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Stealing PArker, Things I can't Forget & Racing SAvannah by Miranda Kenneally 

3/27/2015

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These books are so good. Miranda? You're officially one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. Yeah, in just two weeks Miranda Kenneally is up there on my list with Stephanie Perkins. I'm definitely ordering Breathe, Annie, Breathe in my next book shipment. There's just something so realistic about Miranda's writing style. I highly recommend these books to any of you who are craving a cute young adult romance (which I find myself doing a lot). These books are more companion novels than a series, but I don't recommend reading them out of order. Why? Because you'll be majorly spoiled for all the previous books. Okay, maybe not majorly, you might not take note of the people's names. But I say read them in order, because there's a slight chance you may rememeber and be spoiled for the shocking twists and turns in Miranda's books. 
Okay, I know if any of you are friends with me on Goodreads you might be disappointed with because I read the last two books in the White Rabbit Chronicles (Gena Showalter) before these and have yet to review them. But I just finished Things I Can't Forget and Racing Savannah Today! I have the memories of them fresh in my head! (Yes, I started and finished both Things I Can't Forget and Racing Savannah TODAY while going to school and hanging out with friends after school (and not reading) I'm pretty proud) (p.s. sorry that I'm bragging a tiny bit but I started and finished Stealing Parker yesterday and finished Through the Zombie Glass and Queen of Zombie Hearts in less than a day)
Out of all of the Hundred Oaks books that I've read, Catching Jordan would definitely be my favorite. But Stealing Parker is very close in second. I honestly didn't think I'd like Stealing Parker even remotely as much as I did Catching Jordan but, nope! It was just as amazing, in fact, it'd be right up next to Catching Jordan except for the religious aspect of the book, but more on that later. Next on my list of favorites so far comes Racing Savannah, the story and characters were great, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first two books-even though it still has a close rating I preferred the first two books' characters much more- and it definitely pulled ahead of Things I Can't Forget. To be honest I never even wanted to get that one anyway, the synopsis didn't sound interesting but I did get it because I knew it was a series and didn't want to get spoiled on anything. 
My main problem with Things I Can't Forget was the protagonist. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't connect with Kate in the way I could with all of Miranda's other protagonists. Especially because of her strong religious beliefs. You see, Kate's Christian and she's SUPER into all the beliefs and follows the rules and is uber judgmental on anyone who steps their pinky toe out of line. Sure, I judge people, everyone does, but Kate like judged people overly so. If I knew Kate Kelly I probably would've punched her in the face by now. She kinda reminded me of Mary Anne Bryant from Easy A. Also Matt. He was my least favorite of the Miranda's boys. Just not my cup of tea, I guess. 
BEFORE I FORGET These books are romantic ,humorous and will have you squealing in delight, laughing out loud and feeling second hand embarrassment throughout the whole thing. It's great. 
SPOILER FREE FOR STEALING PARKER (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS TO CATCHING JORDAN)
My rating for Stealing Parker is an 8.7/10 yeah, a whole tenth away from Catching Jordan. That's how amazing it was. Sure, I wasn't crazy that she was Christian but it fit well into the story line. She also wasn't crazily Christian.
Okay I'M SORRY to Christians reading this. I respect your religion and don't have a problem with it, I'm just not Christian, so please don't hate me. We can all be friends :) 
I didn't exactly get why, from the synopsis, Parker was 'hooking up' (not HOOKING UP but hooking up) with so many boys, but as soon as I started, I got it. Parker's mom is lesbian and the people at her church (most of them) like judged her very meanly and harshly about, her ex best friend even said she might be lesbian. So Parker was determined to prove them wrong. The character growth in all of Miranda's books is downright impressive, I love it. 
I was expecting a curveball (haha see what I did there) when reading this book because of the complete 360 turn Catching Jordan had. But I won't tell you whether or not it has one because not all of Miranda's books do have 360's so you'll just have to read them to figure out which do and don't. 
Parker is a great character. Even though I haven't been an outcast in my church or am good at softball or even kissed a boy I got her. I was able to easily connect to her feelings and understand where this girl was coming from. (Also I'm feeling the need to say my mom didn't run off with another woman and is still living with me, my sister and my dad) She thinks realistically, and her feelings of confusion, passion and everything else just felt (I'm going to say this word way too much) so scarily realistic. Same with Jordan. I loved the ride Parker went on in this story and was glad that I read it. Seriously, you won't regret reading this book. Okay, you might, but hopefully you won't because I love it. 
Brian Hoffman was a cute character. I'm not too into the way older guy in a story, but Brian was sweet. He did have his slightly (okay not so slightly) annoying moments but so do all characters. Like I was annoyed with almost all the characters in this book for a bit. I get annoyed easily. 
Drew Bates, I think I remember him from Catching Jordan. He was on the football team, I think, but not one of the mains those were JJ, Sam, Carter and Ty (besides Jordan, of course.) He's a sweet character and I loved that he was Parker's best friend. I always love a boy/girl best friendship. One of the many reasons I love Sam and Jordan. (calling him Sam took some time get used to) 
I was a little disappointed in the lack of Sam and Jordan in this book. Like sure, they're both mentioned a few times but I wish there was more of them. I get it, it's Parker's Story, we already got a nice full book on them but I NEED MORE. I know they're big characters in Jesse's Girl but I just want more of Sam and Jordan... okay? I always love when you hear other peoples' stories that we're already connected to from another person's perspective and what they think about it. Unfortunately the events of Catching Jordan weren't really mentioned. At all. 
Will Whitfield aka Corndog is adorable. Blue eyes? I can deal with this boy. He's smart, sporty and sweet WHERE CAN I GET ME ONE OF THESE? And with a southern accent? Yes, please. Also GUYS HIS NAME IS WILL. I LOVE MY WILLS (TID?) He's (I keep typing Jordan lol) Parker's biggest competition for valedictorian, well, he was. 
I have two more books to go, lol this is going to be a long review. (I've decided against spoilers because THEN how long would it be? Why did I decide to put these three in one again?) 
Synopsis: 
Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.

