Wrapping the Month: October Edition

What's greater way to start new month than taking a look at previous one?

Blogging wise, October went so much better than September. I actually managed to do some reviews, participate few book blitz's and meme's. Still I wasn't as active as I wanted to be, but when you study approximately forty hours per week, start doing sports actively again, do all the housework and read a little, there's not much time left to do anything else. Also, my sister spend her autumn break here so I did some sightseeing. And met James Dashner at Edinburgh Waterstones Event. That was probably the best thing in my life this year (and I got into university and moved my dream country so that should say a lot!) I should get a detailed post about that event up soon, so look forward to it if you want to hear about the magical day I met James Dashner.

October was amazing month book wise. I won an ARC of Skyscraping, which was brilliant! Fox Tales I received for an exchange of a review and my sister got me the last book of Don't Wipe Tears With Bare Hands trilogy. Dashner's book I bought from the event, and from the same trip to Edinburgh I bought signed copies of Boy Meets Boy and Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between.

The Harry Potter boxset is my precious. I've always wanted to own HP books in English but I don't want any other editions but the original UK children paperbacks, and I found that beautiful boxset from a charity shop. It cost me £11 and the books are in really good conditions, never read actually. That's a bargain if something! Now I only need to get Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows with the matching covers.

And here's all the beautiful books I got signed at the James Dashner event.

I have to say, David Levithan has an awesome signature!

October's reviews:

Skyscraping (5 stars)

Better When He's Bad (2 stars)

Boys Don't Cry (4 stars)

I certainly started October with a bang - I read Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen and totally fell in love with it. I need to read more books in verse sometime in the future. I finally finished Better When He's Bad by Jay Crownover, and it was a big disappointment as there wasn't enough badness and I was just glad it was over. I also finished Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta, and I really loved how unique it was! I surprised even myself when I read A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness within two days - yes, it's a short read but it was so captivating, which is the actual reason why I read it so fast. During the last two days of October, I managed to read a little over half of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Obviously I'm not done with it yet, but I'm confident I'll finish it during the first days of November.

I was behind horrendous twelve books on my Goodreads Reading Challenge until I decided to lower it from 70 books to 60. There was no way I could have completed the challenge since three weeks of November I will spend writing essays and the end of November / the beginning of December will be exam weeks. I think I can read sixty books (I'm now four books behind) as the last part of December I have nothing but time to read.

I'm still getting used to living in Scotland - or rather how to have time to do everything I need to do. I'll try to be more active here and blog more but November is going to be busy with university so no promises. December and January will be different as I will have a break between semesters.

Hugs,

Henna

Book Blitz + Giveaway: Zola Flash by T. Marie Alexander

Book Blitz + Giveaway: Deranged by Niko McQueen

Deranged (Ivy Hollow Chronicles, #1)

by Niko McQueen
Publication date: February 11th 2014
Adult, LGBT, Romance

Adam Rossmore is a rich party boy who doesn’t answer to anyone. He’s played the orphan card for too long and it’s gotten him out of every DUI, arrest, and fine.

Until now.

When a judge slaps him with community service at the insane asylum, Ivy Hollow, Adam thinks it’s all a joke. Until the doors lock and he starts meeting the residents.

Christian Hale has lived at Ivy Hollow his entire life. He seeks solace in his music—and whatever orderly happens to be nearby.

When Adam hears Christian play the piano for the first time, the music draws him deep into Christian’s web and he must fight an arousal that is both confusing and exciting.

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Author bio

Niko currently lives in Charlotte NC with her four crazy roommates. She spends her days watching korean dramas and daydreaming of hunky guys falling in love with each other. She dreams of traveling the world gypsy style with her laptop and spinning awesome love stories.

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Excerpt
Zach chuckled like he’d just found a secret hallway that led to the Glee backlot. “Oh, you’d be surprised.” He wagged his eyebrows and bit his lower lip in an awkward impression of a seductive hooker.

“Dude. We have got to work on your moves. If not, you’re seriously going to die a virgin.”

Zachary’s face fell and Adam felt bad. “Sorry, but it’s true. Not even gay men are going to fall for that . . . Christ, they’re probably harder to please than women.”

He shuddered and slid his chair beneath the desk. “Not possible. Chicks are a no win.”

Adam laughed and they wandered down the hall toward the cafeteria. A sudden chill raced over his arms and yanked him to a stop. He grabbed Zach’s forearm and pulled him to a stop, then glanced over his shoulder.

