Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer REVIEW

After the harrowing experience yesterday, I was very hesitant to continue with my 'to-be-reviewed' books. However, I needed to exercise and finishing these books while exercising has become my motivation lately. I read half of this already at the hospital while my dad was getting surgery but I know all too well that books can go downhill fast. Not that that's what happened yesterday because that whole book was a mess but when a story goes down. It goes down. I really need to find which genre is my palette cleanser.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this. I enjoyed it more towards the end but the whole book had this calming effect. The way it was written was just very relaxing to me, I don't know why. There are some funny parts but they're more towards the later half of the book as things are winding down. That doesn't mean that the beginning of the book wasn't entertaining, it just means that the later half was more entertaining than the first.

The one thing that really bothered me was the three chapters used for flashbacks, they were quite boring but I think it's because I'm not  fan of complete flashbacks in books. Especially since the topics covered in the flashbacks were continuously covered throughout the book. So it was an unnecessary three chapters. As if she had to have a certain page count and just decided to throw it in.

Darcy is a nice little character, she's a librarian and a little bit over-dramatic. She makes friends with her summer neighbors. But only half-way through the book. I think that was the biggest problem was that the bulk of the story happened in the second half and it left for really nothing in the first half. She took the first half to set up the location and characters. Other than that the book is great. It's barely 300 pages so it's a pretty quick read and I even had a few laugh out loud moments.

I struggled what to tag this as. Though, after some googling I figured out that women's fiction is an umbrella genre so I tagged with both chick lit and women's fiction because it's definitely chick lit.

Just the Essentials: How Essential Oils Can Heal Your Skin, Improve Your Health, and Detox Your Life by Adina Grigore REVIEW

Some self-help books come off as really boring and judgmental. However, there are some that realize that sometimes humor and approachable language may be a better way to reach people. In general. Reading this, you now know that I reject that in my review writing but prefer it in books. All that being said, I liked this book on an information level and a reading level.

Adina is very passionate about her craft and it shows through this book. It's a lot about Essential Oils and she makes it very easy to understand.

For me, I never really thought about Essential Oils or anything like that, I just like things that smell nice. Very basic stuff over here but after I read this I really felt interested in trying some of this out. Though, probably not until I live on my own and feel secure enough to practice this stuff. Similarly to how I only practice cooking when the parents are working. To avoid unwanted attention. That being said, I think a lot of crafty people could enjoy this.

I was more interested in the recipes in the beginning but then I read the introduction and was just drawn in by Adina's writing style. Evidently, Adina can make awesome products and write well, The envy!

There isn't much to say about the book, it's enjoyable and informative without being too tedious to read. It's nice.

Bad Girls of Fashion: Style Rebels from Cleopatra to Lady Gaga by Jennifer Croll

Very slowly, I am making it through my netgalley list. Given the fact that the majority of my weekly reading is done on netgalley (the weekends is reserved for physical books) if I do not particularly enjoy a book and it makes me disinterested in reading, it really inhibits my ability to review objectively.

I'll be blunt, I chose to read this book for three very specific reasons; Cleopatra, Lady Gaga, and the title. There were some other things I was interested in; Marie Antoinette, Coco Chanel, Elizabeth I, Nicki Minaj, Marilyn Monroe... There were some people that I just plainly don't like at all, like Rihanna and Madonna but other than that I was just not interested in most of the other people in the book.

The evolution of fashion could not occur without these women that pushed the boundaries and I'm grateful but most of the time if they're not a person in history that I am interested in personally, then I just get bored. I've recently acquired a new boat of confidence after watching Jordan Peele's movie, Get Out, and don't feel the need to feel ashamed about being disinterested about certain things. Of course, with books like this, most people will have the same problems I did but with different people, it's a matter of preference.

I do think that it's a bit wordy, there was definitely some text in there that wasn't needed. In some nonfiction books, there's boxes that are off to the side that has interesting facts that would be otherwise inappropriate to put into the main text, the problem was that none of them were interesting and I found myself skipping over them.

The one thing that I do like about this is that I finally got some base knowledge on Frida Kahlo. I often hear other people gush about her and I never quite understood the hype until I saw her paintings in this book and then I understood. So there's that.

Overall, I enjoyed this. I didn't enjoy it  too much because some parts did bore me to the point where I was struggling with sleep but other than that I have no major complaints. Do recommend, would buy.

Lunarbaboon: the Daily Life of Parenthood by Christopher Grady REVIEW

I'm delighted to say that something that was meant to be humorous actually made me laugh today.

Lunarbaboon is simplistically drawn but makes up for it with great content. We're essentially following the author on his journey through parenthood through the good and bad. As not a parent it's very nice to live vicariously through these people that are parents.

The family in this book is very imaginative. Which is great. I live in a family that's more accomplishment based (which is also okay) and so I've never seen what an imaginative family is like.  They all have fun together and enjoy each other's company but not to the point where it's unrealistic. The author shows that sometimes there's an ulterior motive to what a parent does and this is true.

The book is a collection of comics, so I assume that there's somewhere you can go to get more information on this guy and see more comics but I will not link it here, as I am lazy.

What Waits Beneath by Thomas M. Malafarina REVIEW

I love scary stories. I really do.

What Waits Beneath was decent, it had a somewhat creative plot but the execution was greatly lacking. The ending was pretty bad, as if it was rushed for some odd reason. I know some authors are pushed to write, I just don't think that this author had that problem. The ending wasn't good.

The pieces didn't really fit together in the right way either but I think that's just me being picky about it. There was some time hopping but not enough to bother me that much. I just didn't like the story that much? I think I've read so many better stories like this that in order for me to really enjoy this sort of horror story it has to be really good and this was really meh at best.