Now Parker wants a new life.

So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?

But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?


SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF THINGS I CAN'T FORGET BELOW (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS TO PREVIOUS BOOKS) 
Ugh. I did enjoy the story line and I get that Kate was supposed to be really judgy and annoying but I'm sorry, she was just over the top judgy and annoying. This shows that Parker's a better person than me because she forgave Kate. Tiny bit resentful towards this book because there was a lot of Parker and Will. A lot more than Jordan and Sam were in Stealing Parker and those two were nonexistent in this book. There are separate groups, I know, I know, I just think.... I NEED MORE OF MY BABIES.  Like I mentioned before, I wasn't too into Matt. And I felt bad for how realistically suckish some people's lives were (Emily) and how realistically sucky some people were (Meagan, I really wanted to hit that woman as many times as I wanted to hit Kate) I thought I'd have like, a whirlwind of comments towards this book, but now I realize I don't really, they're all pretty much about the same thing. I don't agree with many of the designs Kate made, especially with Matt, but with everyone else, too, and I just didn't like Kate very much. Sorry if you did, but she drove me up the wall. Oh, yeah, and the story wasn't quite as compelling and interesting as the others.  
Synopsis: 
Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different...

This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt - with her.

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy...





SPOILER FREE PART OF MY REVIEW FOR RACING SAVANNAH (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR BOOKS MENTIONED ABOVE) 
I didn't like Savannah and Jack quite as much as Jordan, Sam, Parker and Will. But I can connect with Savannah, especially  her fiery determined passion.  I do like the richer-poorer relationships in romance, I think it adds a great angle to work off of and I think Miranda could've used that more but the way she wrote it was great. This book broke my heart in the way that my favorites (J, S, P and W) are freaking grown up now. I mean, WILL AND PARKER GOT MARRIED! AHHH! I just read Stealing Parker a day ago. I'm not ready for them to be getting married! Oh wait, was that a spoiler for the book? Not really it didn't have anything much to do with the plot line, I was simply explaining that this is much later in the future than I expected when diving into the story. Sorry if you thought that was a spoiler.
I loved Savannah's love of horses, it was passionate and she's good with them, which is amazing. Oh, Vanessa was in this book. AKA Ty's baby sis. Dang, she's a senior. 
I liked that our previous characters showed up a little in this book, even Carter, but I wished they had more time.... The Taco Bell thing with Sam and Carter was hilarious, you'll get it when you read it. You see I kept a whole page of notes on this book, but I just don't have the time or energy to write it right now and seriously? This review is long enough already. 
I liked Mr. Goodwin and his love of hotdogs and I liked how he treated his servants. He'd be a good employer to have. This book, in a way, reminded me a little of the Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. Probably the whole rich boy thing along with the dad and stuff, they did have a little of the same feeling about each other. 

Synopsis: 
They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack…



Thanks for reading this absurdly long review! Love you guys and thanks so much for actually reading my reviews :) 
-Anj
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March Book Haul

3/24/2015

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The books I ordered just came in the mail and I'm really excited to read them! <3 
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Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter 
The first book was, eh, okay? I guess... The protagonist I found annoying and the plot was well, dull, I'm hoping things speed up in book two. 
Step into the world of Shadow Falls, a camp that helps teens tap into their special... talents. Once you visit, you’ll never forget it—and you’ll never, ever be the same.

