July & August Reads

Hello!!! I really need to be better at posting. I’ve been looking at my pc for days and days, but I’ll be 100% honest. After spending way over 8 hours a day in front of my PC working in cooperate? Yeah, I don’t really wanna open my personal PC… But then I miss this… *sigh*

So, when I last posted I mentioned I was going to re-read the Winston Brothers series, and that’s exactly what I did in July. I devoured the full series and it still stands true that this is one of my all time favourite series. It’s not easy for all the books in a series to be consistently good, especially with such different characters, but these brothers (and sister) are amazing.

I rated all books between 4 and 5 stars (just like the first time I read them). The narration makes these books that much better. I understand audiobooks might not be for everyone, but Cletus… ❤

Right before I finished the series above, I started Hot Stuff by Max Monroe, while waiting for my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, so I also finished it quickly and found it enjoyable. I don’t know why, but it didn’t hit quite like the first book in the series, but overall really enjoyable.

I felt like the whole conflict of the book, and the hesitancy of Lauren to tell her father she was with Garrett, lasted way too long. Not the best resolution either. But other than that, super funny book, as usual for Max Monroe.

At this point I had on my Scribd a book series that I loved, but had never finished, because it was fantasy, and I hadn’t read a fantasy book in years. Much less listened to one. So I was highly intrigued, and decided to embark on the journey of listening to whole ACOTAR series.

And OH MY GOD! I had missed fantasy and hadn’t even realized it. I missed the world building and the different world rules, and Rhys…

I had read both the first and second book back in the day, but never had read ACOWAR, and I realized I did not remember a lot of things, so this was a whole experience. I was honestly a big hesitant to listen to it in audio form, as until this point, I’ve been sticking to romance in audio, but I was honestly super pleasantly surprised.

My thoughts at this point while reading book 1 were “WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING WHEN I REALLY LIKED THIS CHARACTER?” eheh!! So let me just sum up my feelings (just skip it if you don’t want spoilers):

• Why did I ever liked Tamlin?
• Lucien needs to grow a spine
• I understand Lucien cannot do more – he has nothing
• Lucien deserves better
• WTF Tamlin and the whole thing under the mountain?
• Rhys ❤
• Rhys and Feyre need to communicate better
• Nevermind previous point
• I love Nesta – she’s a bit**, but she’s awesome
• Feyre… WOW
• I like Elain in 1 scene… ONE
• Azriel needs a happy ending…
• … and it better not be with Elain
• Highly intrigued about Eris…
• Again, Lucien deserved better
• Helion, I need more of Helion
• Tamlin :@
• Nessian… ❤ cute
• We need more Mor
• 500 years with your family carrying that without trusting them enough to be open about it. I don’t understand…
• … so I need more Mor
• Azriel deserves better
• A Court of Silver Flames… oh well… it just went from mildly spice, to holy sh**
• Emerie and Gwyn and Nesta ❤ loved the friendship
• …

Now I have a problem… I really want the following books 😦 Guess it’s the waiting game now.

At this point my Tik Tok‘s algorithm was showing me plenty of smut… I guess spending time entering book tok because of Nessian does that to the thing. So I didn’t know what to read next. Devil in Disguise (The Ravenels) had just become available on Scribd, so I listened to it during 1 afternoon.

This was my least favourite book of the series so far, the instalove did not work for me at all. It took me awhile to feel the connection between the characters, and it did not help that Keir’s actions were not consistent. I just was not sold :(, which left me sad because I do love Lisa Kleypas books.

This is the moment I don’t quite know what happened, and I started to read a series I thought I would never ever ever touch… but more to that on my next post 😉 …

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite 2016 Releases So Far This Year

Hello, welcome back to another Tuesday. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is:

Top Ten Favorite 2016 Releases So Far This Year

---

Book Traveling Thursdays: A Book I Would Love To See As a Movie

Hello, welcome back to another Book Traveling Thursdays, which a weekly meme created by Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much and Danielle @Danielle’s Book Blog. The goal is to share the covers of a book related to that week’s theme, which you can see at the Goodreads group, indicating the original cover, the one of your country, your favorite and least favorite.

This week’s theme is “Choose a book you would want to see as a movie or TV show“. This is getting harder by the weeK! I’m going with A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas this week. I would love to see ACOTAR as a movie series… it would be epic!

---

Original COver:

I really like the original US cover. Actually, SJM’s covers are always beyond gorgeous.

