Will Grayson, Will Grayson Review:

Hey! For this month, September, of book club, we had to read the many 4th normal book ever: Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I had already previously read this book, but it was a while ago so I decided to re-read it, all for you guys! Haha ;)

So let me just start off by saying that I surprisingly re-read this book in 5 days. It is a lot shorter than Empire of Storms but I still feel super guilty. Especially since my direct tbr after EOS was supposed to be A Shadow Bright and Burning. But I promise that that's my next read, and after all the positive reviews I read and saw in Bookstagram and twitter I'm super excited to get into. (Btw if you want to follow me on instagram I'm: @goldstormbooks and on twitter: @AbbyW123) I actually read all of John Green's novels, or all the popular books, because he was super popular at one point. This was like 2 years ago, so I really remeber like nothing from those books, other than that I didn't really like them. 2 years isn't that long of a time but with all the books I read per year back then, I didn't remember half of them a year later (usually the worse half, no offense). I didn't like his work because at the time I think it was too mature, and somewhat depressing for me to read. I ended up reading The Fault in our Stars, because everyone did, right before the movie came out on June 6th, 2014 (Book came out 2012). Actually I might have even read TFIOS in 2013, but since everyone was reading it, someone obviously had to spoil the ending for me. Thanks so much... That's another reason why I don't like John Green's books that much, it's because one of the main characters sometimes dies, or close to dies. Ugh... I ended up going on a long reading spree of all his books, just like everyone else, and reading: Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Let it snow, The Fault in Our Stars, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I didn't like any of these books except Let it Snow, so I'm very unsure why I kept reading them. Lmao...

Anyways moving on to the actual review of the book...

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a contemporary, young adult novel, co-written by John Green and David Levithan. The novel is written in different perspectives and follows the lives of two teenage boys, both named Will Grayson, in high school, trying to work out their own problems with their friends, romantic interests, and life in general. One of the boys is depressed and is also bi-sexual, so he is struggling with his romantic interests and his perception of life as a whole. And the other boy is just lost in life and is struggling with making decisions and actually caring. The whole plot is leading up to an incident when the two boy's worlds collide and them both growing a lot as a result. Since this was a pretty short book, only 310 pages, I might not have as much to say about it as usual.

The setting of this book is a very basic contemporary, realistic fiction, type setting. Most of the time they are either at home, at school, or in a car. The scenes that take place at school are probably the most frequent and also the most described. Since it is in two perspectives and they live in different areas, it follows two different schools. It really describes the area well, and takes on the added bonus of distance between the two cities. The settings are two suburbs of Chicago: Evanston and Naperville. In a certain part when they go into Chicago, which is where they meet, they actually mention going to the "Bean" and Millennium Park. The settings aren't too creative, and the houses all vary, so I'm gonna go into more detail on the characters. Which are by far the most detailed part of this book.

The characters, however, are what make up this story and hold it together. They are the main thing the story has going for it. Okay so obviously as I mentioned before there are two Will Graysons, who are the main characters in the book. The first one is probably the John Green one and he is straight, and has a best friend named Tiny, let's just call him Will 1. The second Will Grayson is gay and was probably written by David Levithan (but I'm not 100% sure), let's call him Will 2.

Will 1 is just a normal boy who doesn't really care about school, or girls, or life, at the beginning of the book. He is just an individual who's motto is "shut up, and not care", so obviously at first glance he's super boring and not very developed. But as the novel goes on we learn that he actually cares a lot about other people, and feels a lot of emotions that he just doesn't want to show. He especially really develops feelings for a girl named Jane at the end, and expresses his love for his best friend Tiny. Will 1 also really likes punk-rock music, and is goes to a few concerts throughout the book, sadly he only gets into one with Tiny's help. Another thing that actually was a big part in this book was music. Throughout the book there were a few, obviously fake, bands called The Maybe Dead Cats and Neutral Milk Hotel. I say obviously fake, because um come on, you can see that... Cause like who would actually name a band The Maybe Dead Cats... And because at one point Will 1 actually emails the band, and they email back... So a character that plays an extremely big role in both perspectives is Tiny. Despite his nickname he is said to be huge (big-boned) and very gay. I'm not saying this to offend anyone but in the novel they actually said that a few times so I'm just quoting it. He is a super happy person who looks at life and never blinks or cries, or breaks down, like ever. He is directing, writing, and starring in a play about his whole life and about how hard it was to come out. At the end of the novel the play takes place and is said to be a hit. Another important character in this POV is Jane. Jane is originally a friend of Tiny's, but in the end becomes very close to Will 1. Throughout the novel Jane gets Will to care more about his life, and he starts to really like her. Obviously she is his main love interest.

