This is Where it Ends REVIEW

4 Comments November 30, 2016 thebookprophet

This is Where it Ends
By: Marieke Nijkamp

10:00 a.m.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03
The auditorium doors won’t open.

10:05
Someone starts shooting.
Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

My Review:

I won a copy of this book for free from The Reading Room (thank you so much).
This was an overall good book. It was emotional and will always have a special place in my heart. BUT….. There are minor problems I found. They were personal opinions, so I won’t mention them in my overall review, but don’t worry, I’ll list them below where I will divide my thoughts into clearer paragraphs. The idea was a great one, as well as heart-wrenching. The subject itself makes a person shiver in discomfort, but it is a subject that needs to be addressed.
Now, for my individual, more in-depth thoughts on This is Where it Ends.

World Development:

Since this book takes place in the real world, the author didn’t create her own world, but when you’re writing a book, you create your own book version of the world that is already familiar to the common person. Every author has their own creative spin on the web that is already formed around us. I felt like the world building in This is Where it Ends was okay. Alright, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked.

I feel like if this book wasn’t about a school shooting, the world building would have been different. For example: The school would be in walking distance (or at least running distance for ROTC members) to at least a gas station or public park of some sort. The description of the school and roads and everything surrounding (and not surrounding) the characters and events wasn’t clear like I think a book’s world should be. I want to feel like I am looking through a new, fresh out of the box window, not a musty old coca cola bottle. But unfortunately, I found myself re-reading paragraphs, trying my best to understand what is where. This leads me to my next topic.

Character Development:

I didn’t have as large of a problem with the character development as I did with the world building. I do, however, still have a few critical thoughts that keep me from loving and caring for every character that died, suffered, or survived. I teared up during character deaths when I should have been bawling my eyes out. I do have to admit, though, that I don’t cry often whilst reading books. I also found some of the characters motives (ie: the shooter, mainly) unrealistic and they were thrown way out of the ballpark.

Overall, I looked forward to reading this book whenever I picked it up. I found it predicable at times, along with intensely frustrating.

Plot:

Overall, I enjoyed the plot, but it did seem a bit rushed. There didn’t seem to be an obvious climax, since the entire book is about the boy with the gun pointed at the students in the gym. The plot could’ve used some work, because it is difficult to find.
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Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

T5W: Favorite Villains

2 Comments November 30, 2016 thebookprophet

Hello wonderful bookworms! Today is Wednesday, which means its time for Top 5 Wednesday! If you don’t already know, T5W is a weekly meme created by Lainey from Gingerreadslainey and is not hosted by Sam at Thoughtsontomes. If you’re interested in joining, visit the Goodreads group here.

This week’s topic is my Top 5 Favorite Villains. The catch is, nobody can use Harry Potter villains. No Voldemort, no Umbridge, no Dementors. This is actually a really good idea because I have so many favorite villains from literature that aren’t Harry Potter, and I know that a lot of you guys do as well, so this is going to be a fun topic to explore! And it’s also the last T5W for November. Let’s get started!

5. Sophia Ironwood- Passenger

Although Sophia isn’t the main villain, she isn’t exactly on the protagonist’s side. She spends her time hunting after Etta and Nicholas and following them throughout time and space. She’s a strong character and has her own motive and agenda. Not only that, but she puts Etta in her place when she needs to be taught a lesson, which is why I love her so much.

4. Teren Santoro- The Young Elites

Teren is my new favorite antagonist. He is powerful and a real challenging opponent for our protagonist, Adelina. He has one of the most scariest powers of all – healing – and that makes him even more dangerous. Not only that, but he knows how to hold leverage over somebody like a pro.

3. Sebastian Morgenstern- The Mortal Instruments

Sebastian is everything I could ever ask for in a villain. He’s manipulative, strong, powerful, and is just plain bad to the core. He’s Clary’s villainous brother and I can’t help but root for Sebastian 50% of the time just because I can’t stand Clary.

