My Family Guesses YA Book Plots Based Off Their Covers

Hello, friends. A week or two ago I posted My Mom Guesses YA Book Plots Based Off Their Covers, and it was interesting to say the least. In case you were wondering, my mom did indeed enjoy it and went to talk about it for the rest of the weekend. This peaked my little brothers interest, and he came up and asked me if he could guess plots too.

That’s right, he approached me, I didn’t even have to ask him.

The only slight issue is that he is a twelve year old boy who communicated mainly through shrugs and “sures” so when he tried to come up with plots he struggled a bit. This lead to my dad attempting to help, and my mom telling my dad he was uncreative. We spent an hour sitting around while I held up book covers for all of them to give insight on. This post is the result. Enjoy, I guess?

I. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

What I told them going in: Nothing? I showed them both the old and new covers and said there was a cover change.

My dad’s summary: This story is about a killer orchestra, where they die when they play the instruments. They are tricked into playing the instruments by bad people who want more people to be sucked into the city of bones.

Real summary here.

II. Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

What I told them going in: This is a third book in a series, it takes place in the same world as the last book.

My dad and brother’s summary: This is a story about the lady in red on the cover is taking over the world because she’s greedy and wants the power. She has a dark soul.

Real summary here. Please note this summary contains spoilers for the previous two books in the series. 

III. Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer

What I told them going in: That it is not an erotica, which is what both of my parents assumed. That it is a paranormal murder mystery.

My mom’s summary: An underwater murder mystery in which the main character, Maddy, mistakenly kills her best friend Fred after she receives a letter that makes her paranoid.

Real summary here. My review can be found here.

IV. The Heir by Kiera Cass

What I told them going in: Nothing.

My brother’s summary: A famous person is looking for a husband because she’s going to become the queen of a made up country. (Like Genovia from the princess diaries).

Real summary here.

V. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

What I told them going in: What the title came from, ie this quote: “The Winner’s Curse is when you come out on top of the bid, but only by paying a steep price.”

My mom’s summary: The main character bid on meeting her favorite author of horror novels, in which she wins but she doesn’t know that the author is writing true stories. She then becomes apart of his next horror story and she pays the most ultimate price when she loses her life.

Real summary here.

VI. Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

What I told them going in: I haven’t read this book so even I don’t know anything about it. In case you were wondering, they did not find this amusing. “How are we supposed to know what it is if you don’t? We don’t read, Arin.”

My brother’s summary: The turtles all go all the way down into their shells because a predator is coming to get them. The predator is a lot bigger than them and has big teeth. (What else did anyone expect a twelve year old boy to come up with?)

Real summary here.

VII. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

What I told them going in: I don’t think I told them anything other than it was a fantasy about fairies.

My mom’s summary: The fairy prince lives in the dogwood tree. The dogwood tree is in the mall in DC and he tries to capture tourists by throwing crowns at them as they visit the trees in hopes of finding his one true love (or 10,000 dollars). The true love needs to be human so he can become human himself because he doesn’t want to be small anymore. (I guess in my mom’s mind, fairies are small?)

Real summary here.

VIII. You Asked For Perfect by Laura Silverman

What I told them going in: This book hasn’t come in yet but it is one of my most anticipated reads of the year.

My mom’s summary: Alexander is a college student with a massive deadline for his senior art project thesis in which he is drawing botanical subjects. He is having difficulties being pleased with any of his work because of the amount of of stress he puts on himself. (She then went on to tell me that this sounded a lot like me and maybe I shouldn’t stress so much about school, in case you were wondering).

Real summary here.

IX. Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare

What I told them going in: Nothing, but my mom noticed that this was a shadowhunter book. I was very proud of her.

Her summary: The “tattooed dude” is a treasure hunter out to find the red scroll of magic. In order to find it, he kidnaps the other dude and forces him in a great adventure around Paris because he is the expert on the scroll. Its full of high speed chases because they’re not the only one after the scroll.

Real summary here.

X. Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

What I told them going in: This book takes place in the past. Though, once again, my mom noticed its a shadowhunter book.

