Books I didn’t finish

I am not the type of person who will continue to read a book I am not interested in, I will usually read about half and if I am still uninterested then I will put it down. Below are some books that I just could not finish for various reasons. 

(Goodreads link through pictures). 

  
John Dies at the End by David Wong 

Truly, TRULY HATED this book. I read this stupid book to nearly the ending and then scanned the last few chapters. The plot is haphazardly stringed together by penis jokes, aliens and a case of trying way too hard. You lost me when you started using a hot dog as a cell phone. Some people call this book brilliant I call it trash. One day when I came home from work my now ex husband said he saw this really cool movie called John Dies at the End and he really enjoyed it. I know now why he’s my Ex. 

  
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass 

The purchase of this book was a case of Booktube made me do it, and the not finishing of this book was a case of the hype killed it. I barely made it 100 pages in when I quit Throne of Glass. I found the main character annoying and the love scenes super awkward. Plus I have a hard enough time pronucing normal names, these names just made me frustrated. 
  
11/22/63 by Stephen King 

This was truly a case of I’m incapable of finishing books this big that aren’t Harry Potter. 11/22/63 read more like an autobiography than a novel everything felt incredibly real which was awesome. But about 200 pages in I get this overwhelmingly feeling of failure because I’m not done yet and it’s been nearly a month. I personally need to learn how to finish big books because I wanted to read this before the Hulu adaptation came out with James Franco. Maybe I need a buddy to read it with? 

  
 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 

If you haven’t read The Lovely Bones I say give it a try. I’m not here to tell people not to read books, just give them my honest opinion. This book is about a gruesome murder that is retold by the teenage victim. That’s all I’m going to say about the plot. The first thirty pages of this book are beautiful, completely gripping and unsettling. Then someone else must of started writing the book because it felt completely different in an awful way. From the weird metaphors to the completely unrealistic plot progression. I put it down halfway through and read what happened on Wikipedia and was very grateful I put it down. I then proceeded to punish myself more and watch the adaptation. UGH. Just. No. 

These are a few of the books that I haven’t finish if you’d like to see another post like this let me know! Please don’t be discouraged about a book I talked about just because it didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for you! 

Thanks for reading! 

❤

Book Haul

Where I am stationed in New Mexico we do not have very good book stores, the only place we have is Hastings that sells their books at very high rates. Now that I am here in California for a bit I decided I am going to stock up! My favorite shop Half Price Books was doing a sale and that’s where I got all these bad boys. It’s okay to buy a ton of books. Right? 

(Goodreads link through titles). 

 

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides– I don’t know when I am ever going to read this but I want it on hand.

Joyland by Stephen King – I’m a sucker for Stephen King and while I seem incapable of reading his long drawn out books (I’ve failed twice) I still love his writing. 

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North – Book tube made me do it! 

Sellevison by August Burroughs – I’ve always been very interested in this book but have never seen it in anywhere till now. 

The Graveyard Book & The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – The only other book I’ve read by Neil Gaiman is Coraline and I think I’m over due to read more. 

We Need to Talk About Keven by Lionel Shriver – I wish I would have read the book first but the movie was amazing! 

Vicious by V.E. Schwab– Booktube made me do it! Plus I’ve heard nothing but great things. (As I am adding the goodreads link I quickly learn that this is NOT a stand alone? What?) 

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy  – Another case of Booktube made me do it with a side of it’s turning into a movie so I have to read it. I’m going to wait closer to the third books release and then marathon them.
Thanks for reading! 

❤

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Title : Bloodlines

Author : Richelle Mead

Rating : 1/10

  Goodreads link here

This review is spoiler free.

Bloodlines as you probably know is the spin off series of Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series. We follow the Alchemist Sydeny Sage as she has to keep Jill Dragomir safe at a prep school of course.

Only Richelle Meas can make a prep school as uneventful as this one. Sydeny was a bit boring in VA but in Bloodlines it’s multipled because she is the protagonist. This book for me was an absolute chore, I was constantly waiting for some crazy twist or cool fight scene to happen. Sadly as I turned to the finale page I was overwhelmingly disappointed. She couldn’t even give us a cliff hanger? What happened Richelle Mead?!? No fighting scenes, only one mediocre plot twist, no cliff hanger and barely any romance? It’s like someone else wrote this book.

As stated earlier Sydeny is a complete bore, her narrartive is “I’m an alchemist, I must protect Jill, I’m in alchemist, magic is wrong, I’m an alchemist, I have a tattoo .” IT WAS SO BORING! The only saving grace was Adrian’s sass. Oh and Jill is just like her sister; super self obessesed and whiny I DO NOT like Jill. I felt no connection with the characters and I barely learned anything about the Alchemist for such a painful slow plot.