COVER FROM MY COUNTRY (PORTUGAL) & COVER FROM THE COUNTRY I LIVE IN (SPAIN):

No cover for Portugal yet. But Spain does have a cover, and it’s much like the original one, the tones are more toned out though, and while i like it, I like the vibrant red of the original cover.

Favorite COVER(s):

                                               

I love both this covers. I love the simplicity of the UK cover, and at the same time, I love the complexity of the US one… oh well… I own the UK version and it looks amazing on my shelve.

LEAST FAVORITE COVER(s):

There’s only one cover that doesn’t use the original one, and that is the Brazilian edition. Now, while I definitly don’t hate this cover, I also don’t love it, so it gets the spto of least favorite cover this week.

 

Bookish Bromances

There’s one thing I love to see in books, sometimes even more than the romances themselves, and that is: a good bromance! I mean, seriously, is there anything better than watching/reading about friendshio? Especially between 2 guys? I think it’s magical :D.

---

1. Will & Jem – The Infernal Devices

Will and Jem are the definition of bromance. They are more than brothers. The way they love each other is epic!

(source)

---

2. Jace & Alec – The Mortal Instruments

Like good parabatai, the bond between these two is beyond words… now, I just wish that the show would do it justice.

(source)

---

3. Dorian & Chaol – Throne of Glass

I loved this friendship in the first book and I hated that Chaol’s relationship with Celaena made a dent in it. Luckily, it is all good now, right?

(source)

---

4. Harry & Ron – Harry Potter

Even fighting sometimes, they always had each other’s backs.

---

5. Tamlin & Lucien – A Court of Thorns and Roses

The way Lucien makes fun of Tamlin… LOL! These two are adorable!

(source)

---

6. Aedion & Rowan – Queen of Shadows

They are hostile for a moment there, but they develop a true bond and it’s beautiful.

(source)

---

7. Seth & Ryan – Second Chances 

What Seth and Ryan go through during the two books of this series clearly shows the love that exists between them… #goals!

                                                   

---

8. Garrett, Logan, Dean & Tucker – Off-Campus

One of the funniest and greatest part of The Deal was watching the relationship between the 4 friends and roommates. I sill have to read the other 2 books that are already out, but they are awesome together.

---

9. Thorne & Kai – The Lunar Chronicles

Thorne and Kai share a wonderful moment in Winter that made them apt to join this list. I wish we had some more moments of bonding between the guys, but one can always imagine them :D.

(source)

---

10. Simon & Clive – Wallbanger

I’m cheating here, but come on, can you really blame me? Clive is the most awesome cat ever! And he bonds with Simon just like a person. I mean, Simon puts him on the counter to watch him cook, and goes retrieve him so he can sleep with the… it’s cute as hell!

A Court of Mist and Fury Cover Reveal

Guys, it’s here, it’s here!!! We finally have the cover for A Court of Mist and Fury by the marvelous Sarah J. Maas.

    

The first is the US cover, and the second is the UK one. Which one do you like best? I love the fact that the US one shows her tattooed hand 😀 (it basically calls to the property of Rhysand), and I also love that it has more details all around. But the UK one, the one I’ll get, has the thorns!!!

Either way, I love it. Well done Bloomsbury.

A Court Of Thorns And Roses Optioned for Film

Wait, what?! OH YEAH!!!

Deadline just broke the news that Tempo Productions has optioned the Sarah J. Maas novel, A Court Of Thorns And Roses for film, and I’m so so happy!

ACOTAR would be a great movie, who’s with me? Are we fancasting the hot hot Fae yet? 😀

---

EXCLUSIVE– In a competitive situation, Jo Bamford’s and Piers Tempest’s Tempo Productions have optioned Sarah J Maas’s YA fantasy book A Court of Thorns and Roses. Maas’s book follows 19-year-old huntress Feyre, who kills a wolf in the woods, only for a beast-like creature to arrive and demand retribution for it.

Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin, one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it or doom Tamlin and his world forever.

Maas is repped by CAA and Tamar Rydzinski at the Laura Dail Literary Agency. Charles Moore at Wiggin LLC acts for Tempo.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Characters that I would give Halloween a chance for

Hello, welcome back to another Tuesday. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is:

Halloween themed freebie — your choice (ie. 10 best ghost stories, 10 things that scare you in books, 10 literary Halloween costumes, 10 vampire novels, 10 books that WILL scare you, 10 non-scary books for Halloween, 10 scariest covers, etc.)