My mom’s summary: In an ancient city in the fall, the main character is shadowhunting for the keeper of the leaves. She has to travel around the ancient city battling the leave serpents that live in the ancient cities drains and then come out through the streets. She makes her way to the castle where the keeper of the leaves lives, there is then an epic battle where the uses the sword to kill the big leaf serpent (animal, monster, thing).

Real summary here.

 

Welp, that’s about it for today. You’ll probably notice my mom came up with most of these, but that’s because she has now declared herself the most creative person in the family. I guess I have myself to blame.

What do you guys think of their summaries? Which is your favorite fake plot? I think mine is The Cruel Prince or Chain of Gold.

Advertisements

Series Crackdown 6.0 TBR

Its readathon time again, my friends. Not just readathon time, but Series Crackdown time. This, if you don’t know, its my favorite readathon to participate in. There are no rules or anything like that, the goal is to just read as much as you can and try and knock some of those unread series off your TBR while you’re at it, its hosted by Mel at The Book Moo.

This is this first time I am completely this readathon with a super heavy course load, but it is bound to not be the last, so I guess we’ll just stick it out and see how this goes. Without further ado, onto my very unrealistic TBR because in case you didn’t know, I am incapable of writing realistic TBRs.

Physical Reads: 

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare

Um, I’ve been rereading these short stories for like, a hot minute. Like, since the beginning of January, I’m pretty sure. I don’t know why I’m still reading them (okay, maybe I kind of do), but I really need to actually finish this at some point and this readathon seems like a great occasion to do that.

Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep

We love a good middle grade series about mermaids in this household.

Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist

I have vague memories of reading this one specifically as a child (lowkey think I read this one and then the first one and didn’t read any of the others) and specific memories of one scene, I can’t wait to see if these memories are accurate or if they’ve been messed up by time.

Emily Windsnap and the Siren’s Secret 

Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun 

 

Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost Souls

Everyone send thoughts and prayers that I don’t get City of Lost Souls flashbacks every time I look at the title of this book.

Emily Windsnap and the Falls of the Forgotten Island

I’m more bitter than I would like to admit about the fact that this cover does not really match the others, just saying.

Emily Windsnap and the Pirate Prince

I was lucky enough to get approved for an eARC of this on Netgalley, which is the reason I am reading a middle grade series about mermaids in the first place. There is really no way I will get all the way to this one unless I literally hide under the covers of my bed and avoid homework, essays, and my friends, but who knows really. I have to go ahead and put it on here just in case.

Audiobooks:

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

This is technically a reread, and I technically have a two star rating for this on goodreads. Despite the rating, I actually remember enjoying this book and I would really like to actually finish this series at some point in my life.

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

This is also technically a reread according to goodreads, but I honestly have no recollection of reading it ever, so that’s fun. I will probably get a little bit into this one and no further, but once again, we love being unrealistic in this household.

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore 

The only way I am getting around to this one is if I suddenly have to translate and scan the entirety of the Aeneid instead of random sections of it (in case this comment makes no sense, which I’m sure it doesn’t, I listen to audiobooks while I am copying out the lines I have to translate and then listen some more while I scan the lines for meter). If that occurs, I will probably just crawl in a hole and die, so we don’t really have to worry about me even starting this, but its up here anyways because I like making unrealistic goals for myself.

 

Well, folks, we’ve finally reached the end. If at the end of this when I post my reading log and it turns out all I did was listen to audiobooks while doing Latin and washing dishes and read random books on Hitler and the holocaust or ancient Greek literature because those are my assigned texts for the classes I’m in right now.

What is your favorite readathon? Are you participating in Series Crackdown? Do you also enjoy giving yourself overly ambitious TBRs? What are your opinions on middle grade books about mermaids? We can chat about any of these or whatever else is on your mind in the comments below!

ARC Review: Just For Clicks by Kara McDowell

Hi, friends! Today I am here with my first ARC review. Here’s to hoping I get better about actually reviewing books I’m reading in general, but it doesn’t necessarily seem like it will, at least not right now.