In the other Will's POV however things aren't so great. Will is struggling with the duel hardships or being gay, and coming out, and also suffering from depression (he has pills). He also is living in a house that is quite old, with a single mom, who is actually an amazing characters and loves Will 2 very much. He has to go to school and work as well just to live, so obviously he had it rough. He also doesn't have many friends at the beginning and the only one he though he could trust turned out to be a lie. So honestly, I felt really bad for him especially since he has no actually friends that he could turn to, and nobody knew he was bi. A character that at first was just a normal girl, but then pissed me the hell off, is this punk girl named Maura. This girl... I just can't even. She was so bitchy to Will 2 the whole time she knew him, and was also "depressed" and sick of life. So whenever they hung out together they just mopped around and suffering in their overall depression together. As you can tell it was a terrible, toxic friendship and no one benefited. Also halfway through the book Maura did something which was so obviously out of line, and let's just say she was pretty much kicked out of that POV for it. Will 2 also had a lunch group, which consisted of 2 guys named Derek and Simon, that he honestly didn't talk to at all. Throughout the book, Will 2 actually got a lot better, made a lot of new friends and changed as a person completely. He met Tiny, made some new friends, and came out to his friends and mom. His life improved drastically, but so did Will 1's throughout the book.

As you can tell, this book is not for just anyone. It deals with many mature issues, and I would definitely not recommend it to anyone under 14 years. Overall, I definitely enjoyed this book a lot more reading it a second time, as I am older now. It's just a lot easier to get and take in when you're older. As well it includes a lot, like A LOT, of swearing and also some PG 13 scenes. I would say that this book wasn't bad, and I quite enjoyed it. It was very funny at parts, and made me laugh out loud. I would give it a 7.6/10 because as I said it wasn't too bad and it did make me laugh, but it wasn't one of my favourite reads. As I said before I read this book for book club, so hopefully I'll have another post up tomorrow summarising the meet, as I will be attending tonight.

And As always Thank you so much for reading!  - <3 Katia
 

Empire of Storms Review:

"Holy Gods", this book was good! Not just good, it was fantastic, wonderful, epic, and dreamy!

<-- This was so me! Hey Guys, I just finished reading Empire of Storms which is the fifth book of the Throne of Glass series. If you have not read it yet, you have to read it right now! It's the best series I have ever read. Sorry all you extreme potter-heads. Two of my closest friends are actually reading it right now because on my insistent recommendations. Sarah J. Maas is the author of a this series and also of the A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy, which I am a huge fan of as well. She completely outdid herself with this book. There was so much action, but still so much character development and romance as well. There was also so much more emotion, though, and sadness in this book that the rest. ;( Honestly though, my favourite ship of this book is still Rowaelin, not sure if that's the actual spelling but you get the point.  A lot of new characters were developed in this book that I really really enjoyed seeing.

Since this book is the fifth in the series I will try not to spoil any major event that occur, but I might spoil some things from the other 4 books, so if you have not yet read them: BEWARE there might be spoilers! This book came out September 6th, I got it September 7th, and started reading it September 7th, and I finished it today, September 20th. So I am officially super mad at myself. That is almost exactly 2 weeks that it took me to finish this book. Granted it's pretty long, 689 pages to be exact (goodreads was actually close this time, lmao), but still. I have wanted to read this book for almost a year, and I absolutely hate how it ended, but I'll just have to deal, FOR ANOTHER YEAR! Jeez that seems like so much more when the book isn't even titled yet. *Sigh* I'm also mad because I was supposed to start and finish A Shadow Bright and Burning before today, but I didn't even start. Sadness. But shout-out to ASBAB that came out today! I'll tell you all about how it is when I finish it! Considering how long it took me to finish this amazingness, because of school and stupid homework, it might take a while. Anyways this review will officially begin in the next paragraph but I also might ad a very excited rant spoilery, favourite parts section at the end. So you definitely shouldn't read that if you haven't read the book.

Furthermore.... Here is my review of Empire of Storms:

Okay so let's start with the background. As anyone who has read this series knows that this series takes place in a magical land far away, called Erilea. Basically this land is split into different territories who rule different areas of the continent. There is Adarlan, Fenharrow, Melisande, Eyllwe, The Deserted Land, The Western Wastes, and Terrasen. There is also a land to the east called Wendlyn, where all the magic folk, the Fae, live. While I was reading this book I just could not remember why all the fae live there, or if it's only Fae, and who even governs it. I always though it was Maeve and that's it, but later I was like hmmm maybe it's not actually just Maeve. So that's basically the back story, and if I tell you the backstory of the plot it will literally take 5 books, because in the first book you have absolutely no inkling at all, except for the appearance of Elena, that Celeana/Aelin will have to go through everything that happens in this book. It all comes down to this; Celeana in her non-magical self and is an assassin, who was a slave and then was freed to win a competition, who then flirted and made out with the captain of the guard. Then she went to Wendlyn after her close friend was murdered, to find herself because she was completely lost. Then she found a very angry, almost as stubborn as her prince, Rowan in Wendlyn who taught her all the magic and control she knows, pretty much, as Aelin. SO basically the setting of this book series is mainly Adarlan, but it's actually all over the place.