I don’t do Halloween, like, at all. I don’t read scary books, I don’t watch scary movies, I don’t dress up or go out partying. I don’t do any of those things. So this week I decided to name 10 characters that I would totally do the Halloween thing for, or, people who are so cool that I would totally like to dress up as them.

---

1. Cath (Fangirl)

True, it wouldn’t be exactly hard to dress up as Cath, but it would be a blast. Cath is so relatable, that if I raid my closet I would probably have everything I needed to “be” her. (source)

2. Tessa Gray (The Infernal Devices)

Dressing up as any Shadowhunter would be great, but I have a soft spot for Tessa Gray’s clothes 😉 . (source)

3. Aelin Ashryver Galathynius (Throne of Glass Series)

Celaena’s clothes are all amazing, but I love her tunics and pants, and that dress from Queen of Shadows? With the Dragon? WOW!!! (source)

4. Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter series)

Dressing up as a student from Hogwarts would already be pretty great, but Luna is just special. (source)

5. Feyre (A Court of Thorns and Roses)

Feyre is a bit kickass, I mean, she gets to wear some gorgeous clothes – though not dresses at first – and she has a bow and arrows, so she has a Katniss vibe going on as well… (source)

6. Dahlia Moss (The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss)

I read this book recently (and loved it) and Dahlia just wears the most ridiculous things sometimes… I mean, a jigglypuff hat?!

7. Shahrzad (The Wrath and the Dawn)

Shazi just has the most amazing set of clothes (and husband), so I would totally dress like her for one day… though I suspect that I would be thoroughly embarrassed by the amount of skin showing…

8. Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice)

Does this need an explanation? (source)

9. Eleanor (Eleanor & Park)

I love Eleanor’s style, she’s so unique, and I love her so much, that I would totally be her for one day (if her family didn’t come attached). (source)

10. Professor McGonagall (Harry Potter series)

I’ve mentioned before that I think McGonagall rocks, and I would totally dress up as her for Halloween 😀 .

ACOTAR 2 Title Revealed

Yesterday, the title for the A Court of Thorns and Roses sequel was (finally revealed)! Sarah J. Maas next book, coming in May 2016, will be named A Court of Mist and Fury!!!! It sounds epic, it really does, I can’t wait to read more about Tamlin, Lucien, Feyre and Rhysand.

And will the cover be blue???! 😀 😀 😀

The “While We Wait for Queen of Shadows” Book Tag!

Hey, welcome back for another Book Tag! Kelsey @Don’t Shush Me! created this one in honour of the released of the much awaited Queen of Shadows (Sarah J. Maas) tomorrow. Thank you Kelsey, for nominating me for the “While We Wait for Queen of Shadows” Book Tag.

Favorite book by Sarah J. Maas & why?

It’s so tough, I haven’t read a book by her that I didn’t like!

Although all of the Throne of Glass books have a higher rating, I think I’ll go for A Court of Thorns and Roses. I liked that it was a bit more adult, and a lot more explicit. Also, it was the first book I read by Sarah and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Favorite character in Throne of Glass series & why?

Celaena/Aelin! It’s so refreshing that a girl can be a badass and girly, feminine and scared all at the same time.

 

Ok, which team are you on (Dorian, Chaol, or Rowan)?

Did you forget Aedion? Because he’s very much in play (at least in my head!). So, right now I’m Team Rowan and Team Dorian! I love them both, and I can see the advantages of her being with anyone of them. For Chaol, however, I don’t see it happening… he got his chance (sorry dude! I still like you!).

How long have you had to wait between reading Heir of Fire, & Queen of Shadows?

I don’t think it will come to a month. I finished Heir of Fire on August 9, and I’ll be receiving my Queen of Shadows on September 7…. 😀 It’s the advantage of being late to “these books are awesome” party!

 

What are your favorites out of the books that have helped you pass the time in between Sarah J. Maas book releases?

Probably The One Thing, by Marci Lyn Curtis and The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh.

When do you think you’ll get a chance to read Queen of Shadows?

Probably as soon as it gets here on Sept 7, though it’s a Monday, which means I will have little time during the week, and it will probably drag until the next weekend.

What would you say to recommend Sarah J. Maas books to someone who has never read them?

IT’S FREAKING AWESOME!!!! What the hell are you waiting for?! Lol! I would tell them that both stories are very worthwhile, and even if they’re not totally convinced, they should give it a go.

---

I tag everyone that it’s a fan of Sarah J Maas and is patiently awaiting for the arrival of QoS tomorrow.