*eARC provided by the publisher via netgalley

Official summary from Goodreads:

Mommy blogs are great . . . unless the blog happens to belong to your mom.

Twin sisters Claire & Poppy are accidental social media stars thanks to Mom going viral when they were babies. Now, as teens, they’re expected to contribute by building their own brand. Attending a NY fashion week and receiving fan mail is a blast. Fending off internet trolls and would-be kidnappers? Not so much. Poppy embraces it. Claire hates it. Will anybody accept her as “just Claire”? And what should Claire do about Mom’s old journals? The handwritten entries definitely don’t sound like Mom’s perfect blog persona. Worse, one of them divulges a secret that leaves Claire wondering what else in her life might be nothing but a sham . . .

---

☆☆☆.5

This was a super cute and super fun, easy read! I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a cute and fluffy, slow burn romance.

Here’s what I really liked about it:

The discussion of family relationships and whether blood is what truly makes a family.

I am a firm believer in the idea that family is not defined by blood and always find it really interesting when books or other forms of media take on these topics. This book did a really good job of having characters have lines of conversations about families and the difference between being related by blood and being related by having actual emotional connections and I really enjoyed that aspect. Also, the family dynamics in general in this book were not the usual dynamics and I really liked how that was handled and once again, I liked how there were conversations about it between the characters.

The discussion of internet personas versus real personas and how easy it is for people to misconstrue things they see on the internet about other people’s lives.

I honestly think I chose the best possible time to read this book. I read this book while I was in the middle of a month long course on food blogs and what it takes to be a blogger and how people often have different personas on the internet than they do in their day to day life. This book did an amazing job of showing how different Claire and her whole family are in person in comparison to their online presence. Claire in particular shows how she has a completely different persona online, to the point where she feels her audience does not know who she really is.

Claire’s personality and narration.

Claire was an amazing narrator, I love her so much. For one thing, she acts like a teenager. I do not know why that seems to be such a rare thing in YA, which is supposed to be about teenagers, but it is. Claire, however, actually acts her age. She is funny, stubborn, and wears great tee shirts, I love her.

The very slow burn romance and how it seemed the whole plot didn’t revolve around it.

I did not necessarily realize this until this book, but I apparently live for slow burn romances. This one was perfect. Claire and Rafael were pulling on my heart strings and I just could not wait for the two of them to finally talk it out and get together. If you like slow burn romances, this is definitely the book for you.

Here’s what I didn’t really like:

How Claire almost refused to talk things out with her family.

There were points in the book where things would have been resolved without so much miscommunication and hurt feelings. I understand that the lack of communication was somewhat necessarily to keep mystery and suspense, but at points it just got annoying. Like, Claire, I love you, but please just go talk to your mom about all that is going on and let her explain.

How the end solution to some of the main problems just seemed kind of rushed and under explained?

That question mark is there because I am not sure now to explain this. I felt like the ending was very rushed, with a solution just being said and then done without any proper discussion or conversations about how everyone would feel about the solution. Once again, I understand why this was like this, but I would have loved for more of an explanation and more discussion about what the solution would actually mean for all of the characters.

Overall 

This is a super cute and fluffy read that I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book that fits that description. It also contains lots of really good discussion on social media, blogging in particular, which was very interesting to read about. Also, this is super weird, but you know how sometimes you need a good, fluffy contemporary to get you out of a reading slump or something similar? I imagine this would be a great book for a scenario like that, especially since its a really easy read.

Just For Clicks comes out next Tuesday, so there is still time to preorder it here or here.

My Mom Guess YA Book Plots Based Off Their Covers

Hello friends, today’s post is brought to you via my mother’s frustration and quotes such as, “Arin. This cover just has thorns on it. What am I supposed to do with this?” and “Dozer*, help me figure out what this book is about.”

Anyways, does anyone else remember those booktube videos from a while back where people would have their families look at YA book covers and try and get them to guess what it was about? Well, this weekend while I was home from school, I decided to attempt that with my mom because I really wanted to see what she came up with. The results are below, and they are simultaneously better and worse than I thought they would be. My mom evidently has a thing for orphans getting happy endings.