The whole setting plays a major role in creating this world and giving it life. All the different territories and who governs them all make up Erilea and make up Erilea's history. This is a lot more important than you might think at first glance, because just like all of Sarah's other books, Empire of Storms has an intricate web at its core. It honestly has so many different aspects of the other books that all come together, especially at the ending reveal. This brings me to the plot. What a great job Sarah did with that. I absolutely loved all the details that Sarah used, and how she brought together Celeana's past and Aelin's future in one book. All the parts with Rowan, you do know they are together by this point right, sorry if you didn't, were super precious and cutesy. I really liked the connection between all the different relationships developed throughout the book, but the one complaint I had was how similar Rowan and Aelin's relationship and "hot" scenes were to Rhysand and Feyre's. Like honestly the ending between them was super similar, the thing one of them didn't want to acknowledge was super similar (*wink wink*, if you know what I mean). It was just overall, very annoying to me for some parts to be reading and making all these connections to Acomaf, when I wanted it to be personal and all about Rowaelin. Obviously I loved Acomaf so that's not exactly a bad thing, but I guess the two worlds aren't as different as I originally thought.  Both have Fae and also their own special rules and traditions/bonds. And an obvious reason as to why they were so similar, was probably just the fact that it is all written by Sarah, which is great, just somewhat annoying at times.

Moving on to the characters.... As I mentioned in my very disorganised introduction I really enjoyed

all the new character development that we got. I honestly though that after Queen of Shadows, we were done getting new characters, but I was wrong. We actually got to learn more about a lot of new characters. Some include; Fehrys, Gavriel, Lorcan, and Pirate Lord Rolfe. I really appreciated Sarah's amazing writing when writing from the character's points of views, and how all the views were so different, and then came together at the end. Just like all the other books in the series. I really love how Dorian grew as a person, how he finally learned to manage his power, use it for good, as well as how much he matured after the events of Queen of Shadows. Now when I look at him I see a man who accomplished many things, versus before it was a young spoiled, defenceless, scared boy that liked to read, was in love with Celeana, and gave lots of gifts. As always I still love Abraxos, and Lysandra, and Aedion, who didn't grow that much but all had a nice part in the book where they showed their true colors. I really admire Aelin for never giving up and for always being there for her friends. At the end this was really shown by how many of her friends she truly helped, and also by how even though she was told what must be done she already knew and was preparing for it for months. All those times when I was like, "this is not gonna end well", Aelin pulled something out of her sleeve and we all pulled through. And all those times when she became super strong and powerful and kicked ass. I also really love the idea of "Aelin's new squad", throughout this book (except for in the end). In Queen of Shadows, it was Rowan, Aedion, Lysandra, and some other people and Chaol for a bit. By the way, for people that are still team chaol, he's not in this book at all sorry. But Dorian is, so yay for team Dorian (ish). In this book Aelin's previous "squad" actually got so much stronger as a whole and grew a lot from each other, as well as got some aditions.

So overall, this book was fantabulous! And epic, and heart breaking, and had so much action and character development I almost cried. The ending especially had so much emotion and sadness, but also hope. I give it a 9.5/10 just because of the minor flaws, like too many similarities where I wanted difference. Also because I liked Acomaf more. I liked Rhysand a lot more over Rowan, but I love Aelin more than Feyre so I'm very indecided, especially since they're so similar... I have a paragraph on that in this post. Basically if you have not yet read the series read it, it will seem good after the first book but after the 3rd it will be amazing, and you won't regret it. Even though all the books are really long they're so worth it. There is now 5 plus The Assasin's Blade, which after reading this book I'm really considering re-reading, and I really recommend you read before reading EOS. I really enjoyed this book, and literally can not wait until the 6th one comes out! :) Also can not wait until Acotar 3! Bless these books and Sarah and everything!!! Also since I already took up so much space (and time, like 2 hours writing all my reviews) I will post my spoiler section on my eos goodreads review, and if you want to read that I will have a link here. (It's very very long I'm warning you now just click view spoiler, and don't read the first paragraph. It's basically a summary of this blog post.) Hope you enjoyed my review and please comment on anything you want to discuss, and if you want to discuss all the amazing spoils, comment on my goodreads review.

