New blog!

Hi guys. I just wanted to let you guys know that I've switched blog platforms and you can now find me at https://mindcrazed.wordpress.com/. I'll still be posting on here for a while so that all of you can have a chance to jump ships.

Have a great day! xx Kayla

'There You Stand' release day!

Happy release day to Christina Lee! Her amazing book 'There You Stand' (my review is here: http://mindcrazed.blogspot.se/2015/04/there-you-stand-by-christina-lee.html) is released today. This book is a part of a series but you can read it as a standalone, at least I thought it worked great without reading the others books. You can buy it on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/There-You-Stand-Between-Breaths-ebook/dp/B00S75RYBS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429632862&sr=8-1&keywords=there+you+stand+christina+lee.

With all of the pre- release stuff Christina has posted on Twitter lately I feel like I need a re-read, but that's going to have to wait, haha. 

Happy reading! xx Kayla

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E Schwab cover

Can we just appreciate this for a minute. Okay I'm not just appreciating I'm screaming internally and I haven't even read 'A Darker Shade of Magic' yet.

US Cover

UK Cover

How amazing are these!? Holy shit. I prefer the UK cover and since my copy of ADSOM has the UK cover I'm going to stick with that. Which do you prefer?

Spoiler alert! If you haven't read ADSOM then don't read the following as it may contain spoilers (I don't know myself since I haven't read it, I just copied and pasted). This is the BLURB for A Gathering of Shadows.

Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games—an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries—a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again—meaning that another London must fall. 

Expected publication is February 23rd 2016. I personally can't wait! UK Cover

Summer 2015 re-reads/finish that series

So, I will not be working this summer, this is a choice mixed with lack of job opportunities and also the fact that I’m stressed as fuck at the moment and I don’t see that getting any better soon. But I do have plans this summer, most of which involves reading! I’ll be doing a lot of re-reads, both of series I haven’t finished and series I just want to read again. You know how it gets when you start a series and you don’t read the last book so that when you do want to read it you have to re-read the whole series because it’s been too long. Yeah, that’s what I’m going to be doing this summer when I’m not busy repainting my kitchen and my hallway (is it even called that?). So I thought I’d share which books/series it is I’m going to read and review (if I haven’t already done so). So here’s what you guys have to look forward to this summer!

Hush Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick

-          I read three out of four books in early 2013 I believe and I got started on the fourth book, aptly named ‘Finale’ but I just didn’t feel it. But now that I’m in my complete Nephilim phase I’m dying for a re-read. So we’ll see how that goes. I haven’t reviewed any of the Hush Hush books here on the blog so if I do read them I expect there’ll be a review of each of the books.

Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater

-          Same here, didn’t get through the last one. Here it was a combination of lack of interest and me being annoyed by the fact that with each book new POVs were introduced. I’m not much for different POVs , two I can deal with but four? Come one! Haven’t reviewed any of these on here either.

Vampire Diaries by L.J Smith

-          I think I read the first two out of… I don’t even know how many there are. I think I own six. But we’ll see about this. I’m not entirely sure I’ll be up for this. I tried a re-read last summer and failed miserably.

Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

-          Nerd? Heck yes! I can never read these books enough, which you can tell by the state of them. They’re practically falling apart which made me buying the white edition completely okay, right? I’m not sure I will review these. There are so many of these out there but if you guys want my take on Twilight then please let me know and I’ll gladly do it!

Syrena Legacy by Anna Banks

-          I’ve read two out three in this series and loved it. The only reason I haven’t  read the third one is because I’m waiting for it to be released in paperback, which is supposed to be happening sometime in late June I think. I’ve reviewed the first two ‘Of Posedion’ and ‘Of Triton’ on the blog when I first started it. Looking forward to ‘Of Neptune’ like crazy!

