Angela's Fall Favorites

Recently I started doing a post where I do a complete recap of my seasonal favorites. The seasons might be a little slurred, but only because this is new and something I just started mid-year. That and I live in the south and our seasons are all over the place. Just a heads up I plan on missing December and picking this back up in January.

What I really enjoy about doing this post is I don't just talk books, I talk about all my favorite things. Movies, television, events, and more. My last seasonal post only included things from the months June through August... So yes this one is going to be my favorites from September, October, and November.

Top Five Fall Reads:

These are my favorite reading picks of this fall. They're the books I gave the highest ratings on Goodreads and our blog. These will only include fresh reads for me, nothing that I happened to re-read, and are in no order:

1. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas. Celaena has returned to the empire and is seeking vengeance for everything that has been taken from her.
2. Darken the Stars by Amy A. Bartol. Kricket is being held against her will and the man holding her wants to combined forces so they'll be unstoppable.
3. Dark Wild Night by Christina Lauren.  A comic book writer and a comic book store owner go from friends to something more.
4. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Six misfit criminals are hired to pull of the an impossible heist.
5. November 9 by Colleen Hoover. Ben and Fallon meet on the same date once a year for five years and pick up their relationship right where they left off. But only for one day.

Top Fall Movies: 
As with the other catergories not all of these came out during this time perio.

The Road Within- Vincent (Robert Sheenan), a boy suffering from Tourette's syndrome is sent by his father to a treatment center. He then runs away with two friends (Zoe Kravitz, Dev Patel)  from the center with plans to head for the beach to spread his mothers ashes. The Road Within was a really fun short film. Each character brought something so interesting to the table. For fans of Me Earl and the Dying Girl and Men, Women, & Children.

How I Live Now- Based of the Ya novel by Meg Rosoff. Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) is sent to live with cousins she's never met before in England. While there a war breaks out and the kids decide to stick it out and go on as if the world around them isn't falling apart. While waiting out the war Daisy and her cousin Edmond (George McKay) start a romantic relationship only to be torn apart and sent to different locations. This movie visually is stunning, the cast is perfect, and it ended up being one of my favorite ya movie adaptions I've seen this year.

Mockingjay Part 2- Duh right? You had too have known this would be on my list. I mean its the last freaking Hunger Games! It was done oh so right too. I left the theater 100% satisfied. This was an amazing series, that turned into and amaze set of films. Perfectly casted, and perfectly portrayed. This will probably always be one of the most successful book to films I'll ever see. It's right up there with Harry Potter. Really just can't believe that it's over.

Favorite Fall TV Shows:
These might not all have aired this year, but that doesn't stop them from being my favorites.

Misfits Season 1-2. The season part is very important because after season two the show really drops off. This show is so freaking hilarious!!!! It's about several teens who are doing community service when a storm breaks out and people get meta powers from it. Each teen has a different power each of course getting them in and out of trouble. The best part of this show is Robert Sheenan. Good Lord! Every second he is on the screen is amazing and would have me laughing until I cried.

The Flash- I think we all know what this is about. And it happens to be another show were someone is struck by something and forms powers... What can I say; I love meta humans. This wasn't a show I thought I would easily fall into, but before I knew it I was marathoning it on Netflix. Grant Gavin is the perfect Barry Allen. My favorite part is how Arrow is brought into it. Just makes my love for Oliver Queen that much stronger.

Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance. Yeah, I might be one of the last people on earth watching this show, but ask me if I care?! I DON'T. I have watched every season of Survivor and I aint afraid to admit it. This show is just as fun as it was when I watched season one. Team Joe!

The Walking Dead Season 6- Pretty sure this season wont be over by the time I post this... Again don't care. This season has been amazing so far. I've even liked the episodes where they've focused on a single character, and usually I find those so boring. So stoked to see how and where they leave this season off... Who will survive.

Favorite Fall Book Reviewer:

Problems of a Book Nerd. Recently stumbled upon this review and she is freaking adorable. She's currently studying aboard and even manages to work that into her reviews. She's one of the few reviewer I watched who will show you a list of books she's hauled and then within a few weeks will have reviews posted about them. Most will haul books hen well never see them again. She also has a vast taste in books and is constantly recommending things I've never heard of before.

Top Fall Music:

Last time I picked an entire album this time I just have a few songs.

Adele Hello- Who isn't blaring this song right now?! Pretty sure everyone is not just obsessed with this song but with the music video as well. Can someone please tell me what makeup she uses because it is so on point it hurts.

Justin Bieber Sorry- Uh yeah, never thought a Bieber song would make any kind of list of mine, but hey there's a first time for everything. I've honestly really been enjoying the music he's been putting out lately. Also completely in love with the "dance" version music video he has up of this.

Hailee Steinfeld Love Myself- You don't want to like this song... But really can't help it. It's so freaking catchy.

Favorite Event:

This is an easy one.

Yallfest! Leah and I went ham on Yallfest. We managed to see every single author we wanted to, go to every event we wanted to, and get to every giveaway we wanted to. We snagged massive swag and a ton of ARCs. We brought both our husbands along with us so it made getting to everything and the wait in lines so easy! The only thing we were letdown about was that Rick Yancey had to cancel due to being ill. It seems like we can't catch a break when it comes to him. Every time we try to met him something happens. 2016 though we will meet him!

