Wings, Spells, Illusions and Destined, by Aprilynne Pike

Hey all! 

I just finished reading all 4 books of the Wings series, by Aprilynne Pike! Since I read them over 3 days, I figured I should just review the series as a whole. 

This is (another) re-read for me - I read these way back in middle school and have always had a soft spot for this story and it's characters. 

Very winter-y, I know ^^ 

"Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful—too beautiful for words. 

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings. 

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever."

This series is about Laurel, Tamani, David, and a new faerie world that is original, to say the least. In this world, fae live hidden from humans in a country called Avalon. Their history surrounds people like King Arthur, Gunievre, Titania, and Mab. There are different ranks in their society and most of what they do revolves around nature. 

Sounds familiar, right?

How about when I tell you that faeries in this world are actually plants.

That's right - Laurel and Tamani, as well as every other fairy, are, biologically, a highly-evolved species of plant. They have sap instead of blood, girls sprout wing-like flowers from their back during the season in which they were sprouted (bornd), they have plant cells, they photosynthesize... they're plants. 

I love the creativity with which Pike created these beings - she used ideas that make us comfortable with the idea of fairies, yet adds her own twist to it. 

Book one and two are mostly expositional novels. They give you a detailed idea of what this Avalon is like, as well as the fairy society. Laurel, the main character, gets to figure out the whole fairy thing with Tam and David's help.

The plot is simple yet flows well from book to book - Laurel has always felt somewhat different from others. She starts a new school where she meets David, someone who becomes friends with her right away. One day in the fall, without expecting it, a blue flower appears on her back. She is a scion - a fairy placed in the human world to protect the Gates. While visiting her old house, she meets Tamani, a Spring fairy who used to be friends with her when they were young, and a friendship blooms from that. Laurel soon learns about fairies, trolls, and the world that she was chosen to protect. She goes back to Avalon over the summer to study Fall fairy things, has several troll encounters, and is often pressured to choose between David and Tamani. 

This series is a sweet, quick read. It actually is a great introduction to YA books - it has some tropes, but not too many. The writing is simple yet leads you to a creative world that is difficult to leave. There is the classic love triangle that will have you on what might be your first 'team' (Team Tamani all the way - he's very clingy and all but he's still one of my favorite guys from books - he's incredibly sweet, pure, harmless and dedicated.)

(Oh my gosh it's getting super difficult to review this without spoiling the books!) 

This series also has a lot of quirks, awkwardness, jealousy, hopes and dreams. Honestly, if you want to reccomend some simple YA, go for this!

Of course, it isn't perfect. The love triangle is marginally annoying - both David and Tamani are a bit too possessive in my opinion, and Laurel is very much the one that everyone looks up to even though most of the time she has no idea what's going on. There are some plotholes and other things that may be interesting that are forgotten. 

But the story as a whole is, at least for me, comforting and magical. I love the ending and the characters and the world Pike created. 

I know this review is short, but its difficult to review all of them as a whole without giving anything away. I'm giving the whole series a 4/5 feathers :) 

Have you read Wings? What did you think about them? Let me know! :D 

Stay bookish! 

Let it Snow, by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

Hey all! 
I hope that you're having a great holiday! 

I have (at least) three posts scheduled for this week! I'm finally back at it! Between being in Australia, coming back to lots of catching up and christmas preparations, going to my grandparent's for a week and other things, I haven't had the most time to read or write. But I have time now! :) 

One thing is, I'm missing 4 books until I can complete my 2016 reading challenge, and there's 4 days of 2016 left... ^^ I'll try to finish Heir of Fire, but I'm also thinking of re-reading some middle grade books that are both books I used to love and that are quick reads? That's not cheating, right? I've been wanting to re-read them anyway, and they're a series. I might just go through them and review the series as a whole? 

Anyway, I just finished reading Let It Snow, by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. This is a re-read for me, but the last time I read it I didn't have this blog, so this is my second read but first review. 

"An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House (and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.

A trio of today's bestselling authors - John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle - bring all the magic of the holidays to life in three hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and kisses that will steal your breath away."



