Angela's November Wrap-Up

Paper Hearts- Claire Contreras

The Fall Up- Ally Martinez
Going Bovine- Libba Bray

Suicide Squad Vol. 2- Adam Glass

Unravel- Calia Read

November 9- Colleen Hoover

How I Live Now- Meg Rosoff

Revival Vol. 1- Tim Seeley

Day 21 (The Hundred 2)- Kass Morgan

Bared to You (Crossfire 1)-- Sylvia Day

The Deal- Elle Kennedy

Tell Me Three Things- Julia Buxbaum

Preacher Book 1- Garth Ennis

Finding Cinderella (Hopeless 2.5)- Colleen Hoover

Can we please talk about how insanely slack I've been these last two months??! I've seriously been dragging my feet lately. I can't really explain why either. Might just be because I've surpassed my reading goal and figured I'd take it a little slower in October and November. Might be because I fell into a deep Netflix spiral... Who really knows. My November numbers might reflect alright, but trust me the further it got into the month the harder I had too push myself to pick something up. However, a lot of the things I picked up this month weren't so bad.

My favorites were: Paper Hearts, The Fall Up, November 9, The Deal, Tell Me Three Things, and Finding Cinderella. Huh... Maybe my reading month wasn't as rough as I thought. Can't remember the last time I had a list with this many favorites on it. Paper Hearts first few chapters were released early on, and when I read it I knew right away this would end up on a favorites list. A sweet cute read that had the perfect little news clippings in it. The Fall Up was a book I was really worried about reading. When I saw it's stunning cover I was instantly drawn to it, but worried that the inside wouldn't be as good as the outside. Completely wrong, really enjoyed it. November 9, is the first Colleen Hoover book I'm going to talk about. It was her new release with massive hype surrounding it. Other books that have tried to pull off this same idea haven't done what this did. I wasn't at all let down. The Deal and Tell Me Three Things were my biggest surprise reads of the month. First The Deal has one of the worst covers I've ever seen, but oh my God was it hilarious. Tell Me Three Things was an ARC I received and is one of the only contemporary books I've ever enjoyed. Lastly is Finding Cinderella. Yes, the second Colleen Hoover book on this list. Even though I still haven't read Losing Hope (which I'm dying to read now) I still loved this novella. Picked it up because I was in a slump and because it is currently free on kindle.

My least favorites were: Going Bovine, Unravel, and Preacher. Going Bovine might have one of the funniest male protagonist I've read in the longest, and a concept like no other, but still somehow ended up being too much. I will say that I didn't hate it, I just wasn't in love, and something ultimately didn't stick with me. I was hoping for a book that would forever stick out in my mind, and this just didn't happen. Unravel was a book I ended up DNFing. It seemed like it was going to be a mind blowing read, and it is something I plan on picking up at a later date, but at this time it just wasn't doing it for me. Lastly Preacher. You have probably seen this popping up a lot lately because it is AMC's new comic book TV show. The show looks like it will be bitchin, but the comic was just something I couldn't get into. I think that if I give it more time and volumes that I might end up liking it but I'm not in any kind of rush to get to it.

14 books down in November and so many left to cram in before the end of the year. So goodbye November and hello December. I'm doing December way different than I have in the past. First off I'm going "offline". Logging off my social media accounts (kind of). I'll be logging off all my personal accounts and just focusing on reading and blogging. I'm logging into out bookstagram and am going to be doing a daily or every other day update of what I'm reading. I usually log into our book account once a week, update, comment back, and then log back out. In December it'll be something I focus on more and I'll be staying on it the entire month. I already have my entire Tbr planned for December. I'll be posting my list the first week of December so keep an eye out. I'm going to try and knock out some series I've been putting off, getting a good pipeline of reviews written, and then the last week of December I'm going to be doing nothing but re-reading my favorite books so I end my year on the best notes possible.
See y'all then.