Sure enough, Christian stood halfway down the darkened hall on the far side of the station. Adam forced his attention to stay on the upper half of Christian’s body. He’d pulled that dark sheet of hair back into a ponytail and wore a button-down white shirt, untucked, cuffs unbuttoned. He may or may not have

had the same dark jeans on, but Adam wasn’t about to look any closer. Even without dropping his gaze, he could tell that Christian was in his bare feet. The urge to look was nearly more than he could bear. A deep need to see if they were as slender and perfect as his fingers coiled tightly in Adam’s belly until it filled the space and extended lower. Adam felt like a sixth-grader peering into the girls’ locker room. He had to get out of here.

Zachary pulled out of his grip and marched down the hall toward Christian, shooing him away like a stray puppy. “You know you’re not supposed to be wandering around.”

Adam flinched. He didn’t feel good about Zachary’s unprovoked attack on Christian. Yelling at a psycho didn’t seem like the best policy. But he didn’t want to chase after Zach and get any closer to Christian, either. Christian’s gaze never left Adam’s, not even when Zach got within feet of him. He melted into the shadow and Zach stopped, hands on his hips.

“I’m serious, Christian. When we get back from dinner, you’d better be back in your room.”

Adam wasn’t about to fidget under the scrutiny, but he could feel the intense heat like Christian’s hands were doing the inventory instead of his eyes from fifty feet away. Tingles erupted across every inch of his skin and his balls tightened like he was about to come. Adam forced his arms not to move even though he wanted to cover himself. 

Two days ago, he’d have whipped around and marched into the cafeteria, but today he couldn’t seem to make his feet obey. And as bad as he wanted to believe it was because he didn’t want to leave Zach alone, an unsettling feeling told him there was another reason.

One he was going to have to explore in the darkness of his room later tonight.

Zach huffed and strolled back to Adam, a bizarre swing in his hips. Adam could have slapped him. No one walks like that. Not even hookers. Good shit he had his work cut out for him.

Zach brushed past Adam and through the double doors at the end of the hallway. Adam still stood in the echoing expanse of hallway. Somewhere in the darkness to his left, Christian watched.

He turned slowly and forced his hips not to swing even one inch. 

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Review: Boys Don't Cry by Malorie Blackman

Boys Don't Cry
by Malorie Blackman
Published by Corgi
Paperback (purchased)
YA, contemporary

You're about to receive your A-level results and then a future of university and journalism awaits. But the day they're due to arrive your old girlfriend Melanie turns up unexpectedly ...with a baby ...You assume Melanie's helping a friend, until she nips out to buy some essentials, leaving you literally holding the baby.

Unforgetable. Realistic. Said aloud lots of things other books are afraid to say. Shows that boys can take responsibility and sometimes, a mother isn't what a child needs - that sometimes it's the mother who runs away after almost harming a child. Amazing story, which commented a lot of different problems in our society: homophobia, judgement towards teenager parents and especially judgement towards teenager boys who gets a girl pregnant, even when they take more responsibility than the girl. Boys Don't Cry captivated me and didn't let me go until I finished it.

What angered me, during this great story, was how Dante got all the blame. Yes, he was part of making Emma and yes, he was stupid for not using a condom, but Melanie did same mistakes. Besides that Melanie hid her pregnancy, almost did abortion without telling Dante, almost gave the baby up for adoption without telling Dante (and yes, I feel strongly about this because no matter how much it's the girl's body and her life, it's as much the boy's life and decision and no one should take that choice away like Melanie did) and then she just dumped her baby to Dante and ran away. And no one made it a big deal? No one blamed her? Dante got most of lectures and most of blame even though in this given situation, Melanie should have gotten bigger blame than Dante. I mean, Dante was left there holding a baby that was presumably his in a situation where any young adult wouldn't want to have a baby (he was about to start university and get a career for himself). So, he wanted to do a DNA test which was a smart decision. Except everyone seemed to shame him for daring to even suspect that a girl who he dated shortly would lie about Dante being the father (even though she didn't tell him that she was pregnant, that she was thinking of abortion and lastly that she was thinking about adoption). Dante did what he could in a shitty situation: he grew as a character and he took responsibility of his actions, which can't be said about Melanie who left her baby behind and ran away. I admired Dante a lot and it just angered me so much how he got all the blame even though he was stripped from all the decision about the baby's life until Melanie decided that she couldn't do it anymore.

