Tuesday Talks - Shop or Browse?

Hey everyone! Sorry I'm posting a little late this week but at least I'm actually writing a post! Once again, if you're interested in past topics from this year or even want to start your own blog/vlog, be sure to check out the GoodReads group Tuesday Talks.

Do you shop for specific books, or are you a browser?

I think it really depends on what my mood is when I walk into the bookstore. Some days, I just want to go in to see what new books are in there, and so I don't have anything particular that I'm looking for. I think that's the worst time for me to go to the bookstore though, because when I'm in browsing mode then I can buy up to 10 books at a time or even more. So not good for my wallet, but way awesome for my bookshelf. Which reminds me, I still need to eventually get another shelf for my growing collection.

Now, if I'm on GoodReads or Instagram and I see potentially amazing books that I should have in my hands like right now, then I will go to the bookstore on a mission to see if it's even there. I think I should actually call them first and make sure that it's in stock before making my way there, so that I don't go there disappointed when they don't have it. Then again, if it's not there then I end up finding other books to buy! I think I have a book addition, guys.

This one was pretty short and to the point, but that's perfect. So either way, I'm buying books guys. What do you guys think? Do you shop for specific books or are you a browser? Or are you like me and does it depend on your mood? Let me know in the comments below.

Book vs. Movie - Divergent

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another segment of Book Vs. Movie! It's been a long time coming since my first post, and I apologize for the delay. As I mentioned in my previous post, this segment will discuss the similarities and differences between books and their movie counterparts. Sometimes I read the book before I watch the movie, like I did with The 5th Wave, or I watch the movie and eventually make my way to reading the book, like I did with Divergent. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

This week's post will be about Divergent. Based off the amazing novel by Veronica Roth - a synopsis which is posted on my blog - this was an amazing movie experience. I remember when it first came out and I had never read the book. I got to go in to the movie without any expectations except for the trailers that I watched up until the point the movie came out. The movie came out two years ago, with two sequels since then, and only recently have I been able to actually read the book that started it all. It was such a relief to say that I liked the book as well as the movie.

But was there a certain part of the book that I felt should have been shown in the movie? Was there possible more than one? Of course there was.

****If you have not read the book or watched the movie and want to avoid spoilers, I would suggest not reading any further. Consider this your warning :)****

Divergent - Book Review

"I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another."

The appeal of dystopian novels is the "what if" factor. What if the world ended and there were only a few humans left? What if after a hundred years of living, people began to show signs of supernatural abilities? What if the world started having competitions where children were forced to kill one another in order to have their families have food for the rest of the year? It's those kinds of questions that people crave to have answered, without actually going through it themselves. It is with the power of books and storytelling that these questions can be explored in their own universe.

So what if the remaining humans in the world decided that the best way to keep control over society was by categorizing them into five specific character traits?

This is where Divergent comes in to play, and the world that author Veronica Roth created. Each person has to choose which group they want to belong to: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. Each group is known for a specific trait: Abnegation is selfless, Amity is peaceful, Candor is honest, Dauntless is brave, and Erudite is intelligent. These groups are called Factions, and this kind of society has been working for as long as they can remember. "Faction before blood" is their mantra, for even though one can be born to a certain faction, on their sixteenth birthday they can decide whether to stay in their born faction or more on to a different one. But once they choose, they can never change their decision, or they risk being factionless, without a home or family ever again. In a city that used to be Chicago, society is functioning as well as could be expected in the wake of a decaying world.

Beatrice Prior, born into the Abnegation faction, doesn't feel quite so selfless as the rest of her family. She feels like maybe something is wrong with her for feeling this way. Why should she not be as selfless as her family when they are all Abnegation? She spends her spare moments watching the Dauntless kids, the ones who her father believes are wild animals because they frequently do daring acts that no other faction would do. Like jump on and off moving trains for example. But that's just who they are, and Dauntless are the brave after all. Beatrice turns 16 and it's finally time for her to take her aptitude test, the one that will tell her which faction she belongs to. But when the time comes and the test is finally over, she hears that her results were inconclusive, that she has an equal chance of being Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite. How can that be? Is she the only one that has been like this before?

And what exactly does being Divergent mean?

After finding out what she did about her, and knowing that she's not allowed to discuss her results to anyone else, she has to make a choice on where she wants to be for the rest of her life. Will she stay in Abnegation, where she already feels out of place? Or will she take a chance and become a Dauntless, following her dream of getting out there and doing something with her life? Will her family be okay with her decision? Will she be okay with it? Will this decision change her life forever?