Sweet Evil Series by Wendy Higgins

-          Okay so I know I mention Wendy Higgins in like every post I write on here and that’s ‘cause she’s amazing. Anyway, the fourth and last book (or so they say, I want more) in the series is scheduled to be released on September 8^th this year and I was thinking I’d do a re-read in connection with the release of that, so sometime in late August. I’m planning on pre-ordering ‘Sweet Temptation’ as soon as my budget will let me. God I hate being a poor uni student. I’m also hoping (it’s probably never going to happen, but one can hope right?) to be able to fly over to the states and be there for the ‘Sweet Temptation’ launch party on September 12^th in Virginia Beach, VA. *crosses fingers*

So yes I think that that was that. Wow that was a lot of that’s, haha. Anyway I’m sure books will be added or removed before summer arrives but I just thought I’d let you guys know what to expect. Now I really need to study (boohoo). Talk to you later!

xx Kayla

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini (Starcrossed #1)

Original title: Starcrossed

Year published: 2011

Published by: Macmillan Children’s Books

Number of pages: 518

First sentence: “’But if you bought me a car now, it would be yours when I go away to school in two years’”

Plot: When shy, awkward Helen Hamilton meets Lucas Delos for the first time, she thinks two things: the first, that he is the most ridiculously beautiful boy she has seen in her life; the second, that she wants to kill him with her bare hands.
An ancient curse means Lucas and Helen are destined to loathe one another. But sometimes love is stronger than hate, and not even the gods themselves can prevent what will happen next...

(From Goodreads)

My thoughts: *squeals* This was so good! It’s got it all; supernatural stuff, hot boys, hot girls, great friendships, steaminess and GREEK MYTHOLOGY! How do you even manage this? Authors amaze me. I’ve had very few books where I read the first one in a series and was immediately hooked (Sweet series is one of those) but this was just WOW. I love Greek mythology so for me this was amazing. I didn’t even know there was going to be Greek mythology in it until I actually got to the part where Helen starts googling the Furies and even then I didn’t completely understand it, but when Lucas and the rest of the Delos family start explaining I was like “holy shit”. Speaking of the Delos family, can we just appreciate the awesomeness of that family for a second. I read “Twilight meets the Iliad” and I was like “no” but after a while I was like “yeah maybe” because if you think about it it’s kind of like Twilight but the gorgeous family are the newcomers. And also Lucas Delos is so much more gorge than Edward Cullen ever was. And the Delos family is so much more awesome than the Cullens ever were. The whole Delos family is gorgeous. I would say “the genes man, the genes” but since they’re beauty doesn’t have as much to do with genes as it does with Fate I won’t say it. I’m totally in love with every single family member (the immediate family not those scary One Hundred Cousins) except for maybe Cassie ‘cause she scares the shit out of me. But Ari, Jason and Hector, oh my, seriously I need Hector for myself, since Jason is so obviously in love with Claire and Lucas is meant to be with Helen. I even like the older guys; Castor and Pallas, even though Pallas is sort of an ass at first, sort of justified though.

I loved this whole “I wanna kill you but then you sort of saved my life so now I love you” thing. Totally adorable and at times embarrassing. I love that Helen and Lucas are meant to be because of the whole star-crossed lover thing. And how ironic isn’t it that Lucas was supposed to be named Paris. At that moment in the book I think I died a bit. That was just too much for my fragile heart too handle. But what really tipped me over was when Helen’s mom (major bitch, btw) shows up after like 17 years and tells this lie to make Helen and Lucas believe that they’re cousins. What is it with parents telling they’re kids that they’re related to the people they’re in love with!?!?! It pisses me off (yes Cassandra Clare I’m talking about bloody Valentine)!

This review turned out really messy but that’s just because I’m so excited about this that I don’t know what to talk about and when! It was amazing! So of course I gave it 5/5 stars on Goodreads. The next book in the series; ‘Dreamless’ is now on my to buy list!

Do I recommend it? Hells yes!

Abandon by Meg Cabot (Abandon #1)

Original title: Abandon

Year published: 2011

Published by: Macmillan Children’s Books

Number of pages: 304

First sentence: “Anything can happen in the blink of an eye.”

