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SPOTLIGHT; hashtag bookstagram challenges
We interrupt our regular schedule to bring you this post. I recently got back into bookstagram. I have been trying to keep to a schedule (Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday posts, which are a lot less than other bookstagram accounts) but things have been going a bit haywire since I came across the challenges people post. Challenges when it comes to bookstagram are not so much competitions. They are more goals for the month. I was confused the first time I came across the term before I realised that it was much like the memes over on tumblr. Last month, a couple of the bookstagram accounts I follow were hosting a…
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review; a great and terrible beauty
A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy–jumble them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel. Sixteen-year-old Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother’s death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls’ academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann…
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the art of poetry;
I was never much of a poetry girl growing up. I mean, I liked them well enough, I suppose, but they never evoked that sense of wonder or roused my emotions the way getting lost in novels did. Until recently, that is. Tumblr has made being exposed to different styles of poetry much easier. The first few ‘proper’ poems I had read were Shakespearean and the more classic types taught in my English Literature classes. Tumblr has taught me that poetry can be pretty much anything. From a story, to rhyming words, to a protest (of sorts), or to – whatever this is. I have not had the chance to…
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review; entwined
Entwined by Heather Dixon ‘Come and mend your broken hearts here.‘ Just when Azalea should feel that everything is before her – beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing – it’s taken away. All of it. And Azalea is trapped. The Keeper understands. He’s trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. So he extends an invitation. Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest, but there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.…
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SPOTLIGHT; food for thought & the Young Adult genre
We interrupt our regular schedule to bring you this post. A friend recently linked me to this article, and I’ve had it open on my phone for a while. Just to go back to and read because the first time I read it, I realised something – I agree with most of these points. I mean, I love YA books. I pretty much only read YA books. Almost all the reviews on this blog are of YA books. But when I look at the audience reading these books, we are (almost) all in our twenties or older. Or in our late teens. We read these books for escapism, for the…
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review; fangirl
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan… But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to. Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath…
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june 2017; it’s a wrap
It is the middle of the year, and so far, so good! I still refuse to do the whole stats thing, because there is not enough activity on my blog – by me or by anyone else! – for that too look anything but sad. But on the blogging front, I am rather proud of myself! I have kept to my schedule of one discussion post per month, drafted in advance so that I have little stress. AND I have come up with a new feature that allows me some freedom too! Say hello to SPOTLIGHT, posts that can and will be posted as and when I write them! Posts…
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review; wildefire
Wildefire by Karsten Knight Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school – being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot,…
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review; sun and moon, ice and snow
Sun And Moon, Ice And Snow by Jessica Day George Blessed—or cursed—with an ability to understand animals, the Lass (as she’s known to her family) has always been an oddball. And when an isbjorn (polar bear) seeks her out, and promises that her family will become rich if only the Lass will accompany him to his castle, she doesn’t hesitate. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle, which is made of ice and inhabited by a silent staff of servants. Only a grueling journey on the backs of the four winds will reveal the truth: the bear is really a prince who’s been enchanted by…
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the seven deadly sins tag;
I came across one of the most interesting tags I have seen over on Jess @ JBelkBooks‘ blog. I’m not one for tags unless I have actually been tagged in things, which is rare. But this was too good to pass up. And when Jess suggested that I do it after I flailed a bit about it, well, who was I to say no? GREED What is your most inexpensive book? What is your most expensive book? Hmm. A few years ago, I actually picked up the entire Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray for 14 NZD. Which was – whoa. I mean, ENTIRE TRILOGY. IN GOOD CONDITION. FOR FOURTEEN…