, if you don't know, the cover for Across the Universe was changed twice! The original is this beautiful star studded version with Elder staring at Amy (and you'll see this scene in the book). When I saw the original cover at the library, I immediately checked the book out without even reading the description because it was so beautiful. Then, when the second book came out, they tried changing the cover, to Amy walking down the hall and pointing off into the distance. It was okay, but not as capturing as the first one and it was pretty boring too. At least the first one showed stars, which actually play a big role in the book and hint at the sci-fi genre. Then, they change it to an industrial-type thing with broken ice and a black blob. I-I-I DON'T COMPREHEND HOW THEY COULD EVEN FATHOM THAT BLACK BLOB OR POINTY THING WOULD EVEN COME CLOSE TO PRETTY STARS. I JUST DON'T. Maybe it didn't appeal to guys, even though its told in dual points of view by Amy and Elder. Solid 4 stars for me, and I would recommend reading it, even if you don't like sci-fi because I'm not a huge sci-fi fan myself.
  • Nimona: Nimona is a graphic novel by Noelle Stevenson that's basically about a villain named Ballister Blackheart and his new sidekick, Nimona, who is a shapeshifter. This graphic novel had an art style I loved, the characters were hilarious and the complicated plot was pretty simple to understand. I read this in one sitting and gave it 5 stars because it was so good and I just couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this and it was probably the best thing I read this month (except for the Riordan books).
  • Ms. Marvel: No Normal: This is actually the first comic I've ever read, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd thought. This is about a Muslim girl named Kamala, who is walking home from a party, when Ms. Marvel suddenly shows up and gives her powers. I'm still not exactly clear on what exactly happened, but that's what it seemed like. All the characters felt really flat, and her parents felt really stereotypical. I have friends that are Muslim and their parents are pretty chill as long as they make good choices, like every other parent. Just because someone is a different religion, doesn't make everything about their life different from everyone else. It really bothers me that Asians aren't really seen as normal people (and this is coming from an Asian) but are instead seen as robots with strict parents, get good grades and have no social lives whatsoever. Honestly, these stereotypes can be very offensive because people are ignorant about other cultures. I gave this 3 stars because I feel like comic writers need to do a little more research if they want to have proper 'diversity'.
  • The Lightning Thief: Looking back on The Lightning Thief, I remember all the good 'ol days with 12-year-old Percy. Basically what this book is about is a kid named Percy who finds out that he's a demigod which means he's half mortal and half god. He also finds out that someone stole Zeus' lighting bolt, and that he has to go on a quest to retrieve it. I love this book, I gave it 4 stars because it had first book issues, but ITS SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!
  • The Sea of Monsters: The Sea of Monsters is my second least favorite Percy Jackson book because I didn't really like Tyson when he was introduced and the whole book was lacking in the mystery element. Some parts felt really drawn out, even though the actual book was really short. But, don't worry, it get's better!
  • The Titan's Curse: The Titan's Curse is my least favorite of the Percy Jackson books just because there's NO ANNABETH! I did like the new characters a lot, though. There isn't a whole lot I can say without spoiling the books, so I *might* do a series review with spoilers and some of the quotes I wrote down. I gave this 4 stars because of the lack of Annabeth, but all I can say is...dam
  • The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Battle of the Labyrinth is my favorite of the Percy Jackson books. The plot keeps moving and it doesn't seem to drag, its about one of my favorite greek myths, and there are some beginnings of shipping ^_^! FIVE STARS ALL THE WAY THROUGH!
  • The Last Olympian: The Last Olympian is one of my favorite Percy Jackson books and it is the final Percy Jackson and the Olympians book. This was the PERFECT end to the series, Riordan tied everything up into a neat little package. It had all the makings of a good book: action, friendship, betrayal, humor, romance and Perseus Jackson of course. AND THE LAST UNDERWATER SCENE! YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. THAT MADE MY HEART EXPLODE.