There was a portion where there was a point where a demon was talking in a snake voice and even when I took the time to pronounce out what the author typed it came out as something laughable rather than intimidating but maybe that's because I tend to pronounce things in an odd way. Who knows?

The characters were flat and stupid. Like, for some reason, they all talked so much that they're stupid. It was as if the characters were talking or they were staring at the person talking. And it seems like I'm being picky but when the book is nothing but a character talking and someone else looking at them it gets boring. The first chapter is the most interesting part of the book.

All I know is that this book was okay. It wasn't so bad where I didn't finish it but it also wasn't really good, at all. It was meh.

Stitched Volume One by Mariah Huehner REVIEW

Here I am again with the graphic novels. Well, more like there I go again with netgalley even though I have plenty of books to read and have been slacking. It's my goal this week to finish all the books I have in Bluefire.

So Stitched is about a girl name Crimson. She woke up in assumption's cemetery one day nor knowing who she was or where she came from. In reality she looks like a purple little Frankenstein's Monster. It's cute. She meets a small group of friends in this volume, a werewolf, a witch, a vampire, a hedgehog dog thing, and a monster from the blue lagoon? Something like that.

I was instantly pulled in, which is rare since I started delving deep into new books because I read a lot of various things and not everything is immeaduately attention grabbing. I wanted to know about Crimson just like she wanted to know about herself but it's just a first volume so I'm going to have to wait. Please don't keep me waiting long!

The art style is very cute, it reminds me of Invader Zim in a way, in fact, the whole thing kind of had Invader Zim vibes in my opinion.

It's not text heavy so a person could read it pretty quickly, I'd say give it a try.

Unrequited Alice by Sarah Louise Smith REVIEW

As I struggle to get through all of the ebooks that are leeching away at my phone memory, I went with the logical route and decided to start with the books that I have been granted access to read before they came out. Unrequited Alice is one of them, thanks netgalley! I want to point out my huge failure in life when it comes to this and that I have had this for over a month and just read it. The book comes out in two weeks. FML.

So, I haven't read from this author yet but if all of her books are as charming as Unrequited Alice, I might just want all of them.

There's very specific feelings that come with unrequited love. It's really painful and bitter and it's kind of like 'I need to get over this' but then it's like you can't because you're so smitten with this person that will never like you back. I read the title and I was just like 'is this my autobiography?' The answer is no because my name is Hope and Unrequited Hope just sounds super depressing.

The book is charming in it's delivery, we watch two people that are in love pretend that they're not in love. It's that frustration that makes you want to throw your phone out the window. Sarah does this kind of angst well with very subtle humor. The way she writes it makes it seem very true to life. Like, it seems like shit like this could actually happen and I have no doubts that they did. This will probably happen to me one day without the romance aspect.

It was the realism that made me like this. The characters weren't perfect. They were people that have been hurt and act like people that have been hurt. This is how life goes. Of course, the only thing is that a lot of relationships like this don't end in romance and while I was reading in the beginning I dreaded that Sarah was going to go super into the real life aspect and they weren't going to end up together. I wasn't disappointed.

Croc and the Fox by Eve Langlais REVIEW

Hello shame, my name is Hope.

This is my favorite book in the series so far. I loved Renee and her whole dynamic. I loved the fact that she was both a victim and a fighter. I loved how resilient she was. I love how Eve put her in a situation where she was helpless and put her in the position where she was the only one that could do something.

There's critics that will say something like this; "Renee is so unrealistic. She went through so much trauma for so long and she didn't even bat an eye. She recovered so smoothly." NO SHE DIDN'T and let me explain why.

Eve wrote Renee's character really well because Renee went through prolonged trauma. Throughout the majority of the book she is extremely dependent on Viktor. The dependency is typical of a person in Renee's situation. Viktor is who she knows will protect her because Viktor saved her from a bad situation. Renee also is very hesitant around strangers, not just hesitant but very mistrusting and scared around strangers. In fact, Renee spends a large majority of the book afraid. She also made jokes about her situation, which can also occur with some victims. It's not that Renee miraculously healed from her trauma, it's that she's coping with it by ignoring it's severity. There will be a time off-screen when Renee has to deal with her trauma but for now she focuses on things that makes her feel safe and happy.

Since this is a humor based erotica series, Renee kept things really calm and I commend her for this. Leaving Renee's struggles as subtle things is a true to life ordeal for individuals that have experienced prolonged trauma like Renee had. Even speaking from my own experiences after a lifetime of various abuse, a person doesn't notice that something's wrong with me unless something is really wrong, and it's from ignoring the trauma and focusing on other things. I never went through something as extreme as Renee but I understand her and that's what let's me know that how Renee is doesn't mean that she's okay, it just means that it's not the focal point for Renee. She's focusing on Viktor and in the future when she finds it to be the right time to face her trauma in a way where she can really heal, she has Viktor and her mom to support her.

That being said, the plot for this book was better than the one in the second book because Renee was a shifter that was experimented on by the mastermind. This book was a perfect puzzle piece to the rest where the second book was just kind of 'meh' and that was good. I have to say that this is my favorite book thus far.

Also, the fact that my erotica tag is getting bigger and has no signs of shrinking.... I feel shame.

Swan and the Bear by Eve Langlais REVIEW

Last review I expressed my small amounts of shame while reading the first book in this series. The fact that I read this in daylight with the parents in the room next door... Somehow the shame intensified? Only a little bit.