Ok so this book is three stories in one - each by a different author. I'll discuss each separatly then together. It's difficult to review short stories so I'll stick to impressions :) 

1 - The Jubilee Express, by Maureen Johnson
This short story was about Jubilee, a girl who is on her way to her grandparent's house after her parents are sent to jail for being in a shopping accident over a ceramic christmas house. Her train is stuck in the snow, and she leaves the train to go to a warm waffle house, surrounded by cheerleaders. There, she meets Stuart, who invites her to stay over at his house with his family. 

This story was probably my favorite of the three - it's incredibly cute, rediculous, improbable, but it works out so well! Jubilee is a great character, and Stuart is so helpful. 


2 - A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, by John Green 
This short story is about three friends - JP, the Duke and Tobin, who are stuck in Tobin's house watching James Bond movies during the snowstorm. JP gets a phonecall from the waffle house, saying that there are 14 cheerleaders there who want a game of Twister. Being guys, JP and Tobin rush to the waffle house, while Angie, aka the Duke, follows her friends reluctantly, for the love of hashbrowns. They get into a car accident and go through the snow to the waffle house. Angie is bothered by the situation, because she has a long-lasting crush on Tobin, her best friend. 

This was cute too, but I got a bit confused with the plot. It felt like it went all over the place very quickly. John Green seems to have a thing for car crashes (Paper Towns reference =P). I did like the way it ended, (which I won't mention because of spoilers, but by the blurb you probably could figure out anyway), but I felt like the road to that point was blurry. Super cute though! 


3 - The Patron Saint of Pigs, by Lauren Myracle 
This  short story is about Addie, who is crushed because she thinks that she and her boyfriend broke up because he never met up with her at Starbucks like they planned. Little did she know that he was on the same train as Jubilee, and was thus stuck in a waffle house, without a phone. She promises one of her friends to pick up a teacup pig on the following day, but forgets. Then, a search for the pig happens. 

I liked this story too, but I felt like it was messy. Addie is very, very self-centered, and every character makes a point of mentioning it, as well as every plot point. I thought that her and her friends were annoying and shallow. But I really loved the way it ended! At the end, all of the couples in the three stories end up meeting at Starbucks by accident and exchange stories about the waffle house and the train problem. 


All 3 stories
Ok so this is difficult. Reading above, it's probably clear that I liked some stories more than others. They're all connected, though... 

This book was good for christmas - it went over a range of traditions and possibilities, christmas magic and everything. 

But it was so, so so fluffy and cheesy. I'm not someone who will reach out to a book that has too much fluff or is too corny. The other day on tv, there was a show where one guy told his girlfriend "Your father was a thief; he took all of the stars from the sky to put them in your eyes". 

CRINGE NO NOPE

I mean I like cuteness. I take shipping in books seriously and love the fuzzy feeling you get when two characters (or people) you ship like crazy get together. Sometimes my favorite parts are when the two shipped characters are together and are just sweet - like sitting on the roof and talking or teasing each other. I read YA, cuteness is a part of a YA-reader's culture.

But mushiness like that is too much. And this book easily fell linto being like that. Yet it was still very sweet. 

I liked the connections between the stories. Every single story mentioned the other ones in some way, notably through characters. One character that makes an appearance in every story is Tinfoil Man - a guy who is covered in aluminum foil from head to toe. He is mentioned once in each story, is kind of a guide for each character, by accident. I also enjoyed the fact that each of the characters meet in the end. 

The funny thing is, you could obviously tell that different people wrote each of the parts - the writing styles were all very different. 


Wow this review got ramble-y. Anyway I'm giving this a 3.5/5 feathers! 

Have you read Let It Snow? What did you think? Let me know! 

Also, what is your go-to winter read? I'd love reccomendations! 

Have a good rest of 2016!

Stay bookish,

Holding up the Universe, by Jennifer Niven

Hey all! 

I just finished reading Holding up the Universe, by Jennifer Niven! 

I was given this book by the Selexys Dominicanen in Maastricht for review, thank you! 