  • The Lost Hero: The Lost Hero is the first book in the Heroes of Olympus series and my least favorite. The only new character I liked was Leo, because he was the only one with a brain that used it. And he's flipping hilarious. ALSO, IF RIORDAN THINKS HE CAN JUST KIDNAP PERCY AND THAT EVERYONE'S GOING TO BE OKAY WITH IT, HE'S GOT THE WRONG IDEA.
  • The Son of Neptune: The Son of Neptune is my favorite book in the Heroes of Olympus series, because I love all the characters in it (except for Octavian). AND THAT CLIFFHANGER? WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT, HUH RIORDAN? YOU CAN'T KEEP DOING THIS TO US!!!!!!! 
  • The Mark of Athena: The Mark of Athena is the third book in the Heroes of Olympus series. It seemed to drag in parts but there were lots of nice shipping moments. BUT THAT END. I HONESTLY GO INTO HYSTERICS EVERY TIME I READ THAT. RIORDAN, THE FANGIRLS/BOYS ARE COMING FOR YOU!
  • The House of Hades: The House of Hades is the fourth book in the Heroes of Olympus series and it definitely has the best cover. Its so.....Percabeth<3. Jason and Piper were useless as usual, but what else is new? Also, we get a new ship, which I LOVE because 7 is an odd number and I was kind of hoping that it would be Jason that ends up forever alone. The ending is the least cliffhanger-y out of all of them, which is really surprising, because we all know Uncle Rick. He probably has this great big pythos at home full of cliffhangers that he pulls out every time he ends a book. 
  • The Blood of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus is the disappointing final book in the Heroes of Olympus series. Now, maybe its just me, but I feel like Riordan has become out of touch with what it takes to properly end a series. There were TONS of loose ends and we didn't really get any closure. ALSO, WHERE WAS PERCABETH????????? I get it if Riordan didn't want to give Percy a POV since he had his own series, but at least Annabeth should've gotten one so that we could see her and Percy dealing with PTSD, which he just glossed over. We better get more closure in Magnus Chase because I need to know what happens to everyone.
  • Extraordinary Means: I have a full review of Extraordinary Means that you can check out right here: http://onceuponsomefangirls.weebly.com/caramel/extraordinary-means-book-review
  • A Million Suns: A Million Suns is the second book in the Across the Universe series, so I'm not going to say too much because I don't want to spoil the books. We needed some sort of recap in the beginning because the end of Across the Universe was a massive info dump, and I couldn't remember most of the stuff that happened. I thought that the mystery in A Million Suns was less obvious compared to the one in Across the Universe. A problem that I had with this book was that it still felt like Amy and Elder just didn't really have very distinct voices, so I would get very confused about who's POV I was reading from. I did start to like Amy a bit more, in the sense that she wanted to step back from Elder in order to choose him rather than feel forced to be with him. Elder still felt pretty flat, which is hard when you read from a character's POV but he just seemed really cookie-cutter. I gave this 4 stars, but it has less problems than Across the Universe.
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Summer I Turned Pretty is the first book in a trilogy by Jenny Han. I picked this up because I really enjoyed To All the Boys I've Loved Before, which is also by Jenny Han. I didn't really enjoy the Summer I Turned Pretty, I thought it was okay. The main character, Belly, was childish and insufferable. She thought that the world revolved around her, and that people acting weird had a direct correlation to only her. Her voice, like that of Lara Jean in To All the Boys I've Loved Before, came out as someone a lot younger than her actual age. I also found it very annoying that Belly expected every guy to be wrapped around her finger, but got upset that they moved on when she picked a guy. All of the characters felt very flat and underdeveloped. I really liked Jeremiah, because he was super sweet and considerate towards Belly, while Conrad was kind of a douche to her. I get that Belly is annoying and that Conrad was going through a lot, but so was Jeremiah and he wasn't douchey towards anyone. Part of me doesn't want Belly to end up with Jeremiah just because he could do a lot better than Belly. I gave this 3 stars, but I will be continuing on just to see where it takes me.