I loved Jessie, she's that wonderful mix of sass and smarts that I love in a main character. Mason, I didn't like so much. He wasn't that bad (a little pushy) but it was more like Mason wasn't in my tastes.

The story? Well, it was a strong okay. I felt as if the author wanted the story to intertwine so cleanly that she'd make up any reason for the bad guys to go after the main characters. Miranda is always the main goal but instead of legit trying to find Miranda they go through a huge amount of loops and turns to not really find Miranda. YEAH. It seemed as if it was all by chance. Plot convenience.

I feel as if there were better ways to incorporate Miranda and Mason into the big entanglement of plot instead of using them as an accessory to Miranda's timeline WHILE pretending that this plot is unique to Mason and Jessie. It isn't and I can't really let that go.

However, I did still enjoy this and I still wish that I could own the books physically. SHAME.

New American Best Friend by Olivia Gatwood REVIEW

So, I won this in a goodreads giveaway and it's not a normal occurrence where my review would be the first review on a book that I actually liked... This is a special occurrence, nay, an achievement. Small battles people, small battles.

Usually, I don't like poetry, I mean, I love poetry, but most people don't do it right. Maybe they write it the right way but any idiot that can rhyme can write crappy poems. It takes real talents to make it into something worth reading. I genuinely think that this is something worth reading.

Not only is this poetry a nice reading experience but there's a heavy truthfulness to it. In truth some of the titles sound like they could belong to my own life story. Odd how some things are so relatable in such a way.

In all honesty, I find this as a very tranquil and dark read that switches back and forth oddly. Some stories are about just generally growing up and others about other things. If you're a fan of the by the book poetry where you have to know every ounce of symbolism in existence to understand maybe you won't like this. I mean, some people have that compulisve need to feel like they're better than everyone else BUT if you want poetry that feels real and raw, I would suggest this. It's pretty good.

Naked In Death by J.D. Robb REVIEW

Instead of reading any of my bulk of books in my 'to review' pile I opted to start and audiobook. If you don't know. The In death series is a series that is 45 books long. Naked in Death is the first. I devoted 10 hours of my life listening to the book that I could've read in two hours (no longer 3 accomplishment!)

Overall the story was okay. It has a really strong emotional aspect that Robb hopes distracts you from the plot details but it doesn't. The setting doesn't work. Seeing as this particular book was written in 1993 the future was not that different from the time of 1993. You could say that in that aspect she succeeded because it's not that different from this current time either but when it comes to science fiction (which at this point it is) it fails. You can't just add fancy tech and robots and expect people to believe it. I legitimately forgot the setting nearly every chapter and that's kind of disappointing.

There's also problems with the way the story went down because it would not happen that way (it wouldn't). If it was the real world Eve would be out of a job (rightfully so) and even if she didn't the crime wouldn't have been resolved the way it had been. If you've read this, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Roarke is a cookie cutout of a male character but I have no complaints because rich Irish men is dreamy. Only in romance novels though. Most characters in this book was a cookie cutout, which, I mean is kind of disappointing because Nora Roberts has written more books than the years that I've been alive times 3. However, what sells sells right?

I'd suggest this book only if you're looking for something to lightly enjoy. Fans of romance novels might enjoy this but mind the subject matter because it gets really dark.

Bunny and The Bear by Eve Langlais REVIEW

The last time such a book as this came onto this blog, I feigned innocence because I honestly didn't know what I was getting myself into. In this case, I can't do that. I knew what I was doing when I decided to listen to this on audiobook at 2am. I am not ashamed.

I'm a little bit ashamed.

Now, for an erotica this is pretty fun? Eve mixes humor and sexual tension really well. This must be one of the most ridiculous eroticas that I have encountered in my few months of reviewing books but then I think about Small Favors and change my mind. There's some weird things out there people. A bunny and a bear have sex in this book in human form like how am I supposed to review this with a straight face? The answer is that my lips are on the left side of my face as I type this.

All jokes aside I actually enjoyed this. There was humor and it was something different. Definitely different. I liked it enough to want to read the rest of the series and to own physical copies? If possible?

This review isn't in depth because at it's core this book is erotica. If you pick up this book looking for something extraordinary, you're not going to find it. However, if you want to have a little fun, then by all means read it.

The Flinestones Volume 1 by Mark Russell REVIEW

So, I'm a little bit too young to say that The Flinstones was an active part of my childhood. I don't really know when the cartoon started but it was not in the 90s. I'm pretty sure. However, I did watch a lot of Flinstones. Well, not a lot, mostly the live action movie but I'm sure if I had watched the cartoon I would have been content with that.

I'll take the evidence of my content mess being how much I liked this graphic novel. It was much faster than the Scooby Doo Apocalypse thing I read last week. Maybe I just like dinosaurs more than monsters? That has to be it.

The content is both humorous and reflective of events happening in our lives. I'm not talking about the severe SJW crap. I mean the things that most people agree with (real human problems). However, most of it is absurd and that' she okay with me.

The art I liked it a lot more than Scooby Doo as well. It just seemed better. As I'm writing this I'm not entirely sure of the artist but I'm very confident they're not the same as the one who illustrated Scooby Apocolypse. Not that that art wasn't good it just wasn't appealing to my eyes.

I definitely think that people that liked The Flinstones would like this comic. To me, it's not really any different.