"Everyone thinks they knows Libby Strout, but no one's ever looked past her weight to see who she really is. Since her mum's death, Libby's been hiding, but now she's ready for high school. I want to be the girl who can do anything.

Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin too - sexy, aloof, and too cool for school. But Jack's swaggering confidence is hiding a secret he must keep at all costs. Be charming. Be hilarious. Don't get too close to anyone.

Then Jack meets Libby. And their worlds change. Because sometimes when you meet someone, the whole universe just comes into focus."


This was a cute, quick read! I enjoyed it! However, I must say that it is incredibly wierd to read a book in which you name is used. One of the mean characters was called Caroline and I kept cringing on the inside, hahaha ^-^. 

Additionally, if you liked Eleanor and Park, you'll most likely like this too :) 

Holding up the Universe is about Jack and Libby - the popular guy and the new, overweight girl - who meet each other in a somewhat awkward way that changes each other's lives. 

Libby is known for being America's Fattest Teen - she had to be rescued from her own house in her early teen years, which of course created a lot of hate towards her from her peers at school. Going back to the years later, she built herself a confidence that is often seen as violent and aggressive by other students. 

Jack built himself a character - someone who is popular and confident in every sense of the word - because he has a mental condition called prosopagnosia. This is a condition where you can't recognize faces. Imagine seeing someone new, and when they turn away, you could not describe them anymore. Or not being able to describe your family, save for a few distinguishing features. 

I think that this book handled face-blindness very well. I had no idea it could be so severe, and I can only imagine the situations it can get you in on a bad day. 

Although I liked Jack as a character, I had a harder time with Libby. She was deffinetly unique and incredibly strong, but I had a hard time with her aggressiveness, sensitivity and stubbornness. I can understand it, but I feel like it was slightly overplayed. 

Jennifer Niven is really quite a good author! She brings in many contemporary things such as music and books into the story, and she does one thing I absolutely love - short chapters! :D It's the best thing to read a book with short chapters - you just flip though them and don't see the pages go :) Also, she didn't fall into the insta-love trap. 

I had a bit of a hard time with Jack and Libby together because it did feel like it was done very suddently, with a lack of chemistry at the beginning, but in the end (way end) I did think it was cute. I feel like the beginning of their relation could have been researched a bit more. 

(Also, I'm sorry for this but I feel like I need to metion this little rant:)
A lot of people are criticizing this book because it is 'romanticizing mental ilness' and 'body-shamming by trying to be anti-body-shamming'. And yeah, I can get that - mental/physical illnesses/conditions are nothing to be tossed around lightly. Most of us might never know what it is to have one, and might never understand. My brother is very, very dyslexic. He's 14 and was diagnosed when he was 8, and I'm still trying to figure out what being dyslexic is like. I mean sure he has a hard time reading and can't memorize tha 2x3=6, but can solve a rubik's cube in less than a minute and is amazing with computers. 

But putting down an author for writing about characters who are 'different' - in the sense of what we see in fashion magazines or in 'mentally healthy' people - is so, so disappointing. I understand it is a 'marker' of a person, or a label, and of course these types of topics are incredibly, excrutiatingly difficult to be accurate about when you don't personally experience them, but this book was good! You could tell how much research was done into understanding the circumstances the characters were in.  I barely knew about prosopagnosia until now. Writing about this opens doors to people who don't know about these things. Instead of blaming an author for 'not knowing what he/she is writing about', try thanking them for trying to understand.

(rant over thanks for bearing with me ^^) 

I'm giving this book a 4/5 feathers. Very cute and light read, but there were some things I had a little bit of a harder time with. 

Have you read Holding up the Universe? What did you think about it? Let me know! :) 
Have a great day! 

Crown of Midnight, by Sarah J Maas

Hey all! 

I just finished reading Crown of Midnight, by Sarah J. Maas! 

This is a re-read. Feel free to check out my incredibly messy yet enthusiastic review of it by clicking here!

Also, can we just talk about the fact that this series is officially getting a TV adaptation?! I don't know weather I should dread it or if I'm excited... kind of like The Mortal Instruments and Percy Jackson... Can't wait to see how it turns out! 

