tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73923475114972681112024-03-13T14:31:56.345+00:00English BlondeHere you shall find my various reviews on books and bookish things! Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.comBlogger149125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-56578210471138968112017-08-14T18:00:00.000+01:002017-08-14T21:13:40.348+01:00Life Update! (Reading slumps, new posts + Uni)<div style="text-align: center;">
Hey my lovelies, this weeks Monday post is a bit different to my normal bookish posts. As I just wanted to update you guys on my life and explain what will be going on over the next few months with English Blonde.</div>
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As many of you already know I have been working hard at college the past two years, and have finally completed my course and as luck would have it, I have finished with the best possible grades, so as a procrastinating 18 year old, I have been trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life and in all honestly I have no idea. Before October time I initially thought that when I finished the course, I would get a full time job at maybe a supermarket or something similar, before finding something that I enjoy doing (other than reading of cause, although I have no idea how I would be able to turn that into a job), but after surpassing my expectations with how much I have enjoyed my course and business as a subject, I have decided that I am going to continue to study Business, so as of September I shall be starting at University and get a degree in International Business in 4 years! Exciting right? </div>
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Now you may be thinking what does this have to do with English Blonde, you'll be still continuing it right? And of cause I will, it's just in the coming weeks, maybe even months my posts may become even more sporadic than they already are (that's hard I know). And as much as at the moment I have a long list of different post ideas that I want to write other than just book reviews, but with everything that is going on in my life at the moment, I have no idea how I'm going to have time to write all of these posts as well as everything else that is going on. Like right now, I've been out all day and now its 34 minutes past 10 and i'm sitting with my cat writing this post a week before I plan for it to go up and it's the first post I expect will be up in August (unless I pull my finger out and write my July wrap up of cause). </div>
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Now onto the whole issue with my posts, well its only an issue for well me, but let me vent a bit anyway. My goal was to have 52 book reviews up and post every Monday and Friday... that has clearly not happened. And for some reason that I can't even fathom I haven't been reading as much as i would like and whenever I get to the end of a book and are at the stage to write the review nothing happens, no matter if I loved it, hated it, or simply tolerated it. My mind goes completely blank about anything that happened and I move on and the cycle happens again. Does anybody have any advice on how to get through this? Even still I really am trying to post as often as I can, but sometimes it just doesn't happen the way I want it too. </div>
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Back onto the University side of things, I found the Uni that is the best fit for me to be around an hour away by train, so I will be moving out of my home, and into Uni accommodation, so I will be basically moving out (well for 9 months of the year, but that's by far the longest time I will have ever been away from my parents), so for them following weeks I doubt I will be posting a lot during this time like I said above, however I am hoping to schedule a few posts to keep English Blonde going, because no matter what I will love and try my best to continue my little corner of the internet. And depending on how I'm feeling I may post a few mini updates just letting you guys know how I'm coping and how I'm finding it all. </div>
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Due to this I have a few ideas of some University posts I would like to write, and I know this probably won't interest a lot of you, but just a few that would answer some of the questions I wanted to know this time last year, and maybe I could help some people the same way I would have liked to been. So expect a little University series of posts in the coming months. </div>
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about my life, and my plans for English Blonde in the coming months. If you're going through or have gone through any of the things mentioned above please talk to me in the comments! </div>
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EnglishBlonde</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-24212997261078496742017-07-27T17:00:00.000+01:002017-07-27T17:00:01.434+01:00Booktubeathon TBR & Haul<div style="text-align: center;">
Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks Monday (which is slightly delayed, sorry guys) post, and there has been a little bit of a change in plan, my original planned post is being swapped over to the 31st, and this weeks post is now my booktubeathon TBR & (mini) Haul. The booktubeathon is an annual readathon, that was created by Ariel Bissett on Youtube, with the idea that as well as celebrating the booktube community, everyone bands together to read as many books that they can in the week, whilst trying to complete the 7 challenges. This year it runs from today (July 24th) to Sunday (July 30th). All of the books included in today's post, were bought for the purpose of reading in this readathon, so lets get down to it...</div>
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Thankfully when buying for this, I had the good sense to only pick relatively short books, so I won't be overpowering myself by trying to read 7 500+ page books in 6 days.</div>
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Challenge #1 ~ Read a book with a person on the cover</div>