Oh and I almost forgot to add, I heard that there is going to be a Throne of Glass Tv show called Queen of shadows. Honestly I'm very in-decided, but it better be good, not like Shadowhunters. Tbh I don't really think it needs a tv show, but as long as I have Acomaf to myself I'm okay. I honestly feel like if someone actually wanted to know what the series was about they would read it, and not just watch a Tv show. First they're not always accurate, second Sarah's writing cannot be expressed in film, it's too good, and third the castinggg... :/  And, no Tv show will be as good or anywhere close to the quality of her books. Are you excited? What do you guys think? Thank you so much to all my amazing readers for reading!
- <3 Kat Hearts


(Update: ~~ On goodreads I was reading somebody's review and I found a link to all the exclusive stories, so thanks to them but here are all three. Target, Barnes and Noble, and UK (Chaol: Part 1 and 2). And I also realised that I should totally get Tumblr.)

(And some super cute fanart I found on Twitter is below, semi-spoilery, and not mine at all)

                                 (^ Omg all these Rowan jokes, love them so much! <3 ^)

Movies, Books, and Book Shelf Post:

Hello to all my lovely readers! <3 How is not so lovely school going for you? Well, for me, not so great. I have sooo much homework that I don't even know how I found the time to do post today, but I did. I actually took photography this semester because I really enjoy the art of it and I swear it's pure assignments. Ugh... We got three just this week. And it's only been a week of school... How about you guys? Any annoying teachers who give you wayyy to much work? (And I also think I might be sick, but it's not like I can miss any school...)

Since I haven't posted in almost a week, very sad I know, I decided to do a post I wanted to do before but never got around to it. The only reason I actually remembered was because everytime I have an idea for a post I just put it on a sticky note, in my computer, and then when I have the time to post I just write about all that I put into that note. It's actually very useful and is kind of like a summary of my booky week.

                                                      Just some updates for y'all:

- Yesterday I went shopping with my friends and got two new books from the library book sale section (really cheap, and highly recommend)
- I am on page 373 of Empire of Storms
- I have two tests, and 3 projects due next week (I'm dead)
- I'm on 1.19 hours into Iron Man 3
- And I recently watched Beastly

Okay so now to go into more details for you guys....

Basically there is a library right next to a mall that is on my way home from school, and it's a super huge library. At this library they have a small room at the back filled with books for sale. Each paperback is 25 cents and each hard-copy is a dollar. Like how great is that? SO obviously each time I'm nearby I go in to take a look, because they are constantly getting restocked. Yesterday when I went there was a paperback copy of the Hunger Games, and I was super tempted to get it but since I already had it, I decided to leave it for somebody else to find. What I did end up getting though, was pretty good as well. I got One plus One, by Jojo Moyes, and I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. All together for 1.25$. :) Because One plus One was hard-copy and I Am the Messenger was paperback. Previously I also bought a looottt of books from these book sales, including; Twilight, Matched, Something Blue, Something Borrowed, Sarah's Key, and Uglies. These are all Ya books that I've heard of and was super excited to get for 25 cents each (except matched which was a hardcopy).

          

Another thing that I really have to comment on is how amazing Empire of Storms is. On one hand I really want to finish it because it's so good and I want to tell you guys all about it, but on the other hand the next one comes out in a year so I want to drag it out as long as possible. But with school, homework, and actually sleeping I have almost no time, so the decision is basically made for me. But have I mentioned how awesome this book is. I actually don't want to say this but there are a looott of comparisons to ACOMAF, especially at a certain part ;) which I don't exactly approve of. But idk, it's an amazing series either way and even if the two are extremely similar, I still love all the character and the series as a whole. Tbh I actually like some characters more, for example: I like Rhysand more than Rowan (but they are actually very similar), I like Aelin more than Feyre (but they are also super similar), and I just like Dorian and Lysandra and Aedion more than Rhysand's squad, but I still love Mor and Amren. Overall, they are very very similar but I'm pretty sure authors are allowed to do that and it's not necessarily a bad thing. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention but I'm also racing against the clock because I want to finish Eos and start A Shadow Bright and Burning and finish it and review it before it comes out, which is September 20th, so in 5 days. Shit! I just realised that's in 5 days so it's definitely not happening, aww oh well...

And Finally, the last topic to cover is... MOVIES! Have you guys watched any good movies recently? Because I swear I'm starting to run out, I have watched like everything.... Lmao. Anyways so last Friday, I actually watched Beastly. It doesn't have a very good Imdb rating but I liked it. It was sooo cute and kind of stupid but funny and sweet. Oh maybe that's why it has such a low rating, but it's okay because I already watched all the movies with a good plot... Oh and I just remebered I actually found it, because I was in the book sale section of the library, and they had dvds for sale. I looked through them and Beastly seemed interesting so I watched it with a friend. :) Also up until a year ago for some reason I never watched Marvel Movies. I honestly have no idea why because they're amazing!!! But maybe I was just too scared or something... No legit, when I was younger I was super scared of any action movies, I just would not watch them. Maybe that's why I'm such a rom-com person today. Lol. SO, right now I'm actually smack dab in the middle of Iron man 3, and it is sooo good! The effects and plot and characters honestly get better which each movies, but I also just love Robert Downey Jr. Have you seen his google profile pic btw? It's so weird... Ahahaha! Basically, If you haven't watched Iron Man or any Marvel Movies, you are seriously missing out. Trust me they are sooo good, and especially since they all connect within each other. And guess why they're that good? Because they originally came from comic book, BOOKS! So that's obvi why. ;)