*Our beloved dog, pictured here observing this blog post being written and wanting to know why my bed is covered with more books than normal.

 

I. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

What I told her going in: the book is urban fantasy, then what urban fantasy is because she had no idea.

My mom’s summary: A girl (or a mermaid, could be either) slays under water sea monsters with her sword (with her special invisible scuba gear), for fun.

What the book is actually about: Shadowhunters doing shadowhunting things, this time in LA. Also now featuring more faeries and bigoted laws. Actual summary can be found here.

II. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

What I told her going in: Set in the same world as the previous book.

My mom’s summary: This story follows Sawyer, a business man by daytime and a demon angel slayer by night. (That’s why he has suit on with his sword over his side, he forgot to change out of his day clothes).

What the book is actually about: Shadowhunters doing shadowhunter things, this time in London during the nineteenth century. Featuring one of the loves of my life, Charlotte Fairchild. Actual summary can be found here.

III. A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

What I told her going in: The genre is fantasy.

My mom’s summary: An angry rose bush traps its lonely prey, but only at nighttime and only because it doesn’t want the people to be lonely anymore.

What the book is actually about: A beauty and the beast retelling, featuring an angsty prince, a fake princess, and an scary guardsman. Actual summary can be found here.

IV. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

What I told her going in: The genre is science fiction, it takes place in the future in outer space.

My mom’s summary: A fire raved village that has been set on fire again. This time the fire was set to get rid of the libraries and the books because the people who started the fire don’t like books.

What the book is actually about: A lot of things? Hacker geniuses, crazy AIs, badass female characters, deadly plagues, etc. Actual summary can be found here.

V. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

What I told her going in: The genre is urban fantasy.

My mom’s summary: A story of three children taking their pet dragon out on an adventure to a sacred battle ground where the dragon turns evil because he is bitten by a bug. They don’t make it home, its not a feel good book.

What the book is actually about: Three demigods trying to rescue Hera because she is messing with people’s lives, again. Actual summary can be found here.

VI. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

What I told her going in: The genre is fantasy, the tag line on the cover, “six dangerous outcasts, one impossible heist.”

My mom’s summary: A evil crow goes on a mission to steal all of the windows out of the buildings in this abandoned town take them back to the orphans. The orphans need the windows because their houses are holey.

What the book is actually about: A ragtag group of thieves try and break into government building and capture my heart along the way. Actual summary can be found here.

VII. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

What I told her going in: I don’t think I told her anything? She got super excited when she saw the cover so I was letting her run with it.

My mom’s summary: The main character is a coroner that contracts a disease from one of the dead bodies that gives her the ability to look into peoples souls with her piecing eyes and shatter their emotions, which destroys their lives.

What the book is actually about: Um, please don’t ask me to summarize. Just read the real one here.

VIII. A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab

What I told her going in: The genre is fantasy, that the guy was wearing a coat and not a dramatic cape.

My mom’s summary: A mischievous magician who has a magical coat that allows him to jump from one city to another and his evil plot is to steal all of the candy from the evil black city and take it to the bright and cheery red city to give to the orphans.

What the book is actually about: Magic? Parallel Londons? Please just read the real summary here.

IX. The Selection by Kiera Cass

What I told her going in: The story actually is a romance, set in the future.

My mom’s summary: A story about 35 girls who are in a competition to win the favor of the handsome prince, but on the day of the competition they all show up wearing the same dress except for one, who wins his heart. They live happily ever after in some “off the wall country in Europe.”

What the book is actually about: …I’m actually shook about how accurate that was. Anyways, real summary here.

X. The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater

What I told her going in: This book takes place in the Shenandoah valley in Virginia (where we live, which is the only reason I told her).

My mom’s summary: The story is about a group of boys that were attacked by ravens and contracted a horrible disease that the evil scientist had created in his laboratory. the boys then have to fight the Frankenstein in the birds wings in order to receive the cure, but they are forever known as the raven boys. Please note, this all takes place in Swannanoa**.

