Chocolate Book Tag

Hi guys! So I was tagged by lovely wife Erika over at Rickus Bookshelf to do the Chocolate Book Tag. Chocolate and book in the same sentence, whaaat? It sounds amazing but we’ll see how this goes!

Dark Chocolate – A book that covers a dark subject

Ooh wow. I’m not sure I’ve read any books like this? What qualifies as a dark subject anyway? And does it have to be a “real” dark subject or can it be like a crazy ass fallen angel trying to kill a teenage girl? Hmm. I mostly read books that holds some sort of fantasy/paranormal element (e.g nephilim, vampires, fairies) so I’m not really sure about this. But I guess that “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett kind of deals with a dark subject. Racism and all that jazz.

White Chocolate – Your favorite light hearted/humorous read

Damn these questions are hard! So I’m just gonna go with the last book I read where I actually laughed out loud. That book is “See Me” by Wendy Higgins. Favorite funny line: “Holy shitballs. We’re in the Shire.” I wrote a review on the book, you can find it here: http://mindcrazed.blogspot.se/2015/03/see-me-by-wendy-higgins.html

Milk Chocolate – A book with a lot of hype that you are dying to read

Just one? But there are so many! Okay, so I’m gonna pick the one that’s currently on its way to me. “A Darker Shade of Magic” by V.E. Schwab, or just “ADSOM” as it’s called by the fans. I’ve been looking forward to reading this since way before it was published but I couldn’t afford to preorder it so when I had to place and order for a book for uni I just thought “What the hell, I’ll just sneak it in there”. So it’ll be here soon, damn postal service shuts down over the holidays. Darn you Easter!

Chocolate with a Caramel Centre – A book that makes you feel all gooey in the middle when you read it

Gooey huh? Tough one. I don’t usually feel gooey, or maybe I do. Who the hell knows? All I can think about is the last few pages of “Sweet Reckoning” by Wendy Higgins. You say gooey and I think happy tears? Haha, I don’t know. But I cried happy tears at the end of that book so I’m gonna go with that. Does that qualify as gooey? Link to my review.

Wafer-Free Kit Kat – A book that surprised you lately

Holy mother of god! I think we all know which book surprised me lately. “There You Stand” by Christina Lee was a definite surprise for me. Who knew right? I don’t really need to say more do I? You’ll find my review of the book here.

Snickers – A book that you are going nuts about

“Sweet Temptation” by Wendy Higgins. I know there’s a lot of Wendy going on here but I can’t help it! She writes amazing books and she’s also such a kind, lovable person. If you haven’t read any Wendy, please do. “Sweet Temptation” is out in September and is available for pre-order on amazon: Sweet Temptation pre-order link

Hot Chocolate with Cream and Marshmallows – A book you would turn to for a comfort read

I don’t have a comfort read. At least I don’t think so. Maybe “Twilight”? No, that’s not it. Hmm. But “Twilight” and “Fifty Shades” are the only books I’ve ever re-read. I think. Hmm. This is tough.

Wow okay, this was harder than I thought it would be! But thanks for bearing with me!

And for the tagging:

Aimee @ Deadly Darlings

Fay @ The Social Potato

Not really sure if you ladies do these sorts of things. but hey it's worth a try

xx Kayla

Goodreads Reading Challenge

Hey! Just saw that I'm 50 % done with my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I've read 20 books so far in 2015 and I need to read 20 more to reach my goal. That wont be a problem for me. I think I may have underestimated myself a bit. 40 books is a bit low but I guess I'd rather surpass than change it. If you want to friend me on Goodreads or just see what I'm reading or what I want to read here's the link to my profile: Kayla on Goodreads.

(thought this was adorable)

I'm off in a bit to celebrate Easter and all that it entails. Have a great one guys and I'll talk to you later!

xx Kayla

April Paperback Month + NetGalley Challenge

Hi guys! So I’ve decided to join the April Paperback Month which was created by Suze over at librarianlavender and Sophie at reviewedthebook and we’re supposed to dedicate the month to reading paperbacks. I mostly do read paperbacks but there have been fewer and fewer lately and instead I’ve been reading a lot of books on my Kindle.