      

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog! I love you all so much, and hope that you stick by me even when I don't have many reviews to post because of school. Because I'm hopefully interesting enough even without them. Honestly though, I promise I'll have a super long review/rant (because it could go either way, depending on the ending), when I finish Empire of Storms. So if you have any movie recommendations or anything to say at all comment below! :)     -Kat

Tbr List for September 2016:

Hey guys, I'm so proud that even though school has started and I'm crazy busy with homework, I have still been thinking about my blog and books and reading. I'm super proud that I'm still finding the time to read and post! *pats herself on back* So I just realised that it's already been a week of September and I still haven't posted my tbr for this month. I personally don't think I'll have that much time to read, but I'll try my best. Especially since I got so many amazing books recently, and *drumroll* MY NEW BOOKSHELF! Finally, Yay! :) I also realised that my tbr actually changed a lot over the past month because I got a lot of new arcs and books. Honestly, I only read like 3 books from my previous tbr which makes me really sad, but I think that that is mainly a result of me getting like super stuck on Harry Potter... (And also watching 5 seasons of Gossip Girl) What can I say, it's not going too great. It's not that it's a bad series, it's actually pretty good, It's just sooo long and for some reason I can't get myself to finish it, aha... But I have to. SO moving on to my September tbr (Note: GRR means Goodreads Rating):

#1. Empire of Storms  (GRR: 4.63/5)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
(I'm reading this book rn, and it's really good. And in my defence I said earlier, that as soon as it comes out I'm putting HP on hold, again, so sorry but hopefully I'll get back to it again soon.)


#2. A Shadow Bright and Burning (GRR: 4.07/5)
Author: Jessica Cluess
Publisher: Random House
(GUYS, I have wanted to read this book for so long, and I finally got an Arc! Ekkk, I'm so excited)


#3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (GRR: 4.45/5)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Bloomsbury/Scholastic Inc.
(I'm getting there, don't worry. At some point I will finish this series... And also I guess that rest of the series should also be on this tbr, so +6,7,8)


#4. You Before Anyone Else (GRR: 3.56/5)
Author: Julie Cross
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
(An Arc I recieved of of Netgalley and still haven't read. Thank you and sorry... :/)


#5. Anna and the French Kiss (GRR: 4.10/5)
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publisher:
(This one hasn't changed, but it did move down the list. Especially since I keep requesting it from the library because other people request it too, and I have to return it and then wait and get it again. *sigh*)


#6. The Romantics (GRR: 4/5)
Author: Leah Konen
Publisher: Amulet Books
(I originally received this book in egalley form from Netgalley, and I am so thankful! And then I also received a paperback, which I am super excited to read. SO I will definitely get around to it!)


#7. The Lovely Reckless (GRR: 4.06/5)
Author: Kami Garcia
Publisher: Imprint
(Guys I saw this book like everywhere, especially bookstagram and I've heard of Kami, from beautiful creatures. So I was obviously super excited to recieve this arc.)


#8. Will Grayson, Will Grayson (GRR: 3.86/5)
Author: John Green and David Levithan
Publisher: Dutton Books
(Okay so... I know this should be higher up on my list because it is the September book club book, but idk. I'm only going to read it if I have time, because I already read it not too long ago, and I'll probably just find a long summary online to refresh my memory. That's what I did with Queen of Shadows before reading EOS, cause I realised I had no idea what the glass wall was or who Evangeline was anymore, lmao.) (Beautiful Cover though right?)


Okay so that's about it... I could list even more but I probably won't read that much this month, as I have school and lots of homework. And also because I usually don't follow this order at all and Idk what I'll do when I actually start reading these books. But I'm almost certain that I'll read Empire of Storms, a Shadow Bright and Burning, and Harry Potter #5 this month. Or I'll at least start them all (or again, sry hp). And a shout out to The Sun is Also a Star and Put it Out There, which I might also read this month. Lol ;)... I also replaced the pic of my current tbr books with my new bookshelf on my reviews/posts page. So if you want to see it, click here. But anyways, Thank you so much for reading my blog!

What are YOU, planning to read this month? Tell me all about it in the comments below!

