Book Review: The Nightmare Affair

 The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

Series: The Arkwell Academy #1

Publisher: Tor Teen

Published: March 5, 2013

Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare. Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.

Then Eli’s dream comes true.

Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

I enjoyed this book, despite the two and half stars that I’m giving it. I really liked Arnett’s take on the supernatural and the ‘magickind’ as referred to in the book. Mostly, I thought the entire premise of Dusty being a Nightmare was so original that I knew no matter what I was going to get suckered in. 

It’s Friday Night!

It’s friday night, are you sighing yet? I am. This week has been so frustrating, mostly because I’m finding myself out of sorts and lethargic—especially at work. I find that I feel so useless at work and I don’t really want to do anything. I hope this mood doesn’t carry into next week. 

Monthly Wrap-Up: July Favourites!

It’s friday night, are you sighing yet? I cannot even believe that it’s August already! Honestly, it feels like July wasn’t even here for that long. Anyways, this friday night I decided to try something new on my blog and start doing monthly favourites, because I feel like there are things that I come across that I love forever and would really like to share with you guys. Are you ready?

 

Book Review: The Exiled Queen

 The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

Series: The Seven Realms #2

Publisher: Hyperion Books

Published: September 24, 2010

 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.

This book is probably my favourite book out of the entire series. I loved everything about The Exiled Queen. I think what I loved most about this book was that Chima really allowed her characters to grow in this book and also, the fact that it seemed like the characters were in another world of their own. There wasn’t a lot of politics in this book in comparison to the final two, which made me enjoy it a lot more. 

It’s Friday Night!

 

It’s friday night, and I am totally feeling Kenzie right now. I had three consecutive days off and in my massive amount of spare time, I managed to get hooked into this fantasy, urban, supernatural TV show Lost Girl. It’s about this girl who finds out she’s Fae, a succubus to be precise, and her journey trying to figure it out. I mean, we all know I’m a sucker for anything supernatural so obviously I started watching. I’ve already finished the first season and am now on the second season. In my defence, the season was only 13 episodes long and let’s be real, that’s not a lot of episodes. Ahem.

I really enjoyed watching this show so far. There’s a lot of sex, action and death and romance, if you’re into that. I’m not a huge fan of the main female character, Bo or Anna Silk the actress that plays her. In most episodes I find Bo barely tolerable, she’s so stubborn to the point where she literally does whatever the fuck she wants. I understand characters being so unbelievably stubborn (hello, Olivia Pope, Meredith Grey/Cristina Yang, Elena, all the PLL’s main girls etc. are all stubborn and can be irritating) but to the point where they don’t see reason is absolutely fucking frustrating. I also feel like sometimes Bo lacks the respect needed for the old traditions that goes on with a lot of the Fae world. Most of the time she just storms in and goes, I don’t like how you do things so I’m going to do it my way. SOMETIMES that’s okay, the majority of the time it’s just so UGH.

OTHER THAN THAT, I love all of the other characters in this show. I love Kenzie, I think she’s exactly the kind of character that is needed to deal with someone as intense as Bo. Dyson is good, too, his sexual chemistry with Bo was offffff the fucking charts! Every single sex scene they had was literally, so mind blowing, it made me think how it would be like to get it on with a succubus/shape shifter wolf. (No, they don’t call them werewolves in the show.) Lauren is meh. She’s so boring and has no life in her face I don’t know how Bo is even into that. Her sexual chemistry with Bo was meh. I certainly didn’t feel it. Whenever they had screen time together I mostly skimmed past it. Their one sex scene in the first season was soooooo lame and boring and typical. It was mostly girls kissing in between the sheets. None of that oozed sexual attraction like Bo and Dyson when they kiss.

Trick is possibly my favourite character on the show. There’s so much mystery behind him! He’s holding all the secrets and I can’t wait until he unveils it all! He is someone I would want a hug from at the end of a hard day, he’s such a cute grandpa 😦 Or a beer. I would drink beer with Trick. I also think Hale is all right. I don’t think he contributed much to the first season until towards the end. So far in the second season he’s had a lot more presence and I like him a lot. I can’t wait until they bring back Aife! I didn’t really think this show had a scary streak until Aife stormed into Dyson’s office with her eyes glowing, yelling say my name, bitch! That scene was absolutely fantastic.

