November 23, 2014

Torn by Amanda Hocking (Trylle #2)

Original title: Torn
Year published: 2012
Published by: St Martin’s Press
Number of pages: 291 plus a collection of one shots named “One Day: Three Ways”
First sentence: “When Rhys and I showed up at my “brother” Matt’s house at eight in the morning, he was happy…in the sense that he was glad I was alive and hadn’t disappeared forever.”

Plot: After the events in “Switched” Wendy doesn’t think her life could get any more complicated. She was wrong. She’s kidnapped by Vittra trackers and while in captivity she learns more things about her past. Things that maybe would have been best kept hidden. In the middle of all of this there are her feelings, feelings she’s not sure she should have.

My thoughts: I don’t understand people who complain about Amanda’s writing. I totally love it, it’s real. And sure this book may not have been packed with as much action as the first one but it was still enough. I don’t think that an action filled book was her goal here. You get to learn a lot more about the history of Wendy’s people, both Trylle and Vittra. You also get to see Wendy working really hard to get her powers in order so that she can help her people. Wendy matures a lot in this book, she realizes that she has to consider what’s best for her people and not just what’s best for her and so she makes some decisions, decisions that might not be in her best interest but ones that she can live with nonetheless. I love this series and I love all the pop culture references and how the author used Swedish words such as “Förening, Ondarike, Mänsklig” and so on. It made it a whole lot more relatable, at least for me, being Swedish and all.

I went on goodreads because I wanted to leave a review and I stumbled upon a review. Someone decided it would be fun to spoil the next book. Let’s just say I’m not happy. At first I thought I wasn’t going to read the last book but I quickly decided against that. I love the series too much to give up on it just because someone spoiled it for me.


Anyway, great book. I do recommend it!

November 22, 2014

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K Rowling (Harry Potter #1)

Original title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Year published: 1997/2013
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Number of pages: 223
First sentence: “Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

Plot: Strange things always happen around Harry Potter and on his eleventh birthday he finds out why. He is a wizard, and not just any wizard, but ‘the boy who lived’. As Harry begins his first year at a wizarding school he learns many things about his past, and quite possibly even his future.

My thoughts: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. This book is amazing and I can’t wait to dig my teeth into the next one! I’m so ashamed of myself for not reading this before. I’ve always loved the movies and the whole magical world but I’ve never gotten into the books until now. Could have something to do with the thickness of the later books in the series, they didn’t seem that appealing before now. I got quite mad at myself while reading this because I kept comparing it to the movie and getting annoyed over all the things they missed while making it. Peeves for one. Where is he in the movie? He’s such a great character, one of my favorites actually. You also don’t get to see as much of Neville in the movie as you do in the book. Why not, I wonder? Neville is a great character, I actually prefer him to Harry for the most part. I’m done complaining, let’s just say they missed a lot while making the movie.

Would I recommend this book? YES! It’s great and I do believe that kids need to read this. Hell, I’m 20 and I just read this for the first time and thought it was great. This feels like a part of growing up you know? Like a part of childhood. Granted, a part of childhood that I obviously missed, but still. So read it and dream people!

November 20, 2014

Ultimate book tag

Thank you Bella over at bellasbok.blogg.se for tagging me!

1. Do you get sick while reading in the car?
Yes! I mean I can read some short stuff on my phone, check facebook and stuff. But a book? No way, there’s no use in even trying. I need to keep my eyes on the road for the most part.

2. Which author's writing style is completely unique to you and why?
I would have to say Anna Banks. I mean I’ve only actually read one of her books (shame on me!) but I loved it. The humor and also switching between first person (Emma) and third person (Galen) point of view, I thought I’d hate it but it turns out that I loved it! I’m of course referring to Of Poseidon (Serena Legacy #1).

3. Harry Potter series or the Twilight Saga? Give 3 points to defend your answer.
Ooh, this is a tough one. I absolutely love Twilight, I have since the first time I read it when I was like 12-13 or something and I probably will continue to love it for the rest of my life. I only recently hopped on the Harry Potter train, I mean I love, love, love the movies and I thought it was time that I started with the books as well. I’ve only read half of the Philosopher’s stone and I love it. But they’re two completely different stories and I can’t really compare them to each other.

4. Do you carry a book bag? If so, what is in it (besides books…)?
Definition of book bag please? I always carry a bag with me when I go to school. For notebooks, pens and such. And I always bring my earphones/headphones or whatever you’d like to call them. I have quite a way to go to get to uni and so I always listen to music on my way there, daydreaming and coming up with new stories to write. I guess that’s what they call an active imagination huh?

5. Do you smell your books?
Yes, I do. Not always, but I do. There’s nothing better than the smell of a newly purchased book. Am I right?

6. Books with or without little illustrations?
Without.

7. What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?
Hmmm. I’m going to hate myself for this answer ‘cause it sounds so mainstream, everybody says this about this book, or series. But, Fifty Shades of Grey. Don’t get me wrong, I love it but it’s quite poorly written. But I was able to look past that since the story is so good!

8. Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!
No, at least I don’t think so.

9. What is the thinnest book on your shelf?
Probably my own book. Horribly named “Forever” and it’s about 50 pages or so long. It’s awful. No one but me is ever going to read it.