The 'Oh My Goodness It's February' Playlist

Hey, happy March! I collected songs that are new to me in February and put it in a playlist on youtube. Since it's now March, I thought I would share these songs with you. I have two books to review and will do so soon. Within this week most likely.

o1. Helium ;; Sia
Okay, so I saw Fifty Shades Darker with my best friend this month and I thought it was pretty good. But the movie doesn't really matter because the fucking soundtrack is awesome. Helium was my favorite song in the soundtrack and it's the one that I continued to listen to throughout the month so it made it to the final version of the playlist. It just seems like Sia can do no wrong in music.

o2. How Would You Feel by Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran is coming out with a new album this week and fuck me I am ready. How Would You Feel was one of my favorites of the songs that have been released ahead of the album and I listened to Eraser and LOVED IT but I can just listen to How Would You Feel for days. I have suspicions that there will be a lot of Ed Sheeran on next month's playlist. I can't wait!

o3. I Believe In You - Michael Buble
Oh Michael Buble, when he has a good song it's fucking good. The video and the song kind of tugged on my oh so sensitive period driven heart strings and made me cry. The song wasn't a hard obsession like some of the other songs on the playlist but this song is just so good. Not just catchy good but definitively good.

o4. I'll Follow You . Shinedown
This song almost didn't make it through my great purging of this playlist last week but I ended up keeping it because I really do like it. There's no legit reason for my affection of it. It just sounds nice.

o5. John Wayne ;; Lady Gaga
I just love Lady Gaga okay. So far, this album has been a big win. I didn't really like her last album but I like this one a lot more. I didn't like this song when I first heard it but the third time I heard it I loved it. Plus the music video is really cool.

o6. It Ain't Me by Kygo & Selena Gomez
There's nothing really special about this song it's just really catchy and the lyrics sound nice. Overall it suits Selena's voice and it's a nice listening experience.

o7. Ciao Adios - Anne-Marie
One of those badass breakup songs. I just like the sass man.

o8. Beauty and the Beast ; Ariana Grande & John Legend
One of my favorite songs as a kids and of course I'm going to love the remake if it's done by Ariana Grande and John Legend. It just sounds so nice.

o9. I Don't Wanna Live Forever . ZAYN
The original version of this song sucked. I don't know what went wrong but I suspect that the original tempo didn't suit Zayn's voice and Taylor just did that screeching that she's prone to do. However, this acoustic version is vastly superior. I feel that it suits the lyrics a lot better. Just my opinion.

1o. Our Tears by Hyorin & Park Seojun
This was my favorite song of this month. Hands down, goodbye, everyone go home. It sounds so nice and the lyrics are so good. This song made me want to watch the whole fucking drama. I haven't but it made me want to. I listen to this song probably five times a day at least. It's just too good. Too good.

Give Me A K-I-L-L by R. L. Stine REVIEW

By all technicalities, this is my first R. L. Stine book, which is a shame because I always wanted to read his books but my parents never let me because of content. I had an overactive imagination, so I guess it was a good call on their parts. Though I'm not disappointed! This, I enjoyed it a lot.

The story was very twisty, as in there were a lot of twists that happened very often. This leaves the leader with the thoughts of 'who's doing it' because the writing suggests that everyone's suspicious. The final twist was twisted with another twist and it was hard for me to wrap my head around what was going on. BUT I GUESSED THE ENDING SO I'M HAPPY.

The writing is by no means flawless, a lot of it felt rushed and wasn't put together well structurally and that made it kind of difficult to read especially when you consider the age group this kind of book is intended for. I really like clear concise timelines but I just think that's me. There wasn't too much jumping around time wise but R. L. Stine does this thing where he'll end chapters in the middle of one area and I take chapters as jumps in time rather than jumps in events. Sometimes he would end a chapter in one place, start the next chapter continuing the ending of the last chapter and then ending that continuation within a paragraph. The thought that comes to my mind is, why not just end that paragraph in the last chapter? It didn't build or lessen the anticipation factor so I didn't quite understand some of those choices, but that's just me.

Overall, pretty good, I had complaints and it wasn't perfect but what is the perfect novel really?

Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen REVIEW

For a book that doesn't have much substance in it, I don't know how I'm going to do an in depth review. But here I am, typing while shaking my head as I do so. What fun.

I always wanted the first Sarah Andersen collection but never bought it (because it's never on clearance ever). When I saw this on netgalley I knew that I had to read it and I waited until the great purging of the 'read now' section. (Currently, I aim to have so many books that I'm above 80% when I want  to review a lot of books at once. I am far from this goal.)

But, back to Sarah Andersen, I really really enjoyed this. It was super cute and for the most part very relatable to me. There are parts I did not agree with but I'm not going to hold that against Sarah Andersen because I am not a person that degrades people for daring to have a differing opinion.

The parts I appreciated the most were the parts where Sarah Andersen let us see a little bit more of how she is. Which like a lot of millennials is an anxious mess but she explains that she tries and that's the only thing that matters. I really appreciated her cat story. It was my favorite part.

So now, I want to add that I'm not too critical here because I don't see this book as something worth a critical review. I genuinely think that some books are genuinely made to not be taken too seriously. So enjoy the book if you can.

Scooby Apocalypse Volume 1 by Keith Giffen REVIEW

Oh Scooby Dooby Doo... I grew up with Scooby Doo and was really excited but this is a dense dense dense comic. It was so dense that it took me about a month to read it. I received it to review before the release date and it's after the release date and I just finished it.

This comic is based on the premise that instead of the monsters being people with masks on, they are actual monsters that actually want to kill people. So it's horror with survival with dystopian undertones.

The main five are much more darker versions of themselves, my favorites being Fred and Shaggy in this version. I am also fond of Scrappy Doo but unfortunately he is an antagonist.