"An assassin's loyalties are always in doubt but her heart never wavers

Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become the King's Champion. But she is far from loyal to the crown. Though she hides her secret vigilantly, her deadly charade becomes difficult when she realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. No one is above questioning her allegiance—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie ... and whom she is willing to fight for."



I'm so glad I decided to re-read this sereis: I finally, finally understand the hype behind it! Sarah J Maas is a writing and plot queen! 

Crown of Midnight starts off some time after the first book ends - Celaena is now charged with missions set by the King to assassinate individuals he has issues with. But Celaena is a rebel... there's no way she's just obeying these orders. 

The ToG world is loosing balance - the banned practice of magic has been reappearing, countries are falling while others are rising, and practically no one can be completely trusted. 

This book is both about balance - between right and wrong, loyalties, and dangers - and is incredibly well balanced. There is just the right amount of everything in it - magic, love, hate, intrigue, puzzles, violence, deciet, monsters... I never felt like anything was over-used, and nowadays, that's almost rare to find in a book, especially in a second book of a series, which often suffers the notorious 'second-book syndrome'. This one escaped from that stereotype and managed to stand out on its own, maybe even more than the first book! 

Celaena is developing to be an absolutely incredible character - I don't want to go too much into spoilers (there'll be some later on), but her character develops incredibly, in all sorts of directions. She can be as girly as she can be a stone-cold murderer, as gentle as she can be a killer. 

This book brimmed with action, intrigue and magic, in all of the right ways that is leaving me itching to pick up book three right away! The ending, I must say, is a apocalypse. So. Much. Happens! 

Next is the spoilery part - highlight to read it! 

So Celaena is a Fairy Queen. In a bunch of books, that would sound incredibly cliche. I mean, as a kid, who has never said 'I want to be a fairy princess for halloween!'. I know I have! And don't get me wrong, I love fairy books. I was obsessed with them when I was 14-ish, and I have a whole shelf on my bookshelf practicaly dedicated to them. Doesn't mean that that doesn't sound cliche at times. 

But this book made is just awesome. An assassin who is actually a fiary queen. Ha! Take that, ditzyness! 

The way this all is discovered and exposed through Chaol was perfect. She never really eludes to it or admits it, but he manages to pull pieces of conversation together to find that out. 

The fact that Dorian also has magic made me really happy - the unconcsious rebel to the crown. Dorian is one of my favorite characters - more so than Chaol, to be honest! 

Also, can we talk about what turned the book upside down - Nehemina's death and Archer's betrayal? I forgot that Celaena killed Archer in the end, and a part of me died on the inside, simply because I honestly thought that their friendship and loyalty to each other could withstand a lot. 

Well... that did not turn out that way! 

The way Nehemina's death affected Celaena was absolutely heartbreaking. It was such a terrible death! Still having troubles processing it - it drove most of the book and it still barelyl seems real! 

Anyway, of course I'm giving this book a 5/5 feathers! Incredible sequel, can't wait to read book 3! 

Have you read Crown of Midnight? What did you think of it? Let me know! :D 

I know that this isn't my last post for 2016, but I just want to say - I know that 2016 has been a hectic year in most countries around the world, and that a lot of people just want this year to be over with. It even became a meme... 

So I thought it would be nice to just remember what went well this year. I'd like to do a post - both personal and world-wide - about the good things 2016 brought. I have a bunch of ideas already, so much that I have to write them down, but feel free to comment/email me some more! I'd love to hear what struck you as amazing this year! :) 

I know it's easy to see the bad rather than the good, but remembering the good is always amazing :) 

Have a great day! I hope that everyone is doing well and that your holidays have started off well! 

Stay bookish, 

Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension, by Matt Parker

Hey all! 
I just finished reading Things o Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension, by Matt Parker. And surprise, it's non-fiction! 

Thank you so much to the Young Adult Dome team at the Maastricht Dominicanen bookstore for letting me borrow this book to review it, I highly appreciate it! 

"This is probably the most enjoyable book about maths ever written.