I really recommend you guys watch this show, if you have nothing to do this friday night!

 

Book Review: The Selection

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection Series

Publisher: Harper Teen

Published: April 24, 2012

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks. Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she’s made for herself—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Somewhere out there, I missed the fact that this book being described as a mash-up of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. I mean, what? I wish I had read that description first before I started reading this book. The comparison of this book to The Bachelor is so ridiculously accurate, but to compare this to The Hunger Games is just a complete mind fuck. This is a perfect example of a book trying to be a dystopia but falling five hundred pages short. 

It’s Friday Night!

It’s friday night, are you sighing yet?

Honestly, I am. It’s been a long week, and man oh man am I glad that it’s done! I’ve been working six days straight this week, and tomorrow is my only day off and then back to work on Sunday. You guys don’t know how exhausted I am, it’s actually taking a lot for me to even think. I know. I had a goal to clean my room when I got home from work, and did it happen? PFT. NO! My body saw my bed and melted, how could it not?

I was going to do either a book or shoe haul tonight, but obviously … tired I am. Obviously, the hauls will have to wait. I bought at least 8 or so books two weeks ago, and my shoes … well, let’s not speak about the amount of shoes that I’ve managed to buy in the past couple weeks. I still have shoes at work that I cannot bring home yet, I am not lying. My boyfriend doesn’t know … well he will now as soon as he reads this post, ha. Ha. 😦

On a completely different note, though, I’ve been thinking about something that I haven’t really done in a long time and that is writing. I used to write a lot a couple of years ago, and as the years went on and school got a little bit more hectic I sort of stopped. Granted, it was mostly fanfiction (embarrassing cringe) and I was practically writing little things almost every day. Recently, I’m starting to miss it. Not really writing fanfiction but just writing in general. I’ve been thinking about taking it up again and this time, possibly write my own little original fiction. Though, I’m not sure if I would stick to it. One of my biggest problems is really committing to something, especially when I’m stuck at a really difficult part, I mostly tend to abandon things that I get super excited about. I don’t know if I’m going through one of those phases, I hope I’m not. We shall see.

I’m kind of putting this out there in case there’s anyone else who feels the way I feel, and possibly we could help each other out! Give each other a nudge of sorts? No? 😦 Life 😦

Book Review: The Demon King

 The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

 Series: The Seven Realms Series #1

Publisher: Hyperion Books

Published: October 6, 2009

One day Han Alister catches three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. Han takes an amulet away from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to ensure the boy won’t use it against him. The amulet once belonged to the Demon King, who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece so powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.

Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna has her own battle to fight. She’s just returned to court after three years of riding and hunting with her father’s family. Raisa aspires to be like Hanalea, the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But it seems that her mother has other plans for her—plans that include a suitor who goes against everything the Queendom stands for.

The Seven Realms will tremble when the lives of Han and Raisa collide in this stunning page-turner from best-selling author Cinda Williams Chima.

I’ll be quite honest with you, the cover leaves much to be desired and the summary is pretty meh but trust me on this one: you need to read this book. You won’t regret it! I’ll admit, it took me a bit to get through the first two or three chapters but once you get past the initial dullness, the book suddenly comes alive. I wasn’t quite taken with the initial chapters, I thought it was quite dry, but I am so glad I decided to push through with it. 

Book Review: The Fairest of Them All

 The Fairest of Them All by Carolyn Turgeon

 Publisher: Touchstone

Published: August 6, 2013

What if Rapunzel was Snow White’s evil stepmother? From the author of Godmother and Mermaid, The Fairest of Them All explores what happens when fairy tale heroines grow up and don’t live happily ever after. Living in an enchanted forest, Rapunzel spends her days tending a mystical garden with her adoptive mother, Mathena. A witch, Mathena was banished from court because of her magic powers, though the women from the kingdom still seek her advice and herbal remedies. She waits, biding her time to exact revenge against those who betrayed her.