2. Joffrey Baratheon- A Song of Ice and Fire

I don’t think this needs much of an explaination. Joffrey is the Umbridge of the Game of Thrones world. I haven’t seen the TV show, but from what I’ve heard, he’s just as evil – if not more – in the TV series than he is in the books. And let me just say that that is evil. I’m not going to mention anything in particular because… spoilers… but you all know what I mean. His evillness is no doubt an effect of having Cersei as a mother. That woman is the embodiment of evil.

1. Queen Levana- The Lunar Chronicles

Queen Levana from The Lunar Chronicles is basically just a more powerful and scary Evil Queen. She has tried to kill her (niece? I think niece) because she found her prettier than her…. yup…. I’ll end this here.

What are some of your favorite villains? Do you agree with my list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Harry Potter Book Tag

4 Comments November 29, 2016 thebookprophet

So to make up for not posting all weekend (oops! I need to start posting on weekends, seriously, sorry guys!) I’m converting another tag that I had done on my Weebly blog onto this one! And this one is the Harry Potter Book Tag! Enjoy! Oh, and I also watched the first episode of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life last night, and I’m currently working on a review, but I’m not sure when I will be able to finish and post it. Just something to look forward to!

Alrighty. I decided to do another book tag, this one being extra awesome since it involved Harry Potter. Yay! Anyway, I saw this tag done by Jaed from The Bibliophile Blogs. You should check out her version of the tag (after you read mine, of course:) Without further ado, let’s get started!

Flagrate- A book with an interesting premise/theme but you’d like to re-write

If you’ve read my blog, you should know that I didn’t like this book. My main reason for this is the unoriginality of it. The premise sounds amazing!

“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.”

Sounds interesting, right? Well, don’t let the pretty cover and interesting blurb fool you, because this book isn’t what it says it is. The author chose to ‘borrow’ ideas from about a dozen other YA books (The Hunger Games, The Selection, Divergent, Red Rising just to name a few), rushed relationships, and tried too hard to be ‘different’ and ultimately got lost in her own daydreams.

Alohamora- The first book in a series that got you hooked

This book lived up to the massive hype. That is very rare for me, because most of the books I’ve read (excluding Harry Potter, of course) that are super popular haven’t quite reached the expectations I had for it, except for A Game of Thrones. It was action-packed, filled with intriguing characters, schemes that made your brain hurt and an ending that makes you want to pick the next book up immediately when you’re done.

Accio- A book you wish you could have right now

I love The Walking Dead TV show, so I decided to pick up the first compendium at Barnes & Noble one day (my dad’s suggestion). I flew through it so quickly (and it’s 1000+ pages). Sadly, it’s $60 at the stores, but I found it on Amazon for only around $35, so I will purchase it some day, hopefully in the near-future.

Confundo- A book you found really confusing

Okay, so this book wasn’t exactly confusing, but there was a lot of science that I didn’t understand. I was going to go with A Game of Thrones on this one, but I ended up not choosing that since I already had it on this list and I understood practically all the words. Here, however, there was a lot of math, botany, and science, and those are my worst subjects (I just don’t know much about plants, I don’t actually have a Herbology class or anything).

Expecto Patronum- Your spirit book

I’m not exactly sure what it means by ‘spirit book’, but I’m guessing it’s something along the lines of a book that you have a deep connection, or similarities with that could possibly be on a spiritual level. Something like that, I guess. I chose Fangirl for this, mainly because I have a lot of similarities with the main character, Cath, mainly just one: fandom obsessions. That’s basically it, but that’s the best book I could come up with for this topic.

Sectumsumpra- A dark and twisted book

I was having a difficult time choosing this one, but as I was scrolling through my read books on my Goodreads page, I came upon my good ol’ friend, The Hunger Games, and thought, what could be more dark and twisted than to starve a large amount of the country’s population, then practically hand a select number of the survivors over to the reaper, with only one to remain breathing? Honestly, the premise is twisted enough.

Aparacium- A book that surprised you in a great way, reveals to be more than it is

I was wary going into this book, since there was a lot of hype surrounding it. Let me just say, though, that Cinder did not make me want to wilt like a flower from disappointment. The only surprise I got from this book, however, was my joy that it deserved most of the hype. I sadly wasn’t surprised by any of the ‘plot twists’ in this novel. If I could even call them plot twists. I predicted at least three things that were going to happen in this book within just under fifty or so pages into the book. I honestly just couldn’t find a better book for this topic.