As I mentioned before there is a lot of text dense moments which I don't typically like in a comic because I like things being fast paced, however, I find that a large bulk is necessary knowledge for the series.

Some people said that Velma's secret was 'shocking' they obviously need to read more thrillers because Daphne was literally saying that shit the WHOLE TIME. LITERALLY THE WHOLE TIME. It can't be shocking if it's been eluded to in nearly every conversation. That wasn't a huge revelation, it didn't even surprise me a little bit. I get more surprised when my mom gives me the grocery list for the week.

That being said, I'll definitely read the next volume whenever it comes out and decide whether or not I continue based on that goes. Volume one of most series tend to be groundwork anyway so maybe it'll go by a lot quicker next volume? Who knows?

The Last To Die by Kelly Garrett REVIEW

I don't know what it is about me but I really like thrillers so, while I was looking on netgalley, the synopsis popped out at me. It sounded like an average teen slasher movie in a book and that's always a win for me. Well, unless the writer is really boring then I probably wont get that far but usually they're instant wins.

Harper is an overly impulsive 16 year old who breaks into her friends houses when they're on vacation with her friends. They're a very diverse group of friends with different personalities and hobbies. But when Sara dies from an 'overdose' things start to get darker for Harper and who's left.

Or something like that but I will say that the synopsis and the title is misleading. Very misleading given the actual content of the book. It's less slasher and more general thriller where there is a killer around but it's not picking off the friends one by one and I was disappointed by that but overall I enjoyed it.

Sadly, I didn't guess the twist but I don't think anyone could have given most of the unknown information that was never presented to us in the end. As in, there were no subtle hints just unknown unknowns that are made present at the end. Also, the ending is a bit lack luster, it's not the best thing that's come to the thriller genre but it was enjoyable.

I beat my own reading record and read the whole thing in exactly an hour. But that's not that impressive.

Heels, Heartache, and Headlines by Ni-Ni Simone and Amir Abrams REVIEW

So, I frequent a store called Dollar Tree and when you're at dollar tree there's always a different selection of books waiting for you and you never really know what's going to be there. I believe that I got the third book of this series from that store. I've been on the lookout for the other books but they're really hard to come by so when I saw this on netgalley I had to read it and I did.

I'm not really sure what I expected from this book but the story was really really dramatic. An exciting over dramatic kind of way. It's a shallow story, it's kind of like a book version of Mean Girls which I appreciate, I always enjoy stories with just mean girls, they're just more fun in general.

There is a lot of heavy topics in this book, suicide attempt, domestic abuse, bullying, drug usage, and a lot of other stuff that is implied. The book is young adult but keep those things in mind because you won't like this book if you don't want to read about those topics. It's probably also better to read the books that came before this, there were somethings I didn't understand because I didn't read the books that came before this one. Learn from my mistakes.

I really liked London, I'm actually surprised by how much I liked her. I think that it's because London was the character that I related to the most on a superficial level but as far as the other characters are concerned Heather is another very relatable character.

Overall, the book was very okay, not bad but not good enough to give it a high rating.

Loveless Volume 4 by Yun Kouga REVIEW

Blurb: Ritsuka! Soubi! Loveless still continues. (No really, the series is still STILL ongoing. SMH)

Storyline: WOW! The story progresses so rapidly in this volume that I cannot even believe it. This is mainly about the female ZERO team Koya and Yamato. With that, the whole volume is small because it focuses on that storyline alone. It's dramatic and heart-wrenching. Some things happened in this volume that really acts as foreshadowing for the rest of the series. There's also a chapter that focuses on the actual child innocence that is frequently bashed and ignored which is a fresh change of pace for this series.

Art: KOUGA YUN IS FAVORITE MANGAKA.

Characters: We got introduced to Yamato and Koya, the female ZERO team and their relationship. Both ZERO teams are two of my favorite characters in the series other than a character that hasn't been introduced yet. We finally get to see Nagisa and what she's about. We also meet a friend of Ritsuka's named Omasu(???!). We get minor character development with Natsuo and Youji. Then some major development with Ritsuka.

Grand Verdict: This Volume was definitely one of the more emotional ones. If only I had volume 5 for more flow.

Loveless Volume 3 by Yun Kouga REVIEW

Blurb: Ritsuka's story continues in the third volume of the Loveless series by Kouga Yun.

Content: In this volume we get the ending of the ZERO storyline, go into a septimal moon storyline, and start another ZERO storyline. Things were very tense in this volume especially with Soubi and Ritsuka. Ritsuka is losing trust in Soubi and Soubi is getting more secretive (somehow). We see more of Soubi's past (which like Ritsuka's present is not that great). I didn't have many complaints about this volume, there were moments that made me feel angst which is definitely intended given the fact that this is a really angsty series and I know it gets only worse from here.

Art: I will never trash talk Kouga Yun's art. It's just good okay? I'm biased here.

Characters: As stated before, Soubi gets even more secretive in this series... and he always just seems to become more and more like a giant question mark. We see more of Ritsuka's mother and how she mentally torments this poor kid. We get introduced to the female ZERO team, Ritsu, and another lady that I forgot the name of.

Verdict: I genuinely feel that this volume serves as a transitional volume more than anything else. Nothing too big happened so there wasn't really anything huge to react to.

Anthem by Ayn Rand REVIEW

I write this review understanding that a lot of people dislike Ayn Rand's point of view. However, as I learned about her life I completely understand how she came up with Objectivism. I just love Ayn Rand's work, okay?

So Anthem, in the current political climate consisting of the regressive left versus the alt right... Well, I found this novel to actually be something that could be applicable. Obviously not in a literal kind of way but the world that was presented I could not help but think that it was very much similar to the regressive left's point of view on everything. And that thought was stuck with me throughout the whole novel.