One day Rapunzel’s beautiful voice and long golden locks captivate a young prince hunting in the forest nearby. Overcome, he climbs her hair up to her chamber and they fall into each other’s arms. But their afternoon of passion is fleeting, and the prince must return to his kingdom, as he is betrothed to another. Now king, he marries his intended to bring peace to his kingdom. They have a stunning daughter named Snow White. Yet the king is haunted by his memories of Rapunzel, and after the mysterious death of his wife, realizes he is free to marry the woman he never stopped longing for. In hopes of also replacing the mother of his beloved daughter, the king makes Rapunzel his queen.

But when Mathena’s wedding gift of an ancient mirror begins speaking to her, Rapunzel falls under its evil spell, and the king begins to realize that Rapunzel is not the beautiful, kind woman he dreamed of.

I first read the description of this and instantly fell in love. A re-telling of Rapunzel and Snow White where Rapunzel is the “evil step mother”? SIGN ME UP! I had read Godmother by Carolyn Turgeon first, before getting my hands on The Fairst of Them All, and was not impressed. So impressed to the point where I couldn’t even bring myself to finish it. So, I was a little bit hesitant to pick this up but come on, that cover with all the hair sold me and the summary, please all I wanted to do was devour it. 

It’s Friday Night!

It’s friday night … somewhere in the world, at least. Or maybe I’m pushing it since I’ve missed two weeks of friday posts, and yes I realize I’m such a horrible person. I can’t even stick to my own schedule!

I was planning on posting before I left for tonight’s shenanigans but obviously did not get a chance to do so (cause I was too busy taking selfies). Ahem. Tonight was one of my coworkers/really close friend’s birthday, and so we had gone out for dinner and drinks to celebrate. When we got there Sonia, Raveen and I decided to split a bottle between ourselves since Michelle had already gotten a drink for herself. Varun (my manager) showed up quite a bit after that and it was just the five of us for quite a while. In between getting food and whatnot, the three of us manage to go through three bottles of wine in roughly two hours. On top of that, Raveen and Sonia wanted to go out to a bar afterwards and I was like, okay, I am going to cut myself off from alcohol if we’re going to go somewhere else.

… we ended up at a bowling alley … without the birthday girl. Let’s not go into details, but it only ended up being Raveen, Varun, Sonia and I at this cosmic bowling alley. I’ve only ever gone bowling once in high school in the eleventh grade and haven’t gone since. So, as you can expect, I was pretty horrible. Sonia wasn’t really focused on bowling, she was mostly upset about the fact that the bowling alley refused to serve our lane alcohol because for some reason they figured out we had been drinking previously. I was completely okay with that. Also, Varun totally wiped us out in bowling, I almost felt like he was holding back a little.

As much as I am angry with Varun in terms of work, and as much as he pisses me off, tonight made me realize that I actually do care for him as a friend. We were friends before he became the manager of the store, and I feel like I needed to be in a different environment in order for me to actually appreciate him as a friend. Being pushed into the employee/manager role all of the time and looking at numbers and commission obviously created some type of resentment there between us—mostly one-sided on my part. I think I needed this down time in order to remember that we do have a personal relationship outside of work.

I think what also pushed me to this realization was the fact that he confided in me just how stressed he is the other night when he dropped me off. During our conversation in the car I actually felt bad for him. I think being in a management position is difficult for him when three or four of his part-timers were part-timers with him and went through the stages of his management change. I feel like a lot of the time we tend to overlook the fact that if we’re so frustrated with him, he’s also so frustrated with us. It also doesn’t help that when we try to talk to him about it, it means more to him than it does to us because now it’s his store rather than just a part-time job like it is for us part-timers.

I feel like in order for all of us part-timers and Varun to get over this frustration that we all have for each other, we need to have a conversation outside of work about it on a personal level. Having a conversation about work at work is just going to make emotions just run overboard.

Anyway.

It’s friday night, are you sighing yet?

Me? I’m slightttttly tipsy 😛