I will be continuing this series because I love the Vampire Academy series and I already bought all the books in the Bloodlines series except the last one. . . I hear they get better but if The Golden Lily is as boring as Bloodlines I will get rid of the series. I should have just read this in wiki.
Thank you for reading.

❤

California bound!

I am taking leave and going back home to California for three weeks! Here’s the books I will be taking with me to California: 

  Bloodlines by Richelle Mead (I’m nearly done with this only 100 pages left) 

  
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead 

  
Looking for Alaska by John green 

And I will be driving 20 hours straight in each direction  so I have two Audiobooks I’ll be listening to: 

  
If Chins Could Kill by Bruce Campbell 

I am a HUGE Bruce Campbell fan and am looking forward to hear him talk on my car ride. He is hilarious and hopefully he keeps me awake. 

  
Room by Emma Donoghue 
Thanks for reading! If you have any recommendations for some books I should pick up on my vacation let me know in the comments. 

Annoying clichés in YA books

Hello, my name is Taylor Faye and I read YA. I think that rhymed. I do not only read YA I enjoy many different genres. However YA books are very big in the online book blogging and Booktube world and they can at times be so god damn annoying I want to burn them alive. So let’s get to my rant about a few things that annoy be in YA books even though we all know I’m still going to read rhem.

Diversity: My number one complaint about the YA world is diversity. Everyone is either pale or has olive toned skin. I come from a mixed family my mother is Caucasian and my father is African American so it would be nice to read about some kick ass heroine who has SOME color to her other than olive. What does that even mean?!  Why did Veronica Roth write Katniss as white and Rue as black? Why do all protagonist need to be white?!? If anyone knows of a YA book where there is some diversity please let me know. 

Romance:  Me when a love triangle is introduced to a young adult novel:

Yes YA authors you are writing fiction but young adults are going to read about these love triangles and it’s going to present unrealistic expectations for their love life. Why are protagonists trying to save the world and fall in love at the same time? I’m looking at you Katniss. Most people can’t even graduate high school and find love but these damn characters always find someone. How about this. Write a dystopian novel that doesn’t have any romance. 

Distant parents: How are these teens getting away with this? WHERE ARE THEIR PARENTS is a question I’m constantly asking myself when reading certain YA books.   
“I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in”: 

Beware profanity below:

If I see this line one more god damn time I swear to fucking god I’m going to rip the page out write a very passive aggressive letter and mail it to the author. STOP USING THIS LINE! I’m currently reading Bloodlines by Richelle Mead and I got it FUCKING TWICE!! TWICE! And I’m not even finished yet. JUST PLEASE STOP STOP STOP! 
This concludes my rant should I feel bad? No right? It’s my blog I can say what I want. Please leave a comment below telling me what annoys you about the YA genre or books in general. Thank you for reading! 

❤

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Title: Me and Earl And the Dying Girl

Author: Jesse Andrews

Rating: 10/10

Goodreads link here.

Trailer link here.

This review is spoiler free.

  “But it was difficult for him to maintain focus, because inside his pants he has AN INEXPLICABLE BONER. “

Me and Earl and The Dying girl is a young adult novel narratated by a seventeen year old boy named Greg Gaines. Greg has literally one “sort of” friend named Earl and they make films together. A girl named Rachel who goes to their school gets lukemia and Greg’s mom forces him to hang out with her. Probably because theres a fungus eating her brain.

Now while all that sounds extremely depressing trust me when I say it’s hilarious. The format of this novel makes it extremely quick to read and I was literally (and this is the proper use of literally) laughing at every other page. Think The Fault in Our Stars but not overwhelmingly depressing. Greg is nothing but honest with his narration from his awkward friendship with Rachel to his films with Earl that really aren’t that great. THERE’S PARENTS IN THIS BOOK! Hold the phone we got actual parents in a young adult book. Greg’s mother is like most mothers,  wanting to do what’s best for her son and inadvertently making things consistently worse.

In my opinion this book is devopled more by Greg’s narrative and character development than actual plot progression, which I enjoyed. I think many teenagers/young adults can relate to Greg and Earl, they are two very different characters that take two very different paths and I find that admirable. The author could not have written a more honest, real book about a very difficult topic than Me and Earl and The Dying Girl. I highly suggest you check it out if you’re in a reading slump this will be a book I come back to again and again. But I have this strange feeling the movie is going to make me cry.

“Just because I’m un-retired doesn’t mean I’ll be making a film out of this book. There is no way in hell that is going to happen. When you convert a good book to a film, stupid things happen. God only knows what would happen if you tried to convert this unstoppable barf-fest into a film”

Thank you for reading!

❤

Rat Queens, Vol.1 Sass and Sorcery

 Title : Rat Queens, Vol. 1 : Sass and Sorcery

Author : Kurtis J. Weibe

Rating. : 10/10

 Goodreads link here.

