Tuesday Talks - What movie adaptions have you enjoyed more than the book?

Hey everyone! Welcome to another segment of Tuesday Talks. Again, for those of you who are curious about what exactly Tuesday Talks is or if you want to start joining in on the discussions, be sure to check out the group Tuesday Talks on GoodReads. If you want, you can even backtrack and do the other topics from the beginning of the year and catch up! It's only been two months so that's not too many posts. Good luck!

What movie adaptions have you enjoyed more than the book?

More than the book... I think one of the movies that I loved so much better than the book was The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I did like the book the second time I read it, but looking back on the first time I tried to read it, I remembered that I couldn't get through it. I don't know why. Maybe because it didn't hit me as much as when I watched it, but I would say that the movie stayed in my heart much more than the book did. Also, when I was watching the movie, I could relate to Carmen way more than her character in the book, even though they were essentially the same person. Also, the movie just made me see things in a different light than when I was reading it.

There aren't a lot of movie adaptions that I like more than their book counterparts. If anything, I like them just as much as I do the book or less, as with The 5th Wave, and Vampire Academy. There are also some movies that I've watched without actually reading the books, like Divergent. Maybe one day I will have another book to add to this list, but for now, the only movie adaption that I like better than the book would the The Sisterhood.

Are there any other movies that you like better than their books? Let me know in the comments below!

The Siren - Book Review

"There's always room for love, even if it's as small as a crack in a door."

Mermaids are the creatures of the deep, the ones that every little girl has always wanted to be. Even now, as those girls grow up, there's still some part of them that yearns for their own tail and clam shell top, exploring the depths of the ocean to parts unknown. It's a fantasy that we can only wish was real life. But, while many little girls think about being mermaids, there's another mythical creature that lives in the sea, one that is similar to the beautiful mermaids but so much deadlier to those around them. For this creature is said to lure the lives of sailors to their death by calling them to the Ocean with their beautiful voices, singing a song that has no choice but to kill those who hear it.

These creatures are Sirens, and they are so different from their mermaid counterparts.

As we have learned in this book, there are never too many sirens in the world at one time. In fact, the most number of sirens at one time is 5, for any more than that could risk exposure of their kind. In order for sirens to become what they are, the Ocean has to save them from drowning, and when that happens, they are to serve Her for 100 years. No more, no less. It is with this information that this story begins, with Kahlen making the difficult choice of becoming a siren.

Fast forward 80 years, and the story really begins.

Sirens have come and gone, with new ones coming to take the place of those whose times have already passed. Two of the three Sirens that were there when Kahlen's new life began have already left her, and her oldest friend is Aisling. Her time is almost up, it's just a matter of months now. Kahlen lives with her two other siren sisters, Elizabeth and Miaka, two party girls that live a completely different life from Kahlen, who is content with people watching around the university that they live near. It's on one of those excursions, in the library where her silence will not go noticed, that her life changes. She meets a boy, Akinli, who comes to terms with the fact that she can't talk and still manages to have a full and wonderful conversation with her anyway. Their interactions are short for the most part, especially considering that Kahlen is already 80 years into her sentence, but for some reason, she is so infatuated by him, to the point of falling in love with him. But with her being a siren, she can't afford to fall in love with a human. The Ocean wouldn't let her, or any of her daughters of the sea.

But Aisling, right before her time is up and she turns back into a human, confides a great secret in Kahlen, making everything that seemed impossible. Aisling was able to hide her love for her family, from the daughter that she left behind to her great-granddaughter who is already grown up. She was able to hide the fact that she was keeping tabs on her family the whole time she was a Siren, and one of the main rules that the Ocean said was that mothers can never be sirens because they wouldn't be able to take the lives of children away. Yet, Aisling was able to do her job with no hesitation, and it changes everything that Kahlen was brought to believe. She could love, and still do what she needed to do to serve her time. But when she accidentally speaks in front of Akinli, and he finds himself succumbing to the Ocean's power, Kahlen begs for Her to spare his life, and leaving him in the process.