-Angela

Nil: Lynne Matson

Nil: Lynne Matson

On the island of Nil, there's only one real rule... You have exactly 365 days to escape or you die. Seventeen-year-old Charley was sucked out the Target parking lot and woke up naked and on Nil. Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the hot leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she would have thought and falling in love isn't helping. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that she has to find a way to beat the clock, and quickly.

Ok so let me start off by saying that I'm pretty torn about this book. I both liked it and hated it. Mainly I just hated it. First off the insta love in this book was taken to a whole new level...It's overwhelming and takes up a majority of the story. There's less cheese in the diary section of Publix than there was in this book. To prove my point I give you:

Exhibit A: "Thanks for the company. And for this." I touched the delicate lei. "It's beautiful" "Not to sound totally lame, but it doesn't compare with the girl who's wearing it." Then he kind of groaned and laughed both at once. "man, that did sound lame, but it's true" "very lame," I agreed. "And I hate to break it to you, but I think your visions going." "my visions just fine... like I said, it's perfect..."

BARF right... and I bet you had a hard time telling which one was Charley and which one was Thad. If it wasn't for the titles on each chapter I probably wouldn't have known myself. There was NO difference between how Thad and Charley thought. Since we're talking about Charley and Thad let me tell you about them... Charley is a six foot tall super model look alike that has that Oh-what-me-pretty-noooo attitude that is beyond annoying! She does WAY too much swooning EVEN FOR MY TASTE. Then there's Thad the tall buff snow boarder who also happens to be an over six feet tall super model who has jelly beans for brains. And yes they fall instantly in love... That's only the first problem with this book. 

They are constantly talking about all the danger that's on the island. There's lions and tigers and bears oh my! Yet none of these things ever mess with them. You think a bunch of animals would eventually roll up to their camp and try to jack their food... NOPE, for the most part all the animals keep to themselves. (Except this one random cat thing that seemed like it held some kind of importance, but actually was as random as the rest of this story.) There also seems to be a pretty endless supply of food just lying around, along with clothes. Half the time everyone's crying about what's on the menu... BOOHOO and to think people out there in the real world are paying 10 dollars a roll for sushi and you just have it there for free. Hard life. Not to mention that the plants around them are edible... yeah you heard me, THE LEAVES AROUND THEIR CAMP ARE EDIBLE TOO. YET EVERYONE IS HUNGRY... HMMM HERE'S AN IDEA, GRAB THE CLOSET SHRUB AND EAT YA IDIOT. Something else I failed to mention was that they are fighting SO hard for their lives... no time for fun and games... Wait I spoke to soon, there's plenty of time. They play volleyball, go surfing, work out, they even have gliders (Another thing that was mentioned like once but was never brought up again). 

The island is also dripping with nosy mother f-ers. Everyone is all up in everyone's business, oh wait nope they only seem to notice Thad and Charley's drama EVEN THOUGH THERE'S LIKE FIFTY OTHER PEOPLE ON THE ISLAND! But back to what I know we are all dying to hear about... The love. It's awful! It's so over the top and annoying. They seriously fall in love in seconds. A new Ya book record. They are even dropping L bombs all over the place after just a few short weeks. Plus they are always using these "inside jokes" with each other OVER AND OVER AND OVER... Then Thad gives Charley this awful little nick name thing and I thought if I had to hear "Charley with an e-y" one more time I was going to set myself on fire! 

He pulled out his pineapple slicer, and with slow, deliberate stokes, Thad carved the first five letters of my name. Then he paused. "tell me how to finish... i-e or e-y?" "e-y" I answered. He chuckled "so right." "what's that suppose to mean?" Thad finished etching the y and blew on my name. Without turning he said, "because for your name to end in Lie doesn't fit. You're the most real girl I've met on or off Nil." 

If I was Charley I would have taken that knife right out his hands and slit my wrist because there's no way I'm going to make it another 300 days with this guy. As far as the plot goes, if you've seen the show Lost you already know whats going to happen. Just throw in some shimmering liquid light things that you'll need to be eaten by to be sent home, and you have Nil. I'm not kidding the comparison between the two is uncanny. Purgatory, parallel universes, weird animals, random people everywhere, and there's a strange maze looking symbol written on rocks all around. HMMM why does that last one sound so familiar... I just can't put my finger on it.

There are also so many plot holes in this story. Everything is just so convenient. Kids appear who know all these crazy traits... one is a baker who makes awesome bread... where the hell did the yeast come from? There's a carpenter who just happens to know how to build using wooden nails. LIKE COME ON GIVE US A BREAK! The kids on this tropical vacation don't even have to be smelly because they have some girl who knows how to make fancy soap! With no real world building involved in this story, besides a list of things that are on this island, Which include a sweet snowy mountain, volcanoes, and a wild flower field. The sub character in this book for the most part are pointless. None of the characters really care if they stay on the island or get off as long as they have their gf/bf with them. 

Guess I should say something nice about this book... The first like 40 pages of this book are cool, and the last 40 pages are cool too. I liked the ending mainly because it was the end, but I guess it was sweet too. Probably the best part of the whole novel. Over all this was a cluster-F of a book that could of made a cool trilogy or even a better standalone, if some of the fifty things listed above were fixed. I had high hopes for this book, and had heard a lot of good things about it... Sadly I was let down.

4.5/10 Stars

-Angela