Saturday, 3 October 2015

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published year: 2012
Pages: 421
Format: Paperback
Source: Borders bookstore

I want this!

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.
Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament --- fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin's heart be melted?

I truly don't know what to say about this book, great? no...... It's beyond great, a MASTERPIECE. Never had I thought a 421 paged book would be so......so..... It's beyond words! I just read it, and then It shot through my mind, I HAVE TO BLOG ABOUT THIS. I think this blog will be a little bit longer than the rest.

I'm usually curious about the description of a character, whether it's the face shape or the hair, I don't get how authors can let me picture the characters without describing it in a full paragraph. Sarah J. Maas let me realised how it worked: describe it in another character's point of view. When it hit me, I thought: Brilliant! How can I not thought of this? I like her writing style, everything moves so fluently, and beautiful. She also managed to fill the book with a series of events, so I always expect another event coming soon when one just ended.

Now onto the story, I really admire Celaena. She's strong, she's beautiful, she's also funny. I seriously don't know how she could survive a death camp for a year, rescued by a guard with violence, humiliated, and manage to smile. I wish I could be like her, excluding the part where she has to go through a death camp, a series of training session, and almost got herself killed in a duel. No way, I am definitely not going to survive that part. And then we have Chaol Westfall, the Captain of the Royal Guard of Erilea. Apparently he had a secret crush on Celaena, forming a love triangle and became the love rival of non other than ------ Dorian, the crown prince. Usually I don't like love triangle, but in this situation, well, that rule have to go. Mainly because I had grown to love medivel (I spelled that wrong, I think) fantasy stories. Now to Dorian, as I just mentioned, the crown prince of Erilea, son of the cruel King that forbid magic but is the one using it. I thank Sarah J. Maas for bringing him into the story, without him, this story will become dark, with no fun, everything is serious, and dull. And Nehemia, cannot forget her, I wish to mention Katlain as well, but seeing my hate to her, we'll skip her for now. Speaking of Nehemia, I like her, she is the princess or someplave you'll know if you read the book, and a user of magic, she even saved Celaena's life! Score!

Now I would like to present to you the quotes in the book, so, spoiler alert!

"We all bear scars,...Mine just happen to be more visible than most."

"Sometimes, the wicked will tell us things just to confuse us–to haunt our thoughts long after we've faced them."


"Names are not important. It's what lies inside of you that matters." 

You see? This just shows how beautiful Sarah J. Maas's writings were. So I highly recommend this to all of you who haven't pick it up yet, go read it! You'll never regret!

"If they tried to take her from him, he'd rip the world apart with his bare hands."

Saturday, 26 September 2015

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Published year: 2013
Pages: 459
Format: Paperback
Source: MPH bookstore

I want this!

Cath and Wren are identical twins and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to iniversity and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more ----- she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties  and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She would rather bury herself in the fanfiction she writes where there's more romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life. 
Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realizing that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible...

First off, I want to thank Rainbow Rowell for creating this book. It's amazing! The story is so heart warming and fun, and I think all Harry Potter lovers should read it, not that it's a story based on Harry Potter but the series in the story, known as The Simon Snow series is very similar to it. And though the theme and plot of the series is similar to Harry Potter series, the story is different, the character's, the plot of the individual book (reminder: I said the overall plot is similar, not the individual book plot) are totally different. Good job, Rainbow Rowell, Good job!

Anyway, we're (or I am) getting a little (actually a lot) bit off track here. Let's get back to the actual Fangirl book and the storyline. Start from the cover, I like the plain and unique cover because the font is straight and it really brings out the teenage bit of the book, and with Cath seating on the word 'a' with the computer resting on the edge of 'n' is really creative. And the fact that Levi is calling for Cath three times shows his friendship and the way he is standing shows that he is a fun person. (and flirty) Well, Cath ignored him and instead she was thinking about Simon Snow shows that she's really in to the whole 'fanfiction' and Simon Snow. Kinda like me and Harry Potter, hehe!

Now to the story, well, I'll admit it's hard to do a review without giving out too much spoilers. Lets just say Rainbow Rowell is really good when in bringing out the characters and the situation. The characters, Cath, Wren, Levi, everyone... they fill so alive! It's like I was there when everything happened, or the characters will pop right out of the book any minute! When describing, it's very detailed and I can picture all of the scenes without any problem. And come on, who doesn't like the sneak peak of the Simon Snow series after each chapter ended?