From the moment Kylie Galen arrived at Shadow Falls Camp, she’s had one burning question: What am I? Surrounded by vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, fairies and witches, Kylie longs to figure out her own supernatural identity…and what her burgeoning powers mean. And now she’ll need them more than ever, because she’s being haunted by a new spirit who insists that someone Kylie knows—and loves—will die before the end of the summer. If only she only knew who she was supposed to save. And how...

But giving Kylie the most trouble is her aching heart. Gorgeous werewolf Lucas left camp with another girl, but he’s still visiting Kylie in her dreams. And Derek, a sexy half Fae who’s always been there for her when she needed him, is pushing to get more serious—and growing impatient, especially when Lucas returns. Kylie knows she needs to decide between the boys, and it’s tearing her up inside. 

Yet romance will have to wait, because something from the dark side of the supernatural world is hiding in Shadow Falls. It’s about to threaten everything she holds dear... and bring her closer to her destiny.
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Racing Savannah, Stealing Parker and Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally 
Absolutely LOVED Catching Jordan- can't wait to read these. I have high expectations! 
Racing Savannah: 
They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack…



Stealing Parker: 


Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.

Now Parker wants a new life.

So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?

But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?



Things I Can't Forget: 
Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different...

This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt - with her.

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy...
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Through the Zombie Glass & Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter
 CAN'T WAIT TO READ THESE! I don't want to spoil you, so scroll down to read my review on Alice in Zombieland if you're interested-they're a lot better then hate title makes them, I promise. 
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Grave Mercy by Robin Lafevers 
Gosh, this book is gigantic. If it's good I'm really going to enjoy one that isn't so short! :D If I don't like it, well, then it gets awkward. Haha. Hopefully I do like it, though! 
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
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Catching Jordan By Miranda Kennaelly

3/21/2015

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Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
Like I said before, I was excited to read this book because I love stories about tom boys and Catching Jordan was no exception. I think I would give this book 8.8/10 stars. My absolute favorite thing about Catching Jordan was the compete 360 turn it made halfway through. Like with these romance books you think you know how it's gonna end up, and you usually do. But with Catching Jordan? I was astonished at the plot twist and it completely changed my mind about something. 
The characterization in Catching Jordan was spot on. I could relate with Jordan very well. Sure, I'm not and will never be the captain or quarterback of the football team. Heck, I'll never ever be on a football team or really want to be. But Jordan's personality and attitude was easy to connect with. She was more like a girl that she liked to think. And Jordan's nervousness about everything relationship was completely understandable and relatable. Her story was definitely one to fall in love with. 
Ty's a sweet guy. As soon as she said that he was Chace Crawford's twin I was like I'M IN! He's cute and prefers to handle himself, though, he's a little possessive, he's still completely adorable and I did still like him a lot by the end of the book. 
Then there's Sam Henry. Oh, Sam. He's such a cutie pie. I'm in love with Sam Henry. His personality was something to fawn over and I certainly loved his and Jordan's friendship. I want a best friend like Sam! Though, if I can't have a best friend like him, I'd settle for a boyfriend like him. 
I loved Jordan's teammates, they really were like her family. Protective and caring for her. They were all characterized so well and felt so realistic. 
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is READ THIS BOOK. You will not regret it, it's perfection. 
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The Ruby Circle By Richelle Mead

3/18/2015

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It's finally out, well, it's been out for a while but I finally have time to review it! This book was fascinating so fascinating that I stayed up until 2:39 in the morning to read it when I had to get up early for G-Fit the next day. My only problem with this book was that it felt rushed. There was such a lead up to the big fights and they lasted for like one page, it was rather disappointing. If she had to, I'd prefer if she wrote another book instead of trying to shove everything into a small amount of pages. I know the covers for both series look bad, but the books are both amazing! 
I'd give Ruby Circle 8/10 stars because of that. This is because of the rushed feeling of the story. Yet still I highly recommend reading both Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series because they're spunky, hilarious, fun and action filled reads. 
I still prefer Vampire Academy to Bloodlines. That series was far more interesting and I could connect to the characters easier. To all you Lissa haters out there? Shut up. I love her, she's a great character and is trying to do what she thinks is best for her country. 
I haven't read any of these books since summer, so I seriously forgot how much I loved the Vampire Academy world. 
Here's the synopsis: 
The epic conclusion to Richelle Mead's New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series is finally here...

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.



