Ok so let's be brief with the updates. The last time I posted a blog post was hmmm.. August. That can't be right. Oh no... Well then we have a lotttt of updates to catch up on. I will probably go back to posted longer reviews in a bit but in the meanwhile these are some of the series I've read and how I've felt about them. These are mainly the popular ones and also solo books I've read that either had a lot of hype or meant something to me. (Side Note: I'll link my original Goodreads reviews in the book titles so if you guys want you can see all my original thoughts and reactions, as I do all my reviews right after I finish reading the books)
Actually a big reason of why I decided to write a post today is because I am OBSESSED with the shatter me series right now. Like I actually am not okay, and all my friends are getting so annoyed at me for constantly talking about it so I thought about the reason why I originally created this blog and why I haven't been posting on it lately. And I thought hmmm I actually have a bog specifically for ranting and discussing amazing books that I have read recently, that my friends probably have no clue as to what are about, and they probably don't care either, I should probably start using it more.
So... here is the story of the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi, who is straight up one of the best writers I have ever read, and I have read a lot of Shakespeare btw, for all you historian/classic freaks. Tahereh is sooo talented at capturing your attention and literally never letting it go. The first time I read the Shatter Me series was either in 2013 or 2014, about 4 years ago. I absolutely loveeddd it, however it was 4 years ago and I kind of forgot about the series and about Tahereh, I'm so sorry. But I have an excuse, I was young and I had a very short attention span. Anyways... So basically I read this amazing series like 4 years ago and totally forgot about... Then about 3 months ago I was at a book club meeting (yes I still occasionally go to those, ;) ) they were giving away arcs and books and one of the books was Shatter Me. I had heard that Tahereh had announced a 4th book unexpectedly but I wasn't overly excited or anything, however, I was planning on rereading the series, before reading the 4th book of course. So when they were giving away Shatter Me I obviously wanted it the most and got it, for which I am super thankful! <3 But I am also super thankful because it inspired this whole new reawakening of my soul, which is definitely what it feels like.
(Cute fan art of the characters (credits to whoever made it, sorry I have no idea))
So a few weeks ago, I was working very hard all day on summative projects and ISU, awful awful things, I remember this very clearly. It was a Sunday night and I was exhausted from all my work and projects and tests, wayyy too many because of my crazy teachers and exam season coming up. So I picked up Shatter Me which was just lying on my bookshelf, and started reading (around 11pm). The goal of this was to calm my mind so I would be able to actually fall asleep, and to relax. However, as is probably very apparent, in reality none of those things were actually accomplished. I started reading and I legitimately could not stop. And I know I say that a lot of books are super intriguing, or hard to put down, or something like that, in most of my reviews because they are you know. This was just different. It was IMPOSSIBLE to put it down. Like I couldn't I was trying to go to bed early and I ending up going to sleep at like 1:30 in the morning after having devoured like 1/4 of the book. Thank god these books aren't like 700 pages. (Actually I'm not sure if that would have been better or worse, lol)
The next day as soon as I got home.... Still keeping in mind that it was the middle of exam prep season, and all my assignments were due that day or the next. Even so, I right away started reading (well technically it takes me an hour to commute home by buss and I was reading during that hour) After that hour I got home and kept reading for another 2.5 hours straight. Like straight no interruptions no food, what dog, you know throwback to the good old elementary days. So I actually ended up breezing through Shatter Me in 2 days, me being at school the whole entire day (like wow....) Also side note I have finished good books in 2 days before however it's always been on weekends. Like I know these books are short and all but they're not THAT short. Which just goes to show how truly phenomenal Tahereh's writing style is. Right away after reading Shatter Me in two days I read Unravel Me in two days and then Ignite me, also in two days. I was done the entire series by the next Saturday, like wow. SO what to take away from this long ass story. The lesson here is that y'all have to go read Shatter Me like rn. And y'all are soo lucky because technically I have been waiting for Restore Me for 4 years, even though I didn't know it. And if you read it now you only have to wait a little over a month, so unfair. 