In preparation for Queen of Shadows: #ACOTARparty (infinitebooklist.tumblr.com)

–  My Queen of Shadows has left the building and won’t arrive until September 7! =/ –

I was searching for something the other day and came across this brilliant Tumblr post with a lot of facts and information about Sarah J. Maas, her books, her upcoming books, etc. This list is NOT MINE! I repeat, it is NOT MINE! I found it of HERE. But given that I can’t reblog Tumblr posts to WordPress, here it is. If you have Tumblr, make sure to visit the original post there, ok?

I will warn you, there will obviously be some kind of SPOILERS, though not that many plotwise. You can just skip the topics you don’t want to know about! 😉 (I will be making some comments of a few lines and those will be in pink).

EVERYTHING YOU MISSED AT THE #ACOTARPARTY

Throne of Glass

• Chaol POV in QoS – wait, didn’t he have POV in all the books so far?! I’m confused!
• HoF was hardest to write
• Manon’s POV is easiest to get into
• Aelin-Manon meeting in QOS !!! – YAY! Wonder how that’ll go down…
• In regards to how mad Aelin will be when she returns to Adarlan: “Aelin will be mad enough when she returns that it’s a good thing her magic is stifled” – Will she get even madder when she finds out that her cousin is locked away and her Prince is wearing a collar?
• “Definitely possible” for Fae to have more than one soul mate!!! – My SHIP WILL SAIL! Just saying, I want Rowan and Aelin to happen!
• Character Sarah is most excited for us to meet/re-meet in QoS = Lysandra
• Asterin Blackbeak is wanted for murder – Not surprised! Still like her though.
• Five year old Dorian would want 30 year old Dorian to be an “epic dragon-slayer” – He’s still very much on time for that! How awesome is Dorian, right?
• If Sarah could bring back any character that she killed, it would be Nehemia
• Sneak Peeks into QOS: “Violence, revenge, steamytimes, attitude problems, epic shenanigans… the usual” – Ok, steamytimes Sarah?! Who exactly will Aelin be having steamy times with?
• Rowan’s cadre may “purrrrrrrhaps” show up again – YAY!!! I want to know all of them better.
• On whether Aelin’s fae-ness makes her immortal: “you’ll find that out in future books” – My bet is on yes! It would make so much sense, and then she could be with Rowan… forever…
• Influence for Rowan: “Rowan just walked into my head one day, and that was that” – Thank you for that, now he has walked into my head and he doesn’t want to leave!
• QOS is just over 180k words
• SJM knows how ToG will end but “still many, many stories to be told in that world afterwards”
• Manon likes to have her hair brushed – by Asterin?! I’m still shipping it.
• Yrene will be returning in future ToG books
• Celaena’s weapon of choice = daggers
• Fleetfoot is 100% confirmed to survive the series – Thank goodness for that!
• Nox will return (as of right now ) but not is QoS
• “Nox has been off on some VERY fun adventures since TOG” – I’m strangely curious about this.
• Best thing about writing Celaena = her fire (figurative and literal)
• Ending of ToG won’t be like fiction press draft which Sarah considers to be “an entirely different book” of which “everything has been thrown out”
• Dorian stole a berry pie from castle kitchen when he was 11, ate the whole thing and was sick for a day (random fact) – yep, can totally see that!
• Dorian is 6′0, Chaol is 6′1, Celaena is 5′7-5′8, Aedion is 6′3, Rowan is around 6′4
• Ansel will return
• “Perhaps” we will see the Silent Assassin’s again. “Perhaps” they will play a role in later books.
• Rowan would win in a fight against Legolas… “Duh”! – Duh in deed!
• Chaol gets his “fair share of page time” in QoS
• Ironteeth “witches have slits high up in their gums where the iron teeth snap down/over their normal teeth”
• Arobynn is mid-late 30s
• Piano is only instrument Celaena can play
• Chaol has “the NICEST buns” (lol)
• It was always the plan for Sam to die
• “Sam is 1000% dead and never coming back” – Sorry people, no Sam coming back from the dead!
• Chaol had “a few” love interests before Celaena – Strangely, I would like to hear more about them.
• Most important question asked (according to SJM): “who has the better bum, Chaol, Dorian or Rowan?” – SJM won’t answer except to say that Celaena definitely has an opinion on this – I bet Celaena’s opinion is that it’s Chaol, given that she saw them and all… in my head, it’s Rowan, or Aedion…
• SJM knows who Celaena is going to end up with – Can she tells us before 2017?!