SPOILERS BELOW FOR RUBY CIRCLE


Okay, idk about you guys, but I figured out pretty quickly that it was Alicia, actually, I had a suspicion about it since the last book. Alicia or the alchemists but they were excluded from that list when magic was involved. 
I've missed Christian, like I wished he and Lissa had a larger part in this series. I liked that Rose and Dimitri had a part in this book, I just wish it were larger. Did any of you guys here Richelle might go back and write another series with Rose? I think that'd be great. The whole story with Olive and Neal was great but it was so sad when Olive died. I get why they didn't inform Dimitri and Rose about the baby thing, but I wish they would've told them. 
I'm pretty sure that Richelle is going to write another series in this world based around these characters. Why? Because there were so many loose ends at the end of this book. If it was really the end, Richelle would've tied them up... right? 
I was also really annoyed with Adrian. I did find Nina insufferably annoying in the last book but I still felt really bad for her in this book. And when Adrian was willing to risk her sanity for his own benefit, it got me supremely pissed off. Like I wanted to punch that Moroi in the face. 
Adrian and Dimitri are related? PLOT TWIST. Did any of y'all see that one coming? I, for one, did not. How do you guys feel about that? I think it's cool, but it doesn't really change the story... at all. 
I have no idea why, but whenever I read about Trey, I'm always reminded of Travis from Pivot Point. Maybe because both their names start with T? Do they have similar characteristics? A little I guess. I guess I imagined them to look similar, too. 
As I mentioned before, I was very disappointed by the fight scenes. Everything with Alicia came out too easy. Like the fight wasn't all that intense anyway. I wish it was better but whatever. 
What really pissed me off was that RICHELLE BROUGHT BACK ROSE AND DIMITRI JUST TO BE BACKGROUND CHARACTERS, I mean, seriously? Was anyone else supremely disappointed about that? 
The line "I was waiting for Christian to call me, actually." Gave me so many... Listian? Cissa? feels. 
About the loose ends thing, will Richelle's next series have anything to do with the other captured Moroi? I noticed Richelle never gave the name of him/her. So, who is it? I really want to know, authors don't just randomly put that type of thing in there. 
Ugh, Neil, I get that you were trying to be the good father or something but DON'T LEAVE DECLAN! HE'S YOUR SON! UGh. He needs to come raise his son. 
This pissed me off more than it should but Rose lied to Lissa about about Declan. Ugh. She lied to her best friend. You're not supposed to do that. 
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Alice In Zombieland by Gena Showalter 

3/6/2015

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Stupid name. Great book. That's all I have to say. Just kidding, I have a lot to say about this fantastic novel. To start it off, WHY CAN'T THIS BOOK HAVE A BETTER NAME?! It even has a pretty nice cover, I mean the model is pretty and looks pretty Alice-ish. I noticed the covers get weirder as the books go on, though. Okay, so Alice in Zombieland has a pretty slow beginning. The story starts off saying she wished none of what happened did and then flashes back six months (or something) ago to the day when Alice's entire family dies. No, that's not a spoiler, I'm pretty sure it's even in thee synopsis. And then after that it goes into her going to a new school and all. All and all pretty slow start, but then thing really started speeding up. This book is totally worth the read, and it's pretty long too, so I didn't finish it in an hour like most books! 
Alice in Zombieland was funny, witty, sarcastic, action packed and a great read. I highly recommend it to you all who like the same type of books as me. Just maybe don't take it into public because of the name... You definitely won't regret reading this one. 
I'm giving Alice in Zombieland a whopping 9/10 stars. It was a flabbergasting fantastical read and I can't wait until I get to read the next book. Hopefully it'll be just as spectacular as the first. Unfortunately I won't be able to read the next book for another week because I'm flying down to Saint Kits (In a private jet) tomorrow morning and unless I can find it there or want to buy it on kindle or Ibooks, I'm not going to get it. I'm actually considering buying it twice, on Kindle (maybe ibooks, not sure yet) and in real life. Then again I might not because I'm bringing plenty of other books down with me to read. 
**Note** I'm really hoping I have internet down in St. Kits and time to blog, but I might not. 
Alice in Zombieland takes place in modern day. The protagonist is Alice Bell. She has a loving mother, and adorable and witty younger sister and a seemingly insane father. Turns out maybe her dad wasn't as insane as Alice originally thought. When you think of the word 'Zombies' the image that comes to your head probably is something with little hair, rotting flesh and that grunts a lot. Yes, the zombies in this do that but there's also this whole other thing about them that makes this book's concept on zombies refreshingly unique. I won't try to explain it to you now because I'll just sound like an idiot and make you not want to read this book. That's the opposite point of this review. 
There definitely is a love interest in this book (I most likely won't like it as much if it didn't). The love interest is Cole Holland. As some of you may know, (the ones that loyalty follow my blog (I love you guys)) I've loved all the 'Coles' I've run across in fictional worlds. Cole Stewart... Cole Walter.... Cole Stone... Kol Mikaelson... etc. This Cole was no exception he was witty, a bad boy, protective and could be sweet. I didn't like him quite as much as some of my other Coles, but he definitely was not a let down. Okay, I won't lie. One of the reasons I may not be as into this Cole is because he has VIOLET EYES. I find that just a little creepy. But he has black hair so that pretty much makes up for it. Ah, I love black haired boys. Well, fictional back haired boys. I'm also not too into the fact that he has a lot of tattoos... But I was able to look past that because of his personality. Okay one more thing, he's described as really muscly while some girls are into the super muscly look, I like the more lean muscle look though, some boys I have exception for. **cough** **cough** Colten Haynes, Robbie and Stephan Amell.... etc. 
Kat is Alice's new found best friend. I thought it was a little weird how much Alice came to love Kat so quickly. But I guess that might happen when you don't have very many people to love. I loved Kat's personality, she was confident and funny, if not a little crazy. There was something going on with Kat the entire book, and I was anxious to find out what it was. I was not expecting what it actually was, though.  There were times in the beginning when Kat's attitude annoyed me a tiny bit, but by the end I loved her for all her traits. She reminded me a little of Kat from the Lux series, (IDK if it was just the name or not) except on about three tons more caffeine. I especially loved her relationship  with Frosty. Oh, that boy is so whipped. 
Let's talk about Frosty, shall we? I'm not too crazy about Frosty being his nick name, like I'd like to find out his real name then have him called that. The name Frosty is just weird and should stay in Wendy's. His and Kat's relationship was hilarious. Especially since him, Cole and the rest of his friends are the protective types. See, he and Kat broke up over the the summer because he was said to be cheating on her. Now he like, desperately wants her back and guards her like a watch dog. Their relationship is cute. He's also a really good character and I hoped all through the book that he wouldn't die. 
I thought that the plot of this book was a lot of fun to read. Even though there were some plot twists I predicted before I even read the book, there were some things that shocked me. This book had me glued to it, beginning to end. I even stayed up late on a school night to read it, luckily we had a late start the next day which transformed into a snow day. People in the New England area are laughing at us, I'm sure. Like "Haha, you Pennslyvanians are freaking out over six inches? We get three feet and still trudge on." 
There was a lot of good characterization in the book also and it was fun watching Alice's journey throughout the story. I especially loved the course of Alice's thoughts. (the book's in first person) They felt very realistic and I could relate to... some of what she was thinking. I've never fun in to spiritual zombies to tell you the truth. Actually, I haven't run into any zombies. Let's hope this world is fictional otherwise my life is about to get real awkward since I live right down the road from a cemetery. 