-Angela

Angela's May Wrap-Up

Angelfall- Susan Ee
World After- Susan Ee
End of Days- Susan Ee 
3:AM Kisses- Addison Moore
Sweet Submission- Roxy Sloane
Silence- Natasha Preston
Sweet Filthy Boy- Christina Lauren 
Clockwork Angel- Cassandra Clare
Anomaly-Tonya Kuper
A Court of Thorns and Roses- Sara J. Maas
The Heir- Kiera Cass
An Ember in the Ashes- Sabaa Tahir
Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell
Never Never pt 2- Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher 
After- Anna Todd
Ugly People Beautiful Hearts- Marlen Komar
Black Iris- Leah Reader

I know I'm posting this early, but it's only because Leah and I will be in New York the rest of this month for BookCon... And were only kind of freaking out about it... OK WE ARE REALLY FREAKING OUT ABOUT IT!!!! So excited!! Anyways, I didn't plan on reading very much this month but somehow managed to knock out 17 books. This put me at 102 out of my 185 goal this year... Which is freaking insane!

As far as May went, well I think it went alright. My favorites for May are: Angelfall, Sweet Filthy Boy, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Never Never pt 2. I know Angelfall is a little older series wise, but I was waiting for all three books to be released so I could marathon the whole series, and marathon I did. I freaking loved this series. The whole concept of Angels coming down to earth and being villains was amazing.  If you know me then you know this next one was no surprise; Christina Lauren's Sweet Filthy Boy. Those two have definitely become two of my favorite writers. SFB is my favorite book of theirs to date and kind of sad I didn't read it sooner. How could this list be complete without a Sara J Maas book?? It couldn't, ACOTR was a new release this month and I loved it. It's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but don't let that fool you, it is stunning. And last we have Never Never pt 2. Short stories aren't really my thing, but this series of novellas has me hooked! I need answers like yesterday. Those were without a doubt my favorites in May. I was surprised by two books, Ember in the Ashes and After. I thought for sure Ember would have been in my favorites, and yes I liked it a lot but then again it didn't blow we out the water like I hoped. After was a book I thought I was going to hate then ended up getting super hooked to.

When it comes to the books I thought were the biggest let downs, well I only have 3. Black Iris, The Heir, and 3AM Kisses. These three are the epitome of a book letdowns. I waited so long to get my hands on Black Iris, and was floored when it turned out to be a cluster f of badness. Leah Reader's Unteachable was one of my favorite books last year, so I was hoping for the same with Black Iris. 3AM Kisses, well lets just say it's one of the lamest things I've ever come in contact with. Spent most of my time trying to hold back my metaphorical vomit while reading it. The Heir, was another one of those books that I was really looking forward too, then got a hold of it and found myself asking "what was the point in this book?". Was so excited to fall back into the world of the selection and was highly disappointed.

That's all for now. See some of you in BookCon and the rest in June. 

-Angela

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

If you follow pretty much anything regarding YA books, you have heard about the release of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. It's definitely one of the biggest book releases this year and has already been opted for a movie deal. Whenever a book has that much hype around it before it even releases, I get super skeptical. I don't want to get my hopes up and then be disappointed. I can honestly say that all the hype surrounding Ember is absolutely true.

The world building in Ember is amazing and is one of the things that makes this book so special. You have so many different types of people that live in this alternate world, though only three are really talked about. The first ~100 pages or so is a bit slow because Tahir is setting the scene and really makes sure you have a clear vision of the world and the people. I was absolutely lost in the fantasy and couldn't get enough. I love the alternating POVs, I loved the action, I love the betrayals, I love the secrets... I just love all of it. I especially love that I didn't know where the story was going to go at any point. There was so many different paths it could have taken, so I was constantly guessing and then second guessing myself.

I went back and forth pretty much this entire book on which POV I liked more. Elias gave a lot of action and adventure, whereas Laia gave a more emotional approach to the story. The way the story is told really paints a full picture of the world that Tahir built. It was easy to develop an emotional connection to each character during their POV, and it was also easy to see the hate and intolerance that each character has for the other. Laia grew up in fear of The Masks, and the more that Elias comes around her the more uneasy she feels. She doesn't know what Elias could possible want from her other than to rape or hurt her. Elias has never viewed a slave as he has Laia, which is probably because she is the first slave that he has really paid attention to. Now that he noticed her and has become invested in her, he can't just turn his head when things start happening.

One thing I really loved about this book is that their is no clear romance. From the beginning, you kind of assume that at some point Elias and Laia are going to get together seeing as they are the two main characters. However, Laia and Elias each have someone else that they have feelings for, so it complicates their situations even more. The story doesn't focus on the romances, though it does play big parts in the decision making process of each person. I know some people felt like Ember lacked romance, but I think the little bit that was featured was just perfect. I feel like in the sequel (which has just been announced as moving forward!!!!!) there will be more romance. I personally just feel like the book didn't lack anything because it didn't have a lot of romantic moments. With all the crossover between YA and NA these days, it was really refreshing to read a book that wasn't weighted down by this big love story and steamy scenes (and y'all know I love a good scandy scene.).