It was in first person throughout the book, set in a world where people referred to themselves as 'we' rather than 'I' because the concept of individualism is a sin. Having your own ideas or opinions in this world is a crime punished by death.

Our protagonist in this novel seeks to prove himself in this world where it's about the collective. He does his job, he discovers an area and starts to invent things, and he falls in love.

I must admit that the romance was oddly placed. Ayn Rand was a feminist and in her time, the way she wrote her female characters were not the norm. However, this main female was a let down for me. This was not the strong female character that I'm used to from Ayn Rand.

There were times when I found plot holes but then a few pages later those holes were filled in effortlessly and as an aspiring writer I find that to be very impressive. There was also a lengthy monologue at the end that lasted for pages where the main character adamantly declared his independence. I feel that that should have been drastically condensed because it was really repetitive.

Ayn Rand isn't perfect and her philosophy isn't perfect but in this day and age where words matter more than action, I'm finding Objectivism to be more and more attractive as the days go on.

Loveless by Yun Kouga REVIEW

I went back to the store today and bought six volumes of Loveless on clearance. I picked them up without a second thought and no regrets. Those of you judging me at this moment, screw you and your judgement.

I must say that I am so happy that I decided to pick these ups. This series was one of the first animes I've watched. It's also one of the first animes that I owned completely. This series has been ongoing so long that Morning Musume still had Goto Maki in the group. I love that cultural reference because Morning Musume was one of the first idol groups I listened to.

Regarding the Shounen Ai tag, people are going to really quickly refer to the main characters as a romantic relationship but I am really hesitant to do so at this point. Not just because of the age but because of occurrences that happen in other volumes. That being said, this is a review of the first volume.

Manga Rule #2: Yaoi and Shounen Ai are drastically different. Do not ever use them interchangeably because the difference is the rating.

I liked the page after the cover page. The art is gorgeous. Yun Kouga's art is really nice, simple, and cute. I also feel that in terms of story-telling this is a really good buildup for events that have yet to happen. Some people may not think so but this volume is really light and things get really intense from this point forward.

Since it's still ongoing, I don't know how the story ends but I will be there when it ends. I need to see how Loveless ends. ~

Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom REVIEW

Once upon a time like a year ago, I had to read something for a book report and like all college students I chose the smallest book that was available which was Tuesdays with Morrie.

I loved this book because it had a really good message and I am really sensitive to that sort of thing. I remember near the end of the book I was crying some ugly tears. Ugly tears that got trapped on my top eyelash and the weight of my tears kept that one eye closed until I wiped the tear off my eyelash, sad. It's a sad book.

There are some very valuable things that people can learn from this book but I also think that at the end of the day a lot of the messages are things that people should already know.

However, the book does show how a person that's dying views the world around them now that their time is severely limited. As a former CNA, I've seen a lot of different ways that people handled this point in their life. In fact, I think the book resonated with me more because I used to be a CNA.

Anyway, I do recommend this, it's a really good read.

Manga Classics: Emma REVIEW

So, here we are at the end of my list for the Manga Classics. There are a few I have left to read but I don't own them and have no way to currently acquire them so I shall be doing more reading of other things. What fun.

Speaking of fun, this was a fun read. I believe that Emma was the only book that made me react at all to it. As in, I do this whole body cringe at some points. When a certain couple FINALLY gets together I was just in so much shock that it finally happened that I couldn't contain myself. This adaption has definitely made me want to read the book. That's a shame, I have five copies of Pride and Prejudice and no copies of Emma. I desperately need a job.

This was a really light and dramatic read. I think that everyone knows a person that is an Emma or a Harriet and so on and so forth. I, of course, spent the whole time wanting everyone to get with the person that they were supposed to get with but I was stuck waiting until two hours later when I finally finished it.

Of course, this isn't the full novel of Emma by Jane Austen and I really cannot wait to read that.

I'm not sure how those that liked the original novel would feel about it but I certainly enjoyed it. I definitely recommend it.

Manga Classics: Les Miserables REVIEW

The first thing I need to mention is that this is an adaption, obviously, and I have never found the title of the original work to apply to an adaption so well.

Les Miserables indeed, fuck me.

Let me elaborate because it's not so much that I thought that this was bad. I thought it was pretty magnetic but my fear is that it is an adaption. If the adaption was this conflicting how conflicting is the original is. Also, the original novel is really chunky, it's larger than the largest book that I read, which is Atlas Shrugged. Atlas Shrugged took a month to read for 17 year old me, how long would it take 23 year old me to read Les Mis? Maybe a week, I have tons of books to read this year. I'm scared.

As far as the art goes, it may be one of my favorites of this series of books. SunNeko Lee does a good job, they can make it cute when they want it to be cute, gruesome, beautiful, etc. That sort of versatility is hard to find in art, specifically this sort of art.

Reading this makes me anxious to read the original, I'll probably set aside some time during the summer to read it. For now, more netgalley.

Unicorn Crossing by Dana Simpson REVIEW

Some people might feel shame when they have to write a review about a guilty pleasure. But I don't have to write a review and I don't feel bad. I read Razzle Dazzle Unicorn by Dana Simpson last year Andrew enjoyed it, so of course, when I saw this on netgalley I had to read it. Thankfully, it's read now and not dependent on my poor marketing skills for this blog.

The series is about Phoebe and Marigold a unicorn on their random adventures through life. I think the main reason why I enjoy it so much is that Marigold is so savage. Marigold and Dakota are my favorite characters in the series. And this series in it of itself is always a delight to read.