Overall, I think this is a book that deserved to be read. When I found out it that the first draft is created for National Novel Writing Month in 2011, I was blowned away! I never thought a bestselling novel (or probably a career) can be created just by participating an annual event. If there is one thing I have to say lastly about this whole book/novel/story: You'll never regret after picking it up.

"To really be a nerd, you had to prefer fictional

worlds to the real one."


Sunday, 30 August 2015

Cover Reveal!! Once Upon A Time University by Savannah Ostler


Title: Once Upon A Time University
AuthorSavannah Ostler
Classification: Fiction
GenreFantasy, YA, teen, clean teen fairytales, adventure, romance

Blurb:


The enchanting sequel to “Happily Ever After High School”

After graduating Happily Ever High, eighteen year old Albany French was living the perfect fairy tale. She had her very own fairy godmother, a delightfully eccentric grandmother, and her boyfriend was her dream knight in shining armor.

At first, it seemed like a flawless freshman year for her at Once Upon A Time University. The campus was magical and enchanted, her classes were extraordinary, and she made surprising new friends.

 A chain of unsettling events followed by a twist of fate sends Albany spinning. She is forced to make the most difficult decision of her life- one that could potentially break her heart. The perfect happily ever after was still within Albany’s grasp… or so she thought.

Author's Bio:

Savannah Ostler was born in Alpine, Utah. Since childhood, she has enjoyed many forms of the arts. It was from her love of performing that she decided to attend East Hollywood High, a school in Salt Lake City dedicated to film, television, and writing.
In addition to acting for both stage and film, Savannah is also a singer, having released several original pop singles, and performing at well known venues in Hollywood such as The House Of Blues, and the Roxy theater.

Although Savannah is incredibly diverse with her talents, her first love is, and has always been writing. She has been writing ever since she learned how to read and write. She enjoys many different forms of writing: poetry, lyrics, fiction, and screenplays. To date, Miss Ostler has written hundreds of original poems, six original songs produced and performed by Savannah herself, hundreds of lyrics not yet produced, over a dozen produced short films, five feature film screenplays, two television pilots, and of course, her first novel Happily Ever After High School.

Savannah has always been a day dreamer and a true kid at heart. When she is not buried in her writing projects, she can be found at Disneyland, living out all of her fairy tale dreams.

She lives in Los Angeles, CA with her husband Steve and their two mixed Chihuahua pups.



Twitter: @SavannahOstler



Here's a letter ( or a message ) from Savannah Ostler, the author of  Happily Ever After High School!

Hello!

My name is Savannah Ostler, but you can call me Savvy. I LOVE fairy tales. No, let me rephrase that. I live and breathe fairy tales.
I’m a dreamer born and raised in a small town, and moved to the big city of Los Angeles to follow my creative ambitions. I’ve loved every minute of my journey, even if it wasn’t always easy. Having always had a passion for writing, acting, and singing, living in Los Angeles was the step that I had to take in order to pay full tribute to my dreams.

Living in the city of opportunity has opened a lot of doors for me in the span of four years- including acting in commercials, singing at world-famous concert venues around Hollywood, acting in feature films, stage productions, producing a series of short films, and having the opportunity to work on famous studio lots, including Warner Bros. studios, Culver City studios, Paramount studios, and my own personal favorite, Walt Disney studios. Being a performer allows me the flexibility of creating my own schedule, giving me plenty of time to dedicate to my writing- which in the span of just living in LA, I have added writing two full length novels, five original feature screenplays, ten short screenplays, Over two dozen poems, fifteen original songs, and a notebook full of ideas.

My career in LA has definitely been a blast, and I have loved every second of it. That being said, I would have to say that my most treasured and note-worthy adventure here in southern California was meeting my husband Steve. I had always been the kind of hopeless romantic who had believed in the magic of true love and destiny- and finding my soul mate from southern California only affirmed that belief. Steve was born and raised in southern California and had lived in the golden state all his life. To think that I probably wouldn’t have met him had I not followed my dreams to Los Angeles attests my belief in destiny, true love, and real life fairy tales. We had our perfect fairy tale, Cinderella-inspired wedding in an enchanted setting, a perfect Cinderella-worthy dress and tiara, my perfect prince, and we rode away in a horse-driven Cinderella coach. Since we are both Disney nerds, we happily were off to Disneyworld for a royal honeymoon.