This was a wonderful love story, one where it shows that even the act of kindness and friendship without expecting anything from it can lead to the most beautiful kind of love. Kahlen and Akinli couldn't communicate normally, and yet that didn't deter them from having a wonderful friendship. Akinli was the boy that Kahlen needed in her life, to show her that love does exist, even from the most unexpected source. Their love was so pure, so strong, that with them far apart from one another, they would have died together. Sirens aren't supposed to be able to die, but Kahlen almost did, and so did Akinli. With the help of the Ocean, even though She didn't want to let go of the one Siren that loved her unconditionally, helped Kahlen to get back to the life that she needed to lead, and heal her heart in a way that the Ocean could never do on Her own.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Red Rising - Pierce Brown

"I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."

"I live for you," I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

The Siren - Kiera Cass

From Kiera Cass, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series, comes a sweeping stand-alone fantasy romance.

A girl with a secret.
The boy of her dreams.
An Ocean between them.

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again. 

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude...until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of.

Falling in love with a human breaks the Ocean’s rules. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

Tall Cool One - Book Review

The more I go through these books, the more I feel like Anna should just give up on boys completely and focus on her relationships with her girl friends. I mean, when her and Sam are actually on the same side, the two can take on anything, that's so much fun to see. When she's constantly having to fight with Cammie and Dee, then it gets hard to deal with. Why can't they all just be friends and say "screw you" to Ben and the rest of the boys that cause them nothing but heartache and headaches? I say, girls rule and boys drool.

I'm probably not going to go too deep into this review since the book is really short and sweet. Honestly if I really wanted to, I could read it in a day while I'm waiting to fall asleep or while I'm enjoying dinner by myself. It's that quick, and I'm glad these books are. Honestly we don't need these books to be over 300 pages in order to be interesting. Zoey Dean keeps it straight and to the point, making sure that the drama contained in each segment of the series is enough to make us wanting more. That's how I like my teenage drama books, and this is no different.

I still need to finish the rest of the series eventually, and hopefully I will soon. I just say that I need Anna to actually be friends with these girls and I need Cammie to stop being such a biyotch to Anna so much. Ben doesn't like you anymore, so get over it. Besides, Adam is a much better option anyway. He actually treats you like the princess you think you are.

Rated: 4/5 Stars

Fallen - Book Review

Where all the popular books involve vampires and werewolves, it's so refreshing to find a decent book that's not about either one of these supernatural creatures. With books about angels, or fallen angels depending on how you look at it, they can either be really amazing or not so much. In this case, I found it to be quite enjoyable for the most part, and that's always a good thing for me.

We meet the main character Luce when she is being dropped off to what would basically be a boarding school for juvenile delinquents. It's so strange to me that she would be sent here because a boy she happened to be with ends up dying without anyone knowing what happened. Is this society's way of punishing her for being there, especially since they can't tie her to this boy's death in such a clear cut way? Even Luce herself doesn't know how he died, only that he died in a fire that she somehow was able to escape. That is weird enough, and it just doesn't seem like Luce even belongs in Sword & Cross. But then again, there are a lot of things that we don't know about this so-called school, so we are along for the ride just as much as Luce is.

At this strange school with a very colorful group of teenagers, we meet two boys that have already caught Luce's eye. We have Cam, the nice boy that looks like he can be a total ladies man, with his beautiful eyes and warm personality. Then we have Daniel, who upon seeing Luce for the first time decides to give her a warm welcome to Sword and Cross by giving her the middle finger. Charming, right? This kind of greeting would normally turn girls off by now, but not Luce. See, for some reason, she keeps having this strange feeling like she's seen him before, and yet she can't place it. Was it at a party or something that she went to back when she was a normal kid? Or was it something else, something that happened way further in the past that wouldn't make sense otherwise.

Looks like it's the latter.

The book goes slow for a few hundred pages, where we don't know which boy Luce is going to choose, even though it seems like the most likely option would be Cam. So far he hasn't done anything to make her feel like she's unwanted, and he's been nothing but a gentleman so far. Daniel, on the other hand, has been avoiding her at the least, rude at the most. So why is she so obsessed with him? What is it about him that makes her want to basically find out about his past and have her new friend Penn do some research on him? When a girl's crazy over a guy, she'll do better research than the FBI, right? I doubt she thought she would find out what she does end up finding out about him, not to mention the rest of the kids at this school.