Your Letter to Hogwarts:

I’m going to tag anybody who would like to do this tag themselves! Mainly because I’m too lazy to tag anybody in particular.

Now that that’s over with, what are some of your choices? You are welcome to join the bandwagon (or shall I say Hogwarts Express) and do this tag as well! Link your post if you’ve done the tag in the comments so that I can check it out.

Splintered (Splintered #1) REVIEW

6 Comments November 29, 2016 thebookprophet

Splintered
By: A.G. Howard

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality.

The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

My Review:

Other than the obvious love triangle (I have a profound dislike for love triangles), this book checked off everything I love in a book; the perfect dose of romance, adventure on every other page, a fantastically imagined world, 3-dimensional characters, and amazing writing. This is the perfect debut novel. A.G Howard was able to use every inch of her writing talent, and she showcased it all phenomenally in this book. There is a limited amount of things that I didn’t like.

World Development:

I have never read Alice in Wonderland, nor have I seen the full movie(s). I’ve seen bits and pieces of the one with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, but not much. I know some of the main characters enough to have a mental image in my head, and what wonderland sort of looks like (thanks to Once Upon a Time), and the cover helps a lot with showing me what the color scheme Wonderland is. Wonderland is certainly wondrous and has you pondering nearly everything that you see (or in this case, read). I found myself rereading sentences or paragraphs just so that I’m 100% sure I read it correctly, because it’s just so much different to what I’m used to.

Character Development:

I’ve had a bad past with young adult female heroines. They oftentimes annoy me to the point where most of the book is ruined for me (The Selection, Divergent…), but I fell in love with this protagonist from the first chapter! That is very rare, and once I realized the protagonist was not doing anything to annoy me (aside from having an obvious crush on someone I didn’t like very much, but I will get into that later when I talk about the love triangle), I was ecstatic to continue reading, because I knew that if anything was to get on my nerves, it wouldn’t be the main character in the story whose head your inside for 300+ pages.

Now onto the love triangle. I don’t find this spoiler material since in the synopsis, it hints at a love triangle, so I will mention it here. I don’t like the character Jeb very much (it started with the name), and then Morpheus came along (who is an even bigger jerk than most young adult bad-boy love interests, which surprised me, because that’s difficult to do), whose name and wings (yes, wings!) saved this love triangle from being completely ridiculous. I won’t say why I’m okay with this love triangle, but it just makes more sense to me since both of the love interests have been acquainted with the protagonist for nearly her whole life.

Throughout the book, Alyssa (protagonist), has become independent and spread her wings, and learned how to fly (or fend for her own). She learned more about her family history and had a drive to save her mother that made me love her as a female protagonist even more than I already did.

Plot:

I’ll be honest. Going into this book, I didn’t have very high expectations, mainly because I had close to no interest in Alice in Wonderland at all. My cousin actually gave me her copy to borrow and read because it is one of her favorite series and she is obsessed with Alice in Wonderland at the moment. The plot is very fascinating, and the back of the book (different from the synopsis at the top, that I found on Goodreads) didn’t give away much plot-wise. What intrigued me was the fact that Alyssa could hear the thoughts of bugs and plants. Plus her mother is in an asylum, which brings that ludicrous factor to this book that makes it so interesting and unique.
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Comment below and let me know your thoughts!

silver-star4-5

lots-of-love

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) REVIEW

2 Comments November 28, 2016 thebookprophet

Scarlet
By: Marissa Meyer

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her.

As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) REVIEW

9 Comments November 25, 2016 thebookprophet

The Raven Boys
By: Maggie Stiefvater

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them–until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her. His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school.

Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble. But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn’t believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Read More

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Tag

12 Comments November 25, 2016 thebookprophet

Hello lovely book readers. Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I hope that you spent the day with family and loved ones stuffing your faces. And I hope you remembered to get a good night’s sleep or post-Thanksgiving dinner nap for the Black Friday shopping today. I’m not sure if I’m going Black Friday shopping this year or not, but me and my sister did last year for the first time and got some wickedly awesome deals.