The wording used may be difficult for a child to understand, however, their is a very helpful glossary for those difficult words. There isn't harm in presenting this to a child, I mean, if your child is into unicorns go for it.

Point of Origin by Rebecca Yarros REVIEW

I am not a stranger to romance novels. In fact, I enjoy them a lot. Especially the cop or firefighter kinds because hot stuff is hot.

So, Point of Origin. I didn't have extremely high hopes for it but it exceeded expectations. Though, I think that it's just the inner romantic in me swooning over the ending which was swoon worthy. If you look at the story while ignoring some writing aspects you might enjoy it. It depends on your preferences. I sincerely feel as if this is a book to be enjoyed at the superficial level and nothing more because when you start looking at it with a critical eye you will feel some disappointment.

The story line isn't completely flawed but it's climax is sex, spoilers. I always think that it's much better if the climax of the story is an actual climax rather than two characters climaxing. Sex should be an accessory to the story and not the climax, unless it's an erotica, which this is not.

The characters are cookie cutouts but I didn't expect anything less. There was a lot of things that happened just because it was convenient to the plot but again, no complaints.

I mean, like I said, read it and enjoy it at a superficial level. This is not a book meant to make you think every time you take a twenty minute shower.

Higurashi; Cotton Drifting Arc Volume 1 by Ryukishi07 REVIEW

So, when I broke my promise from like ten days ago and went to the bookstore to buy books, I found this puppy in the clearance section at HPB. Higurashi was one of my more favorite animes when I was into anime. I also saw Galaxy Angel and would have bought it if it didn't have water damage.

Manga Rule #1; If it's your favorite anime, you absolutely have to buy the manga.

But as I was saying, this was one of my favorite animes. One of my favorite arcs of the anime was this specific arc and I didn't realize it until I started reading it. But yo, this arc is one of my favorites. It brings in Shion, essentially the best character in the franchise, and it's just hella messed up.

On one side, I'm happy that I got this on the first volume of this arc but at the same time I'm not because this isn't my favorite part of the arc. The arc starts slow but by the end you wish you were watching bunny videos. Just ah.

Higurashi is an intense series, don't read it if you don't like intense things. Otherwise, you should 10000000% read it.

Amelia's Notebook by Marissa Moss REVIEW

Let's go all the way back to the year 2001. Yes, all the way back to that time. I was eight, in the third grade, and I was just getting into creative writing. I have been reading since I was really young, my parents really pushed it on me, and at this time of third grade I was very advanced at reading but I had never really bothered to write and teachers up to that point never bothered to properly teach it. So, it was random but after a writing assignment my teacher and a guidance counselor pulled me aside during lunch and wanted to make this writing club with me and other kids that showed 'talent' in creative writing. To make this short, she gave all of us (4 kids in total) an Amelia book to read and get inspiration.

Since then, I have loved this series a lot. It's not so much a quality thing as it is a nostalgia thing (like most people with Harry Potter and Twilight). That being said, I was quite poor as a child and never got to read another one of the books other than the one that was given to me.

Obviously now as an adult I am actively looking for all of these books in my local bookstores (all secondhand) and I came across the first book in the series. It was very exciting and when I got home, I read it, and it was still as entertaining as I remember it being.

As far as children, I think that this series is still good to promote creativity in children. This series was one of the things in my childhood that really showed that expressing myself through writing was an acceptable option. The wording isn't too complicated, the colors are vibrant, the language is childlike, I don't really see any reason why a child wouldn't like it but I might say that it's a matter of preference. Maybe give it a shot?

101 Amazing Things About Dog Lovers by Todd Hafer REVIEW

At first, I wasn't entirely sure why this book had a Christian tag but then I saw the faithful Bible quotes and realized why it was. I found no reason for the tag other than that and I'm not tagging it as so here. Sorry not sorry.

Don't let the cover of the book fool you, this is an informational book about dogs. I don't know if it was just me but I thought that this was going to be one of those coffee table books with cute pictures and one or two lines a page.

Life isn't that easy. But I did like this. You can never have enough informational books for pets. As long as owners are unintentionally negligent to their pets that they're needed.

The aesthetic of this book is really cute by the way, I had an edited page because I downloaded it from netgalley but I can see how delightful the final product could be.

I do recommend it if you're a general dog lover or have a dog. If you have a dog buy all the adorable information dog books there are. When I had pets, there were books that were specific per breed and they were delightful.

Pet owners, please make the effort to educate yourselves. ~

Manga Classics Great Expectations REVIEW

Back at it with the Manga Classics, I have two more to read through and find myself fearing the length of one of them... For now though, Great Expectations.

I have never read Charles Dickens and feel a bit hesitant to after this graphic novel. I'm starting either notice trends in older writing or Stacey King really likes a certain kind of story line. It could be either or but it gets repetitive and boring.

However, these trends are in line with normal human behavior, and I'm in realization of it. But still, I've read three books almost in a row with these kinds of trends and it gets boring. It's like, I get it people act one way but are another sometimes, but it's annoying.

Other than that, the story felt very boring. I had great expectations and received massive disappointment in return. It just remained flat with a few really intense moments that felt out of place in the general outline. The ending act was full of twists that were so stupid and simplistic for me to even guess ahead of time.

However, I have read a lot worse, and if you like Charles Dickens maybe give it a try? Or don't you're not missing out on much.

Unlovable by Cynthia St. Aubin REVIEW

Sometimes on goodreads I just don't understand where other people are coming from. Lucky for me, I'm not  judgmental jerk and don't think more or less of others if they have a different opinion from my own.