This book has been known to be similar to Twilight but honestly I didn't see it. I thought it was better than it in many ways, although I will say that Luce was a little unbearable at some moments. The story behind this school is crazy to me, and how was it that so many angels could be in one location without anyone else realizing it? What are they doing there and is it really just because of Luce? And if she was always stuck in the same cycle of living for seventeen years and dying every single time she would be close to learning the truth, does the fact that she was never baptized in this life really change everything? Is the idea that she wasn't raised in a religious household end up saving her from having to die again and again, or was it better to continue to live forever without knowing any better? A part of me wants to read the rest of the books and know more, and another part just wants the answers given to me. Either way, it was a pretty good book and it was nice to read about angels for once.

Rated: 4/5 Stars 

Tall Cool One - Zoey Dean

Tall Cool One is the fourth novel in this witty and risqu series that takes readers behind the scenes of the intoxicating world of Hollywood glitterati. New York blueblood Anna Percy came to L.A. to learn how to have a good time. Now she's surfing Zuma Beach with the industry's hottest young television producer. But duty calls and Anna must jet down to Las Casitas, Mexico, on a secret mission for her uber-powerful businessman father. But it turns out Anna isn't the only one staying at the super-luxury resort with a secret. Soon to be a major motion picture from Universal Pictures, The A-List and its bestselling sequels, Girls on Film, Blonde Ambition, and Tall Cool One, are full of page-turning action about the fast times of Beverly Hills' most beautiful and glamorous people.

Fallen - Lauren Kate

What if the person you were meant to be with could never be yours?

17-year-old Lucinda falls in love with a gorgeous, intelligent boy, Daniel, at her new school, the grim, foreboding Sword & Cross . . . only to find out that Daniel is a fallen angel, and that they have spent lifetimes finding and losing one another as good & evil forces plot to keep them apart.

Get ready to fall . . . 

The Exiled Queen - Book Review

It is the second book in this series and Raisa is forced to be alone on her journey of trying to save her queendom. Rather than being forced to marry the High Wizard's son, who is being sorely manipulated by his own father, she runs away to live with her father's clan. But before she could get to her clan, her family, she and her best friend (possible lover) and his guard go to Oden's Ford. Not only do Raisa and her new companions go to Oden's Ford in order to train to be the new royal guard, but she ends up running into Han Alister, where he and other wizards in training are learning how to hone their skills. It is from there that the real journey will take place, and while this book only touched upon their meeting towards the end of the book, the rest of their time at Oden's Ford is not completely void of mystery.

Han may still not be completely accepting of his heritage, the one that we learned from the previous book, but he has no choice in the matter. Being the direct descendant of the Demon King means that he has a responsibility of either saving the world, or destroying it. He can learn how to hone his magic all he wants, but whether he uses it for good or evil will depend on him, and the direction that he takes. It doesn't help that he isn't sure of the type of man who is mentoring him during this journey, or if the man who is helping him get better at his magic has any ulterior motives. Will he be able to see the truth before it's too late?

And what about Raisa? She's undercover in this school, where she goes through such a physical and mental transformation that makes her so much stronger than when she started. It might have been better for her that she didn't end up staying with her father's clan, because now she can fend for herself if the occasion ever arose. She is growing into herself, becoming the kind of woman that she needs to be by the time she becomes Queen. With the help of Han, by the time they have to leave Oden's Ford, they will have the opportunity to set things right in their world, and hopefully work together in order to restore balance.

This book I felt was so much better than the first one, which is always great to hear. I love it when the series just get better and better, rather than stay the same or get worse in quality. Sometimes it's hard for sequels to keep up the momentum of the first book and so on, but this one just gets better as it goes on. I took a break from this series to read other books but I can't wait to get back in to this one and finish the last two books.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Deep Blue - Book Review

"For the first time in her life, she didn't look like royalty. She looked fierce, edgy, and troublesome. A merl not to be messed with. And she liked it."

The ocean has always been one of Earth's greatest mysteries. After all these years, not even half of the oceans have been discovered, the dark depths teaming with creatures that remain nameless. Who's to say that there aren't kingdoms under the sea, filled with mermaids and mermen? In this case, there are, and Serafina is the future Queen of her very own Queendom named Miromara. We first meet her getting ready for her coronation where she has to pass three specific tests before she can be crowned the next Queen of Miromara. Everything seems to be mostly going well until Serafina's life turns upside down, and her queendom was attacked. In one fell swoop, Sera lost everything, and to this point the fate of her mother is still unknown, making Sera want to give up hope completely.