Now for today’s post, you can probably tell by the title that this will be a tag. Not any tag, though, but a tag created by me! Again, I know, but I felt like if I’m going to be doing a tag that celebrates one of my favorite TV shows coming back to my screen in a new, amazing way, I might as well make it original and different than things I’ve already seen. I know there are Gilmore Girls tags out there, but I don’t think there are any Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life tags… if so, I’m not trying to copy anybody! I’m thankful for Netflix’s choice to bring back Gilmore Girls for four 1-hour-and-a-half episodes and I’m even more thankful that it’s been released today. I am so excited I can barely even type. This is the first time ever where I couldn’t wait until Thanksgiving is over (well I’m excited to see family and all that, but GILMORE GIRLS!) Now before I lose my way, let’s get this tag started!

Rules:

Mention the creator of the tag

Answer all of the questions

Tag 5 other bloggers

Have fun!

Lorelai and Rory: Name a mother-daughter pair who are the best of friends

Molly and Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter are the best Mother/Daughter friends in literature that I’ve read. Molly tried so desperately for a girl, but ended up having 6 boys before Ginny came along. She would do anything for her children, especially Ginny.

Luke Danes: A character who has a tough exterior but is soft on the inside and would do anything for those he loves

Elias Veturius from An Ember in the Ashes is a Mask, a soldier who is taught to fight for what the Commandment deems is right. Instead, his loyalties lie with the people he sees as friends – Helene – and those he starts to love – Laia – and he would sacrifice himself in a heartbeat for them.

Sookie St. James: The protagonist’s best friend who always has their back and provides comfort to them when needed

Iko from The Lunar Chronicles is the best friend of Cinder. She’s also an android, but that doesn’t stop her from giving great advice and fighting the bad guys alongside Cinder.

Lane Kim: A character who has a sour relationship with her strict parent(s)

In YA (my main genre if you hadn’t noticed by now) parents are either dead or non-present in the protagonist’s life, so I could really choose any character from a YA who’s parents are still alive. For this one, I’m going to choose Kestrel from The Winner’s Curse. Her father wants her to become a soldier and fight or get married to a man she doesn’t love, but instead she wants to be independent and play her piano until she finds the man she loves.

Emily and Richard Gilmore: A couple who would grow old and die together

This question was very hard to answer because I have so many ships that have sailed that I could choose for this, but I’m going to have to go with America and Maxon from The Selection series. They are like the Emily and Richard Gilmore of the YA literature world.

Jess Mariano: A bad boy who the protagonist falls for

The first person who came to mind when I typed down ‘bad boy’ is Patch from Hush, Hush. He is the definition of bad boy, plus he is a fallen angel… literally, so… extra awesome (and cheesy).

Dean Forester: The perfect first boyfriend

For this one, I would have to say Park from Eleanor & Park. He was the perfect first boyfriend for Eleanor. He made her feel like her insecurities and differences made her special and better than everybody else who blended in with the crowd. I’m still not over the ending, and I really want Rowell to write some sort of short story collection or something to give us readers closure of some sort.

Paris Geller: The villain who over time becomes an ally with the protagonist

Celeste and America’s relationship in The Selection series is actually very similar to Paris and Rory’s relationship in Gilmore Girls. They start off as competitors and then they start to depend on each other in order to get through whatever they’re facing and end up working together. And they both form a sort of alliance with each other that is neither friendship nor is it rivalry, it’s a sort of medium that they’re both comfortable with.

Logan Huntzberger: The rich kid who turns out to not care about the money he has

I know exactly who to pick for this. Gansey from The Raven Cycle! Gansey and Logan are so similar it’s almost scary. They’re both rich, of course, and they both annoy the protagonist at first but then the girl slowly starts to develop feelings for him. Now I’m just seeing Logan as Gansey and Rory as Blue….

Michel Gerard: A character who’s sarcasm is their first and only language

The first character who popped into my mind was Jace Wayland from The Mortal Instruments series. Although I’m not as big of a fan of Jace as other people seem to be, I can’t deny that he has some of the best comebacks in the series. To be honest, a lot of the characters in this series take sarcasm and sass to an entirely new level, but Jace has the most memorable lines.

