November 29, 2015

Wicked Photo Diary: November 2015

Wicked Photo Diary is a feature on the blog where I recap what happened in my life, bookish and non-bookish, in the form of my Instagram photos. Do follow me on Instagram here.


November has been a bleary month for me. I only had a few reviews posted on the blog. I didn't get to finish my NaNoWriMo project (again). I got so sick I spent almost two weeks in the hospital. I played Pokemon on my old Android phone. Wifi was lost for almost a week. So, there. November wasn't amazing.


November 02, 2015




I just clocked in 2K words on my NaNoWriMo and then took a nap. When I woke up, I was burning. I came down with dengue, this horrible disease that's treatable but is so expensive. I hated the hospital, even if the nurses who tended to me were beautiful and handsome people. Ugh. Don't get sick, guys. Stay healthy, always.


November 16, 2015




After being sick, I finally found my jive to read again. This has been sitting around on my bookshelf for quite some time now and my brother demanded that I finish the book already. It was beautiful. I may have to buy this immediately.


November 17, 2015



Granddad cut off the branches of our ginormous mango tree. Thankfully, there ain't no fruits yet. It will take a long time for the branches to grow back and to harvest mangoes. Mangoes are my favorite and I can't live without them.


November 20, 2015




I finally started reading the #SparkBooks I bought last month. They were all amazing but this one was my favorite out of the bunch. It was beautiful and grand. *dreamy sigh*


November 29, 2015



Momma asked to take a photo...I said yes. Nuff said.


What Else Happened On The Blog?





 

November 20, 2015

Wicked Review: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider


Published: August 27, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Acquired: Borrowed Paperback

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13522285-the-beginning-of-everything?ac=1&from_search=1



Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes
?



I'd like to thank my brother for lending me his copy. He's awesome all around.

So, when I finished the book, I didn't feel anything. I mean the book was good. The way it was written was amazing. The characters and their feelings were so real. But, I felt sort of meh afterwards. I don't know why.

And then, someone said let there be light. Kidding!

Here I am writing this review and all the feels are coming back. It hit me like a freight train and now I'm lying on the ground in a puddle of my own feels.

Ezra used to have everything. He was famous. He was good at tennis. He had a girlfriend. he was destined to be homecoming king. But when he crashed his car, everything fell apart. What I love about him is his typical nature yet he's different. Just like every teenager, he wanted to belong. He wanted things to be the same before he crashed his car. He wanted to play tennis again because he was good at it. He was just an honest to goodness character. He's quick witted and smart and funny. You cannot not fall in love with him. His voice in the novel is strong, the kind that will resonate through your soul.

Then there's Cassidy Thorpe. She was the very definition of an enigma at the start of the book. Out of nowhere, she just pops in. New girl and different, she came from a boarding school and was master debater. She's eloquent, fierce, sarcastic, and smart. She gave me a strong Margo Roth Spiegelman vibe minus the disappearing act. She was so fascinating. You can't really categorize her because she's so different. I am shaking my head at how she blew me away.

Robyn Schneider did a great job with Severed Heads and Broken Hearts, because really this is the legit title of this book. She created an honest to goodness storyline and real characters. This novel had everything in it yet I think readers can find something different in it. If I had more hands, I'd give this so many thumbs up and the stars that I can collect because it is that good.



Robyn Schneider is a writer, actor, and online personality who misspent her youth in a town coincidentally similar to Eastwood. Robyn is a graduate of Columbia University, where she studied creative writing, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where she studied medical ethics. She is also the author of the middle grade Knightley Academy books, written as Violet Haberdasher. She lives in Los Angeles, California, but also on the internet.





November 17, 2015

Wicked Review: November 9 by Colleen Hoover


Published: November 10, 2015
Publisher: Atria Books
Acquired: Digital Copy

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25111004-november-9?ac=1&from_search=1



Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.



Colleen Hoover never fails to give me a dose of much needed feels. She's good at making me miserably happy after finishing her books. She's a pro. Seriously.

I think I'll just spend my minutes writing what I loved about this book because I really loved the whole thing. I mean, Colleen Hoover writes book after book and they keep on getting better. I have no idea how she does it. She's a freaking machine, I tell you.

Fallon's life took a turn after that accident when she was sixteen. She had her life out in front of her. She was an actress and she was dang good at it. But a fire took it all away. She has a shitty father and a mother who loves her. She still wants to act and moving to New York to try out Broadway is the way she sees to keep herself sane, to pursue her goals.
Then there's Ben, the writer. He spends Fallon's last day with her as her "boyfriend" and their caught in this whirlwind of a romance. The whole thing gave me Before Sunrise feels. If you haven't watched that movie then you should watch it because it's amazing and it has Ethan Hawke in it and that's all you need in life. So, Fallon and Ben decide to meet each other again on the same day, November 9 for five years just to see if they really are meant for each other. Here's the catch, they have no means of communication. As in absolute zero.

For the duration that they are apart, Ben must write a novel about their relationship and Fallon must break out of her shell and her scars and that she must go out with five guys and be kissed by them. It's all pretty good. Five November 9s, they must meet and talk about what happened in that one whole year and then before the day ends, they fall back in the same routine and wait for November 9. Frankly, for me, I don't think I can ever do that. The writing the novel I can do, sort of. But dating guys and then have this one other guy for this one day for five years, maybe not.

Ben is high up in my book boyfriends list. He's a really good guy with a horrible past. He made Fallon happy. He made her beautiful. He was funny and quick-witted. His words about Fallon were so beautiful. I love him so much it kills me because he's fictional and I curse the world because there are no guys like Benton James Kessler.

Colleen Hoover is known for her plot twists and my God, I though the plot twist in Confess was the plot twist of the century, well, think again! I wish I could say what it was but for the sake of the readers who haven't started the book, well, I'll keep my mouth shut. The only thing I can say about it is that it will blow your mind and break your heart.

November 9 is painful and beautiful. All the Colleen Hoover books that I have read evokes all the right emotions. You will root for the characters in the end. It is that good.

Oh and, if you've read and love Ugly Love, then you will love this too because Miles and Tate cameo!




She loves music. LOVE music. Namely The Avett Brothers, Lumineers, Pink, Eminem. She is addicted to Diet Pepsi and could tell you in a taste-test which restaurant it came from. She gets stoked whenever she gets a message from Goodreads saying she has a new friend request. She wrote the Slammed Trilogy (Slammed, Point of Retreat and This Girl), Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cindrella and Ugly Love.

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