10. What is the thickest book on your shelf?
So wish I could say “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare” which is on my wishlist for this Christmas *crosses fingers* but sadly it’s not. The thickest book on my bookshelf is a book for school. It’s “the Norton introduction to Literature”. So not fun.

11. Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as being an author?
Yes, I do. Write that is. Mostly fanfictions and at the moment not so much at all. All though I have published to chapters of my Avengers fanfiction on both fanfiction.net and Wattpad. @mindcrazed if you would like to check it out.

12. When did you get into reading?
Probably when I was about 10 or something like that.

13. What is your favorite classic book?
 My favorite classic. Hmm.. Not sure if I have a favorite classic. I’m assuming that by classic you mean something along the lines of Brontë, Austen or Poe right? I’ve read books by the first two but for me the ultimate classic would be anything by William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18 is by far my favorite.

15. If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated…what would you do?
Haha, I don’t know. Maybe pass it along to someone else?

16. What is a lesser known series that you know of that is similar to Harry Potter or the Hunger Games?
Oh gosh. I don’t know. A lesser known series? Hmm.. I’m assuming you want to know of a series that could be as big as the mentioned series because they’re in no way alike. One is fantasy and one is Dystopia. I have a few series I’ve read/am reading that I hope will be this big. They sure deserve to be. The “Sweet Evil” series by Wendy Higgins, “Syrena Legacy” series by Anna Banks and the “Trylle” series by Amanda Hocking. These deserve to be in the spotlight a lot more than they are at the moment!

17. What is a bad habit you always do (besides rambling) while blogging?
I always promise to post stuff and then break that promise. I also apologize a lot. I need to stop that. Sorry.

18. What is your favorite word?
I only get to choose one? That’s so not fair. Hmm.. Enraged. Yep, no explanation needed.

19. Are you a nerd, dork, or dweeb? Or all of the above?
 And the difference being? I guess all of the above then.

20. Vampires or Fairies? Why?
 Vampires, because, vampires. Simple as that.

21. Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?
Angels. Or rather Nephilim. Because they’re a bunch of sexy MOFO’s.

22.  Spirits or Werewolves? Why?
Werewolves. The sexy kind though. Twilight werewolves, Mercy Falls werewolves, yep.

23. Zombies or vampires?
Again, vampires, because zombies freak me out.

24. Love triangle or forbidden love?
Forbidden love. I mean I love love triangles but I get tired of them pretty fast. Romeo and Juliet kind of forbidden love is more of my thing.

25. Lastly: Full on romance books or action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in?

I like a mix between the two. Loads of love but still a bit of action here and there. Wouldn’t want it to get boring, would we?

I don't have anyone to tag but if you feel up for it then go ahead! I thought this was fun!

xx Kayla

Much awaited

Hey guys. Again I'm so very sorry about the crappy updates. I've got a lot going on in school right now and I've gotten stuck in this very depressing winter-mode, it gets dark early and the only thing I feel like doing is laying in bed listening to music daydreaming about my next story (to write). I'm going to stop making promises about when I'm going to update because I know that I can't always keep my promises.

On a happier note I wanted to share with you guys a much awaited release. It's Joyride by the always amazing Anna Banks.

























The cover is amazing isn't it? It kind of looks like something I would to If I knew anyone who owned a pickup, haha. So this book is scheduled to be released on June 2 2015 and I can't wait! It's sad that it's so far away but then again that means that I have something to look forward to. This is going to make for an amazing summer read, I can just see myself laying on the beach reading this. I can't wait to dive into the world of Carly and Arden (this name though *swoons*).

If you guys want to add it to your to read list on goodreads or just want to read some more about it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22718685-joyride?ac=1

That's all for me for now! Take care!

xx Kayla

November 14, 2014

Sorry (mobile post)

Hi guys. I feel like all I do is apologize for not blogging enough. I was supposed to have at least one book review for you guys this week but I didn't get the chance to read as much as I thought last weekend. This weekend though I'm gonna at least finish reading Harry Potter and the philosophers stone which I started reading last weekend. On another note I got a new follower on twitter, one that I'm really excited about!


I mean this is great! So happy. I now have two of my favorite authors following me on twitter.

I've been home today cause I've been feeling a bit off so at the moment I'm watching tv shows trying to get better. I hope to have a post for you tomorrow.

Have a nice evening/day!

xx Kayla

November 2, 2014

Top 10 on my to read list

Hello everyone. I just wanted to pop in and share with you guys my top 10 to read list. So here goes:

1    1.  Rooms by Lauren Oliver


2.  Of Triton by Anna Banks


     3.   Torn by Amanda Hocking


      4.    Ascend by Amanda Hocking


     5.    Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins


     6.    The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins


     7.    The Selection by Kiera Cass


     8.     The Elite by Kiera Cass


     9.     The One by Kiera Cass


     10. The Maze Runner by James Dashner


Sadly I don't really have time to read but I've promised myself that I'm going to start reading one of these on Friday after my last exam. I'll read at least one of these over the weekend before my next course starts. I'll let you guys know which book it is!

Anyway, have a nice evening/day!

xx Kayla