I Tag:

Jessreadsbooks

Wonderfilled Reads

Flavia the Bibliophile

Bookfandom1001

Debbie’s Library

You guys don’t have to do this tag if you don’t watch Gilmore Girls or just don’t feel like doing it. But if you do do it, just link back to my post and I’ll check out yours! And if you want to do this tag, but I didn’t tag you, feel free to do it anyways!

Riders (Riders #1) REVIEW

4 Comments November 22, 2016 thebookprophet

Riders
By: Veronica Rossi

Nothing but death can keep eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does. While recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine, and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence. They fail. Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger. But will anyone believe him?

My Review:

So this book is about a guy who basically dies and then revives with a strange cuff on his hand. People around him start getting angry at him for no apparent reason and he has these strange healing powers. He’s War, of course. Or, well, a reincarnation of war, to be more precise. I’m not gonna lie, I wanted to read this book in the first place because of the TV show Supernatural. But it’s so much more than that. I just love the concept of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. I overall liked the book, but it fell flat when it came to the way the story was told. I’ll dive into that later, but for now, let’s move onto world development, shall we?

World Development:

In Riders, the protagonist and the girl he meets at a party gone sour go on a road trip to find the other three horsemen after finding out he is War. This road trip leads them to Los Angeles, somewhere in Texas, I believe (I seriously can’t remember), and Rome, I think. There wasn’t much world development when it came to the places they visited, because of the unique way the story was told, but the development when it comes to the demons and everything in that department was great. I loved how they were ruthless and how throughout the story, the only reason the horsemen were still alive was because of their powers. Plus, the main character was part of the military (he’s War, what did you expect him to do for a living?), which means that he knows how to strategist and fight. This certainly came in handy when battling demons.

Character Development:

I did find character development of sorts in this book, but the relationship between Gideon and Daryn seemed a bit rushed. I also think it’s kind of too predictable to make the main character fall hopelessly in love with a girl he a) just met, and b) knows virtually nothing about. I guess I’m just the more realistic-type of girl who likes it when there is development before they start to see each other in a romantic way.

I got annoyed at how Gideon was always so mad at Marcus for beating him up in the desert, where he was the one intruding on him. I get that he’s war and everything and how he gets angry quicker than before and feels the need to pick fights with everybody he sees, but it still annoys me nonetheless. I liked how all of these seemingly normal people (kids, though…) die and then get these powers. It reminds me of Heroes in that way. The part where they are all training with their horses and learning to summon them and their weapons, then learning how to fight is great. I just wish that the story was told in a different way so that we would have gotten to experience it more rather than the main character just describing it.

Plot:

I thought that there was great plot in this. There was a protagonist, an antagonist (multiple, actually), a love interest (even if I didn’t like that aspect of the story), a comical relief, and a mysterious object that has a mysterious but powerful purpose. I will finally say why I didn’t like the way the story was told. Gideon is trapped by some sort of military group (or at least that’s what he thinks). They ask him to explain everything from when he ‘died’ to the time they captured him. If this book was instead written during the time everything was happening and then he was captured, I would have liked it more, but I don’t think the next book in the series will be told the same way so I’m looking forward to that. I liked this book overall, but I didn’t like the choice of storytelling Rossi chose to go with. It wasn’t really necessary and brought the entire book down a par.

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What did you think of this book? Do you have some of the same thoughts as me? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Thanksgiving Book Tag

8 Comments November 22, 2016 thebookprophet

Hello wonderful readers! The holiday season is here, which means that Christmas commercials are flooding the TV and Black Friday deals are yelling at you from the back of your mind. There’s a lot to give and receive during the holiday season, but there’s also even more to be thankful for. I decided to create my first book tag, the Thanksgiving Book Tag! I bet somebody has already created a Thanksgiving Book Tag, but I’m going to make my own, so I am not in any way trying to plagiarize or steal anybody else’s ideas. Now, let’s get started!