A Court of Thorns and Roses

• Lots of romance and some sexytimes – YES! I need more Tamlin/Feyre sexytimes!
• Working on last names for Tamlin and co.
• Potential companion novels!
• Book #2 is currently only Feyre’s POV
• More Nesta and future ACOTAR books
• (spoiler-y) Someone special for Lucien down the road – He so deserves it. My baby deserves all good things, he has been through enough.
• Took 5 weeks to write first draft (”crazy fast”)
• Book 2 is longer (as of right now)
• Currently no time to write ACOTAR novellas but “maybe one day”
• Rhys is favorite character to write in ACOTAR
• Tamlin’s chest is so chiseled, “you could literally crack a nut on his chest” – 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
• Rest of ACOTAR will have fairy tale roots but any specifics would be “spoiler-y”

TOG + ACOTAR

• Celaena was harder to write than Feyre because “I had to rip open old wounds and dark parts of myself to write HOF”
• Lucien and Dorian would be “bffers” – I can totally see this, because they have kind of a similar sense of humour.
• ACOTAR cover might be favorite
• Chaol and Tamlin would be good friends (but tense at first)
• If Celaena and Feyre met, “they would be like two cats meeting for the first time”
• ACOTAR men would not know what to do with Celaena, she would eat them all alive – She would, and I would love to read about that. Is there some fanfiction anywhere about this?
• Favorite villain to write = Manon’s grandmother
• SJM’s advice to surviving SJM’s endings: “invest in tissues. and chocolate” – Buying chocolate on the next trip to the supermarket.
• Cover color decisions are not up to SJM
• “TOG and ACOTAR are in the same Megaverse. So you could technically open a Wyrdgate between their worlds.”
• Working on sharing annotated playlists but “they’re all really realllllly long”

Character Personalities

• Feyre would love Sophia Coppola films
• Celaena would love Gone With the Wind
• Dorian would love classics (films) – And he would pick some classy pick up lines from them, no doubt.
• “Rhys wears black boxers… when he feels like wearing underwear at all.”
• If Celaena were an animal, she would “10000%” be a velociraptor
• Feyre’s sport is cross-country or swimming
• Manon’s sport is ice-hockey (without pads preferable)
• Celaena’s sport is soccer
• Feyre’s most visited website = Pinterest
• Celaena’s most visited website = Goodreads
• Rhys’ theme song = “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred – LOL!
• Celaena’s unofficial theme song = “Back in Black” by AC/DC
• TOG characters who would have tattoos (if modern day): Aedion, Celaena, Rowan, Nehemia
• TOG characters who would not have tattoos (if modern day): Manon, Dorian, Chaol
• Celaena is a “double-shot-espresso-hold-the-bs” type of person (not tea) – Never a doubt in my mind about that.

Writing

• SJM likes/prefers writing longer books
• “Might have something up her sleeve” in terms of what book she will right after the current two series are done
• “Every book is it’s own journey and has its own challenges– and it definitely doesn’t get any easier.”
• “HATES” outlining but makes “extensive playlists” to “keep track of story structure”
• Will “NEVER be done adding hot men to the line-up” – Yes Please! More Hot Men coming!
• Needs to have a beginning and ending before committing to a story
• Other fairy tales Sarah would consider adapting = Firebird Legends, Vasilisa the Brave/Beautiful (Russian folklore)
• Can write male and female characters of equal awesomeness because she “sold her soul to a demon at the crossroads at midnight” – is she watching too much Supernatural?

Sarah J Maas

• Best Book Sarah’s read in the last year = Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
• Favorite Anime (growing up) = Sailor Moon, Utena, Magic Knight, Rayearth, Gundam Wing, Fushigi Yuugi, and Ronin Warriors
• Won’t answer which male character she would be with because people might read too much into it
• Would take on Mydengaard Wyrm (from ACOTAR) and “be a BAMF”
• Met Susan Dennard online via a group blog, “rest is history”
• Favorite line from ToG = “Because hers was not a story of darkness.”
• Preferred superpower = shape shifting
• Would shape-shift into tiger or dragon or velociraptor
• Would be best friends with Asterin Blackbeak in real life
• If Celaena were to all of a sudden appear in real life, SJM would first and foremost introduce her to iTunes
• Before writing, wanted to be a marine biologist living on a boat and studying great white sharks
• “PROUD Feminist”
• Has an entire shelf in her fridge dedicated to cheese