By changing the course of her life forever, by choosing to jump on a train and become a Dauntless initiate, Beatrice transforms herself into Tris, and her new life is born. She goes through many trials, both physical and mental, in order to prove herself to be worthy of being in this faction. She goes from being the girl that was born to stay out of people's way, to being a target to those who see her as a threat. And while part of that reason may be because she's been labeled as "Divergent", it's also because Tris herself is an enigma that the rest of the world doesn't know how to handle. She is more than just brave, more than just selfless. She is everything that the society has based their world on, not just one or the other; those that want power just don't know how to keep her in check, and that's what makes her so dangerous to them.

I really enjoyed this book, and I'm glad I finally got to read it after seeing the movie when it first came out. It gave me a different perspective going into the book, and it actually made me appreciate the movie even more. I feel like Book-Tris and Movie-Tris had their differences, but I won't discuss that on this post. Look for my Book vs. Movie post for Divergent, hopefully coming out soon.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Tuesday Talks - First Book in a Series

Hey everyone! Welcome to another segment of Tuesday Talks. If you want to get involved in the discussions and check out the past topics, feel free to check out the group on Goodreads.

If you did not enjoy the first book in a series, do you continue on?

This one is actually a pretty big deal breaker for me. There are a lot of series that I find interest in, and I always take a big chance in reading the first book. Once I don't like it, I won't go on to the rest of the series, no matter how many books there are. I can talk about one series in particular. I didn't realize it was a series until I checked it out on GoodReads, and unfortunately this was after I read the book. I could barely get through it, and it is not part of my character to leave a book unfinished, no matter how horrid it is. I won't name the book here, in case there are those who actually liked it contrary to my opinion (there are quite a few positive reviews on GoodReads), and I don't want those who haven't read it to have expectations.

As much as the book left me with a cliffhanger, the fact that I had no desire to even finish the book made me not want to find out what happens to Channie and the rest of the characters in the series. It was that terrible.

I've actually been really lucky at finding series that I actually like based off the first book alone. I think if there were more like my previous example, then i would feel really upset. Of course, as you can probably tell from my reading history from last year and this year, I've mostly been reading only the first book of multiple series for some reason. Maybe I just don't want any of these series to end like all the rest of them do, but they will eventually have to one day.

What do you think? Does your approval of the first book determine whether or not you continue a series? Let me know in the comments below.

Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Caroll

Source of legend and lyric, reference and conjecture, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is for most children pure pleasure in prose. While adults try to decipher Lewis Carroll's putative use of complex mathematical codes in the text, or debate his alleged use of opium, young readers simply dive with Alice through the rabbit hole, pursuing "The dream-child moving through a land / Of wonders wild and new." There they encounter the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, the Mock Turtle, and the Mad Hatter, among a multitude of other characters--extinct, fantastical, and commonplace creatures. Alice journeys through this Wonderland, trying to fathom the meaning of her strange experiences. But they turn out to be "curiouser and curiouser," seemingly without moral or sense.

For more than 130 years, children have reveled in the delightfully non-moralistic, non-educational virtues of this classic. In fact, at every turn, Alice's new companions scoff at her traditional education. The Mock Turtle, for example, remarks that he took the "regular course" in school: Reeling, Writhing, and branches of Arithmetic-Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision. Carroll believed John Tenniel's illustrations were as important as his text. Naturally, Carroll's instincts were good; the masterful drawings are inextricably tied to the well-loved story.

Divergent - Veronica Roth

Paperback features over fifty pages of bonus materials, including a sneak peek of Insurgent, an author Q&A, a discussion guide, a Divergent playlist, faction manifestos, and more!

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Veronica Roth is the New York Times bestselling author of Divergent, the first in a trilogy of dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

A Dance of Cloaks - Book Review

In a world where thieves rule the underworld, it's important to be part of the right guild. Not all thieves are the same, and by getting involved in the wrong one, that could warrant an early death sentence. The most powerful guild in the underworld is under the leadership of Thren Fellhorn, a ruthless man who has no problem exerting his control. Even if it means ending a life or more. So of course, he would mold his sons to be the exact same way. Right off the bat, it is believed that his eldest would be the one to rule. But he is seen as a disappointment, and he orders his youngest son to kill him.