What the book is actually about: A group of private school boys and a psychic’s daughter go searching for a dead Welsh king. Real summary can be found here.

**A super old, super fancy mansion in the valley where you can pay to go and walk around and pay even more to take wedding pictures. Looks like the perfect place for birds to attack teenage boys and give them diseases, right?

Well, this was a fun experiment. Stay tuned next Friday for more very inaccurate YA book plots, this time brought to you by my entire family.

Would you guys read any of these books if they really were about what my mom thought? Let’s chat in the comments!

January 2019 Wrap Up

Oh January, what a month. I will miss you. I have seen a lot of memes and other tweets about how January went on forever and was horrible, but for me, the month flew by and I really enjoyed it. Here’s some of the reasons why:

Non-bookish things from January: 

School and other IRL Things: 

My college has short term throughout the month of January, meaning that I only had one class that only ran two hours a day, four days a week (this is the main reason January flew by). The class I chose to take was called “Digital Dining and Viral Media” and in it I learned all about food blogs (and had to start my own, if you want to read my weird ramblings about food, you can do so here). It was a really fun class that also really made me think, I really enjoyed it.

Nothing really happened in January other than school, but I did make my (half of) my dorm room look pretty. To quote my good friend, Katelyn, “Its like Shadowhunters, but subtle.”

TV and Movies: 

This section is most likely not going to be featured in many wrap ups because I don’t really watch TV and when I do its just the same handful of Gilmore Girl episodes over and over again. This month, however, I had a lot of time on my hands.

TV: Derry Girls

I watched the entire season in a day. That sounds a lot less impressive when you find out there are only six 22ish minutes long episodes, but I’m proud of myself nonetheless. I am very bad at binge watching, but this show was so entertaining and funny that I couldn’t help it. If you’re into comedy and don’t mind strong language, I’d highly recommend this show. James is my fave. Also, Erin, but I might be slightly biased.

Movie: Chef (2014)

I watched this movie for class, and then wrote a full review (also for class), which you can find here if you’re interested. This movie was funny and heart warming, and once again, if you don’t mind strong language, I’d recommend it.

Music: 

Human by Dodie

Dodie released her new EP this month and I freaked out accordingly. I’ve been listening to this basically non stop. Every song is beautiful.

• Arms Unfolded? Love her.
• Monster? A bop that has a great music video.
• Not What I Meant? I think about the lyrics a lot. I mean, read them. Listen to the song. I’m begging you.
  • And in the end will I feel proud
    That I grit my teeth, and followed the damn crowd
    Will I have grown a little empire
    Or made a fucking mess
• Human? Can’t believe we got a studio version.
• She? I can’t get over this song for a lot of reasons, I’ll just leave it at: I love it.
• If I’m Being Honest? Once again, the lyrics man, the lyrics.
  • Hope has a cost, keeping all fingers crossed and held tight
    But I look idiotic with my limbs all knotted, it don’t feel right
• Burned Out? I may have literally cried when I saw that a studio version of this song was released. This song means a lot to me, it has helped me get through some rough times and I love that I can stream it instead of rewatching the youtube video.

Finally, to the books:

I read 22 books in January.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

• ☆☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/2-1/2
• Format: Hardback; from library.
• This book was so so powerful. I enjoyed it from the start to the finish.

Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer

• ☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/2-1/2
• Format: ebook/paperback; both owned.
• I really enjoyed this book, it has made me realize that I should try and read mysteries more often. Full review can be found here.

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

• ☆☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/2-1/2
• Format: hardback; owned.
• I loved this book so so much. My exact words upon finishing it were “Kemmerer has done it again.” Review to come when I inevitably reread it (probably in a few months, lets be realistic).

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

• ☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/1-1/3
• Format: audiobook; from library.
• I have enjoyed this book, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite of the series. Post to come about me reading this trilogy if I ever find the energy to finish and edit it. The ending really surprised me, I’ll tell you that.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

• ☆☆☆
• Read from 1/3-1/5
• Format: audiobook; from library.
• Yikes. That’s really all I have to say. Yikes.