Right now I am literally counting down the days until March 6th, which is when Restore me is released (I got a countdown app specifically for this purpose, lol). And it physically hurts me to wait for it. Like I am that excited! Maybe I'll post a review on it later on, we'll see maybe in another 6 months, although I hope not. (The only reason I'm posting now though is because I have an exam tomorrow and I am trying to relax and not freak out. And if I start reading another book I'm afraid I won't be able to stop and continue studying) I also read Destroy Me (Warner's novella, 1.5) and Fracture Me (Adam's novella, 2.5) for the first time, after finishing rereading the series, and I really enjoyed both. I specifically loved Warner's novella and am so excited that half of Restore Me will be written in his point of view. All the sneak peaks that Tahereh has posted from his point of view are amazing and I love how different and unique, and strangely sophisticated his voice is. Also in case you didn't know EW released an excerpt a while ago, and a 30 page sampler came out (cough only lucky Americans got it tho, cough stupid Barnes and Nobles gets all the good stuff (But I was very fortunate and a kind soul on twitter sent me pictures, so much love for the twitter fandoms) (Btw it's spectacular so far)
So overall, you guys missed one important book week of my life. One VERY important week, but now y'all are all aware. Perfect! Going back a little farther in time I also read A Poison Dark and Drowning by Jessica Cluess, and I know it's been out for a few months now but I really had like no time. This book I've wanted to read since last October when I finished a Shadow Bright and Burning and I was sooo excited for it. I actually really enjoyed it and would really recommend the series to all however the ending felt kinda weird to me and was kind of what I wanted but not really. (I was very strangely confuzzled... my emotions were not sure how they should be feeling, all over the freaking place) (Look at this beautiful cover by the way! <--)
Another book I read quite recently was Tower of Dawn, which for the longest time I wasn't even sure I was going to read. But let me tell you, boy am I glad that I read it. After you haven't read a Sarah J. Maas book in like 8 months you forget how amazing her writing style is. Always. Like there is no exception. I am dead serious. Like if you guys haven't read her books yet go read them. Like right now. (I am not being paid to say this btw) Like I am 100% honest to god like u gotta read them.
Ok that was weird. I think I was just possessed.
Lmao anywayssss. So Tower of Dawn is the 6th book in the Throne of Glass series and I actually think that it is one of the better ones. I had no idea what to expect from this book and I am soo happy with the way it turned out and everything that it entailed. Like honestly Tower of Dawn was just the perfect mix of different POVs, fairytale stories, world building, and character development. I loved how we got to see a completely different side of the world, the Southern Continent. And we also got to meet sooo many new characters. My personal favourite being Sartaq who I admit surprised me but is literally now my 2nd favourite Sarah male character, other than my fav bae Rhysand of course. Overall if you guys are doubting if you should read it or not, go read it, right now. It was phenomenal. I actually decided to read it completely on impulse and because I saw a tweet of someone ranking the Throne of Glass books and Tower of Dawn was like #3, and I was like WHAT! So koodos to that person for getting me to read such an amazing book. Sorry I completely forgot who and when and what that tweet was so can't give credit. But pretty much everyone was ranking their books and TOD was doing reallyyy well. And it has a 4.48 rating on Goodreads so that tells you pretty much all you need to know. Also it was originally supposed to be a novella but it ended up being like 600 pages or something, but all 600 are pure golden sunshine so yess Sarah YES. There is soo much more to talk about in that book, maybe I will end up doing a separate post on it who knows. 
Another duology I read kind of recently was Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I think I read this series sometime in September. Funny story I actually started Six of Crows like a year ago and I got through 60 pages and then put it down. The second time I started was in Italy in the summer and I started it purely because I had nothing better to read at the time. I didn't really get that into it at the time either but when I got back to Canada I really started getting into it. It starts off kinda slow and it took me a while but around page 100 I think it really kicks in and the characters are awesome and the plot is amazing and the mystery. Omg Kaz and all his mysteries. I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this series, mainly because of how long it took me to get into it. I also had very high hopes for it because of its super high rating on goodreads and how much I kept hearing about how good it was. Purely because of this it was actually a little bit disappointing. Especially because after reading so much Sarah J. Maas everything else just seems kinds of eh by comparison. But that's really unfair to say. I truly did love this series but I read it almost 5 months ago so I don't remember it that well. However my Goodreads reviews are linked at the start of this paragraph so if you want a more detailed review click on those.
Ok so I'm going to end this post here because wow I covered a lot of ground, and that's pretty much all of my recent important reads and fandoms that I've gotten on board with (more/again (idek) in terms of Shatter Me). I actually was planning to just write a few paragraphs and save it and maybe never come back to it but I'm super proud that I actually wrote up a full on post. I'm also greatly anticipating a few books in 2018 and I hope that I will be able to get a post up about that sooner rather than later. As it is still the start of 2018, for now. And Happy New Years to all you guys! I know I'm like 30 days late but I still wish that this year will bring all of you new happiness and many new book pleasures!
- Love Always, Kat <3
(Also for all you Sarah Fans she posted the cover reveals for A Court of Frost and Starlight today and they look AH-MA-ZING! Truly spectacular. I love them soo much. And honestly a lot more than Tower of Dawn. Even more than all the other Acotar series. Although I heard some people were disappointed..... No idea why, anyways here you go. Some beautiful art to brighten your day! And I'm also super super excited for this book because Sarah said it's longer than a novella which for her means its like 300 pages.)