From impossibly small pizza slices to computers built out of dominoes, unfathomable knots to multi-dimensional drinking straws, Matt Parker introduces the amazing, essential, riotous world of numbers that is all around us, absolutely everywhere."







For some reason when I picked up this book, I thought it was a piece of fiction about a math nerd. And in some ways, it does read in that way! I didn't think I would ever enjoy a non-fiction about math of all things, but I ended up having fun reading this! 

Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension is all about the mathematics that we see in our everyday lives, yet that we never talk about in math classes. And I'm not talking about the fact that serving a volleyball makes an arc, or the secrets of integrals. This book talked about shapes and codes and pizza. It talks about comic strips and coloring in maps. It even gives you fun challenges to try out with things like straws or paper! Here's one of my favorites; try it out and be amazed! 

"Imagine a shape which cannot be cut in half. Not some hypothetical maths shape - a real one you could build out of paper. A shape which, if you took a pair of scissors to it and cut all the way through it, would remain in one piece. It is possible for such a shape to exist, and you can make one right now. Start with two long strips of paperand join the first one end to end so that it forms a loop, then join the other one up in the same way, but with one end turned over so there's a twist in the loop. If you cut along the centre line of the non-twisted loop, you'll go all the way around and cut it completely in half, leaving two thinner loops. Not so for the twisted loop. It is a shape which cannot be cut in half." 

This is the opening paragraph of a chaper on rediculous shapes. Being quite curious about it I tried it out, and thought the trick was so interesting that I made my whole family try it out! 

This book shows a lot of tricks like this and explains how and why they work, on all kinds of scales and dimensions. It also talks about numbers - usually huge numbers that are hard to imagine. But it's written in such a way that you can somewhat understand just how huge these numbers actually are. Below is a part that I bookmarked just because it was written so nicely. It is about factorials, namely factorial(52). This basically does 52 x 51 x 50 x 49 x ... x 2 x 1.

"That's a number with sixty-eight digits. A truly huge number. To say it the long way, there are 800,000 billion billion billion billion billion billion billion ways a pack of (52) cards could be shuffled. There are only about 1 million billion billion stars in the observable universe. And the universe is only about 4 hundred million billion seconds old..."

It goes on for a bit more, and it's actually really mind-blowing! 

Matt Parker is able to put math in such a way that it is easily accessible to almost anyone. He writes in a way that is understandable and covers a wide range of topics that can capture the interest of anyone. I personally have never been a big algebra person, yet I love geometry! the geometry chapters were amazing, in my opinion! 

I was honestly amazed by how accessible and understandable this book was. I've never felt comfortable with maths but this book might have just changed my mind! 

I'm giving this book a 4/5 feathers! Deffinetly worth a try! 

Have a great day everyone!  

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by J.K. Rowling - Screenplay and Movie review

Hey all! 

I just finished reading the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them! I also watched the movie on Friday. So I thought I could review both at once! 

When I heard that JK Rowling was making a new addition to the wizarding world that was all about the magical creatures you hear about, I could not wait to see it and read it! Honestly I would read anything that she publishes that relates to magic. The world that she created is so incredibly vast and beautiful that it is hard not to go back to it. 

Note: I would like to thank the Dominicanen Boekhandel in Maastricht for giving me a copy of this! Thank you so much! This does not alter my opinions in any way. 

So I won't stall any longer - here is my review for Fantasic Beasts! 

Gorgeous covers are my weakness

When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone…

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. Featuring a cast of remarkable characters, this is epic, adventure-packed storytelling at its very best. 

Whether an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, this is a perfect addition to any reader's bookshelf.

Non-spoilery part

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a prequel to the much-beloved Harry Potter series. It takes place in 1920's New York, where the Salem Witch Trails have been brought back to light, and where witches are shunned by the general public. The peace between the humans and magic folk (no-majes vs wizards) is balancing on a thin line - any evidence of wizardry in New York could start a war between the two groups. 