The attack on Miromara wasn't what it seemed, and while Sera and her best friend Neela was able to escape capture from their attackers, they find out that the humans are behind it all, and that their main goal is to release an ancient evil in order to destroy the world. Not only is this evil going to destroy their homes, but Sera, Neela, and four other girls are part of an ancient prophecy that has foretold that they are the only ones that can stop it from happening, as each of the six girls are direct descendants of the founding members of Atlantis. Yes, that's right. This goes all the way back to Atlantis, and what really made the treasured city sink to the depths of the ocean. These six are the most powerful mermaids in the world thanks to their ancestors, and somehow they are going to have to come together in order to save everyone, even if it means putting aside their differences.

This book was honestly one of the best books I have read this year so far. I've said it before and I will say it again. I have not come across many mermaid books that have caught my attention, and I'm so glad that I found this one. It may have been the cover that made me pick it up initially, but after reading the synopsis, I had to buy it. I love mermaids, and I've always wanted to be one, so this one was such a wonderful addition to the mythology. Each of the six girls has their own personalities that make them one to root for, and while we still have a lot to learn about the rest of them, it's a journey that I look forward to hearing about. Each of the girls come from a different realm within the world, and the diversity in and of itself is very interesting to me. One of the girls is even blind, and yet she is able to function as well as any of the others, something that is so important for me. They don't show her disability as a weakness, or something that needs special attention in order for her to do her daily tasks. In fact, her blindness is an important part of the prophecy.

I can't wait to finish the rest of the series, and I really hope that the rest of the books delve deeper into the rest of the girls.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Tuesday Talks - New Plot Lines in my Genre of Choice

Hey everyone!

Welcome to this week's addition of Tuesday Talks. Man I'm actually really proud of myself for keeping up for the most part this year. Sure, it's only February but that's already two months of the year down and that's a feat in and of itself. Don't forget, if you are interested in joining the GoodReads group and weighing in on our weekly discussions, please check out the group and tell us what you think.

What new plot lines would you like to see in your genre of choice?

First, I think it's important to actually tell you my genre of choice. That would definitely be YA all around. I do tend to lean towards Paranormal YA books, dealing with vampires, werewolves, witches, anything supernatural. YA books have always been my favorite and I don't think that will ever change. It's not really a plot line that I'm interested in but I would really love to read more mermaid books, like Deep Blue, one of the books that I've read recently and still need to write up my review. Mermaids are so underrated and there is so much potential in writing a really good mermaid book. Deep Blue was definitely one of them.

Another thing I want to see when it comes to YA books is more books dealing with female leads working together rather than the whole mean girl thing. It's not very prevalent in so much of the books that I've read so far, but it was really prominent in Deep Blue and it actually becomes very important in the rest of the saga. I don't like always reading about girls fighting with one another, whether it's for the affections of the same boy or some other trivial thing. When girls take their differences and actually work together to fight the bigger picture, that's something worth reading, and that's something worth supporting.

I think I can list another thing that I would love to see. It's probably because I haven't really read as much books throughout my life that I would like, but I would love to read more books about dragon mythology. I've only read Eragon so far, and while I still need to reread it and finish the rest of the series, I think there need to be more dragon books. Dragons are some of the coolest creatures ever, and they need a lot more attention.

As you can see, I live for the supernatural world. I would rather read those than YA contemporary books. It's a nice break from the real world where I still haven't found proof that mermaids and dragons exist. Maybe if that proof comes to light, then I'll be fine living in this reality, but for now, I need more of these books.

I feel like this post was all over the place, and I deeply apologize for this. Are there any specific plot lines or general topics in your personal genre of choice that you would like to see? Let me know in the comments below.

The Exiled Queen - Cinda Williams Chima

Haunted by the loss of his mother and sister, Han Alister journeys south to begin his schooling at Mystwerk House in Oden’s Ford. But leaving the Fells doesn’t mean that danger isn't far behind. Han is hunted every step of the way by the Bayars, a powerful wizarding family set on reclaiming the amulet Han stole from them. And Mystwerk House has dangers of its own. There, Han meets Crow, a mysterious wizard who agrees to tutor Han in the darker parts of sorcery—but the bargain they make is one Han may regret. 

Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna runs from a forced marriage in the Fells, accompanied by her friend Amon and his triple of cadets. Now, the safest place for Raisa is Wein House, the military academy at Oden's Ford. If Raisa can pass as a regular student, Wein House will offer both sanctuary and the education Raisa needs to succeed as the next Gray Wolf queen. 

Everything changes when Han and Raisa’s paths cross, in this epic tale of uncertain friendships, cut-throat politics, and the irresistible power of attraction.

Deep Blue - Jennifer Donnelly

Serefina, daughter of Isabella, Queen of Miromara, has been raised with the expectation - and burden - that she will someday become ruler of the oldest civilization of the merfolk. On the eve of the Dokimí ceremony, which will determine if she is worthy of the crown, Sera is haunted by a strange dream that foretells the return of an ancient evil. But her nightmare is forgotten the next day as she diligently practices her songspell; eagerly anticipates a reunion with her best friend, Neela; and anxiously worries about Mahdi, the crown prince of Matali, and whether his feelings toward her and their future betrothal have changed. Most of all, she worries about not living up to her mother's hopes.

The Dokimí proceeds, a dazzling display of majesty and might, until a shocking turn of events interrupts it: an assassin's arrow wounds Isabella. The realm falls into chaos, and Serafina's darkest premonitions are confirmed. Now she and Neela must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the mer nations. Their search will lead them to other mermaid heriones scattered across the six seas. Together they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence.

Becoming Alpha - Book Review

It's one thing to be considered a bruja, a powerful witch that can feel the memories of people based on items that were touched by them. It makes it so difficult to be around anybody, or any public place for that matter. One of the very few perks of being a bruja would be getting brand new items just for yourself, whether it's clothes or books or furniture. It's almost too much for Tessa to handle. So when her family gets relocated from busy California to rural Texas, she takes it a chance to start over, a chance to not be "Freaky Tessa".

It seems to be going well for her, with her getting invited to a party early on in her arrival, but something happened. Something that should have been a good thing for her, but ended up being so very wrong. See, Tessa ends up getting kissed by a boy that she met when first arrived, but that's not all she got. And when her so-called friends find out what happened, they basically abandon her and want nothing to do with her. How bad could that kiss be that this group of Tessa's friends would completely leave her? It all makes sense when Tessa has to attend the boarding school that her father recently got a job at the whole reason why Tessa and her family relocated in the first place.

It's one thing to be a bruja, but now Tessa has to deal with being a werewolf too. And if that's something surprising, it's also worth noting that this boarding school, St. Alibe's, is a boarding school completely made up of werewolves. Not only are there werewolves involved, even the mean girl werewolves that make high school such a wonderful place, but they have to go up against their mortal enemies - the vampires, and they are anything but nice.

This book honestly had such a fresh feel on the werewolf mythology. There are so many books about vampires and while this book still does pit them against werewolves, it's nice to read about the werewolves as the main species to root for rather than the vampires. This was the first book specifically about werewolves that I've read and I honestly really loved it. It also had witch mythology involved and having Tessa become an enigma to her kind, both a witch and a werewolf, making her one of the most powerful supernatural creatures in this world was a stroke of genius. I also really appreciated Tessa's attitude, and how no-nonsense she was. There were times when she would feel like all was lost, or at least felt like giving up, but she would always get back on the horse and figure it out. I honestly love when the main character is one with attitude, one that doesn't have everyone in the world loving her and her behaving like a dainty princess. I love the girls that can fight and hold their own, and Tessa is exactly that.

This is the first book in the Alpha Girls series, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Tessa is honestly one of the main characters that I can actually get behind without completely losing all faith in her. I highly recommend this one for anyone who is into supernatural books, or wants to try out a new werewolf series.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Tuesday Talks - Comparative Blurbs

Hey everyone!

Welcome back to Tuesday Talks, a weekly discussion based on the GoodReads group of the same name, where each week we talk about a different book-ish topic and share our thoughts. Please, feel free to check out the group on GoodReads and maybe even join in on the current and future discussions.

How do you feel about comparative blurbs on book covers?

A lot of books have these things called "comparative blurbs" on book covers. You know, where there are the little snippets about how good the book is, and how it compares to other bestsellers that are similar in nature. Or, it could be a positive comment from the author of another bestseller. Take a look at the books around your house, the books on your bookshelf, almost any book. Is there something there that makes you want to immediately pick it up and dive into its story? That's the point of these comparative blurbs.