So he does.

No mercy. No tears. No hesitation. Just like that, his first born is no more, and his youngest son at only 8 years old has just killed his first person. His brother, no less. That is how ruthless Thren is, and that's exactly how he molds Aaron to be if he is supposed to take his father's place in the future.

Fast forward a few years, and Aaron is well on his way to being the most dangerous weapon his father has ever created. He is barely a person anymore, and those in his father's guild are scared of this creature before them. Aaron is okay with this, and he does whatever he can to make sure that he is perfect in his father's eyes. He had no issue killing his brother, his own flesh and blood at such a young age. He shouldn't have any issue killing anyone else in order to get what he wants, or to make sure that his father's guild stays in power in this land. So why is it that now, all of a sudden, he can't kill the daughter of a priest?

With that decision, he is forced to question everything that he was ever taught. Will his father agree with his decision, that is, if he ever decides to tell the truth about what happened? Will those around him continue to die at the hands of the Trifect, a group of the richest men in their city, who have been on the losing side of this war with the guilds? Everything begins to break down in front of his eyes, and even those that he trusted with his life will not make it to the end.

This was an interesting book to read. There were a lot of characters that I ended up liking but weren't there by the time the book ended. It made me feel like it wasn't the first book of an entire series, with getting rid of a lot of characters so soon. I was a little heartbroken by who does end up dying, but I won't spoil it. I think Aaron made a big decision on his own, and this ends up being his way of rebelling against his father, basically having an alter ego that will fight against those who stand with Thren. Will he be able to survive the rest of the series, when so many of those who were there before him have not? I have no way of telling from this point. I do believe that I would rather have a different protagonist to follow than Aaron though. I just can't relate to him as much as I would like.

Rated: 4/5 Stars

The Lost Hero - Book Review

"Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day."

It hasn't even been a year since the second Titan war. Percy Jackson and the rest of Camp Half-Blood did everything they could to defeat Kronos and stop the Titans from taking over the world. Despite the Gods winning this war again, not everything has been peaceful, and the demigods suffered quite a few casualties. It shook the balance of everyone at Camp Half-Blood, and things got serious even more than they were before. Their friends were dead, or badly injured, and the looming thought of another Great Prophecy over their heads meant that this wasn't over. And it definitely wasn't.

Fast forward a few weeks, and we come across three new teens that will begin their journey just like any other kid with a godly parent: being attacked by monsters.

Meet Jason, a guy with a serious case of amnesia. He doesn't even remember who he really is, only that his name is Jason and that something is terribly wrong. For some reason, everyone around him in the bus that he magically wakes up has it in their head that he's been one of their classmates for three months or so, even though Jason has no idea what they are talking about. He apparently has a girlfriend named Piper too, who may or may not have been a little heartbroken when he didn't recognize her.

Speaking of Piper, she turns out to be a pretty important character to the story too. And not just because she thought she was Jason's girlfriend either. Jason, Piper, and their comedic friend Leo all have their lives turned on their heads and are forced to find solace and refuge in a camp for demigods. What are demigods? Well, they are the children of Greek gods that decided to come down to Earth and have a little fun with the mortals. A little gross when one could have many siblings in close age, like the children of Aphrodite and Hermes for example, but still pretty cool. Piper finds out that she's the daughter of Aphrodite, and Leo is claimed by Hephaestus. But what about Jason? He has the powers of a child of Zeus, and yet for some reason that doesn't seem right to him. Even Chiron saw him and said he was supposed to be dead.

In this book, a story separated from the first epic adventure of Percy Jackson still has those drama-filled gods trying to get their children to do their dirty work for them. It wasn't enough that they had to kick ass against the Titans just a few months ago. No, now there are more dangerous and evil creatures stirring beneath the Earth, and it doesn't look like the gods will be able to win this time. What makes it even worse, is that for some reason the gods seem to possess multiple personalities, their Greek personas and their more warlike Roman counterparts. We end up finding out what happened to the other Titans while Percy and the Greek demigods were busy fighting Kronos. The others didn't just decide to retreat after that. Oh no. It was so much more complicated than that.