Ember reminded me a lot of Red Rising. When Laia is telling about her life growing up a Scholar and then her life as a slave, it made me think of Darrow when he was a Red. When Elias was describing his time at BlackCliff as well as the trials he faces, it reminded me of when Darrow became a Gold. Also, the differences in the names in Ember is similar to the differences in names between Reds and Golds in Red Rising (i.e- Laia is just Laia, whereas Elias is Elias Veturius of Gens Veturia). The story itself is nothing like Red Rising, and I would actually compare it a lot to Legend by Marie Lu. If you have read Legend, you'll remember that Thomas and his unwavering servitude to his government and his duties. This was reminded me so much of Helene's character in Ember and is probably what reminds me of Legend the most. Forbidden love, government resistance, revenge for a fallen family member, yes yes yes! All of the things I love!

For me, this book lived up to all of its hype and more. I was completely blown away and found myself trying to read slowly (as oppose to just blowing through it) because I wanted to savor all of my time in this amazing world and with the characters. If you are a fan of true YA writing (not YA that leans towards NA regarding romance), then you will enjoy this book. It is definitely one of the best ones that I have read this year.

5/5 stars

Making Faces by Amy Harmon

In a small town five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. The boy who returns is broken. But one girl remembers what he was like before, and still loves him despite what meets the eye. 

I'm gonna start this review off with an embarrassing confession... I read the first 10% of this book at home, then the next 89% of it at work, and then the last 1% of it in the car on the way home from work... I had like three pages left and I just had to know what happened so as soon at I hit the red light near the EarthFare I knew it was my chance to read the last three pages... Bad move on my part. As I read the last few sentences I started balling my eyes out and completely forgetting I was at a stop, until the guy behind me honked his horn at me bringing me back to life.

Making Faces was just that amazing. It makes you want to read between red lights and at any chance you can get. Making Faces surrounds three main characters. Fern is the girl who is forever overlooked. She's the bookwork, small, sweet, with red hair. Bailey, Ferns cousin and best friend, is the sweet caring boy who is suffering from muscle dystrophy. And Ambrose Young, school's star athlete and overall talented guy. Fern has admired Ambrose from afar for as long as she can remember, and he only notices her after an odd event plays out. But even after that things seem to go back to the way they were. That is until 9/11 happens and it hit Ambrose in a way he didn't see coming. Even though he is so gifted he still feels like he needs to do more. He decides to sign up for the military and to serve in Iraq and talks his four friends into coming with him.

That's where the story will takes off, because Ambrose is the only one who returns, but even he doesn't come back in one piece. Ambrose and Fern's relationship is the definition of hope. Their relationship is sweet, playful, and deep. Harmon again writes such strong leading characters and gives them so much depth. Fern, though shy is far from weak. Ambrose who to the eye is strong is so weak. Them being opposites gave this book such balance. I liked that Fern shows him that there is more to life and a person than what meets the eye. That you can either run and hide or face things head on. That it's okay to let people in. That looks might be the thing that originally draws you to a person, but it's not the thing that keeps you there. Their relationship shows you that being together is a give and take situation but you both have to be willing to do both. You have to know when to push and when to ease up. Their relationship is such gold.

 "You are still beautiful," Fern says softly "I think that statement is more a reflection of your beauty than mine."

Even with these two character being as amazing as they are there is no doubt who stole the show... Bailey. His and Fern's friendship is probably, if not, my favorite friendship I've ever read. There aren't even words to describe how amazing it is. Everything that comes out of his mouth is written with such a force. He is unlike any character I've ever had the pleasure of reading. He alone would be a reason I would recommend this book. The characters in Making Faces are flawless.

The plot of this book is so different. At first with how everything was laid out I didn't think I would like it. The timeline bounces around from the past the the present, and I didn't think thing would come together... But when they do, and everything is reveal, it is mind blowing. Everything from the flashbacks, the old stories, the current events, the the title of the chapters are so well thought out. When I started too figure everything out I was taken back by how incredible this truly was. Even when there were a few moments towards the end when I knew what was going to happen next, and things were playing of cliche, the ending itself made up for anything that could have happened. The last few paragraphs made up for anything that would ever be lacking.