Nevertheless, I loved the story. Yes, I think it shouldn't have blamed Dante for everything when he was not the one to blame entirely. Still, Boys Don't Cry was a fast read, captivating story and so diverse in all the ways that I couldn't help but love it. My favourite character was without doubts Dante's brother, Adam, whom I loved so much. Dante got my love, also. Family is a big part of the story and there's some great supporting characters there, and all the layers which makes us humans. Also, what's really freshening about the story is the setting: it's set in England. We need more young adult books set elsewhere than USA.

I highly recommend this to everyone as it's a great story about a teenage fatherhood, family, diversity and society. It's a great story about growing up and taking responsibility. It's a quite sad story in many points but it's part of the charm: the issues are not being covered up by pretty words. Boys Don't Cry is a real story, and you need to read it.

4 of 5 stars.

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Stacking the Shelves (38)

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, and is all about sharing the book you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
Purchased

Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King & Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner The Game of Lives by James Dashner Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (signed) Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between by Jennifer E. Smith (signed)
Well, I sure had a busy week book-wise. Magnus Chase was something I had to have, which is why I ordered it. I don't know why I've missed The Song of Achilles all these years because the synopsis got me so hard. And I really want to read more classics, hence the Three Theban Plays. Boy Meets Boy and Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between I got from Edinburgh because they were signed and high on my TBR pile.
I had a chance to attend James Dashner event in Edinburgh and I had to buy The Rule of Thoughts and especially The Game of Lives, which comes out in November 2015 (but they had a copies of it at the event, I just couldn't resist!). I'll do more detailed post about the wonderful event with James Dashner in a few days :)

Review: Better When He's Bad by Jay Crownover

Better When He's Bad (Welcome to the Point, #1)

by Jay Crownover

Published by HarperCollins Publishers

Paperback (purchased)

NA, contemporary, romance

Welcome to the Point

There’s a difference between a bad boy and a boy who’s bad . . . meet Shane Baxter. 

Sexy, dark, and dangerous, Bax isn’t just from the wrong side of the tracks, he is the wrong side of the tracks. A criminal, a thug, and a brawler, he’s the master of bad choices, until one such choice landed him in prison for five years. Now Bax is out and looking for answers, and he doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get them. But there’s a new player in the game, and she’s much too innocent, much too soft…and standing directly in his way.

Dovie Pryce knows all about living a hard life and the tough choices that come with it. She’s always tried to be good, tried to help others, and tried not to let the darkness pull her down. But the streets are fighting back, things have gone from bad to worse, and the only person who can help her is the scariest, sexiest, most complicated ex-con The Point has ever produced. 

Bax terrifies her, but it doesn’t take Dovie long to realize that some boys are just better when they’re bad.

Better When He's Bad; the name, back cover and the authors introduction all promised me badness rivaled by nothing, it promised criminals, bad people and everything's that not good or light. I was more than ready for it, after disappointing rows of bad boys who weren't bad all I craved was a bad man, a criminal with no regrets and most of all, someone who was better when they were bad. However, the story did not deliver. There was a lot of talk about Bax being bad - him being the worst, always making the wrong decision, him being beyond redemption. There was a lot of talk about other bad guys, mostly infamous criminal Novak, who ran the city. It was all talk, as the story didn't show how bad Bax was. How he was the one who was ruthless and could take anyone down without caring the consequences. The bad things had happened in the past, before Bax went to prison for five years. Except it seemed the worst Bax did was steal cars. I mean, this is the bad guy who's the worst the city had offer? Don't get me wrong, I liked Bax. He had an attitude and I really liked him, but while he was shady and a little bit crooked, he wasn't bad in a sense the book tried to make him. Yes, he had made bad choices and yes he went to prison because he stole cars from rich people for a criminal boss. Yes, he liked to set up fights and beat others but seriously that happened once during the story. This is not a story about someone who's bad and does really bad things, it's mostly filled up with "dark" romance, sex and lots of talking about being bad. So yeah, I am disappointed and I feel a little bit cheated.

What I couldn't stand at all, was how the main female lead, Dovie, described how Bax was two different persons: Shane who was better and Bax who was all kinds of wrong. There wasn't two persons living inside one body, no matter how Dovie made it sound. There was just two sides in one person - or not even that because no one has a good side and a bad side, one that's lovable and one that's not. It irked me way too much when Dovie spoke how she likes Shane but tolerates Bax - girl, if you're going to have a relationship with someone, you have to love them the way they are, not the tiny parts you feel like loving.