- As always, <3 Kat Hearts

Library Escape Room and New Arcs:

Hey Guys, I know I posted like 3 times this week, and that's like a record for me, but I just decided that I should post again. Because for some reason I feel like this week has been my most booky week all summer which is super sad, because summer is basically over. And that come September I will have to resort to my usual unproductive ways. Also school is in two days, ugh. Who's actually ready for it?

 

So anyways, I just wanted to fill you guys in on all the cool stuff that happened on Saturday evening, how I re-watched Me Before You on Friday evening, and what happened on Saturday. All of which are at least somewhat book related. I should also post a tbr list for September soon. I basically already know what I have to read, the problem is I'm not sure if I'll actually read it, because as you can see July and August weren't very productive. A big part of that, probably, was my obsession with Gossip Girl and the fact that I was always too busy or lazy to read. :( I know shameful behaviour on my part. Especially since I have sooo many arcs waiting for me...  This week, I didn't watch a single episode because I had a bronze cross course, and I literally had zero time, so I'm thinking maybe during the year I'll have zero time, so more time for reading! Don't ask how that works... aha. Anyways I actually went on my laptop today to watch an episode but instead I decided to post instead, which is a much better use of my time. :) Well now that you know the whole story let's get to the actual booky part! 

Okay so first of all Friday and Saturday were both surprisingly book related and book productive. Because I managed to read 100 pages of Harry Potter #5 over the weekend, go to a booky escape room, re-watch Me Before You, and go shopping for book cases. Which makes me seem like a book obsessed nerd, but I'm super proud. :)


Okay so let's start with the re-watching Me Before You part. I almost cried at the credits, I think I actually did cry the first time, because I absolutely love the song that's played and how well it matches the ending: Not Today -- Imagine Dragons. I honestly had never heard it before I first watched the movie, and now I know almost all the lyrics. Mainly because it got stuck in my head but also because I really liked it. I also absolutely love movie soundtracks. While watching Me Before You, I once again appreciated Sam Claflin's amazing acting abilities and Emilia Clarke's eyebrows. ;) Anyways as I said, the first time I watched it, it's a great movie with a super cute but sad plot. The ending, in my opinion is realistic and sad yet has a lot of closure and sweetness. It's such a throwback to Love Rosie, which was my favourite movie for forever, and I still absolutely love. It too has Sam Claflin and is heartbreaking yet sweet. I also read a lot of This is What Goodbye Looks Like on Friday Evening, until 2 am actually. Then when I got to 306 pages, with 10 pages to go, I decided to stop because I wanted to finish it the next morning. So I could right away write a review and wouldn't forget any of the plot and details. And I finished it, it was amazing and wonderful! If you want to see my review click here, but it's also on Netgalley and Goodreads.

Then, on Saturday the first thing I did was go book case shopping. After waking up of course. Me and my mom went to Ikea so that I could pick one out that I liked. After a while I finally did, and I love it. Then when we finally decided that it would fit in my room, it would match the colour scheme and I actually liked it, we went to go buy it in the giant storage section at the back. And guess what? It was completely sold out!!! You can imagine how upset I was... So hopefully they'll get a new shipment soon and I'll post a post about it later. The bookcase is called Billy and it's white, and I really want it, asap. It's plain and simple so I can fill it with candles and books, and that's why I love it! And I really need a new one. Especially with the to-be news below. The thing is though, my mom wants to wash my whole room before putting the book shelf in, with some fancy water vacum that will arrive tomorrow. So we have to take everything out of my room and she has to paint some things first.

Okay now moving onto the whole original point of this blog, and it's title, is the escape room I went to on Saturday evening. It was a lot of fun and it was actually an end of the “summer teen reading challenge” party, at a very recently built library. It was amazing, and most of my book club friends, as well as the amazing librarians were all there. There were 3 escape rooms; a library one, a Dojo one, and a Declaration of Independence one. My group got out of all three but they were all truly, pretty hard. So thanks so much to Christine, an amazing librarian, who planned the whole event and the rooms! Anyways, the whole reason we got out of probably the hardest one, the Dojo, was because I was using my own incorrect logic. Which was actually really similar to the correct logic, to open the end box, without knowing it was supposed to be opened last, which I did. Lmao. So we did nothing for 15 min, then I opened it, skipping all the correct steps, and we got out with 15 minutes to spare. It was hilarious. The whole evening was from 7-12 and it was a blast! While we were waiting for other people to finish the rooms, we were playing cards at a small table with our huge group, which barely fit. We played signal and spoons, and both were so loud and extremely fun! There was also a lot of food; pizza, chips, pop, veggies and cookies. The best part was, it was all completely free and I got to see my book club friends! I obviously love these events and highly recommend them! <3 There were also some draws for books, and the end draw for the teen summer reading challenge prize, a Go Pro. I didn't win anything but it's okay because....