For those who have read the Percy Jackson series, I feel like this is a very exciting follow up. It's not really a sequel, especially if you're counting on hearing the story from Percy's perspective. Don't expect that in the first book, because you will be disappointed. But don't knock it until you try it, because from what Jason, Piper and Leo have to go through in this book alone, you can already guess that this new prophecy is going to be so much darker and so much more challenging than the first one. If you thought the Titans were bad, think again. This was the perfect first book to another exciting series, bringing Roman mythology into the mix perfectly balancing out the Greek mythology we came to love with the first series. I'm already on the edge of my seat in anticipation.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Tuesday Talks - Soundtrack for Favorite Books

Hey everyone! Another week, another Tuesday Talks! I love that I've been able to actively participate in the discussions this year. I hope to keep it up. If you're curious about what exactly Tuesday Talks is or want to start joining in yourself, be sure to check out the GoodReads group.

If you could put together a soundtrack for your favorite book(s), what songs would you choose?

Oh I'm really excited about this topic! I loved making playlists at one time, when I didn't have an mp3 player and would have to listen to songs on a CD player. I would make my own CD mixes to listen to, and a lot of them had to do with love and heartbreak funnily enough. I still love those CDs though, don't get me wrong. I just don't think I've ever made a soundtrack for my favorite books. I'm going to choose two of my favorite books from this year to do this exercise, and hopefully you guys will see why I chose these songs. Here we go!

Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard (playlist here)

1. Castle - Halsey

"I'm headed straight for the castle. They got the kingdom locked up. And there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut."

2. The Mighty Fall - Fall Out Boy feat. Big Sean

"Your crooked love is just a pyramid scheme, and I'm dizzy on dreams. But if you ask me two's a whole lot lonelier than one."

3. You Should Know Where I'm Coming From - Banks

"What if I said I could break your heart? What if I said I have problems that made me mean?

4. Dead To Me - Melanie Martinez

"My condolences. I'll shed a tear with your family."

5. HFH (Heart F*cking Hurts) - Mia Martina

"It's too late for a fix. I'm a wreck over this."

6. Bed of Lies - Nicki Minaj feat. Skylar Grey

"You could never make eye contact. Everything you got was based off of my contacts."

7. Bad Love - Caitlyn Scarlett

"You can't separate, what you need and what you want. Bad love isn't better than none."

8. Centuries - Fall Out Boy

"And just one mistake is all it will take. We'll go down in history. Remember me for centuries."

9. Battle Cry - Imagine Dragons

"Nobody can save me now. The king is crowned. It's do or die."

10. Better Off - Emily Vaughn

"So hard to say that we might be better off moving on without each other."

The Siren - Kiera Cass (playlist here)

1. Be Okay - Oh Honey

"I'm wide awake, so what's the point of dreaming when your life is great?"

2. Bad Intentions - Niykee Heaton

"This is the face I wear treading the riptide. Abysmal oceans where good girls go to die."

3. Sea Song - Lisa Hannigan

"There's one man, he's like the wishful thinking in my life."

4. Only Love Can Hurt Like This - Paloma Faith

"Only love can hurt like this. Must have been a deadly kiss."

5. All Of You - Betty Who

"But I wanna go and get lost with you, my love. I want you to give me all of you."

6. Tenerife Sea - Ed Sheeran

"You got the kind of look in your eyes as if no one knows anything but us."

7. Like The Sea - Alicia Keys

"Love is like the sea, leaves you on your knees."

8. Thank You for the Broken Heart - J. Rice

"Cause if it wasn't for you, I might forget, how it feels to let go."

9. I Was Made for Loving You - Tori Kelly feat. Ed Sheeran

"I'll take this chance, so call me blind. I've been waiting all my life."

10. The Girl - City and Colour

"I wish I could do better by you, 'cause that's what you deserve."

A Dance of Cloaks - David Dalglish

Thren Felhorn is the greatest assassin of his time. Marshalling the thieves’ guilds under his control, he declares war against the Trifect, an allegiance of wealthy and powerful nobles.

Aaron Felhorn has been groomed since birth to be Thren’s heir. Sent to kill the daughter of a priest, Aaron instead risks his own life to protect her from the wrath of his guild. In doing so, he glimpses a world beyond poison, daggers, and the iron control of his father.

Guilds twist and turn, trading allegiances for survival. The Trifect weakens, its reputation broken, its money dwindling. The players take sides as the war nears its end, and Thren puts in motion a plan to execute hundreds.

Only Aaron can stop the massacre and protect those he loves…

Assassin or protector; every choice has its consequences.