So those are the books that I read in July and I will talk to you guys soon with my September TBR.

Caramel
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July Wrap-Up and Update for the PJ Challenge

8/1/2015

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Hi guys! I know, it's been really long, I've either been in classes, at rehearsals, in the studio or working pretty much all month long (except for the weekends when I was out of town). This isn't supposed to be a bunch of lame excuses though, I just wanted to make a couple of announcements.


First of all, Gazelle and I have been planning a Percy Jackson marathon for a while now, and although we would love for the last day to be on Percy's birthday, Gazelle has classes that week. So, we're going to be starting on Friday, August 7th. Basically what the Percy Jackson challenge/marathon/thingy/whatever-you-want-to-call-it is where you read each of the books for each day. On Friday you read The Lightning Thief, Saturday read The Sea of Monsters, Sunday read The Titan's Curse and so on until The Blood of Olympus. We're going to try and have a birthday party/pool party for Percy on the last weekend of it to celebrate the end of it. This is great if you haven't read the Percy Jackson books yet, or if you want a refresher before the Magnus Chase books.



• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was our book of the month. I actually started this on audiobook during a road trip and had to finish it on ebook on my phone because I didn't have the patience to finish the audiobook. It's actually going to become a movie soon directed by the one and only Tim Burton! The premise of the book is kind of hard to explain but I'll try my best. There's this kid named Jacob who's 16 and his grandpa is his idol because he told him all these amazing stories about his life when Jacob was very young. After a string of events, Jacob decides to find the children's home where his grandfather grew up to try and figure out if his grandfather's stories were true. There were some aspects of the book I really enjoyed and some I didn't enjoy very much. It took about half of the book before I really had an understanding about what the actual plot was. This is by no means a fast-paced book, but I did hope for a bit more speed in the beginning of the story. I did really like the pictures in the book and how they related to the story, because they added a spooky element that words alone would not achieve. The romance in this book felt very forced and I think I would've appreciated the book without it, especially since it kind of disturbed me. Overall, this was a good first book, (I gave it 4 stars) but I'm hoping for more from the next two, especially since all the world-building has already been done. 


• The Retribution of Mara Dyer- The Retribution of Mara Dyer is the final book in the Mara Dyer Trilogy. I really can't say anything without spoiling you, but I am going to be posting a Mara Dyer series review with all of the spoilery goodness. I gave this book 3 stars, mainly because the beginning was really slow, but the book started to pick up speed and I started to pick up interest as I went along with the book. I seriously considered dropping it about 100 pages in, but I forced myself to keep reading and am glad I got the closure I needed for this story.

• Love and Other Unknown Variables- Butter actually recommended Love and Other Unknown Variables when we went to the library together, since we both love math. It's about this senior named Charlie who's extremely smart and his only loves are math and MIT (his dream college). Enter his sister's newfound best friend Charlotte, who happens to be the sister of the English teacher everyone hates. You can guess what happens from there. Some parts of the story seemed pretty generic, but it was a good book, and I really enjoyed all the theorizing about math. Also, IT SPOILS TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD!!! I have yet to read To Kill a Mockingbird, so I just skimmed that part. I gave this book 4 stars, but you don't have to enjoy math to enjoy this book.

• The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things- I actually just picked this book up before realizing that it was already on my TBR shelf on Goodreads. It's about a girl named Sage who had a dark past that no one knows about, but now lives with her aunt and is extremely perky. She meets a guy named Shane who is dark and mysterious, and is immediately attracted to him. Again, a cliched book with a slight twist. Despite a lot of the cliches, the parts that weren't made the book enjoyable. I loved how real the characters felt, but for some reason, Sage just didn't feel real. She said she'd never been in a car, but there were too many points in her life before moving that she had to have been in a car. I gave this 4 stars because it helped pull me out of a reading slump and I read the book in one sitting.

• The Lovely Bones- This book simultaneously broke my heart and scared the bajeezus out of me. It starts with our main character Suzie already in heaven. After she explains how she was raped and murdered, we watch her murderer, family and friends during the next year after her death. This book is by no means a light read. You have to be in a certain mindset to read this. I felt like, at times, there wasn't really much of a point to the story, as we were just watching her family try to carry on, but I think that's part of the message, as young girls get murdered every day. I had my problems with some parts, but the haunting tale of this book kept me reading. Definitely for mature readers with a heart of steel. I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book and I won't be reading it again, but I gave it 3 stars since it had a powerful message, but needed more of a story to keep it flowing.