Four by Veronica Roth

• ☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/5-1/5
• Format: audiobook; from library.
• Tobias/Four is without a doubt my favorite character from the series. This book just solidified that.

Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

• ☆☆☆☆☆
• Reread from 1/4-1/9
• Format: audiobook, following along and reading snippets from paperback; both owned.
• Buddy read with Luupi! Wow, I love Annabeth Chase. She’s great. What a queen. Percy Jackson? I’d die for him.

More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer

• ☆☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/2-1/10
• Format: hardback; owned
• I! Love! Brigid! Kemmerer’s! Books! Once again, review to come when I inevitably reread it.

Dear Earthling: Cosmic Correspondent by Pen Avery 

• ☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/9-1/10
• Format: ebook via Netgalley
• This was super cute! You can find my mini review on goodreads here.

Just For Clicks by Kara McDowell

• ☆☆☆.5
• Read from 1/10-1/15
• Fromat: eARC via Netgalley
• I really enjoyed this book! Full review to come closer to release date.

Sincerly, Harriet by Sarah Winfred Searle

• ☆☆☆
• Read from 1/16-1/16
• Format: ebook via Netgalley
•  I thought that I would like this graphic novel a lot more than I did, but I found myself being confused the whole time due to lack of exposition. I still enjoyed it, but I found myself questioning what was going on almost the whole time.

The Truth About Leaving by Natalie Britt

• ☆☆☆
• Read from 1/15-1/20
• Format: eARC via Netgalley
• This book and I have a very complicated relationship which you can find out more about in my review that will be posted closer to release day.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

• ☆☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/9-1/21
• Format: audiobook, occasionally following along or reading snippets in hardcover; owned audio, book from library.
• *knocks on door* Would you like to hear about my undying love Wylan Van Eck? No, how about Inej Ghafa?

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo 

• ☆☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/21-1/24
• Format: audiobook, occasionally following along or reading snippets in hardcover; owned audio, book from library.
• *knocks on door again* How would you feel about talking about Jesper Fahey? Or Nina Zenik?

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

• ☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/20-1/25
• Format: ebook; owned.
• Buddy read with Brittany! I loved this book a lot, my full review can be found here.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

• ☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/25-1/25
• Format: audiobook; from library.
• Really enjoyable beginning to what I know is going to be a great series!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater

• ☆☆☆☆
• Reread from 1/26-1/26
• Format: ebook; owned.
• This just in, I still love Adam Parrish.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Steifvater

• ☆☆☆☆☆
• Reread from 1/26-1/26
• Format: ebook, using audiobook as aid on occasion; owned ebook, audio from Scribd.
• I love Ronan Lych!!

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Steifvater 

• ☆☆☆☆
• Reread from 1/27-1/27
• Format: ebook, using audiobook as aid on occasion; owned ebook, audio from Scribd.
• Not to be dramatic, but like, I’d die for Blue Sargent.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

• ☆☆☆☆☆
• Reread from 1/27-1/27
• Format: ebook, using audiobook as aid on occasion; owned ebook, audio from Scribd.
• Richard Campbell Gansey III is a king. The king of my heart.

The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler

• ☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/30-1/30
• Format: ebook; from library.
• Am I reading an entire middle grade series about mermaids? Of course.

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

• ☆☆☆☆☆
• Read from 1/29-1/31
• Format: audiobook; owned.
• *cue endless high pitched shrieking from the void*

Finally, we have reached the end. Those are the 22 books I read this month. Here’s some fun stats:

• Pages read: 8,558
• Average rating: 4.25
• Format breakdown:
  • 8 audiobooks
  • 14 physical

Welp, that’s (finally) about it from me for the day. How was your January? Did you happen to read any of these books? How many books did you read? 

Book Review: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Official summary from goodreads:

Adam Silvera reminds us that there’s no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day.

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today.

Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.

---

 “No matter how we choose to live, we both die at the end.”