Needless to say, I had more than enough inspiration for my fairy tale fantasy series, “Happily Ever After High School”, and now “Once Upon A Time University”. I wanted to create a world were fairy tales were not just make believe- a world where they were thrown into the mix with real modern life. I wanted to spark the love of fairy tales and imagination in my readers while also making them believe that true love might actually be not exclusive to fairy tales. The entire series stemmed from this idea.  
Next, came my main character, Albany. I wanted to come up with a unique name that you don’t hear everyday, and I wanted it to somehow be a little personal to me. Since I am named after a city, I looked up different city names across the US, and Albany stuck out to me.

Albany is definitely not your typical eighteen year old. She is independent, determined, unique, creative, and definitely a day dreamer. She absolutely has always hated traditional public schools, because she feels like she doesn’t belong there. Albany doesn’t really have many friends, but the friends that she does make she keeps for life.
Despite being labeled as an “outcast”, Albany finds contentment in her books- especially fairy tales.

I love the character of Albany, because I can definitely relate to her. In fact, I’ll let you in on a little secret… She is pretty much me at eighteen years old. She is a dreamer, she is optimistic, she is bright, she hates math, and she is not afraid to create her own path and get what she wants in life.

This isn’t to say that Albany doesn’t have her fair share of character flaws. Believe me, she has just as many flaws as the typical teenage girl. She is a mess, she can never keep her room clean- or anything for that matter. She is extremely stubborn and has a very witty and sarcastic sense of humor that can sometimes come off as cold if not understood. For those who don’t know Albany, her stubbornness can has the potential to get irritating. In reality, she just likes to stick to her gut and is not afraid to diverge from the herd. In fact, that’s what she does best. She’s a girl who knows what she wants, and she won’t give up until she gets it.

Writing Once Upon A Time University was a blast from the very beginning. I really let myself get inside Albany’s head and put myself in her shoes. Being so similar to the character, it was second nature for me. While writing and editing, I would often times recite Albany’s dialogue aloud to see how it sounds. The majority of the time, I probably looked like a crazy person talking to myself. But hey, it was totally fun and helped my process. I also listened to a ton of music while writing the novel. I created a playlist of the key songs I listened to over and over again while writing. These are songs that Albany would totally rock out too as well. We definitely share the same taste in music. Yes, the list is kind of all over the place as far as music genres are concerned, but that’s just how we like it ;)

I so hope you enjoy reading the second installment of the enchanted series as much as I enjoyed writing it!

May all of your fairy tale wishes come true, <3
Savvy

Saturday, 11 July 2015

Jinx-Wizard's Apprentice by Sage Blackwood

Title: Jinx - Wizard's Appreentice
Author: Sage Blackwood
Published by: HarperCollins Children's Books   US
Published year: 2013
Pages: 359
Format: Paperback
Source: School library

I want this!

The bubbling cauldrons and coloured potions of the wizard's house are a world away from the life Jinx has left behind. Even the walls are soaked in magic, and it's not long before Jinx begins to unlock his own rare powers. But Simon Magus is no ordinary wizard. He seems to need something from Jinx - something dark. And Jinx begins to wonder: can he trust Simon...at all?

When you combine magic and student, you get a wizard's apprentice! The story begins where Jinx is abandoned in the forest of Urwald, Jinx met Simon the wizard, when Jinx's stepfather is taken by trolls, Jinx is taken by Simon to be his slave. Eventually Jinx learn about magic and begged Simon to be his apprentice. But when Simon took Jinx lifeforce from him, Jinx set out a journey to get back his lifeforce...or learn his lost power over again.

I like the cover of this book, it's very......magical and forestry. Alright lets get into the book, I like the fact that the story is fast paced, and easy to read. So I would recommend this to the readers that is just starting out to read long fiction. It's very detailed as well, so you could actually feel like you are in the story, the forest. And it's fantasy so it really fits my genre ^^. It's a good book because it's short, and you can just bring it with you when you are traveling. The same goes to the second book (because I just finished it)

Overall I think this is a good book if you don't have the time to go out and take a walk, when you read it, it really feels like you are in a forest rather than sitting in your office. And it also makes you think about go green as well. so, GO GREEN!



"An object may be concealed in plain view. One who knows that the object is there will find it, and one who does not will not."

Sunday, 28 June 2015

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Published by: Penguin Group
Published year: 2010
Pages: 372
Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed from friend

Anna is happy at Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she's less than thrilled when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new people, including the handsome Etienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken -- and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she's been waiting for?

I want this!

Six words, BEST-ROMANCE-BOOK-I'VE-EVER-READ. Honestly I don't know if it is the best, because the only romance book I read is The Fault in Our Stars.