The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan

Jason has a problem.
He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret.
Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools.
When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who;s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

Red Queen - Book Review

"Anyone can betray anyone."

The world will always have a chance to rebuild itself, if there are enough people that want to make it happen. That's the beauty of living in the future, in a world that isn't tainted with the realities of our lives. Sure, it may seem like this entire story takes place in the past, but this is a whole new kind of ballgame, and it's not to be taken lightly. In this world, people are divided by the color of their blood, literally. There are the Red masses, the poor ones of the new society who have to serve the higher powered Silvers. It's like the color of their blood is what makes them special, as only the Silvers have powers that make them so much more ruthless than their Red counterparts. Only the Silvers have what it takes to take what is theirs, without risking any permanent damage to themselves. When there are monthly matches between Silvers just to see who is the strongest, and they never have to fight to the death, it's easy to see that they flaunt their power of the Reds, showing them that they are better than the rest.

So if only Silvers have special powers, then why doesn't Mare die when she falls face first into a lightning shield?

That's the question that begins Mare Barrow's journey into the world of the Silvers. Mare, born with Red blood in her veins, forced to work in the Palace after she is responsible for making her sister lose her source of income. She just so happened to start on one of the most exciting days in the Silver world: Queenstrial. This event is where the most eligible maidens have the opportunity to prove why they should be the next Queen. It's not all fashion shows and Miss Universe waving though. The Queenstrial is one of the most brutal shows of force that Mare has ever seen, and it's when one of the girls uses her immense power to tilt the stadium that all of the noble Silver families are in that Mare should have fallen to her death on the lightning shield. It was there that she discovered that she's special, maybe even more special than a Silver.

Mare is then hidden from the world in plain sight, with the royal family telling a lie for the public to believe: that she is a lost Silver Princess named Mareena, whose parents were killed in the war when she was a baby and she was living with a Red family this whole time, not knowing of her true heritage. Somehow, the public believes it, even if it seems highly unlikely. Of course, there are some that start to get suspicious of Mare, and for good reason, but for the most part Mare has to assume her new identity if she is to stay alive in enemy territory. She does everything she can to survive, and to make sure that her real family doesn't become a target of the royal family for her mistakes. It may seem like the two Princes, Cal and Maven are there to help her, and maybe they have some feelings towards her, but she just needs to make sure that she can fool the rest of the world without revealing the lie that she is living.

But, of course, joining with a group who's sole purpose is to bring the Silvers down is probably not the best way of ensuring her safety.

Mare's thoughts are prominent throughout the book, distinct with the use of italic font. I personally loved that she was so snarky, even though she was basically fighting for her life. She stayed true to herself as much as she could, and she was able to learn more about her powers and harness them to her advantage. Especially for someone who had no idea they had powers over electricity, to be able to learn how to control them in such a short amount of time is an impressive feat in and of itself. I'm proud of her for that.

Be warned though. The book doesn't have a happy ending, as is expected for books with sequels still in the making. The betrayal that Mare faces towards the end of the book is enough to make anyone want to bawl their eyes out or throw the book across the room by what happened. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time, from the Parting Ball and what happened there, to the very end of the book. I honestly can't wait until I am able to read Glass Sword, the second installment of this trilogy. I could barely put this book down!

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Matched - Book Review

There's always something particular about dystopian societies in the future that make people keep coming back to read them. It doesn't matter how many books out there in this genre, it will always remain one of the most popular types of books to read. It all depends on what makes each one different from the others.

The Society has been at peace for as long as they can remember. As long as its citizens follow the rules, there will be no trouble at all. Everyone has their place, everyone has their jobs to do, and everyone has a role in the survival of the human race. Some will bring in the next generation, and others will be Singles, where their use to the Society will not be involved in making more babies. In the Society, everything is perfect, and Cassia has no need to question how things are run.

Until one day when the perfect Society makes a mistake in her Match.

How can Cassia be matched with two different people? The Matching Ceremony told her that she was matched with her best friend Xander, someone she knew her entire life, someone who could she could feel safe with. But when she took a glance at Xander's information card, another face popped up on the screen, someone else she knew from her life but someone she had never really seen until the Society told her to. From that moment, everything she knew about the Society changed. It wasn't perfect like she grew up knowing it to be, and she couldn't help but become more and more curious about Ky, the other face on the screen. 