Enter Newt Scamander, a magizoologist who has a suitcase full of magical creatures that escape into New York City. Naturally, this causes mayhem. He his helped by Tina, Queenie and a muggle (I really have to get used to saying no-maj now ^^), Jakob, to find the creatures before too many people can notice them. 

At the same time, Grindewald is on the loose - he is a notorious wizard, known for murdering muggles in Europe. 

I absolutely loved it. This movie shows you everything that you learn about with Harry Potter in a real-world setting, basically how magic is used in a wizard's adult, every-day life. Some of my favorite spells like alohomora are used and it makes you warm and fuzzy on the inside to hear such spells again! There's the Harry Potter theme song playing from time to time, and references to the original series that made me smile!

It was really interesting to see the Wizarding world in another country - muggles become no-majes, the Ministry of Magic is MACUSA, Hogwarts is Ilvermorny, etc. It makes you think, what about other countries? It also makes you realize how big the wizarding world is - just as vast as our own. 

The beasts were incredibly creative! They were some mixes of animals that are common to us, such as stick insects or manta rays, but with a twist to them. Honestly the movie put them in such a beautiful way! 

This is all I will say without spoiling the rest of the story! Go ahead and read the rest if you want! But from now on, the review will be full of spoilers! 

I loved all of the references to Hogwarts! And the intrigue with the Obscurus and Grindewald and the Second Salem! 

Didn't you guys just love it when all of the Hogwarts references come up? Dumbledore and Hufflepuff? And is it just me, or is the teacher who was fond of him was maybe Hagrid? I'm pretty sure they are connected in some way, as Hagrid was also kicked out of Hogwarts for having endangered students with magical creatures! 

I always had a hunch that Cadence had some magic in him. It wasn't logical, I know, but at one point I thought that he was voldemort when he was young? I know he wasn't, but that would have been cool! 

I actually really liked Newt Scamander as a character. He's really nervous and sweet and curious, and I can't wait to learn more about his background! And I kinda hope that Jacob gets his memories back and joins the group agian! 

I was so surprised how they used memories as a torture method! o.o That was so crazy and scary yet really cool! And the whole idea of the Obscurus was amazing as well! Although it was scary, it really made for a good plot for the first movie! 

I already have to stop, sadly, but I cannot wait to see the second part of this quintology! I might expand on this later :) 

I'm giving this a 5/5 feathers!! 

Have a great day! :D

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas - Reread

Hey all! 

I just finished re-reading Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas! 

I know I'm super late with the ToG hype - I read book one sometime last year, and it took me almost a year to get to book two. Shame, right? So I figured that now that I have the first 4 books, I should just read them practically in one go, between December and January. It's kind of like a ToG marathon? Feel free to join if you want! I'll be reading books iin between each of the ToG books as well. 

As I just mentioned, I read this last year at some point, you can click here to go back to it! It was way at the beginning of my blogging days, I was so enthusiastic and all over the place, hahah ^^ 

"In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. 

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world."

Honestly, I might have enjoyed the re-read more than the original read. Throne of Glass is a book that is interesting and addicitve right from the star, in a way that makes the book difficult to put down when faced with responsibilities. Everything from the plot to the characters to the intrigue and the world was just amazingly creative and wholly interesting to read about. 

Celaena is an assassin - she spent many years in a prison camp and was rescued by Prince Dorian, to be his father's Champion. One would expect her to be assassin-esque - cold hearted and uncaring, but she's not that. Whilst she has incredible weaponry skills and bravery, she also loves reading, music and food. She's basically a normal young adult who was brought up in a world of killing, and that's probably why I like her character so much! 

Dorian and Chaol are both amazing characters as well - Dorian is the crown prince, and Chaol is the captain of the guard. The two are best friends, and both fall for Caleana...

In this book, even all of the side characters have some importance and are completely thought-out. 

Aside from the characters, what I loved about this book was the fast pace, the fantasy tone, the magic and the intrigue. Honestly, this is a must-read for any fantasy lovers who liked the hunger games. Fairies, ghosts, murder, monsters, princes and magic, this book has it all, and it was absolutely amazing. 