The characters were okay overall. I liked Bax until he changed too much (it's more personal pet peeve of mine, I don't like characters totally changing for love), Titus was intriguing and I actually wanted to hear more about Novak (other than he was criminal and bad). Race was a mystery too, and I would have liked to see more scenes between him and Bax. Dovie, however, was kind of boring. She had her moments when it felt like she could become really interesting, but mostly she was a little bit boring as she was the usual good-girl-who-was-not-entirely-good-girl -type of character that New Adult romances use way too much.

For me, Better When He's Bad was a disappointment. It was a little bit boring as there wasn't enough action, just a talk about action. Mostly the book was about talking about something, not actually doing it. The beginning was good and it had action but about third way in, it became more of sex and boring talk than actual action. And I actually guessed the big reveal really early, so even the building up felt flat. If you like heterosexual contemporary romance stories with tattooed guys who are a bit bad and lot of shady, then Better When He's Bad might be just for you. For me, well, I was happy when it just ended.

2 of 5 stars.

Better When He's Bad on Goodreads.

Waiting on Wednesday #30

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's cannot-wait book is:

Half Truths by Sally Green!

Half Truths (The Half Bad trilogy)

by Sally Green

Published by Viking Books for Young Readers

Expected publication: November 3rd 2015

YA, fantasy, novella

Half Truths follows Gabriel’s story from the time he arrives Switzerland, seeking help in recovering his magical powers from the conniving Black Witch Mercury, and goes up until the moment when he first meets Nathan and their paths become forever intertwined. 

For the new reader, this is the perfect bite-sized introduction to the world of Half Bad, where witches and humans live alongside one another. And for the returning reader, this story sheds new light on one of the trilogy’s most beloved characters.

Really, it's no wonder why I'm waiting for this. First of all, it's about Gabriel who is my beloved. It's part of Half Bad world and while the wait for the final book is way too long, this is going to soothe me (a little bit, and then I'll need more). I just wish that November is here soon!

Half Truths on Goodreads.

Stacking the Shelves (37)

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, and is all about sharing the book you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
Purchased

Atonement by Ian McEwan
Harry Potter boxset 1-5 by J. K. Rowling For a long time I've wanted Atonement in English and I finally found one that's in good condition at the charity shop. From another charity shop I found the Harry Potter beauty - they're are unread, there's no broken spines or anything else from with them - and the boxset was eleven pounds. It's taken years to find those exact editions (the original Bloomsbury children in English). Now it's time to reread the first five (I still need to find books six and seven to match these beauties).

Won

Skyscraping ARC by Cordelia Jensen I already read this, and you should too because I fell in love with it. (My review)

For review

The Devil and the Deep by Megan Tayte
Fox Tales Anthology Volume 1 by Dee Carey Like my review pile isn't long enough but how could I resist? I mean, foxes! And I liked the first book of Cerulean series (review coming soon!) so I feel blessed to continue reading and reviewing the series.

Free on Amazon

Omega In The Light by Zoe Perdita
I liked the first one and I was pleasantly surprised when this one was free on Amazon for a short while (I'm not sure if it's anymore).
What did you get this week?

ARC Review: Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen

Skycraping
by Cordelia Jensen
Published by Philomel Books
Paperback (won in a giveaway)
YA, LGBT, contemporary

A heartrending, bold novel in verse about family, identity, and forgiveness

Mira is just beginning her senior year of high school when she discovers her father with his male lover. Her world–and everything she thought she knew about her family–is shattered instantly. Unable to comprehend the lies, betrayal, and secrets that–unbeknownst to Mira–have come to define and keep intact her family’s existence, Mira distances herself from her sister and closest friends as a means of coping. But her father’s sexual orientation isn’t all he's kept hidden. A shocking health scare brings to light his battle with HIV. As Mira struggles to make sense of the many fractures in her family's fabric and redefine her wavering sense of self, she must find a way to reconnect with her dad–while there is still time. 

Told in raw, exposed free verse, Skyscraping reminds us that there is no one way to be a family.