• I'll Meet You There- 4.5 STARS I'll Meet You There is about a girl named Skylar, who is excited to leave her off-the-highway town of Creek View (where most of the girls her age live in trailers with their one-year-old children) to study art in San Francisco. But just after she graduates, her mother loses her job, and Skylar worries that she'll never get to leave when she was so close to finally doing just that. Josh used to be the grade-A douchebag of Creek View, but that was before he joined the Marines and lost his leg and his best friend in Afghanistan. Now he's back in Creek View, a changed person. As Skylar and Josh become friends at their job, they begin to slowly change each others lives for the better. I really liked Skylar and Josh as well as their boss (whose name I can't remember even though I finished the book an hour ago). I really enjoyed how the book focused more on how they healed each other and very little on the romance. Josh's chapters were very well written, I loved the style because the emotions were very raw with the run on sentences and how he addressed them to his best friend. One of the only real complaints I had was that every time Josh made a homosexual joke, a piece of my heart died, especially since no one ever really called him out on that.
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June Wrap-Up

7/14/2015

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Hi guys, remember me? Its been such a crazy past few weeks, I haven't had the time to update, and when I finally did have the time, I didn't have access to a computer. Basically, I've been running and rehearsing nonstop for these past 3 weeks and I went to Chicago for the 4th weekend. I will be uploading some pictures I took on that trip shortly, once I get my routine back in order. I'm still editing my cosplay summary and am going to start on my Paper Towns review, since my notes got buried.

Anyway, today I have my June wrap-up. There are two reviews with spoilers, but I did mark the spoilers with a warning before and have also marked where the spoiler ends, so just try and gloss over that part, sorry, I can't code on this platform.

• The DUFF- The DUFF is a YA contemporary about a girl named Bianca who's having a rough time in high school, causing her to resort to some extreme measures. I didn't really know a lot going in to it and I honestly think that's better for this book. It definitely had more of a new adult vibe to it, even though the main characters were all in high school. I didn't really like Bianca very much, but I did like her friends and Wesley, the main romance. Overall, I'd rate this at a 3-3.5 stars, not awful but not spectacular either. It sent a lot of mixed messages throughout the book and didn't really seem focused on covering all the presented problems. I probably won't be doing an in-depth review of it just because I feel like there wasn't a whole lot of substance to talk more about. 

• I Was Here- TRIGGER WARNING FOR SUICIDE
3.5 STARS
I Was Here is a contemporary mystery novel by Gayle Forman. It's about a girl named Cody who's 20 and her best friend, Meg, goes to college out of their small town. One day, out of nowhere, Cody gets an email from Meg which is a suicide note. Meg never seemed depressed, and Cody is convinced that some kind of foul play was involved in her best friends death. As the book goes on, she discovers this whole other side to Meg that she never knew existed. I gave this book 3.5 stars because I was able to guess the ending right off the bat, and I want books (especially mysteries) to keep me guessing until the very last page. I also felt like the romance in this book wasn't really necessary and it took away from the true message of the book. Gayle Forman handled the fragile topic of suicide very well, saying that there is a difference between being suicidal and imagining your death. At times, I just had to put the book down because I was scared out of sorts by how easily Cody missed SPOILER that Meg was depressed END SPOILER. It left me scared that one day I would wake up and get an email that one of my best friends had committed suicide. Some of the writing seemed less poetic than If I Stay or even Just One Day. Overall, this was a very moving book with a believable set of characters but a very heavy topic. 

• Noggin- Noggin was the teen book of the month. It's about a guy named Travis who had cancer in his entire body except for his head. He had an awesome best friend, a loving girlfriend and two wonderful parents. Not wanting to die, he signed up for an experimental treatment in which his head would be removed and placed on a donor body, giving him life once more. 5 years later, Travis is alive again, but nothing is the same. Throughout the book, Travis tries to rebuild his life once more. I thought this book was okay, but there were a lot of stupid decisions made in it and the end just felt way too abrupt. I didn't really like Travis very much because he just assumed that everyone would put their lives on pause until he came back. That really annoyed me because it seemed very selfish of him to want everyone he cares about to not move on and just put hope in a possibility. He also handled a lot of situations really badly, like trying to get back together with his girlfriend and talk to his best friend. There were some moments that were entertaining, but I laughed out loud only a few times. This book is kind of average, it didn't make any lasting impressions on me, but it was a very creative idea. 

• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer- 
4.5 STARS
Wow. This book. I definitely am going to do a series review of this trilogy because this book just blew me away. It's got a creepy feel, kind of like when it's 2 am and you're walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water but all the lights are off, so you don't know if anyone is there. It's about this girl named Mara who has just been in an accident in which her best friend, her boyfriend and her boyfriends sister died. The problem is, Mara doesn't remember anything about that night. She's suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) along with hallucinations. The accident causes her family to move to Florida and as she attempts to cope with her PTSD, she also meets mysterious bad-boy Noah Shaw, who may have more to do with what's going on with her than he lets on. This book is very eerie and supernatural, and most of the book you have no idea what's going on. I really liked the dark tone it had and how 'fresh' the premise felt. Even though the romance was quite the cliché, I still really liked Noah. I gave this book 4.5 stars, just because of the cliches, but points to the author for creativity. 

• The Evolution of Mara Dyer- The Evolution of Mara Dyer is the second book in the Mara Dyer trilogy. I didn't like it as much just because I felt like a lot of the things I liked in the first book (such as the hallucinations and having a hard time telling fact from fiction) just weren't there. I still did like it, but something just wasn't clicking for me. I gave it 4 stars because I felt like it was a little lacking for the second book in a trilogy. 

• Between the Lines- Between the Lines is about a high school girl named Delilah who is secretly obsessed with a fairy tale called Between the Lines, particularly the prince named Oliver. One day, when she's reading the book, Oliver talks to her and asks her to take him out of the book. After realizing that Oliver is, in fact, alive, Delilah spends the entirety of the book getting him out of the fairytale. I thought Oliver and Delilah were okay as characters, but there was nothing about them that I found to stand out or be very unique. The illustrations in Between the Lines were beautiful, I didn't realize there were illustrations until I started reading it, which was a pleasant surprise. Also, I found myself just skimming though the excerpts of the fairytale in the book because I felt like it didn't add any depth to the story. I gave this a 3 stars, because it's a light, casual read, but nothing spectacular. I actually spent majority of the book reading Delilah as Delia with an h at the end. It wasn't until I'd seen Jesse and Christine's book talks that I realized that I was reading it wrong XD. 

• Off the Page- 
3.5 STARS
Off the Page is the companion novel to Between the Lines. It reminds me a lot of the Disney movie Enchanted, which I just recently rewatched. It starts off with Delilah having gotten Oliver out of the book and him trying to live in the real world. In this book, I was really bothered by the fact that there was a lot of people coming in and out of the book, even though we spent a whole book before this trying to just get Oliver out. It was really frustrating because I feel like Between the Lines was a waste if it was just that easy. I also felt like Delilah and Oliver didn't really have many moments as a couple where they just went, Oh wow, I really love this person. We just start the book where they've already been together for a month, and other than some really stupid drama, just don't FEEL anything with them. I did love the scene in the mall, and the little sass-off in the food court. Something I really didn't like was SPOILER that Edgar's mom was spared from death because it feels like it gives people false hope that something terminal can be avoided END SPOILER. I enjoyed Off the Page more than Between the Lines just because it was a bit more fun and we got a little more insight on a lot of the technicalities of the world. 

I'll see you guys soon with my TBR,
Caramel
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February Wrap-Up

3/3/2015

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So, I just pulled myself out of a reading slump in January, so there's a crapload of books that I've read that I still need to review...*don't hate me, don't hate me*. I'VE BEEN BUSY, OKAY? So, these are what I've read mostly in February, but there may be a few I read in late January. 



  • Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano: I really enjoyed this book, it is a very promising series. I'm pretty sure the next book is coming out this year(?). It's about a city in the sky where you can pursue any career you want, as long as you don't approach the edge. If you go near the edge of the city or think too much about the ground, the government will hunt you down. Some people try to jump to the ground and either die or get injured severely. I'd give it probably a 96%, it was a really good read, I just got a bit annoyed with the protagonist at some points. 
  • Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: I absolutely adored this book! I could totally relate to Cath, the main character, since I'm not big on the whole social thing and I'm a total fangirl. It's about a fangirl who has never really spent time away from her twin, but suddenly her twin sister wants to do everything separately. The book mainly goes through her struggle to find herself and how writing Simon Snow fanfiction gets her through hardship. I'd give it a 99.5% because my ONLY problem was that they said the name Harry Potter, but Simon Snow is supposed to be Harry Potter. 
  • Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern: I seriously considered dropping this book because I really didn't enjoy it at all. It's about a girl named Amy who is disabled and cannot talk due to a premature birth who becomes friends with a boy named Matthew with OCD. I thought I would enjoy it, but the plot seemed to be all over the place and I just couldn't relate to any of the characters. Amy really annoyed me and made a lot of stupid decisions. I think I'd give it a 35% (I know, it was really that bad) because it just wasn't compelling or even enjoyable. 
  • Just One Day by Gale Forman: I liked this book, but I did not LOVE this book. Just One Day is about a this girl who goes on one of those teen tours around Europe, and is just about to go home when she meets this guy who offers to take her to Paris, since that city was canceled on the trip, for just one day. It's about so much more than that but that's all I want to say about it. I really liked the character development in this story, and how she learns so much about herself. I'd give it an 85%, because I didn't really like the boy she meets. 
  • Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: I did a full review on this, the link is here: http://www.onceuponsomefangirls.weebly.com/caramel/anna-and-the-french-kiss/
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: This book...oh where to begin? I adored this book so much, the writing, the characters. Everything was so real. I didn't actually realize how much I loved it until I finished it, but it was wonderful. The plot is hard to explain, it's about a boy named Charlie starting his first year of high school. It takes place in the 90's, so some things feel a little off, but it's overall a great book. 94% on my scale. 
  • The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider: I had mixed feelings about this book. I really liked it at the beginning, with the right amount of angst, raw emotion, mystery, etc. But, as it went on, I found myself not really liking Cassidy, she felt like a bit of a manic pixie dream girl. The Beginning of Everything is about a boy named Ezra, who's the most popular guy in his grade, star of the tennis team, you know the type. He gets into an accident, and finds his whole life rapidly changing after the accident along with the appearance of mysterious new girl Cassidy. The ending left me really unsatisfied, it just didn't cut it. Probably an 82%, just because there was so much left to be desired. 
  • Let it Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle: Let it Snow is probably the book version of a rom-com and follows three interconnected romances that take place during Christmas. I'm going to break this down by author. Maureen Johnson, I've never read any of her other books, was pretty good. Probably an 88%. John Green disappointed me, I just expected more from him. The whole premise of the characters thinking was really shallow. I'd give him no more than an 80%. Lauren Myracle's section annoyed me because the main character just...ugh.....it took a lot of self control to finish the book. 70% at most, but I was never really a fan of her work. I also felt that all of the endings were extremely predictable, but this is a fireside read, so I would expect no less. 
  • Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: Stephanie Perkins.....changed my life, that one. Lola and the Boy Next Door is about a girl named Lola, who seemingly has everything: a boyfriend, two loving parents, and a loyal best friend. But her neighbor who she had a childhood crush on moves back next door and she finds herself questioning what she has. Just going to put this out there....ANNA AND ÉTIENNE ARE IN IT YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!!!!! I loved this book so much, great work as always! I just want to know, did anyone else find anything off with Max? For some reason, I disliked him from the start. 
  • Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins: Isla and the Happily Ever After is about a girl named Isla and her relationship with her longtime crush, Josh. Isla was cool, but she was pretty rash, always acting without thinking first. And Josh felt like a nuisance, always being moody. But THE END!!! Page 313 was OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!!! I was all: gosh darn it girl, you've made my heart go *boom*. 
  • The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard: I have a full review on this: http://www.onceuponsomefangirls.weebly.com/caramel/the-perfectionists/
  • City of Bones by Cassandra Clare: I'll have a series review on this, but for the meantime........JACE IS MINE, ALL MINE, I SHIP IT! I SHIP JARAMEL SO HARD I'VE ALREADY SENT IT TO UPS! HE IS MY ONE AND ONLY!
  • Better than Yesterday by Robyn Schneider: Better than Yesterday is about these overachiever students who go to a prestigious boarding school, and are all there for summer school before senior year. When a group of 'friends' I'd reunited with their long-lost friend from freshman year who runs away, they go on a search to find him. I thought this was okay, I liked it, but I didn't love it. I really liked Charley and Skylar was alright too. I'd give it a solid 85%, a nice quick read. 

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    Caramel's Read Books

    The Summer I Turned Pretty
    A Million Suns
    Extraordinary Means
    The Blood of Olympus
    The House of Hades
    The Mark of Athena
    The Son of Neptune
    The Lost Hero
    The Elite
    The Last Olympian
    The Battle of the Labyrinth
    The Titan's Curse
    The Sea of Monsters
    Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal
    The Lightning Thief


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