As both my first and second review basically sum up everything I have to say, I'll just skip right to grading. I'm giving this a 5/5 feathers, and would give it so much more if I could! 

Have you read Throne of Glass? What did you think about it? Did you maybe disagree with the hype? Let me know! :) 

Have a great day! 

Bookish Talks ~8~ No-Read November...?

Hey all, 

Welcome to a new bookish talk! 

So... Where have I been? 

I realise that I haven't blogged for a long time, basically since the beginning of November. I promise that I didn't abandon you guys, in fact I missed blogging! 

Basically, for the past 3-4 weeks, it's been exam period in the university I was at on exchanged. For the past 4 months, I was studying at the University of Western Australia, in Perth. I've never taken 4 university-level courses at once, so it was a lot of work for me, especially during exam time. In fact, since I finished Me Before You a few weeks ago, I haven't been able to pick up a book, just because of exams and spending some time with the friends I made on exchange.

I'm calling it 'No-read November". 

I got back home in the Netherlands yesterday, and have a month off now! I now have more time to read, review and talk with you guys, for sure! I'll also be more able to visit your blogs now that I have some time for myself. I can't wait to see what you guys have been up to! :) 

I hope you guys are doing well! 
Have a great day! 

Rip It or Ship It? Take 2!

Hey all! 

So way back when my blog was practically brand new, I decided to do the Rip It or Ship It tag after I saw it on youtube. I talked about it recently with some friends and re-read what I wrote last year. I laughed so much that I just HAD to do it again! 

I have 30 pairings to go through! o.o I just started writing name after name until I had 60... oops! ^^

So how this works is you write down a bunch of character names on slips of paper, fold them up and draw two at random. If you want you can separate guys and girls (like I did this time), or just have one big lucky draw (Like I did last time). Then you decide whether or not to rip the pair, or ship them. 

Last time I included friendship. I don’t really want to do that this time, cuz it just made it all too easy. =p 

Just so you guys know, I take shipping seriously, both when reading and in real life. I’m not someone who with ship any two people who talk together, though. I need to ship with reason. 

So, without further ado, let’s do this! 

Get ready to cringe. 

Tamlin, from A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Laurel, from Wings
Ok. So they’re both fairies, in totally different ways. I had to think about this one a lot, but I think I have to rip them. Laurel is too sweet and Tamlin is too... aggressive? 

Amati, from Rebel of the Sands, and Jace from The Mortal Instruments
Ooooohhhh... this is an interesting one! Amati has a really strong personality, she’s determined but not emotionless. And Jace is so sassy... I kinda ship it! I think that even though they wouldn’t want to admit it, they’d be super adorable together! ^_^ 

Scorpius, from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Clarisse, from Percy Jackson. 
Hahaha no just no... Rip! Scorpius is such a childish adorable dork, perfect bully material for Clarisse. Poor kid... 

Harry Potter, from oh-gosh-i-don’t-know... and Celaena from Throne of Glass
I... I don’t even know what to think about this. No... Just rip that. (Then again I heard that her character develops a lot. I only read the first two books so they might be shippable eventually?) 

Laia, from An Ember in the Ashes, and Albus, from Harry Potter and the cursed child
Ok so if they’re the same age, I honestly think that they would be cute together, but not in the shipping sense. This would be more in the brother-sisterly sense. So sorry but rip. 

Feyre, From A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Frodo Baggins from Lord of the rings
NOOOOOO HAHAHAHAH I can’t stop laughing!!! This should be a parody of some kind! Can you imagine them meeting?! Rip this to shreds but keep the idea for some parody collab mash thing! XD 

Feyre watching Frodo like ^ 

Elias, from An Ember in the Ashes, and Katsa, from Graceling
SHIP! Oh my gosh yes! They’re both so hardworking and fight for what they believe in, whether that be their own freedom or the freedom of others. Their personalities could work together so incredibly well, too! :3 Yes yes yes yes yes. Peeta and Katniss will always be my favorite but this could be amazing! 