Plot: Last year Pierce died, just for a moment. And when she was in the space between life and death, she met John: tall dark and terrifying. There's a fierce attraction between them, but Pierce knows that if she allows herself to fall for John she will be doomed to a life of shadows and loneliness in the underworld.

My thoughts: I had such high hopes for this book. It sounded like it could be the next big thing, but I guess if it was it would’ve been more known by now right? It could have been amazing. I so wanted it to be amazing. But it wasn’t. The story itself is actually a good one. Seven year old Pierce meets a young man in the cemetery after he grandfather’s funeral, he brings a dead bird back to life. Eight years later Pierce drowns and ends up by a lake with a bunch of other people apparently waiting for boats to take them somewhere. There she sees this young man she met all those years ago at the cemetery. Thing is, he hasn’t aged, like at all, and he kind of seems to be running the place. He asks her if she’d rather go someplace warm, which she of course agrees to because she’s wet, cold, and scared. How was she supposed to know that this means that she must stay with him forever? How was she supposed to know she was dead? So what does she do? She throws hot tea in his face and runs. She wakes up in the hospital and finds out that hypothermia is what saved her. Two years later, Pierce is 17 and a lot of weird stuff has happened since she “came back”. She’s moved to Isla Huesos with her mother, to start over. So she’s not all that surprised when she runs into this young man –who by the way is named John- at the cemetery where they first met. They have met a couple of times between her death and now of course. John seems to always be around when she’s in danger. She finds out that the place with the lake was actually the Underworld and that John is some kind of death deity. Also, he’s  chosen Pierce to be his consort. Kind of like Hades and Persephone. Wait, no, exactly like Hades and Persephone. This would freak anyone out, and it does freak Pierce out at first. Until she realizes that she’s in love with him. And despite him being such a jerk – but who wouldn’t be if you’d thrown hot tea in his face?- he’s in love with her too. So how does this end? Right back where we started, with Pierce back in the Underworld –although not dead this time- trying to figure out a way to get out. Stay away from the tea John!

I love the story. The writing however, not so much. It kind of reminds me of the way I first wrote back in 2008 when I started writing fanfictions. The whole “walking down memory lane” whilst in the middle of a conversation is annoying as hell. I mean sure, I want to know what happened to Pierce when she died and all that jazz. But does she need to have an inner monologue with herself in the middle of a conversation with her uncle, cousin, mom, creepy teacher, cemetery guy or John? No not really. You can dedicate entire chapters to that. You don’t have to go: ““Yes”, Uncle Chris said as I walked towards him. Kind of like I’d walked towards John the day I’d died. I wasn’t really sure what the hell I’d been thinking just walking up to him like that. Stepping out of the line, which we’d been specifically told not to do. But I couldn’t stop myself.  I walked towards him and the next thing I knew hooves where descending, very close to my face. I thought I was going to die.” It’s just annoying. Yes I want to know what happened with John but please can you finish the damn conversation with uncle Chris first? God.  Also, sometimes I felt that Pierce was so naïve and childish. Sure she was only seventeen but sometimes if felt more like twelve.

So yeah, it wasn’t really as pleasant of an experience as I thought it was going to be. I gave this 3 out 5 stars on Goodreads.

Do I recommend it? No, not really. The story is great but it was very poorly executed.

What's up

Hey guys. So I know it’s been a little quiet in here the last couple of days. Sunday was a day filled with cleaning and cooking and yesterday I had school and when I got home I did some reading so I’ll actually have something to review for you guys.

Anywho, tomorrow I’ll be off on a girls day/evening/sleepover with my fav ladies Erika (https://rickusbookshelf.wordpress.com/) and Bella (http://bellasbok.blogg.se/). We have some book blog things lined up for you, a “20 book related questions” video for starters. I’m really looking forward to this. I really hope you guys will like it.

I’m currently reading ‘Abandon’ by Meg Cabot and I’m hoping to finish it today so maybe there’ll be review up tonight.

Have a great day lovelies, Kayla