☆☆☆☆

WOW, this book wrecked me. I honestly did not expect it to because books that are meant to be sad do not normally make me sad, if that makes any sense. I also didn’t expect it because I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book for the first 30ish percent. Either way, this book was determined to break my expectations and it did I pretty good job of doing so.

Let’s Chat: Plot and World Building

Imagine getting a phone call at midnight telling you that you will die within the next 24 hours, despite the fact that you are seventeen or eighteen years old and perfectly healthy. That is what happens to Mateo and Rufus, and the book follows what the pair decide to do with their “end day.”

The premise of this plot is absolutely terrifying and anxiety inducing. If this book made me glad of anything, it is that Death Cast is not a real thing. I wouldn’t be able to handle knowing that I was somehow going to die, especially if no one could tell me how I would be dying unless it was something obvious like a terminal illness. My own personal anxiety set aside, the idea of Death Cast is fascinating. I mean, like, wow.  I loved seeing the little glimpses of how society had adapted to this sudden breakthrough. The last friend app, the blogs and forums where people can record their last days, the new businesses that sprung up designed to let people do thing they cannot do safely on their last day. It all seemed very realistic and the explanations of the changes seemed to come naturally, there were no huge info dumps anywhere.

This book is not really plot driven at all, it is definitely more character driven. This originally made the book hard for me to read, which is why I wasn’t the biggest fan of it for the first 30 or so percent. I just tend to not be into character driven contemporaries. Nonetheless, I’m very glad I stuck with it because I loved the characters after I got to know them a little better!

Let’s Chat: Characters

Mateo

“Mateo has never been good about sharing his own stuff, obviously, but you can always count on him to comment on your photo or show love to your status. If it matters to you, it matters to him.”

I loved Mateo from the first couple of pages, he was instantaneously relatable and it made the book a lot easier to get into than it would have been otherwise. I loved seeing Mateo come out of his comfort zone while still seeing how he stuck to his old principles, it was amazing.

Rufus 

Oh, Rufus. I started out this book with mixed and slightly negative feelings about Rufus given his actions during his first chapter. However, as the book went on and we got to know him better, I quickly started to like him more and more. By the end of the book, I loved him immensely and felt like he was a fully fleshed out and flawed character.

Lidia

I loved Lidia! I loved Penny! I loved her and Mateo’s interactions! I loved it! Have I made my feelings clear yet? No? Lidia was a side character that did not get much content time, but I still loved her. Seeing her relationship with her daughter and how she was coping with previous loses only to lose Mateo on top of that broke my heart into five thousand pieces. I don’t know if it’ll ever be whole again.

The Plutos

The Plutos, man. I love them. I am a huge fan of the found family dynamic, so this group almost immediately broke my heart. Seeing the other Plutos stand up for Rufus? Loved it. Loved every second of it. I really wish we had gotten to see more of these characters.

Let’s Chat: Favorite Quotes

“Life isn’t meant to be lived alone.”

“A new memory to laugh over is just as good as reflecting on an old one, I think. It may be even better.”

“There are questions I can’t answer. I cannot tell you how you will survive without me. I cannot tell you how to mourn me. I cannot convince you to not feel guilty if you forget the anniversary of my death, or if you realize days or weeks or months have gone by without thinking about me. I just want you to live.”

Let’s Chat: Overall Thoughts

I buddy read this with Brittany, from brittanythebookguru. Her review will be going up next week, and once it’s up, I’ll link it here. Buddy reading definitely added to my overall reading experience, I loved getting to discuss my frustration, happiness, and sadness with someone. Another big thing I enjoyed about this was the mental illness representation. The book made mental illness something that was normal and I loved and appreciated that so much. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves character driven stories or sad contemporaries!

Have you read this book? If so, did you enjoy it? If not, do you plan to read it? I’d love to chat about it in the comments!

I Did The 24in48 Readathon

Hey, friends! This past weekend, I participated in the 24in48 readathon. In case you haven’t heard of it, this readathon takes place over two days. The goal is to read a total of 24 hours over the span of those two days, or to just read a little more than you normally would and have fun. Its not super intense, its kind of just a “do what you please” kind of readathon, which I like.