I didn't like this book, it didn't really have a story line, it didn't seem well researched, it didn't seem well thought out, it didn't seem to be edited, and I could go on.

There were a lot of cliches that didn't seem to make sense to me. Like the virgin main hero with a bad past that ended up being a good person. The antagonist that ends up with a bad past and having a heart of gold ONLY for the virginal protagonist.

The mythology bothered me a lot because she used Cupid and Eros at the same time and someone help me because that's nOT HOW THAT WORKS. THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS AT ALL. The author had another character Crixus who's a child of Zeus and some random human probably and there's a mention of people not hearing about him. And yo, Crixus was someone that actually lived, he was a Gallic soldier that was captured by the Romans. I'm not an expert but I just find a lot of that to be not perfectly correct and if it's not going to be perfectly correct then why bother putting it into the novel? I guess I'm just picky like that.

The humor also fell flat because it was just really immature. I mean, I'm not a stranger to romance novels, I know the humor that typically goes in them, and this humor is comparable to middle grade humor to the point where I felt as if the character herself was a teenager and not a professional woman.

I just didn't like it, I don't recommend it, but if you liked it that's cool.

Manga Classics Pride and Prejudice REVIEW

I've been trying to read Pride and Prejudice for years. Since my high school years and it's been a decent amount of time since High School about 5 years, depressingly. I haven't read it completely since then.

The first Manga Classic I've read was The Scarlet Letter and I loved that enough that I wanted to read the book (I don't own it and thus haven't read it yet but it's on the list!) So, naturally, I went onto Netgalley and requested almost ever Manga Classic that they had available. I've been meaning to read Pride and Prejudice so I read this one first.

I wasn't disappointed, the fire under my butt to read the actual novel has been reignited and if it's on the only shelf in my house I will definitely get to reading it in the daytime tomorrow.

The art for this was pretty good, it's better than anything that I can do, but there were some moments that were not very pleasing to my eye but it wasn't the art that captivated me (it was really pretty at some parts though) it was the story.

I didn't realize the actual reasoning for the title until I actually got to a point in the manga that pointed a giant arrow at it. Which I appreciated a lot.

Anyway, I definitely enjoyed this, it's a vastly quicker read than the original novel would be. Essentially, if you've been wanting to read Pride and Prejudice, but fear that it's much too long for your precious time. I feel that this serves as a really good TLDR alternative.

the princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace REVIEW

When I used to follow booklrs, I followed Amanda Lovelace. I didn't realize this until I saw her picture on her author page literally a minute before typing this. Just something fun to start this off with.

So, for the most part I liked this. I liked that Amanda's story was told in the poetry and that her story was very much relatable. There was parts in the middle where I was wishing for her to stop feeling sorry for herself (as a person that has also went through a lot of trauma, I had also gone through a phase where I felt sorry for myself) and was very happy to find that she had reached that point. I like seeing people get themselves out of that hole, there's no greater feeling.

As far as the parts I didn't like, it's just nitpicking on my part, a difference of opinion on a few choice lines, a few well meaning lines but a few lines that I felt holds more damage if not specified. Though overall, the message of the whole book was really good and positive.

The poetry was nice, it flowed fairly well, the language was fairly pretty minus a few instances but they didn't bother me all that much. It's not classical poetry so if you're into that kind of poetry it might not be your cup of tea. However, I did like this a lot and I recommend it a lot.

The Slanted Life of Emily Dickinson by Rosanna Bruno REVIEW

The second book of 2017 is this, The Slanted Life of Emily Dickinson.

This book is some humor on the ambiguous life of Emily Dickinson. Ambiguous because she was a recluse and no one knows what she did... Or at least that's what this book suggests.

However, I find that this book is more of a humorous take on Emily Dickinson, what she was, who she is, what she did, and what she would be doing if she would be in our current time.

The art, is fairly simplistic, the general simplistic. The kind of simplistic where an average person that draws at a once in a while basis could achieve. There isn't much to judge on based on content. There is some wit in there that I appreciated but other than that I found it to be very straightforward and boring. It was a 98 page book and I was bored by page 30.

However, I don't have very many complaints and there were parts of this book that I actually did enjoy. So I do recommend this if you want a lighter humorous book about Emily Dickinson, I wouldn't recommend it if you genuinely want to know more about Emily Dickinson.

Small Favors by Colleen Coover REVIEW

Sometimes, I regret saying that I'd review anything but then I remind myself that my willingness to read anything is a strength because most reviewers stick to one kind of genre throughout their reading life. Reading any genre at any moment opens yourself to different ideas and viewpoints. And it's with those thoughts that brings me to review this. 

So, Small Favors. I know that it says porno on the cover but I didn't think that it would be completely porno. All three parts, complete porno... So I'm going to talk about the plot.

It's about a girl, Annie, that masturbates a lot. Enough for her conscious to pull her into her own consciousness and judge her. Then this fairy person Nibbil has sex with her and then somehow goes outside of her consciousness and the rest is basically about their sexcapades with each other and other girls.

It's definitely erotic and lacks a proper plot and just follows a base story line. Porn without plot because if you go into thinking about the inner workings of everything you're just going to make your head hurt. The art is simplistic but is still better than anything an average person can do, which I can appreciate. It's inclusive of race and relationship types, which is good considering the current political climate. 

Perhaps, this could be the perfect lesbian porno comic? I haven't read any others so I'm going to assume so. 

I downloaded this in three parts from BlueFire. And I totally recommend it  for anyone looking for this kind of thing.