I think writing reviews on books you love is so much hard than doing to for ones you hate. You can never seem to perfectly put into words how it made you feel. Making Faces is heartbreaking and heartwarming. Making Faces will probably be one of my top reads this year. This book broke my heart in the best way possible.
It's a book with so many layers, and so many lovely messages. This is a book that is tattooed on me and will forever leave a lasting impression.

"True beauty, the kind that doesn't fade or wash off, takes time. It takes incredible endurance. It is the slow drip that creates the stalactite, the shaking of the Earth that creates mountains, the constant pounding of the waves that breaks up the rocks and smooths the rough edges. And from the violence, the furor, the raging of the winds, the roaring of the waters, something better emerges, something that would have otherwise never existed. And so we endure. We have faith that there is purpose. We hope for things we can't see. We believe there are lessons in loss, power in love, and that we have within us the potential for a beauty so magnificent, our bodies can't contain it."

10/10 Stars
-Angela 

Confess by Colleen Hoover

"I'll love you forever. Even when I can’t.”

"OMG"... THIS BOOK!

THE NOTEBOOK, UGLY LOVE, TFIOS, AND HOPELESS HAD A SECRET LOVE CHILD! AND THAT LOVE CHILD IS CONFESS.

If you know anything about me then you know Colleen Hoover is my favorite author. If you don't know anything about me than that is pretty much all you need to know. She is the only author who has never let me down. Confess didn't let me down. I think Leah and I can both agree, the main thing we heard about this book was that it would induce tears within the first chapter.. And I had my doubts. Ten pages in. I REPEAT TEN PAGES IN, I WAS A COMPLETE MESS. 

Confess follows the intertwining stories of Auburn and Owen. Both characters come from very separate yet equal backgrounds. Both facing more in the 20-something-years they've been alive than most will their entire lives. When Confess starts out right into Auburn's story you're more than likely, within the first few chapters, going to be thinking the same thing I was, "Ha I got this whole thing figured out". Please don't think that. If you've ever read a Hoover book then you know you'd be a fool to think that (yes I just called myself a fool, because God was I).

Auburn is desperate for a second job when fate shines its light on her and she get offered one by Owen. When stopping in front of a studio covered in anonymous people's confession she never thought things would turn out the way they do. Both Auburn and Owen are perfectly written characters. Always revealing the perfect amount of themselves at the perfect time, always giving banter at the right moments, and always pulling out all the romantic stops at the right time.

"I'm scared I'll never feel this again with anyone else," I whisper

He squeezes my hands. I'm scared you will."

I can't (sadly) say much more about them, because I know once I got started talking about them I wouldn't be able to stop!Then I would spill out all the wonderful things that make this book up! That being said I will tell you the spoil free things I loved about this book. There are four things that stole my heart and won me over. First, of course, the Art. When you think about pictures being included into a book you automatically think it'll be cheesy. It's not, it's a wonderful addition and takes this book to a level others wont reach. Second, the real readers confession that are sprinkled throughout this book and also fit so well with the art theme. Third, is the romance. It's Georgia peach sweet. And Four, well you'll have to wait a minute for that one... Promise I'll get to it in a second.

When it came to plot, I had a lot of fears. I feared that with so much hype to this book that it would let me down. Then once the first chapter brought me to tears all I could think of was "This book can only go down from here"... All that was laid to rest. The plot starts strong, stays steady, and just when you're winding up on the end of the book and you're thinking "ok that was great and all but what am I missing?"; Colleen hits you right in the face with one of her famous big reveals.... That brings you to my number four love. The ending. I never ever thought the story would end the way it did. Didn't think the story would come together and collide how she had it. The closer it got to the end the more I had to know what the ending was going to be. What the big secret was. I couldn't have been more happy with the ending! With everything perfect laid out, and the expression "somethings are better left unsaid" taking a whole new meaning, Confess will leave you wanting more. It was perfect, amazing, and I don't think I took a single breath the whole last chapter. I constantly wonder if Colleen woke up one random morning and said "you know what I'm going to be a writer" or if she has always planned on becoming one... And I don't care, I thank the literary Gods every time she puts out a piece of work. Not only does she give us something of her own, but the way she constantly finds ways to shed light on others art as well... It's just astounding.

1.. 2.. 3... 10/10 OMG STARS  
-Angela  

(Confess BookDepo)