Would she have fallen in love with him if it wasn't for that mistake? Was she meant to be matched with Ky in the first place? So many questions run through her mind, and it is in this journey that she discovers something powerful and dangerous about what the Society has been keeping from them, and it comes from the most unlikely of sources.

"Do not go gentle."

I thought that this book was a really great read. This is actually my second time reading it, but I decided to review it this time around. It's so interesting to see that there are those in dystopian societies that just accept things for the way they are. They don't question whether the Government should be doing what they are doing, or even what is really going on behind the scenes. I love seeing the little acts of rebellion from Cassia's grandfather, the one who basically helped her wake up to what was going on and make her think for herself. This is the first book in the trilogy, and I need to know if Cassia ever finds Ky again, if she ends up doing something so drastic that it makes the Society change their ways. I basically need to know if Cassia becomes the hero that I want her to be.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Tuesday Talks - Meeting your Favorite Author

Hey everyone! Once again, here is another segment of Tuesday Talks. If you're wondering what exactly is Tuesday Talks or how to get involved, be sure to check out the group on GoodReads. Each week has a new topic to discuss, so be sure to check out past posts and leave me some comments.

Have you ever met your favorite author, if so did it change the way you felt about their books?

If you have ever met your favorite author, then you are one lucky person! Unfortunately, I have never met any of my favorite authors, as I live in a place that doesn't seem to get a lot of traffic author wise. There aren't really a lot of people trying to make their way to Guam for book signings or book releases. It sucks for them though, because Guam is so beautiful and there are so many people here on this island that would kill to meet their favorite authors like myself.

I think if I were to ever meet any of my favorite authors, I would totally have a fangirl moment and not know what to say or even behave like a normal human being. I would want to pick their brains, find out what made them make these amazing books and how they have the strength and motivation to keep writing, especially when they have bouts of writer's block. I would basically want to be their best friends and would absolutely die if they ever let me keep in touch. OMG, right?

Have you ever met your favorite author, or one of them if you have more than one like me? Let me know in the comments below!

Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart ...

Matched - Ally Condie

In the Society, officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one…until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic.

Red Rising - Book Review

The Earth has long been destroyed by now. Humanity has relocated across the galaxy, and this story takes place on Mars. Near the core, underground where the masses seem to habitat, is where we meet our story's protagonist, Darrow. He is part of a caste that was created to build a new home for those that haven't moved to Mars yet. They are made to do the dirty work, putting their lives in danger to find whatever bio-material that can be used to make living on the surface bearable. To Darrow and the rest of the Reds, they are the ones that will help save humanity, that will help make Mars into a new Earth where humans can thrive again. But what they don't know, what they were never told in the first place, is that Mars is already thriving, and so is the rest of the galaxy.

It's just that nobody wanted the Reds to know that they were slaves to the higher castes.

Darrow's life completely changes when he loses the woman he loves, sentenced to die because she chose to stand up for her people and rebel in the most haunting and beautiful way. He almost throws it all away, for he would rather die and be reunited with Eo than live the rest of his days alone and in pain. But he gets a second chance, and doesn't die like he's supposed to. Instead, he gets drafted into a secret society that is bent on bringing down the caste system, bringing the Reds to their rightful place among the rest of the colors, and tear down the Golds that have oppressed them for so long. With this newfound reason to live, a reason besides Eo, Darrow transforms himself into a Gold, completely changing his body and mindset, infiltrating their academy where the best of their children go to become warriors, soldiers, important leaders in their world. It is here where Darrow is really tested, where The Institute teaches them about strategy, and how mercy never prevails.

This was one of the best books I ever read, and I'm so glad that I came across it. This book had an interesting take on the popular dystopian genre that seems to be the topic of discussion lately, and I would love to see how the rest of the series turns out. Darrow becomes Gold through and through, and it's like his entire Red identity disappears the longer he's in the Institute. He has to be Gold if he is to survive the onslaught of torture and pain that he has to go through. Not just him, but all the other Gold children that survived the initial reaping, the one that decimated the entire Institute population by half before the games really began.

It was only hard to get through this book because I really felt Darrow's transformation. All the difficult decisions he had to make being a part of the game, helping those on his team survive and take down the enemy that threatens to wipe them out of existence. All of those who died because of him change him even more, and even though he's Red and they are Gold, there's a part of him that still feels guilty when he doesn't wait to. The game is changing him, and his journey to help free his fellow Red people has only just begun.

Rated: 5/5 Stars