Synopsis: 
She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….


I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time




From reading the synopsis, I thought Alice would already be some bad arse zombie hunter, actually, I'm not sure if I ever fully read the synopsis because it says MUST LEARN and the name COLE. I didn't know there was a Cole in this book and I thought she already knew how to fight the Zombies. So... Either I read the synopsis a long time ago and didn't pay much attention or I just never read past the bolded part. 
I was very surprised when I found out she didn't actually know how to fight zombies and hardly knew of their existence. I thought that the beginning was a flashback and it would flash forward to her being a crazily amazingly skilled zombie hunter that might run into some normal guy and another zombie hunter and falls in love with both. The zombie hunter boy would be her equal blah blah blah. 
Yeah, that's nothing like what the story is. It's more of Alice being willing to accept the existence of zombies and learning how to live her new life. Even though the other version would be pretty epic, it's always fun watching someone learn to fight and be the best. I have a feeling by the last book that she might be the best fighter because of her powers and that she might be a little power crazy (looking at the cover of it). I hope she and Cole don't go all Rose and Dimitri  on us. (VA people know what I mean.) Even though I'll remind y'all that I'm team Adrian. Well... was. 
Remember earlier when I mentioned Alice was realistic? She's so realistic that I got second hand embarrassment from her SO MANY TIMES. But that shows you have some type of attachment to the characters so that's a good sign. 
Do you guys like when I put a longer no spoilers section in? Because then you get a better idea for the book and my opinion. 