Like I did with the last readathon I did, I kept a log throughout. And by “kept a log” I mean, I kept a log the first day and everything fell apart on day two. But its fine, things happen. Anyways, on to the actual content of this post (ie, my log and random snapchats).

Saturday, 12:19-12:35 AM: First 15 minutes of reading logged! Read the prologue and the first chapter of The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater, then (already) needed a break to get snacks.

Side note, most of these pictures are dark. That’s partially because I’m one of those people who sits in the dark all day long and partially because my snapchat always goes super dark when focused on bright screens.

12:45 AM: Snacks were found

12:50-1:04 AM: Got up to 29 minutes of reading time, took another break. 

1:35-???: Wow, maybe the log went downhill way before I thought. I never finished this long before I went to sleep, but I got 18% into The Raven Boys, putting my time up to 1:11.

9:14-9:31 AM: Got to 23% of The Raven Boys and 1:29 on the clock. At this point, I moved downstairs so that I could hang out with Dozer, because I love him. 

9:41-10:30 AM: Got to 39% and 2:11 minutes.

10:56-11:42 AM: Got to 51%, 2:49 minutes.

There was then a mess of making lunch, showering, and getting dressed (and by getting dressed, I mean putting on clean pajamas. No real clothing was worn until late Sunday). During that time, I got to 59% and 3:14.

1:41-?PM: Huh, I really thought this wasn’t going to go downhill this much until Sunday. 62%, 3:23

2:12-3:11 PM: 80%, 4:08 on the clock.

3:26-4:40 PM: I finished The Raven Boys! It only took me 5 hours and 2 minutes! Heck yeah!

5:20-5:45 PM: Started The Dream Thieves, got about 4% through, up to 5:27.

6:20-6:46 PM: 9%, 5:46

7:20-7:56 PM: 18%, 6:21

8:20-8:56 PM: 28%, 6:56

9:18-???PM: 31%, 7:11

10:20 PM- Sunday, 12:12 AM: At this point, it seems I am getting skilled at not updating this long. (For the record, Past Arin wrote that. She acknowledged her flaws.) A lot of things occurred and I got 60% through, 8:39.

12:30-2:45 AM: I finished The Dream Thieves! I don’t know what time it was hours wise because I didn’t feel the need to record it apparently, but I got 5% through Blue Lily, Lily Blue and ended up at 10:25 minutes.

Mess of a morning, got through 30%, 11:17 minutes.

12:02-3:53 PM: I finished Blue Lily, Lily Blue at 14:04! Do you see what I meant when I said these updates kind of just fell off? 

3:58-5:27 PM: I kind of took an unnecessarily long break between books, but eventually I sat down and go to read The Raven King. I got up to 18% and 14:46 before I had to actually get ready for the day and go to my grandmother’s for dinner. 

Things happened at my grandmother’s, mainly me playing with dogs and listening to my cousin yell, but I got up to 24% and 15:13 while gone. 

8:30- 11:54 PM: I actually finished! I can’t explain to you all how irrationally proud I was to finish this series in 18 hours and 14 minutes. 

Now, for a final wrap up. 

But before that, someone please explain to me why the “now its time for silly songs with Larry” from VeggieTales came into my head as I typed that. I think I spend too much time with toddlers.

Now, to actually get on topic. A summary of this weekend:

I read four books and 1,769 pages in 18 hours and 14 minutes.

• The Raven Boys, 468 pages (kindle edition).
• The Dream Thieves, 453 pages (kindle edition).
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue, 400 pages (kindle edition).
• The Raven King, 448 pages (kindle edition).

So in other words, I spent 18+ hours staring at my iPad screen this weekend. I also didn’t officially make it to the 24 hour mark, which is kind of the point of the readathon, but I don’t really care. I got to fall in love with all of the wonderful, amazing characters from The Raven Cycle all over again and that’s good enough for me.

That’s about it from me today, I have to go read the amazing books that came out today. But before I go, lets chat. Have you ever read The Raven Cycle? Have you ever done this readathon before? Will you be joining in for the next one in July?