This book is about a girl named Anna who goes to a boarding school in France. There she met some new friends including: Meredith, Josh, Rashmi and St. Clair. Having to be the most handsome boy in school, St. Clair had a lot of admirers. One of them being Anna, but Anna is aware that St. Clair has a girlfriend-- Ellie. So she is stuck between friendship and betrayal, school and love. But as time goes on, Anna grows to like St. Clair even more and hate Ellie, thus begin the war between love and friendship.

LOVE this book, the author did a great job of having the love-at-first-sight part without actually having the love-at-first-sight event (get what I'm trying to say? Anyway, all of you that read this book will know what I'm saying.) We get to see the characters grow and develop a feeling for each other. The book breaks your heart, and then sew them together again. It makes you want to finish this book in a single day. Thanks to the friend that recommended this book to me, I am addicted ( or obsessed ) to romance novels. I can't wait to read the next book! BUT learn some basic french phrase before reading this book. Because it contains french words without translation.


"I wish for the thing that is best for me."


Friday, 12 June 2015

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Published by: Square Fish Macmillan Publishers
Published year: 2012
Pages: 387
Format: Paperback
Source: MPH bookstore

I want this!

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl...
Sixteen-year-old Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past and is reviled by her step-mother. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future. Because there is something unusual about Cinder, something that others would kill for.

SPOILERS ALERT

Do you like fairy tales? What? You're bored of classic fairy tales? You may want to consider to hold that back.

This is an AMAZING story retelling book. It absolutely blew my mind! The author sure knows how to retell a story. This book features Cinderella on a different way, kinda like a futuristic-past. Do you get what I'm trying to say? There's a substance in this book, in this story, it pulls you into the world in side the book. It makes me fill like I know Cinder, her happiness, her frustration, her eagerness, because I also don't want to be stuck in a evil-greedy-ignorant-blinded-by-money-step-mother who sends you to die willingly just for an experiment. No thanks.

This is a good YA book for not only teens like me, but also adults and children as well. This story is beautiful, not only did the author bring out the characteristics of all the characters in the book, but also let the love between Cinder and Prince Kai slowly develop, not the love-at-first-sight (or was it on?) you see on most YA romance book. But don't worry parents who are reading! There's only kiss in this book. NO HOT SCENES. I promise.

Overall this book is great for all of you who are fans of the classic fairy tale Cinderella. I don't know if I'm going to reread this in the future because I don't really like the beginning of the book (or was it the writing style of the author?) It just contain too many mysteries. But, great book!

" I am not worth starting a war over."


Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Order of the Dimensions by Irene Helenowski

Title: Order of the Dimensions
Author: Irene Helenowski
Published by: Unknown
Published year: 2013
Pages: 287
Format: Paperback
Source: Sent from the author

I want this!

When Jane Kremowski first began her graduate studies in physics at Madison State University in Wisconsin, little did she know where her work would take her. Now, she is embroiled in a multitude of dimensions all leading to different outcomes. She and her colleagues therefore must act wisely in order to take and keep away the Order of Dimensions from falling into the wrong hands for the sake of her loved ones.

The story begins on the day when Jane will be demonstrating her experiment - the Multiverser to a famous scientist known as Dr. Zelov. After the experiment, Dr. Zelov appears to like Jane and had been meeting with her several times. After a blackout during a presentation of Dr. Monroe, Jane finds herself in a completely different place. Aware that Dr. Zelov might be doing some mischief, Jane sets on a mission to overthrow her soon-to-be fiance in hope to return to her normal life. During her mission, she stumbled across many people that are aiming for the same goal, and her courage is put into test, as the smallest mistake could lead the destruction of the entire world.

This book is confusing, I'm not going to lie. When I first look at the title, I expect it to be a little more adventurous, like a person had gone into a dimension and is on an adventure to find a way back, but no, the main character travels many dimensions of he same world and is chasing the evil guy to the end of the world. There is too little detail in the book causing me to unable to imagine the scene. Plus, no one can read an entire paragraph without stopping.

But wait! There's also good things about this book. The story line may be confusing, but once we understand it, we know how brilliant this idea is! Who would have thought to write a book about a person chasing the bad guy all over the world? and more, the dimensions? And the story isn't that long, it's easy for beginner readers to understand the words, if someone wants to start reading a fiction, this would be the book to start with, and it's easy to take with when we're traveling!

Overall, I think the author has so much potential, and this book has a lot of room for improving! (no offense, but.....) Maybe this series wasn't that good, but you can always improve, write and publish some more books! There's no rule saying you can only write and publish one series, right?