At the end there were Arcs, and there were a lot!!! I got really lucky because I got 2 arcs that I saw on Netgalley and wanted; “The Romantics” and “A Shadow Bright and Burning”. If you read my previous posts you know that I really wanted to get approved for “A Shadow Bright and Burning” and I still haven’t (and now I don’t need to aha). But that I did get approved for “The Romantics”. So now I can read it in paperback form instead of egalley. My best friend Maya also got three books, two of which she got for me because her sister is a blogger and she doesn’t need anymore books. Thanks so much to her, she got me two that I saw at first but, since I was too busy getting ASBAB, I didn’t, but she got them for me! I was super happy and excited! We’re super close, so she knows exactly what I would like. She got me “The Sun is Also a Star” and “The Twelve Days of Dash and Lilly”. As well, at first we were only allowed to get 2, but later we could get one more. But by that point, the only arcs left weren't as good and old. I got Stand-Off (Winger #2) and Maya got a horror James Patterson book, I think. Also another one of my other friends also got two good books; “A List of Cages” and “The Amateurs”. I'm kind of jealous, but it’s okay, as long as I have ASBAB I’m super happy. I was ranting about it for forever last night... Aha. And since I got 5 new books last night, all arcs, now I definitely need my new book shelf asap. :)

So anyways here are the books I got, in order of how I will read them (probably):
   
   (Other books here)   

That's my booky weekend for you. I also have a very strange craving to skip school all week and re-read Acomaf! Probably because another one of my best friends is currently reading it, and I am trying to refrain from obsessing and spoiling everything, At least until she's done, Lmao. Anyways thanks so much for reading my posts and blog! <3     - Kat Hearts

This is What Goodbye Looks Like Review:

OMG guys!!! This book was soooo good! I absolutely loved it, and it makes me sad that it wasn't longer and that there isn't a second one. It was that good, lol! I received an arc of This is What Goodbye Looks Like from NetGalley after the book came out, on June 17th, 2016. I got approved on July 13th and I am so thankful to Olivia Rivers and Red Sparrow Press for approving me. And I am so sorry I did not read this book sooner as I had a super long tbr list, but I really wish I did. 

Okay so let's start with how amazing this book was overall. It was realistic fiction with a little bit of crime and romance. I absolutely love this blend and how well it worked. The only thing that kind of bothers me is the ending, because it is kind of short and cut off as well as not very realistic. But the whole first 300 pages are amazing! I absolutely loved the characters the setting and everything in between. I will try not to spoil much but since this book is not a series and it came out more than two months ago there will be some small spoilers. But I really do recommend that you guys all go read it!

This book is about a girl named Lea who's mother got in a car accident with killed and innocent boy (21), and seriously injured Lea and put her sister Camille into a coma. Then when the trial for her mom came the jury was in decided because Lea, the only eye witness, tells the court that Parker Ashbury, the boy her mom killed, actually drove into them. This obviously angers the Ashbury's and gives them no closure to why their boy had to die. This is the main backstory for the whole book. Most of the boy is actually about how Lea decides to go to boarding school to get away from home and also to see how Seth Ashbury, the boy's younger brother, is coping with his brother's death. What she gets is not exactly what she came for but it surprises her and makes her appreciate and fight for the things she has. The book brings themes of pride, grief, hope, and friendship together to make a fantastic read even better and more relatable. 

Honestly, let's start with how amazing the character's were. The main character, Lea, was a shy girl who loved photography and never had many friends, but that was before the accident. Afterwords, she is always feeling guilty and sad until she meets Seth. Seth was by far my favourite character just because of his optimism and how he deals with situations. We go into meeting him thinking he's an ordinary boy who just lost a brother but no. First off he's blind and second of all we learned that he and his brother were super close, and his brother gave him the ability to see. Parker understood him like nobody else until maybe Lea. Another important character is a girl named Brie who is Lea's roommate and probably the most joyful and helpful person I've ever read about. Brie has a history though that by the end of the book makes itself known and shows how protective she is of the people she loves. When Lea comes to boarding school Brie is the first person to welcome her, and is like her family, along with her group of friends. Landon, Hannah, Maddie, Brie, and Seth are the people Lea grows closest too but also the people she can hurt the most. 