SPOILERS FOR ALICE IN ZOMBIELAND


Okay as soon as she looked at Cole, I knew he'd be a love interest and that was before the make out seen vision. That really confused me, I wasn't really sure why they saw that, but my guess was it was the future, somehow. I knew he was a zombie hunter (sorry, Cole, but Shadowhunter sounds wayyyyy cooler.) I mean, he skips school with his MUSCLY GANG and comes back bruised and this book is about zombies. If that wasn't obvious I don't know what would be. Though, I thought Cole and her visions might be because he and his gang had been able to save her from the zombies eating her. But nope. She just has special future powers. I'll admit there was an awkward moment when I thought Cole was either a zombie or a zombie hunter.... 
My YA reading skilled are honed guys, as soon as a cute boy smiled at her in class I was like LOVE TRIANGLE. Okay, so far as this book went, it wasn't really a love triangle. But then again Justin told Cole what was going down. So maybe he did have some feelings for Alice... 
As soon as I heard about the group, I pieced together that Trina was also a zombie hunter because the author was very careful to mention that she was muscly too. And I guessed that Frosty didn't cheat. 
Then of course, there has to be a seriously hot ex girl friend who threatens her and everything and still has feelings for the love interest. Though, plot twists, ex lives with love interest and is a zombie hunter. I did end up feeling bad for Mackenzie by the end of the book. 
I love how Alice goes, yeah I'll probably end up with a lanky loner with  tragic past, minus the lanky part Cole kinda fits that description. 
She was like I feel like someone's watching her I was immediately like JUSTIN OR COLE. It was Cole. 
Every time Alice got a vision ad froze, I got extreme second hand embarrassment because she just froze and stared at Cole. 
"The wicked witch?" 
"Please. The Princess." I squealed at this part. I kid you not.
When she put the journal down I just like face smacked myself because IT OBVIOUSLY WAS IMPORTANT. And I was right, it came into play later. I really wanna know who wrote that. It's most likely the guy who sacrificed himself and led Cole's dad's group. But who was that? I feel like it was someone we know.... I thought maybe at first it was her dad but no, that wouldn't be right.... right? Because her dad didn't know how to fight the spirits and he wanted to use a gun. 
I was seriously worried about Kat when she didn't text back Alice. And then even more worried when she FREAKING DIDN'T come into school the next day. I was worried she got turned into a zombie! luckily she didn't. 
"Were you in my backyard last night?" 
"Yes." 

"But please refrain from mind punching my pretty face. I like it how it is." *Swoon* I always love the snarky ones. 

"I'm really fond of my... gut." 

Their first kiss was really intense. I feel like this is somewhat of the Unearthly trilogy where they're DESTINED to be. Though, she better end up with him. 

"Kat told me to tell you she hates you." 

"I'd skipped from"Kat" to "feelings" to "crap." LOL

At first I thought maybe Cole's dad kept the journal, but I don't think that's him. I also figured out Justin had betrayed them somehow because Frosty or someone mentioned a JS and I was like JUSTIN. 

As many others, I'm assuming Alice is going to obtain all the powers possible for a zombie hunter and be the most powerful. 
I really like the concept of these zombie hunters and how they have powers and have to fight in their spirit. It's just so refreshingly new from what you regularly read about zombies. Well, see on TV and stuff because I don't read zombie books. This was my first zombie book, I think. 

Alice's grandparents were/are awesome I loved how they interrogated boys and used words like "Douche purse." It was very upsetting when Pops died. Though, I knew at least one other person close to her would have to die by the end of the book. 

I also knew that her dad was a zombie, especially after Emma said 'He'. I really like that we'll get to see more of Emma because I love her character and think she's simply adorable. 

I thought that major Sh*t was going to go down when she was in the cemetery but nope, she got to see Ems again! that was good. 

"You might be able to race my grandmother- while she's on her scooter." 

I thought that her dad would be more of an issue throughout the whole series kinda like SPOILERS FOR VA AHEAD DO NOT READ UNTIL OTHER BOLD PART 





*cough* Dimitri was for Rose, like the big fight of the series 





SPOILER OVER 


Like the main antagonist for the series, but nope. He died in book one. Now I'm pretty sure that the main antagonist is Anima industries. Though, how much fun would it be if the main antagonist was her dad? 

Thanks for reading
xoxo 
Anj

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Welcome To The Shadowhunter Academy By Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees BRennan

3/3/2015

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This book was so emotional for me. I bought it on IBooks the day it came out and I do not regret it at all. My only problem? CASSANDRA IT WAS TOO SHORT! I NEED MORE! Like I can't wait a number of weeks for the next book. Ugh :( I already missed the TMI gang but I didn't realize how much until I read this book. And seriously, Cassie, you gotta give me more TMI gang than just a few pages! 
Like all Cassandra Clare books, this book was hilarious, emotional and everything else you look for in a novel, much less a novella. It was cute, funny and a great read. I'd give this fantastic novella a 9/10 stars, Cassie did not disappoint. Just, give me more! I need it! 
Welcome to the Shadowhunter Academy is about Simon.  
*SPOILERS BELOW FOR CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE*

Simon is now going to ascend. And instead of getting trained by the gang so I can see more of my beloved characters, the little dip watt decides to choose to go to the newly opened Shadowhunter Academy. In the Academy, Simon meets new friends and better not forget the gang or replace them because otherwise I will personally find him and strangle him. Okay, so he has to learn to fit in and find out who his real friends are. 