Sometimes I feel like they do help the book sell, especially for those who buy and read books based on the positive reviews. When you don't have time to read full-fledged, in-depth reviews about books that you are serious about buying, it helps to have a little taste of what other people think about the book. But I do also think that sometimes it isn't really unbiased, especially since these blurbs come from other authors or compare the book to other popular works. Of course the blurbs on the covers are going to be positive in order to get people to read and buy the books. In order to really get an idea of how the book really is, it's important to read both types of reviews.

But then again, that can also have a negative effect on your thoughts because then you have preconceived notions on how the book will be based on the reviews you have read. Unless you read the book without paying attention to any reviews before hand, then you will be swayed to either like or dislike the book without even having to open to the first page.

So what do I think about comparative blurbs on the covers? I guess I would say that they have their pros and cons, and they really are interesting for me to read before hand. It's also nice to have an idea of what the book is about without reading the synopsis in the back of the book, although I would rather read the synopsis than blurbs. I think that if books didn't have blurbs, I would wonder what people would think about it, which would make me want to look up reviews on GoodReads (it's a wonderful place to read reviews), which will determine whether or not I do end up reading a book or not.

So... I guess yes on blurbs. But not always. Sorry my answer was so long winded.

Sleeping Tom - Book Review

I received this book in exchange for an honest review, through the GoodReads group "YA Buddy Readers' Corner".

"The last week had made her realize something more important than her feelings for him: her true self.  She wouldn't die without him; she would miss him, sure, but it wouldn't change who she had become."

In an attempt to change her life, Rebecca transforms herself into a new girl, an alter ego named Caden, in order to escape the abuse that she suffered from her ex boyfriend Sean. In the aftermath of yet another altercation with Sean, Caden finds herself stranded in the middle of a bridge, contemplating on whether she should jump or not. Yes, it reached an all-time low for her at that moment, and if she had ended up jumping, everything that happened in this book would have never taken place. Is that a good or a bad thing, it's yet to be said, but the main thing for sure is that Caden's life will never be the same.

When Caden decides that ending her life is not worth it, no matter what Sean did to her, she ends up getting a ride from the mysterious Gabriel, a sarcastic, ill-tempered teenager who decides to end up helping her out with a place to stay for the night. It feels like she may have overstayed her welcome, and even though she has nowhere else to go, she tries to figure out a way to convince Gabriel to take her in. All of a sudden, she wakes up to the strangest noise in the night, and finds someone completely different in the house. He claims that his name is Tom, and his personality is almost one of a child. The longer she stays in that house, the more she comes to realize that not is all as it seems, and that maybe Gabriel and Tom are actually the same person. But which one does she love more? And if they are the same person, will she do whatever it takes to make sure she gets only one of them in her life, even if it means getting rid of the other one?

This book was an interesting one for me, and while I believed that it had a supernatural element prior to reading it, going through it made me realize that not everything has an unnatural explanation. Gabriel and Tom are a prime example of Dissociative Personality Disorder, and it was interesting to see how the author would explain it in the book. Rather than making it seem like it was a disease that made people crazy, Fairfall has Caden do her research in order to understand what's happening with Gabriel. What I didn't like about the book was what Caden did to Tom, showing how selfish she is when it comes to what she wants. She may have been abused by Sean and almost killed by him, but what she did to Tom was completely out of line. She made promises to both Gabriel and Tom and yet she couldn't follow through. The ending of the book really does set up the next book, and I'm really hoping that the second book comes out soon, even if it's just to see what ends up happening once and for all.

Rated: 4/5 Stars

Tuesday Talks - Favorite Love Stories / Book Couples

Hey Everyone!

I'm so sorry that this week's Tuesday Talks is really late. It's almost like I'm going to have two Tuesday Talks right next to each other, but it's okay. In honor of Valentine's Day, this week's Tuesday Talks will have a romantic catch to this, and I'm actually really excited to write about it. Please be sure to check out the GoodReads group "Tuesday Talks", and don't forget to check out the other members' blogs and videos. It's always fun to see other responses. You know how much I love having discussions.

What are your favorite love stories and/or who are your favorite couples?