Here’s a link to the original post: http://www.reviewedthebook.co.uk/2015/03/aprilpaperbackmonth.html, go check it out if you want to join.

I’ve already read one paperback this month (City of Glass) and I’m currently reading two more. I don’t know if I want to set a goal of how many books I’m going to read because I’m usually really bad at keeping promises. But I’m at least going to finish the ones I’ve started. 

I've also decided to give the NetGalley Challenge a try. I have 12 books waiting for me from NetGalley but I doubt I'll be able to read and review all of them in just one month. I do have a life, school and stuff. I know it sucks, right? But I'll do some. I've already reviewed one NetGalley title this month so I'm well on the way anyway. Should be doable, I think.

I'll try and get a review up on 'City of Glass' but I'm not sure when that's going to be seing that it's Easter and I'm sick. 

So Happy Easter and have a great day!

xx Kayla

There You Stand by Christina Lee (Between Breaths #5)

Original title: There You Stand

Year published: 2015

Published by: Penguin/Intermix

Number of pages: - (this is an e-book and a review edition at that)

First sentence: “I swallowed past the lump in my throat and leaned over to pat Chopper, the dog I’d inherited a couple of months ago from Joe, my latest asshole boyfriend.”

Plot: Tattoo artist Cory Easton has worked long enough at Raw Ink to know, just by looking at a dude, what his body art reveals, what makes him tick, what even makes him scared. Until he meets the quiet and remote Jude York—so unreadable, so unreachable, and so unlike anyone else, he can’t help but arouse Cory’s curiosity.

As captivating and complex as his ink, Jude is a mystery—and Cory’s falling fast and hard under his spell. Against his better judgment to steer clear.

The rumors of Jude’s past overshadow him—whispers of prison and an unmentionable secret that’s kept him in the protective shadows of a local motorcycle club. As Cory probes deeper, he wonders how much he really wants to know. Especially since Jude has awakened something inside him that has been buried too long—and has him feeling completely alive for the first time in forever…

(Taken from Goodreads because I’m still reeling)

My thoughts: Holy fucking shit! Pardon the language. This is just too much. Okay so this was my first male/male romance read and I was a bit weary at first and worried that I thought it might not be entirely for me. But holy shit it was! I absolutely loved this. And not just the romance stuff but the story was great, the language was great, it was funny and oh my god, yeah this book has it all!

Both of the guys have these really complicated back stories and you’d think that would be something that scares them. And it sort of does, though Jude is a lot wearier for reasons that become very obvious as you get farther into the book. They get off to a slow start with one of them trying to ignore his feelings for the other (doesn’t that always happen? It pisses me off) but they slowly accept (more or less) that there’s something between them.  They start to build some form of relationship, they connect over their love of dogs and the fact that Jude is getting a tattoo at the place Cory works. Jude is a very quiet person (for reasons, obviously) but Cory manages to draw him out of his shell eventually. Together they share a lot of things, things they’d never shared with anyone before and I just fell in love with their love, does that make sense?

Anyway, I thought for sure I’d be embarrassed when it came to the sexy times, and I was. But I realized I almost always am even if it’s the standard male/female situation. I was embarrassed because it was kind of an embarrassing situation. I mean the things that were said, I’d probably be embarrassed if someone had sad that to me in real life. But still I loved it, I never in my life imagined that two guys together would be that interesting (HOT, yes of course I mean HOT!) but it was.

Christina has a really nice language. It doesn’t feel forced, it felt very natural to read and I could really imagine Cory and Jude’s voices in my head. I even read Jude’s lines with an accent. It was brilliant (said in an English accent of course). There was a sense of humor there that I absolutely adored but there wasn’t so much humor that it took away the seriousness that was ever present in the story which was great because no matter how funny something is we can’t just forget everything bad, right?

So to sum it all up, I loved the book, and if you feel like this would be something for you I think you should definitely read it. Hell, I’m still reeling.