Official synopsis: (without slightly biased opinions about the characters) 

After living as a Mundane and a Vampire, Simon never thought he would become a Shadowhunter, but today he begins his training at Shadowhunter Academy.


... It's pretty short. 

And without further ado!

SPOILERS BELOW FOR WELCOME TO THE SHADOWHUNTER ACADEMY 


Aw it was emotional to hear about Simon and his mom. And how he felt about his mom after everything that happened. The relationships in this book felt so real, I can't wait until TDA because I want a full Cassie Clare book to cry over. But I love Rebecca and Si's relationship. It's cute and surprisingly loving for siblings, haha. Though, it's mentioned in COB that Simon's the youngest of three children, I wonder if that was a typo or if it was purposeful. 
"We're pretty tight, aren't we?" LMFAO this was too good. If only Simon could remember his and Jace's wonderful tight relationships.  
"Absolutely. We're like this." He crossed two of his fingers together. "Actually, we're more like this." he tried to cross them again. (JACE I LOVE YOU) "We had a little bit of initial tension, as you may later recall, but that was all cleared up when you came to me and confessed you were struggling with your feelings of intense jealousy over my- these were your words- stunning good looks and irritable charm."
As I mentioned before, Jace and Clary I MISSED THEIR RELATIONSHIPS SO MUCH IT WAS AMAZING AND CUTE AND I MEAN IS AND I NEED MORE. 
'Possibly he and Isabelle could do a photoshoot for Badass Monthly'
That is something I'd be willing to buy. 
"Her hand so little and his barely bigger. He'd felt so big then, though, big and proud and responsible for her. He had been determined not to let her down." 
AWWW
"And take care of Jace, that poor, helpless blond." 
"He did not know the warrior way of being bros." 
"Don't think I'll be waiting around." BS IZZY! #SIZZYMOMENT #THEFEELS #DYING
I felt like crying it was so emotional, it felt like being with old friends? #loner ?
"Is that a weapon?" 
"Uh, no, it's a tennis racket." 
Okay when she started mentioning Jordan I just wanted to ball my eyes out, I miss that beautiful werewolf. 
"Due to laziness in the 1700's." haha Georgie, Jessie wasn't lazy per say, just, strong willed? 
"No, I'm just ordinary, but my best friend found out she was the daughter of this really bad guy. And the sister of this other really bad guy. She had the worst luck with relatives. I got mixed up in it, and to tell you the truth..." 
REALLY BAD GUY no really? 
I just really craved the TMI gang throughout this book. 
Jonathan, stop lying, Jace don't know y'all. You're just an annoying looser who can barely fight, ha, why would Jace waste his time with you? 
MEMORIES OF CLARY. THE FEELS, MY FRIENDS, THE FEELS. 
"I might have bitten him. A tiny bit. It was more of a nibble, really." 
Please, Si, stop thinking about Jordan. 
Okay so I loved seeing Izzy, and her declaration? FEELS MUCH? 
But then after what Simon said to her? I was ready to beat the living hell out of that kid. 
The Lord Montegomory conversation was too good. Don't remember it? Look it up. Pg. 116

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Movies: Romeo And Juliet, It's A Boy Girl Thing & So Undercover