I've read quite a few books and I will say that there are only a few love stories that have stuck in my mind. One of the ones that I think about that I really liked was the one between Anna and Etienne from Anna and the French Kiss. It didn't start off as a love story especially since Etienne had a girlfriend in the beginning and Anna respected that fact. I love that they started off as friends, with Etienne really helped her get used to the fact that she was alone in the City of Love. They are also one of my favorite couples because, let's face it, Etienne was such a romantic character that I couldn't help falling in love with him.

Another favorite couple that I absolutely love is Rose and Dimitri from the Vampire Academy series. Rose is such a badass who is never the one to fall in love. She is a true heartbreaker, and the only one who is able to actually keep up with the storm that is her personality is Dimitri. Yeah, he's old enough to be an uncle of hers, or at least too old to be her boyfriend while she's in high school, but I love how devoted they are to one another, and how they would practically save each other from certain danger, even though they realize that it gets away in their job as Guardians. I still have to read the rest of the series, but I will always find Rose and Dimitri as one of my all time favorite couples, and another favorite love story.

There are probably many more that I'm forgetting, but I'm glad I mentioned two of them. I hope to remember more of them and maybe discuss it in a future post. Hope to hear from you guys!

Becoming Alpha - Aileen Erin

Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind. 
But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy, a secret boarding school for werewolves. 
Even if the wrong guy did accidentally turn her into one of “them” and doom her to attending the weirdest high school ever, Tessa can’t help her growing attraction to the mysterious Dastien Laurent.
When vampires attack St. Alibe’s and her visions pinpoint an enemy in their midst, Tessa realizes that boy drama and her newfound canine tendencies might just be the least of her problems. 

Sleeping Tom - E. V. Fairfall

Hitchhiking is a bad idea but Caden is desperate. When she accepts a ride from the first car to come by she meets Gabriel. He's her age, hot, and the closest thing she has to a savior. Problem is, he is a total jerk. With nowhere to go, Caden convinces Gabriel to let her stay with him for one night. He reluctantly lends a couch.
That night Caden wakes up to strange noises. Concerned, she rushes into Gabriel’s room, already anticipating his bad temper. Instead, he’s kind, sweet, and suspiciously harmless—nothing like the man who gave her a ride. He seems like a different person altogether, and claims he is. By night he is Tom, and by day he is Gabriel. Caden finds herself drawn to the mysteries hidden in his eyes.

For Gabriel, Caden is an annoying mistake. One night turns into many, and despite all his anger towards her, she stays. She even seems to accept him and his flaws, but he still doesn’t trust her—is she staying for him, or has she already discovered more than he's willing to share?

Blonde Ambition - Book Review

I don't think there will ever be An A-List book that I don't like. It's hard to find any book in this series that I have read that I have an actual problem with. I'm so glad that Anna broke up with Ben, especially since it seemed like she was head over heels with him. There's a difference between loving him and lusting over him, and she finally realized that before it was completely too late. Anna is so far my favorite character throughout the series, but Sam is a pretty close second. It's a tie between those two right now, and when Sam and Anna work together, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Cammie is still the girl we love to hate, even if we can't help but envy her body and hair. At least, I probably would if I had seen her in person. Just the way she has been described throughout the books screams sex icon, and I'm pretty sure she has been called that by quite a few characters in the book as well. We know that Cammie is hurting over the death of her mother, even if it happened when she was a little girl. She's also hurting because it seems like her dad doesn't take the time to actually get to know her, and would rather immerse himself in work and his other family members than her. Is that necessarily her fault? Or is it her father's fault? I feel like it could be a little bit of both.

Dee is still a mystery to me. She can seem like a complete airhead, and then in another breath it seems like she has all this hidden wisdom inside her. It's like she pretends to be stupid so that nobody will realize just how smart she really is. But sometimes her pretending to be dumb gets in the way of her friendships, and I think that Dee just needs to be herself with her friends if she wants these relationships to last. Sam and Cammie always look down on Dee because they think she's a few tools short of a full set, so of course they take her for granted. It's not right to Dee, and hopefully things will start to change.

This was mostly a brief overview of my thoughts so far of the series, but it stands to say that I thoroughly enjoy this series and I'm so glad that there are more books for me to read. I haven't had enough of Anna and the Unholy Trinity, so bring it on!