Now I just need to read the rest of the books in the ‘Between Breaths’ series and swoon over some other people.  

There You Stand will be out on April 21^st of this year!

Shadow, Shadow by V.B. Marlowe (The Shadow Pines Trilogy #1)

Original title: Shadow, Shadow

Year published: 2015

Published by: All Night Reads

Number of pages: 208

First sentence: “A girl is trapped in a box, only she doesn’t know that she’s trapped because the box is all she has ever known”

Plot:  "The four of you have been blessed with a great gift. Well, it's a gift for you, but a curse for someone else." Harley receives a mysterious gift on her sixteenth birthday--a shadow box. The box gives her the power to trade someone to the shadows, meaning they will disappear and cease to exist. Harley can't imagine doing such a horrible thing and is warned that using the box comes at a price. Unfortunately, not using the box can be even more costly. Harley must make this life-altering decision as she discovers frightening revelations about the town she calls home.

(From Goodreads)

My thoughts: I got this from NetGalley in exchange for a review. I chose this book because the plot looked interesting. Sure enough, it was. The whole shadows snatching people is really creepy. I’m sure I’ll be scared to be alone with my shadow from now on. So there are these four kids (yes, 16 year olds are kids); Harley, Brock, Teaghan and Gianna and they all share the same birthday. They all receive these Shadow Boxes, with these Shadow Boxes they can give people to the Shadows. Everyone except for Teaghan is reluctant to believe the stories they’ve been told and the powers of the Shadow Boxes. After Teaghan uses it for the first time things start going downhill and it quickly turns into a “kill or be killed” type of scenario. In the midst of all this Harley (who’s kind of the main character) has to deal with a stalker boyfriend and an evil stepmom. And what’s with this quarterly physicals where they’re injected with some sort of “flu” shot? And the shrink? Why is he giving Teaghan and Harley the same medication when one’s suffering from depression and the other headaches?

The scariest thing about this book is that all of the four kids has one family member who’s either missing or dead. Teaghan’s mother was murdered and Harley and Gianna’s mothers both just disappeared one day. Brock’s sister Sierra is also missing.

The writing may not have been the best and at times I thought things were a bit childish, but then again the book is marketed towards kids age 13 and up. Not sure if I qualify. But still the story was good and I want to read the next book which doesn’t even have a date set yet.

Goodreads rating 3/5

Do I recommend it? Yeah, maybe if you’re a younger reader.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #2)

Original title: City of Ashes

Year published: 2008

Published by: Walker Books

Number of pages: 411

First sentence: “The formidable glass-and-steel structure rose from its position on Front Street like a glittering needle threading the sky.”

Plot: Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

(Plot taken from Goodreads)

My thoughts: First off, let me just say that I liked this book a lot better than the first one, probably because there were no movie connections to be made here. This was a really good thing and it meant that I could actually enjoy the book, which I did, very much.

A lot of things happen in this book, a lot of life changing things, for some people at least. Can we just take a minute to appreciate Simon? I mean what he goes through in this book and still he’s there for Clary. Simon, I love you.  Then there’s Jace, whom I of course also love but that’s beside the point. He is so hateable in this book, but still I have a lot of sympathy for him. He makes me so mad with his “no I can’t hate my father” crap, ugh. Seriously it is perfectly alright to hate Valentine, I sure as hell do. Say it with me: “I HATE VALENTINE”. There, that wasn’t so hard was it. The whole Valentine situation is so infuriating. Tricking Clary and Jace into believing they’re siblings is just horrible. They are so obviously in love with each other and it just makes reading most of the book weird, it makes me uncomfortable. Especially when they’re with the faerie Queen and she makes them kiss. I was screaming, really. Like why in the bloody hell would they react to each other that way physically if they truly believe that they are brother and sister? It makes no sense. And poor Simon. I feel so bad for him, although he seems okay with everything by the end of the book.

Also there’s Luke, who really steps up in this book. I love Luke. He’s such a nice guy and the way Clary’s like: “you’re not my father, Luke is” aaaaaaah, I loved that.