3/2/2015

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Saturday night I was feeling bored, so I decided to watch some movies, I ended up watching three. #lifeless. I watched It's a Boy Girl Thing, So Undercover and Romeo and Juliet. Out of the three, Romeo and Juliet was probably my favorite. Like I've said many times prior, I'm a hopeless romantic! The version of Romeo and Juliet I watched was the one made in 2013 starring Hailee Steinfield and Douglas Booth. It was great, I loved it. I'd give It's a Boy Girl Thing 7/10 stars, it was funny and lighthearted but not something I'd define as a favorite. So Undercover gets 7.8/10 stars, it was also funny and lighthearted, but predictable. Then there's Romeo and Juliet, that movie was certainly not funny or lighthearted. The romance was cute, but not quite what I expected. As of the fact I'd never seen any other Romeo & Juliets or read the book before, I just knew that basic story line that everyone knows. They fall in love, it's forbidden (have I mentioned before that I love forbidden love?) Their families are enemies, someone on Romeo's family gets killed so someone from Juliet's family is killed it's bad blah blah blah somehow Juliet takes a potion that doesn't kill her but Romeo thinks she's dead and kills himself then she stabs herself. That's the strolling everyone knows, right? No? Sorry for spoilers then! Anyway Romeo and Juliet is getting a whopping 9/10 stars, I really enjoyed the movie. The relationship was something to fall in love with, Douglas Booth was adorably attractive and I loved that Chuck was in it. (#GossipGirl) 
The first movie I watched was It's a Boy Girl Thing. I knew I recognized the actor somewhere and then I was like Ohhh yeah he's from that failure movie that doesn't even deserve to be called City of Bones and Gossip Girl. He has a seriously high voice in this movie, I found it funny and weird. I came across It's a Boy Girl Thing when I looked up lists of cute romance movies. It looked okay so I decided to watch it. There were plenty of things in it that made me laugh, I recommend the movie if you just want to laugh and don't feel like watching Easy A, John Tucker Must Die or any of those movies. Like it's not at the top of my list of favorite movies well, it's not really on the list, but it was pretty good. 
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The next movie I watched was So Undercover. It stars Miley Cyrus as a PI who goes undercover in a as a sorority girl. I found this movie a few weeks back when I was looking up Josh Bowman videos after... It's quite funny and enjoyable. I did like it more than it's a Boy Girl thing but not that much better. The plot twists were predictable yet still fun to watch. 
I was pleasantly surprised when Megan Park showed up in this movie. I love Megan Park, she's a good actress. Her part as Cotton was pretty funny. What else can I Say about this movie? Uh. It's funny, no wait I already said it... Just watch it. 
Then there's Romeo and Juliet, sigh. Sometimes I don't' like old fashioned movies because they look so fake, but this one looked very real. I'll start this off by saying it didn't make me cry, but it made me feel like I was crying inside. I don't really cry a lot so if it did made me cry that would be monumental. 
Okay, this movie made me think Douglas Booth would be a prefect William Herondale (read The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, you won't regret it) he's right there next to Joshua Anthony Brand, though I'm not sure if Joshua can act, so... The romance was a little quick and the whole thing happened in a matter of days, but it was fun to watch. Actually the movie felt a bit rushed to me? I would've liked it if it were longer. 
Chuck Bass AKA Ed Westwick was on this as Tybalt lol I love that name. Tybalt. I mean, he died pretty quickly and had some anger issues but still
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Even though I knew they'd both die at the end I was jut screaming in my head WAIT SHES GONNA WAKE UP!! WAIT!!!!!!! And at the end of the movie I was kinda feeling more like this
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Before the whole death thing, the romance was spot on and adorable. I highly recommend this movie if you're a hopeless romantic like me. 
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The Duff Movie

3/1/2015

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So I watched this movie last Saturday and immensely enjoyed it. I'll admit that I still haven't read the book, but I bought it, so that's a start. Actually I read the first chapter and didn't enjoy it too much, hopefully it'll get better as the book progresses on. You really have to read at least the first fifty pages before judging a book so.... Sorry, I say so too much, don't I? Anyway, back to the movie. This is definitely one of my favorite movies, it reminded me a lot of Easy A, I'm not exactly sure why. Well, they did play a few songs from the Easy A track (haha I've seen that movie so many times I would know that.) Also the actress Mahaley Manning has a small role in both movies. She's Nina in Easy A and Kara in the DUFF. 
The main reason I paid any attention to the DUFF trailers in the first place was because Robbie Amell is in it. Ah, the Amells. Do any of you guys watch Arrow? I'm literally obsessed with that show. Maybe I'll talk about my TV obsessions in a later post because I'm seconds away from going like five hours off track. 
I would give this movie a 9/10 stars, it was funny and enjoyable. I'm not exactly sure what to call this type of movie comedy romance? Maybe. I love that genre of movies. I love a lot of movies, actually. Easy A, Crazy Stupid Love, John Tucker Must Die, The Other Women... Stuff like that, I find those movies highly enjoyable, I can now add DUFF to the list. I also really love romance movies and action adventure romance movies. Such as.. Okay maybe I should make a post about movies too haha. 
I loved Wesley and Bianca's relationship in the movie. It was obvious that they'd end up together from the trailer but still, IT'S ADORABLE. On the comedy level? I was laughing during practically the whole movie and that's awkward because the girl I went with doesn't really laugh during movies so I was just sitting there looking like an idiot. 
Bianca's character is a spunky awkward and funny character. Though, she doesn't have that much of a great sense of style. I loved at the beginning of the movie how she was labeled the other one. Honestly, I'm probably most definitely the DUFF in my friendships. Haha. 
Though Wesley was the same old cliche jock character who's an insane womanizer but actually has a soft underside that he doesn't show blah blah blah. I love cliches. And that's my favorite type of character, though I wouldn't exactly say Wesley is a bad boy- I like the characters who pretend to be something else but them only show their true colors to one person because they love them- cough, cough, Daemon Black, Jace Herondale, Christian Ozera, Raffe, William Herondale, Gabriel Lightwood....
My point of this post is THIS IS A SUPERB MOVIE- WATCH IT. It's worth the twelve dollars to watch plus however much you spend on the snacks. 
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    Anji Cooper

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