The setting is also pretty Magical, this story takes place in Vermont, in a little city called Hendrickson, which is always snowy and cold as described in the book. I'm not sure if it's like that all year round or just in the novel but it plays a big role in the novel. The town is really small and everyone is very close knit. There are like two places to eat but they both serve amazing food apparently. The place where most of the book takes place though is an elite boarding school called Harting. I honestly really enjoyed all the little things about the setting and the sense of community because the made the book seem more real and sweet. ( The cover also shows the cold, and it's soooo cute --> )

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a short sweet read. It's really heartfelt and I almost cried at the end. I honestly think that this book covers sooo many different feeling that you can't even describe it as sweet because it deals with pain, grief, loss, but also with feeling guilt. But in my opinion, it is still sweet because of how everyone interacts with one another. I love how all the characters support each other and are like each others family away from home. I loves Seth and Lea's relationship progress throughout the book and well as Lea and Brie's. I give this book a 9.1/10 stars and I think that it is really truly fantastic. But it is more on the realistic fiction/drama/romance side so more for people who enjoy those books. Thanks for reading my review as always. And you should all go read this book if it sounds interesting because it is! 

- <3 Always Kat Hearts

NEWS! New Book Shelf + New Books:

Hey Guys! I just wanted to let you know about some very exciting and new things that are happening in my book universe! Lmao... *excited smile*

The first thing is that I am officially getting a new book shelf. Right now I have like 3 separate piles next to my bed of books and they're starting to get way too high. So obviously it's way past the time to get a new book shelf. I had one before but first of all it's sooo ugly (*wince at hard truth*), second of all it was wood coloured and old, and third of all it was crammed with all my elementary school books that I haven't touched in like 8 years, no joke. So today my best friend came over and helped me organise and sort all the books for donation to different places and libraries.

And the second piece of exciting news is that I got a whole ton of new books recently. I also pre-ordered Heartless and Empire of storms, but more on that later. I actually recently discovered and amazing way to get books for cheap. At my nearby libraries a most of the bigger ones have book sale rooms and there they hold soooo many books. You're always bound to find something interesting. And the best part is that the paperbacks are only 25 cents, and the hard copies a dollar. So obviously I walked into one library and walked out with 5 books and the next day a different library with 6. Some of the highlights of my haul are; Something Borrowed, Something Blue,  Twilight, Matched, and Uglies. These are all books I read and really liked, and I bought them each for only .25$ so it's great. I also picked up a few other books that looked pretty interesting. I got a lot of these books books to fill up my soon to be bookshelf and just to take with me on vacation for some interesting reads. I might go to Panama in December and I'm super exciting. I also wanted to add that I already have so many books that I had before, and also a lot of books and arcs I got for free. Sadly, I haven't had to time to read a lot of them but I am really looking forward to reading my The Lovely Reckless, Girls Like Me and The Love that Split the World arcs. :)

Also I'm currently reading an Arc that I received from Netgalley, called This is What Goodbye Looks Like, and it's amazing! I honestly can't put it down! I haven't finished it yet but when I'm done which will probably be very soon I'll definitely have a review up, and a very positive one too! :) Another thing related to Netgalley is that I recently got an email from Fierce Reads and it said that Heartless now has a pre-order campaign as well, yay, to get a magnetic Heartless bookmark. Honestly I already pre-ordered the book so this is amazing for me and I'd really love to actual receive the item this time. Last time I pre-ordered Winter and I was supposed to get Winter touch screen gloves and tattoos but I only received the tattoos and like 3 months later. *sigh* But what can you do... But that's not the actually thing related to Netgalley, lmao, in that email it also said that 25 randomly selected people who wish for Heartless, which is now on Netgalley, will receive an arc. Even though I already pre-ordered it, I desperately want an Arc of it and have wanted one for like 4 months now. I even went as far as to email the publicist, but no luck. It's okay at least now I have a shot, but judging from the 385 people who liked the cover it's probably not going to be me, it never is... :( But it's okay I can still hope...

      

Oooo I almost forgot to mention that there is another upcoming library event which I am super excited for this Saturday the 3rd. It's an end of summer, before school starts party escape room library party!!! There was one like it last year in October and it was super fun! This party is actually to celebrate the end of the teen summer reading challenge which was to read as many pages as you can. I kept track and read 2197 pages this summer. It's not that much but it's mainly just the long Harry Potter books, lol. Anyways, I can't believe I totally forgot to write about this like ever this summer, but there is a reading challenge that I entered. Each week you have to enter how many pages from which books you have read that week and you get a ballot each week you enter pages. Then at the end of summer there is a party, we voted for which type to have and escape room won, where they draw a winner to receive, this year, a go pro. And I have wanted a go pro for a summer long time so I hope I win but it's okay if I don't.

  

For now I'm still super excited about my soon to be amazing new book shelf! That I'll make sure to post lots about when I finally decide what kind I want, and get it. :) As well as all my new books, arcs, and hopefully new booky things like candles and funko pop book characters (lol, mainly Harry Potter). I'm especially excited to hopefully order all those Rhysand and Acomaf candles I keep seeing and super wanting when they become available again! That's about all I have to say for now but hopefully you'll hear from me again soon about my book shelf and the library escape room! Thank you so much for reading! <3     - Kat Hearts

 (Cuteness!!! Am I right?)