Honestly, I was taken a back when I got Skyscraping in my hands and found it it's written in verse. I don't read poems or anything written in verse, it's just not my cup of tea. But I had been waiting for Skyscraping ever since I heard about it, the author was so nice and friendly, and I really yearned to read it. So I thought: I'll give it a try, it can't be bad even if it's different than prose. I'm so glad I decided that, because I fell in love with Skyscraping - every aspect of it. Truthfully, it's best as it is right now; written in verse, somehow it makes it more emotionally, more beautiful, more everything. Skyscraping became one of my favourite books, one to be treasured - and because of it, I might read more book written in verse in the future.

After reading the blurb I was sure Skyscraping is going to be bold and it's going to hurt - it's about a girl who finds out her parents have an open marriage, her father have a male lover and finally, her father have HIV. All of this shatters Mira's identity and makes her question everything. Maybe especially so since the book takes place in 1993 and 1994, when the world was less accepting than it's nowadays. It's bold, in every sense of the word, and I loved every heart-wrenching moment. I fell in love with the characters, how every one of them had their own voice, how their lives fit together and how they defined a family: it's more than just parents and their children. Mira's struggle with her identity and her journey towards forgiveness is wonderful journey to follow and I feel blessed to get to read it. Mira goes through such character development, and reader can see it and feel it: how her identity shatters, how she's lost and doesn't know what to do and what not, and how she finally finds herself and her family again. It's beautiful, it's full of emotions and it's brilliant.

I just have to praise the characters a little bit more. April was my favourite, hands down, because I could identify with her the most. However, I did end up liking Mira a lot even though there was a moment when I almost lost my faith in her. Mira's mother and father, James, and Dylan were all characters I liked really much, and besides them there was some truly brilliant characters like Gloria, and some I didn't really like but they were well crafted nonetheless. They all felt real, and that's the most important thing in characters. They were so real it hurt.

Skyscraping is a powerful story, as well as an important one: it should be read by many people from all ages. It teaches truly important lesson: there's more than one type of family. Jensen's novel is sharp, powerful and brilliant, and for a debut, it's an amazing accomplishment. 

If it's not clear yet, I highly recommend Skyscraping to everyone. It's a novel you just need to read and live through.

5 of 5 stars.

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Wrapping the Month: September Edition

What's greater way to start new month than taking a look at previous one?

This month I failed as a blogger and as a reader. Then again, I managed to successfully move to another country, get my new flat together, get used to live with two flatmates from different countries than I am from, and I have been able to keep up with the university work (I knew it was going to take a lot of my time, but this is even more intense than I ever imagined). That's why I'm going to forgive myself even though all I managed to do was read two books and write four posts during the month of September. I think during October I can get the hang of blogging again, because by now I've gotten used to the uni work schedule and living in Scotland. And let me say - I love this country. I've loved UK for as long as I can remember and moving to Scotland was a dream come true. So beautiful, so friendly and it already feels more home than Finland ever did. If you ever have a chance, visit Scotland. It's breathtaking and the people here are so nice and friendly!

Of course I purchased tons of books - I mean, I'm in UK now. There's books everywhere. And the charity shops are killing me, all the beautiful books I've always wanted for one or two pounds. I'm not going to be able to resists (especially since all those shops are near my flat).

(And yes, The Scorch Trials is the limited signed/numbered edition - it matches my The Maze Runner edition, too! Also, The Dryad of Callaire is personalized.)

(photo by me)

September's reviews:

Shadow of the Wolf (2 stars)

Well, I did say I only read two books. I re-read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton right after the move while there was no internet in the flat. Oh boy did I fall in love with that book more than the first time! After that I decided to go for Teleny by Oscar Wilde - I wanted to read something from Wilde and I happened to have Teleny as I got it from a friend some time ago. It sure was different; bold, brave and yeah, quite erotic. After that I did start Better When He's Bad by Jay Crownover and Against Reason by Scarlet Blackwell but I haven't had time to finish those because of the university reading - but I hope to finish them during October and read some more.

I'm ten books behind my reading goal at Goodreads. Anyone, want to do a short (or long!) read-a-long with me? I really want to read more books that aren't required history books for university, but I feel like I need some motivation and someone to read alongside with me.

I really hope that I'll have more time to read during October. I do have three essays due November so I'll need to start those, but I'd like to read more. I think I at least try to work out some good schedule for university reading, classes, sports, reading and blogging. We'll see how I manage to do that :)

Hugs,

Henna