” Godsdamned right we’re the fucking rat queens” 

The Rat Queens is about a group of women that are maidens-for-hire, it’s a very interesting modern spin on a classic genre. These ladies use drugs, drink, party, swear and openly talk about their sexual experiences. This book is not for yonger readers. I loved this graphic novel and I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. Favorite graphic novel I’ve read ths year.

What I did like: 

– The independence and self assurance these women had was admirable.  They supported each other and got the job done.

– Their little arguements they would get into was  relatable and hilarious.

– The  art work was beautiful and  the story was fast past making you fly through the book.

– They talk about drug use in this graphic novel and while other people may find it inappropriate that they “glorify” drug use I disagree. I have taken mushrooms before I found their explanation of a past drug experience hilarious and very accurate to what the drug does to your body.

– Most importantly I love how the Rat Queens came in all sames and sizes. We live in a society where beautiful women are glorified and loved. Models are photoshopped until they’re unrecognizable while every day women stand in line at the grocery store and compare themselves to them, setting unrealistic goals because we don’t have a cook, a personal trainer, a make up artist and if all that fails a crew of people to Photoshop our photos. These women in this graphic novel are so diverse from their personalities to their appearances and it sends a much needed powerful message to women. 

What I didn’t like:

– the next book isn’t out yet.

Update: I am back in my house after the flood, my laptop is fried so I’ll be making posts via IPhone 6 plus.

❤

Flooded house

This happened where I’m from today and my house flooded. So I’m going to be a little busy for a bit. Completely stressed out.

April 2015 Reading Wrap Up

I didn’t read any books in February and March I was having a really rough time and ended up binge drinking a lot. But in April I decided to stop wallowing in self pity and to get back into the grove of reading. I picked up a bunch of graphic novels to get out of my reading slump and it did the trick. Click on the title and it will bring you to the Good Reads page.

In April I read 8 graphic novels and 3 novels.

Graphic Novels:

1. Sweet Tooth Vol. 2 : In Captivity by Jeff Lemire 8/10

2. Sweet Tooth Vol. 3 : Animal Armies by Jeff Lemire 8/10

3. Sweet Tooth Vol. 4 : Endangered Speices by Jeff Lemire  8/10

4. Sweet Tooth Vol. 5 : Unnatural Habitats by Jeff Lemire 9/10

5. Sweet Tooth Vol. 6: Wild Game by Jeff Lemire 10/10

The Sweet Tooth series is absolutely amazing and one of a kind, I highly suggest you check it out.

7.  Rat Queens Vol. 1 : Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe 10/10

Loved loved LOVED. The sass was outta control (just how I like it). Highly recommend.

8. East of West Vol 1 : The Promise by Jonathan Hickam  4/10

East of West was had great ideas however it was really fucking confusing. I attempted to pick up the 2nd in the series and completely gave up.

Books:

9.  Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout 7/10

This was a reread I wanted to read the first in the series and then th elast one, entertaining as always.

10. Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout 8/10

Great finale! Of course I’m a sucker for Dameon Black like every other girl on the planet.

11. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han 6.5/10 My review here.

Cute quick summer read.

I had a great reading month, I plan to focus on reading more novels in the month of May. But I really am enjoying graphic novels lately. Let me know what you’ve read in the month of April.

❤

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han Spoiler free review

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Author: Jenny Han

Rating: 6.5/10

Read about it on Goodreads here.

” It was also ironic, Steven teasing me about being flat-chested, because two summers later I had to wear a bra, but, like, for real.”

The Summer I Turned Pretty follows a sixteen year old girl named Belly who has finally blossomed into a pretty girl and has started getting some wanted/unwanted attention from the boys shes grown up with. That’s basically all you need to know. Foreal.

What I did like:

– I connected with Belly and I think most girls that suffered from the ugly duckling syndrome will too.

– The mothers in this novel are actually present! YES parents present in a young adult novel WHO WOULD’VE THUNK IT! Plus they’re HILARIOUS.

– I thought this book was going to be strictly about romance but shockingly it had some really serious topics thrown in. (Especially at the end).

What I didn’t like:

– Slut shamming.

– Belly consistently concered with what EVERYONE thinks about her:

“I wanted him to think I was cool, like the kind of girl who didn’t care what people thought..”

Good job Belly you care about what he thinks because you want him to think you’re they kind of girl who doesn’t care what people think.

– The crazy amount of love interests it’s a tad bit excessive.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is a really cute book but I honestly think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I was in the 8th grade, it felt very “young” when I was reading it. However I do plan on reading the rest of the trilogy because they’re so short and I am curious about what paths the characters will take.

---

 That’s it my first book review on this blog please let me know if you’ve read this book and what you thought of it!

❤