Rated: 4/5 Stars

The Sea Witch - Book Review

I received this book in exchange for an honest review, through the GoodReads group "YA Buddy Readers' Corner".

"Each time she had kissed her husband, she had hoped the sensation would vanish, and each time, she was disappointed. But how, after all that time and after all the love they had shared, could it still not be true love?"

Evil isn't born. It's made. Or so that's what seems to be the case in this story. Whether the circumstances surrounding the subject in question makes them turn evil, or the potential to become evil buried deep inside them is uncertain. Can it be a combination of both? Can the mere fact of having a less than desirable upbringing, and the desire to get what you want no matter what the costs lead you to do unspeakable things? Can it truly make you evil? In The Sea Witch, I would say it's a combination of both.

When we first meet Serena, she is such an innocent girl. Well, she's not the kind of woman that her mother is, and we can clearly see that she wants nothing to do with the magic that she was born with, the magic that her mother wants her to give in to. All she wants is for Prince Triton to actually notice her, and maybe even talk to her long enough to fall in love with her. It may be a girl's simple dream, but it's something that she wants more than anything, even if it means taking down whatever stands in her way.

It wasn't until Triton's mom, the Queen Amphitrite insults her heritage and her social standing is just the push Serena needed to start on the long and tiring journey to get what she wanted. It was also the moment that she realized that the royal family would never see her as anything but a maid and the daughter of a sea witch, in essence judging her on something that she has no control over. Of course, this was wrong of the Queen to be so cruel and heartless, but her fate wasn't what she deserved. Even the King's fate was something that could have been avoided if they just stopped judging people.

Thus the story continues until one day, even after Triton and Serena are living "happily every after", their whole world is shattered with the arrival of a beautiful mermaid named Athena, the one woman who ends up being Triton's true love. By that time, no good can come from this story, and the ending of this insight to the life of a notorious sea witch is one that we know all too well.

I really enjoyed this book, and I liked that we got to have a little background into the life of a villain that we all know and love to hate. It's a very refreshing story that, even though it doesn't have a happy ending, isn't just a retelling on what we already know. It falls in line with the likes of Maleficent, where we find out what makes them turn bad, or if they are even really bad in the first place. I do feel like Serena ended up going over to the dark side, and it didn't help that her mother was key in helping her turn evil, but she shouldn't have done a lot of the things she did. Triton handled the situation in a way that I wouldn't have suspected, but it shows how much he's actually matured from the time we first meet him to the end of the book. Serena's story is actually pretty heartbreaking, and I can see why she would want revenge. There were some moments where the timeline kept jumping back and forth and it would get confusing for me, but that didn't happen all the time. I was still able to understand the bigger picture. All in all, I thought this was a very good first book to the series, and I can't wait to see what other villains we have in store.

Rated: 4/5 Stars

Tuesday Talks - Required Reading

Hey guys!

Welcome to this week's Tuesday Talks. It's a new month, which means new topics to discuss, and we all know how much fun that is! If you are curious about what the topics will be for this month, or if you want to participate in Tuesday Talks on your own blog or YouTube channel, go ahead and check out the Tuesday Talks group on GoodReads. Please feel free to comment your thoughts, and let me know if you will start joining in on the discussions! It's always fun to read new thoughts.

What do you think of required reading in school?

It's kind of a double edged sword for me. Sometimes, I feel like having required reading is essential to the topic of discussion for whatever is happening during that time. Let's say that your professor is requiring you to read up on some past law cases in order to understand the topic of Habeus Corpus. I can understand why that type of required reading is important. But what if the topic is poetry and instead of being able to choose your favorite poem, you can only read what your professor tells you to read, and it's not something that speaks to you or one that you can understand solely because you can't relate to what the author is saying? Is it fair that you have to read it just because the professor feels like that particular poem should be required? I don't think so.

It could just be because I don't like to be forced to read something that I don't find interesting, or it could be that I don't want to have to read a required reading when it takes up my time to read the rest of the books I have on my shelves. Trust me when I say I have a lot of catching up to do. I think that if it will help me understand the topic that I'm currently learning at that moment in time, and it actually makes sense to me, then I'm down to read it. If not, then don't waste my time.

Wow that one was actually really short. Sorry about that. What do you guys think about required reading? Yay or Nay? Let me know.