Luna, from Harry Potter, and Will from The Infernal Devices
The TID triangle is precious to me, so the fact that I put it in  this kinda hurts, but hey, I had to. 
I’m actually very, very indecisive about this for some reason. Luna is awesome - she is smart and kinda weird and light. Will is considered by many in the book-world to be one of the most amazing male characters. I think they could maybe be cute, but I’m gonna say rip just because I think he’ll get really annoyed by her 'lightness' after a while. 

Jacob, from Miss Peregrine, and Natasha, from The Sun is Also a Star. 
I actually don’t know for this one. Natasha is super pragmatic and analytical and logic-oriented. And Jacob is also kind of like that and is really brave... I can’t decide. 

Tamani, from Wings, and Tessa, from The Infernal Devices. 
Oohhh... I can see this happening. Tam is adorable, protective, happy and certain. I feel like Tessa would like his certainty. Yes, ship this! 

Jin, from Rebel of the Sands, and Margo from Paper Towns
Rip this. It won’t work. Just no. 

Clary,  from The Mortal Instruments, and Dumbledore from Harry Potter
Haha well, this was unexpected! Rip, I don’t even think they would be able to stand each other! 

Lucien, from A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Hermione from Harry Potter
Hm... I think this could be interesting! I think they might infuriate each other at first, but might kind of fall together after a while! It could be cute! I kind of might just ship this! 

Voldemort, from Harry Potter, and Isabelle from The Mortal Instruments
Rip, obviously. BUT I think Izzy might be tempted to become a death eater? o.o

Sebastian, from The Mortal Instruments, and Mara from Exodus
I’m not going to lie, I ship this more than I probably should! You have the hero and the antihero, and I can imagine them having a nice story together! 

Percy, from Percy Jackson, and Maximum from Maximum Ride
Oh no, nuh-huh. They would hate each other! Rip! 

Po, from Graceling, and Ginny from Harry Potter
I don’t think I can ship this... They’re so different, I can’t even imagine them in the same universe, to be honest... Rip. 

Peeta from The Hunger Games, and Eleanor from Eleanor and Park
I think that this could somewhat work! Not as well as Peeta with Katniss, but I still think that they could be potentially cute! Minor Ship?

Gale from The Hunger Games, and Annabeth from Percy Jackson 
Ooohh... I don't actually think this would be all that bad...? I mean Percabeth wins every time, but I do think that they'd appreciate each other - they're both smart and are good at strategy-making. Ship! 

Grover from Percy Jackson, and Hazel from The Fault in our Stars
Oh goodness no Hazel would be so done with Grover after a few minutes. Rip!

Park, from Eleanor and Park, and Kady from Illuminae 
I can't make up my mind for this one! Help me out? o.o

Jem, from The Infernal Devices, and Umbridge from Harry Potter
HAHAHA NOOOOOO POOR JEM! I have such a soft spot for Jem, he's probably one of my favorite characters ever. I think Umbridge would bully him until he lost his mind! Rip to shreds, down to its atoms!

Tris from Divergent, and Augustus from The Fault in our Stars
Oh gosh, this is so weird... I'm trying not to imagine them as the actors and the fact that in one movie they are together but in another, they're brother and sister... In general, I think they couldn't stand each other but it's still so strange! Rip!

Simon from The Mortal Instruments, and Prim from The Hunger Games
I actually think that this could be cute! ^^ Do you agree? Ship! 

Cath from Fangirl, and Ron from Harry Potter
Yesss I think they could be super sweet together! Ship! 

Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Katniss from The Hunger Games
Oooooohhhhhh I like this idea! I'd actually like to see a short story with them, to see how they would work together :) Ship? 

I had three left, and they were: 
Magnus Bane and Valentine, from The Mortal Instruments, and Mare from Red queen
*Watch out for the train wreck!*
I feel like Magnus and Valentine may have had some history. (No not like that! Like past encounters!) Maybe he accidently helped him rising to villainy? Mare would hate Valentine, I think, but would like Magnus in a friendly sense. Rip this


Well that was fun! :D It took forever to write but I love doing these! 

What did you think about my reactions? Would you ship anyone that I ripped? Rip anyone that I shipped? Let me know! 

Have a great day!