Turkey- A book that everybody is reading at the moment, that you haven’t gotten the
chance to dig your teeth into

It seems like everybody in the book community is reading Six of Crows and it’s sequel, Crooked Kingdom. I really want to read them as well, but I’ve heard it takes place in the same world as The Grisha Trilogy, and I absolutely have to read books in order, so I’m going to force myself to read The Grisha Trilogy before picking up this book.

Ham- A book that everybody seems to overlook, but you think is even better then the popular books (turkey)

It’s no secret that this book is my one true love. If I were to marry a book, this book would be it. The book itself is beautiful and perfect in every way, and it just gets better on the inside. One author I so desperately want to release another book is Erin Morgenstern because her writing is absolutely phenomenal.

Cranberry Sauce- A sweet treat that is bitter at times, but is perfect to balance out the salty flavors in the Thanksgiving dish

First & Then is the perfect book to read when you need a break from a longer, more intense book, or just the stress-fullness of life. It’s not just a joyride, though. There are problems addressed in this book, and obstacles that the characters have to overcome in order to grow throughout the book.

Green Bean Casserole- A creamy dish with a crunchy topping. A book that reads easily, but deals with big issues (racism, homophobia, illness, etc.)

A Step from Heaven is a novel about a Korean girl that grows up in America. This book deals (slightly) with racism, and abuse. This book is highly underrated and I think that anybody who wants to read a book that is racially diverse and tackles big issues with such precision, should read this book.

Mashed Potatoes- The perfect companion to another dish. A sequel that was as good, or better than the first book

I loved A Game of Thrones, but A Clash of Kings blew me away. There were two characters that were introduced in this book that I didn’t enjoy much, and kind of groaned when their chapters showed up, but it was made up for by everything else. I loved Arya’s story line in this novel, as well as the abundance of Tyrion chapters. There’s really not much I can complain about in this sequel.

Pumpkin Pie- The perfect ending to a series or book that wraps up the story and plot perfectly

I shamefully haven’t finished many series, considering how many I’ve started, but I have finished Harry Potter and The Hunger Games (they’re kind of givens, really) and I can’t choose which ending was better. Even though Harry Potter just recently got The Cursed Child (which I choose to avoid believing it’s actually canon), the ending in The Deathly Hallows was the most perfect way Rowling could’ve ended the series, in my opinion. Some people wanted more, and they did get more, but I don’t think it’s what any of us wanted. The Hunger Games is not my favorite series by any means (hate me as much as you want, but I don’t care). I found Collins’ writing to be very stiff and unnatural, and I always found Katniss so vastly annoying and irritating. I also found myself getting bored while reading (and watching) The Hunger Games (Mockingjay was so cringe-y at times), but aside from the problems I have with this series, I can’t help but love it. And Collins knows how to write a good ending to a series without dragging the story on (I’m talking to you, Roth!)

So that was the Thanksgiving Book Tag! This was my first time creating a tag so I apologize if it kind of sucks. I’m also planning on creating a Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Book Tag, but I’m not sure if I should create it before or after watching the episodes. Let me know what you think I should do! I’m going to tag all of my followers! Leave a link to your post in the comments so that I can check it out. I am looking forward to your answers.

Recipe of Me Tag

3 Comments November 21, 2016 thebookprophet

Okay so I haven’t posted at all over the weekend. Oops! I don’t know why, but I kind of take a break from blogging during the weekend. I guess the weekend is more for reading then blogging. Anyway, I’m back with a tag that Debbie from Debbie’s Library tagged me in. This tag is very unique and seems fun to do. Now let’s jump right in!

Rules:

Tag the creator (I don’t know who the creator is, sorry!)
Tag 5 other people
Give a method that you feel is the ‘recipe of you’.

How to make your own Savannah (Which sounds extremely weird):

1. First, before you start the actual ‘creation’ of your own personal Savannah, you’ll need to gather your materials and ingredients. Start off with a very large bowl (human-sized preferably).

2. Once you have your bowl, get something to use to mix up the ingredients, a wooden spoon (or canoe oar) is the best tool because an electric mixer is dizzying and trust me, you do not want your final product to come out looking like a walker from The Walking Dead.