One thought that stuck with me while reading the book was:  “When the hell is it time for Jocelyn to wake up?” and by the end of this book we get an answer, maybe. So I can’t wait to get started on ‘City of Glass’.

And why didn't Imogen Herondale get to finish telling Jace the truth? Gaaaah! How long am I going to have to wait for Jace to finally know the truth. This is driving me crazy!

I love the Shadowhunter world. If I could I’d probably be one, that or a warlock, with a nice mark like Magnus’ eyes and not horns or green skin.

Do I recommend it? Yep.

Goodreads rating 4/5

Never Forgotten by Kelly Risser (Never Forgotten #1)

Original title: Never Forgotten

Year published: 2014

Published by: Clean Teen Publishing

Number of pages: 328

First sentence: “Meara, where are you?”

Plot: How can one day go so very wrong? One minute Meara Quinn is making plans for how she will spend the summer before her senior year and the next she's finding out that her mother's cancer has returned and they are moving away from the only home she's ever known.

Now every day is a struggle as Meara is trying to cope with her mother's illness, being forced to move to another country to live with grandparents—whom she thought disowned her mother—and having weird visions of a father who was absent her entire life. Top it all off with one whopping secret that everyone seems bent on keeping from her, and Meara has the perfect ingredients for a major melt down.

The only things keeping her from coming unglued are some new friends and Evan—the son of her mother's childhood friend—who seems to know Meara almost better than she knows herself.

Together with Evan and her friends, Meara embarks on a new journey to unlock the secrets that will not only tell Meara who she is, but what she is. How can one day go so very wrong? One minute Meara Quinn is making plans for how she will spend the Summer before her senior year and the next she's finding out that her mother's cancer has returned and they are moving away from the only home she's ever known.

Now every day is a struggle as Meara is trying to cope with her mother's illness, being forced to move to another country to live with grandparents—whom she thought disowned her mother—and having weird visions of a father who was absent her entire life. Top it all off with one whopping secret that everyone seems bent on keeping from her, and Meara has the perfect ingredients for a major melt down.

The only things keeping her from coming unglued are some new friends and Evan—the son of her mother's childhood friend—who seems to know Meara almost better than she knows herself.

Together with Evan and her friends, Meara embarks on a new journey to unlock the secrets that will not only tell Meara who she is, but what she is.

(Plot taken from Goodreads)

My thoughts: Okay, so at first I didn’t like it. I thought the language was a bit weird and the fact that the chapters were really short was a bit annoying. I also didn’t think that you got to know the characters well enough. After a while I learned you didn’t really need to. The story is great all though a bit obvious at some points. Absent dad, scared mom, it all seems like something I’ve read before, hell it even seems like something I’ve written before. Anyway, I was so sure this was going to be another book where the main character finds out she’s a mermaid or a siren or whatever. Meara obviously felt a pull toward the ocean as soon as she arrived in Peggy’s Cove and then there’s the whole deal with her feet. But was she a mermaid? No. She was- wait for it- a freakin’ seal! Or a Selkie as they’re apparently called. How amazing is that? I’m so glad she wasn’t a mermaid, that would have been seriously disappointing. I’ve read so many mermaid books, I mean don’t get me wrong, I love mermaids - one of my favorite book series has mermaids in it – but it just didn’t feel right this time. I was happy to learn she was just a girl who’s dad spent most of his time as a seal.

Okay so let’s talk about Evan for a minute. Such an amazing guy. If Meara doesn’t return for him I’d be more than happy to heal his heart. Hmm, yummy. Husband material that one.

I cried when I read this, yes I cried, seems to be happening a lot lately. There was this part where I just broke down, too many emotions at once. I’m not going to spoil it for you, as I fear I’ve already done with revealing the seal thing, sorry about that. It was just too big a part of the story to leave out.

So do I recommend it? Yeah, sure, it’s a good story even if it’s a bit cliché at times.

Goodreads rating 4/5