3. Once you have your mixing materials, it’s time to get the most important ingredients, and that is flour, baking soda, sugar, salt, and eggs. These are the most important and crucial ingredients because every Savannah needs a foundation that keeps everything together or she’ll just fall apart (it’d be a bit more realistic to leave out one of the crucial ingredients because then your Savannah would have flaws, just like the real version). But everybody’s version can be a bit different, so have fun adding and removing these three ingredients as you please.

4. Once you finish mixing up the ‘crucial ingredients’, cover the mixture with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator until you’re done preparing the next component of the recipe. This is important because you want the mixture to settle down and relax before you combine it with all of the different spices (emotions). If you don’t wait, then you’ll have a crazy, moody Savannah, which trust me, you don’t want.

5. Now that the foundation is in the fridge, you can venture over to the spice cabinet to gather the flavors that make up Savannah. Each flavor represents a different emotion. These emotions combined will be put into the BRAIN (Breakthroughs, Ramblings, Articulateness, Intelligence, Neatness). The traits that make up the BRAIN are the good and back forces that are what create the mind and thoughts that are in Savannah’s head, so it’s important that you add the right amount of each ingredient so that your outcome will be as similar as possible to the real thing.

Breakthroughs are the reason why Savannah has started a dozen books over the course of her life. If you want your Savannah to come up with creative ideas, then add Allspice, where thoughts can come from anywhere! Next is Ramblings, which are basically long lectures and debates that Savannah has with herself inside her head daily. This can sometimes be the secret to having a Breakthrough. These long Ramblings inside her head can actually turn into something that can be considered a Breakthrough. Peppercorns are used for Ramblings because they are larger than any other spice (or trait) and packs a punch.

Articulateness is whenever the slightest miss-use of a comma or period sends Savannah’s brainwaves into a frenzy of alarm, where the OCD that she tries so hard to hold in breaks out and doesn’t cower back into it’s cave until the miss-placed item is put into the correct position. This can lead to Neatness. Articulateness also overtakes Savannah’s speech so that she sounds 99.9% smarter than she actually is, which is both a good and bad thing. Rosemary is the spice used in this portion of the BRAIN because of how it balances a dish out, as well as adding a strong flavor, like how Articulateness can become such a strong feeling where you have to fix something before doing anything else. Intelligence is important because without it, your finished product will be walking around hastily straightening things and having Breakthroughs and Ramblings that make absolutely no sense. And without Intelligence, she won’t be able to read or write, which is an important factor when you create your Savannah. Lastly, is Neatness, which is the positive product of Articulateness. This is perfect if you are a messy person and need somebody to clean up after you, or even find your keys for you. Oregano is the spice that represents this spectrum of the BRAIN because of it’s light lemony flavor that evens everything out with a light cloud of lemony tang.

6. Now after you mix these ingredients together, take out the foundation and mix the spices in with the foundation. After that, spread the newly formed body in a pan and stick it in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep checking on her to see how she’s doing. Take her out once her surface is golden.

7. When you take her out of the oven, you have to wait until she’s completely cooled down before you remove her from the pan and place her on the counter.

8. Once she is cooled and on the counter, it’s time to decorate. Be creative with the decorations, just make sure you don’t use anything sweet because that will perform counteractive tastes and she’ll become either bitter for making her that way or too sweet to handle. Her eyes are hazel, and her hair is brown. Feel free to be experimental with the rest of her attire. She is yours, after all.

9. Once you finish decorating her, make sure you explain who you are and give her something to eat. She’s a newly-baked and is most likely extremely hungry and confused.

10. It’s time to bond with her and create a friendship because that’s why you made her! Obsess over books and TV shows because now you have the perfect imperfect friend! Plus, if you ever get deserted on an island alone with her, you can always just eat her to stay alive.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this tag! I tried my best to make this accurate and as realistic as possible. I highly doubt I taste like oregano, allspice, rosemary, and peppercorns, but everybody loves bread, right? That’s basically what this recipe is, a recipe for bread.

I Tag:

Geronimo Reads

The Girl Who Read Too Much

Flavia the Bibliophile

Thieving Books

Bookfandom1001

Y’all don’t have to do this tag if you don’t want.