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Now this one wasn't a very difficult choice to make and that's because it is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, I first read this book around four years ago, and I remember really enjoying it, however with the series recently coming out on Netflix, I decided before watching it I would reread the book. If you don't know what Thirteen Reasons Why is about Clay who receives a set of tapes, only they're from his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide two weeks earlier, and claims to explain the thirteen reasons why she committed suicide, the only thing is Clay is one of them.</div>
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Challenge #2 ~ Read a hyped book</div>
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This next book I've had on my TBR for quite some time now, and from the reading of various others TBRs it is clearly a priority to get this one read, especially after the film came out last year, so A Monster Calls is joining my list. And for this one I am pretty much going into this blind, only knowing that it is about a young boy and a monster (who my mum thought was Groot, when she saw the trailer on TV). But can you deny that this is a super hyped book? Patrick Ness has been so popular with both bloggers and booktubers a like in the recent years.</div>
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Challenge #3 ~ Finish a book in one day</div>
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And for this challenge (although one of my other picks, will probably cover this one) I have chosen the official Booktubeathon read! Which is of cause Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel, and all I know about this one is that it deals with someone coping with the grief of losing their sister, and how they deal with allowing themselves to get over the loss.</div>
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Challenge #4 ~ Read about a character that is very different from you</div>
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For this one I wasn't really sure what to choose, as it was such an open ended challenge, so in the end I simply decided to let it go and see what happens, whilst the readathons on.</div>
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Challenge #5 ~ Finish a book completely outside</div>
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Now bar challenge #7 this is one I feel I'm most likely to fail at, as you never really know what is going to happen with British weather, but in the spirit of it being summer, I have chosen to read Lying about Last Summer by Sue Wallman. Similar to Juniper Lemons Happiness Index, this deals with the trauma from losing a sibling, however with a mystery/thriller edge, as Skye starts receiving texts from someone claiming to be her dead sister. Pretty Little Liars much?</div>
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Challenge #6 ~ Read a book you got because of the cover</div>
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For this challenge, I picked a book my mum got me in the last two weeks, which I adore because of the cover and it is The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid, as well as it being the only science fiction book on my list, it is also the only hardcover I plan to read. But honestly how cool is that cover? A butterfly turning into knives, what could be better? This is another one I'm going into blind.</div>
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Challenge #7 ~ Read 7 books</div>
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And for the final challenge I have chosen the booktubers collaboration Because you love to hate me, I chose this one, because what is better than finishing of a booktubeathon with a book inspired by booktubers writing prompts?</div>
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I know I shouldn't but when buying for this haul, I couldn't help myself. So I bought a swapping books, meaning that if I change my mind on what to read I could try this instead. So we have another book by Sue Wallman, See how they lie, which is another ya thriller. </div>
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you're taking part in the Booktubeathon let me know what your reading below in the comments!</div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Previous Book Review:</span></span><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"> Pigeon Blood Red by Ed E. Duncan</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Previous Bookish Post: May/June Wrap Up & July TBR</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Next Book Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell</span></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-410804046213526602017-07-21T18:00:00.000+01:002017-07-21T18:00:19.163+01:00Book Review: Pigeon Blood Red by Ed E. Duncan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks review and it is of Pigeon Blood Red by Ed E. Duncan. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Title: Pigeon Blood Red</span><br />
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Author: Ed E. Duncan</span><br />
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Genre: Crime Thriller</span><br />
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Publication Date: February 25th 2016</span><br />
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Publisher: Zharmae</span><br />
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Format: Paperback </span><br />
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Pages: 238</span><br />
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Rating:4 stars</span><br />
<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Goodreads Summary</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; line-height: 19.5px;">: </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For underworld enforcer Richard "Rico" Sanders, it seemed like an ordinary job. Retrieve his gangster boss's priceless pigeon-blood red ruby necklace and teach the double-dealing cheat who stole it a lesson. A job like a hundred before it. But the chase quickly goes sideways and takes Rico from the mean streets of Chicago to sunny Honolulu, where the hardened hit man finds himself in uncharted territory when a couple of innocent bystanders are accidentally embroiled in the crime.</span></span></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-a29e72d9-d1b2-9a77-5479-7b9ac9b3a347"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">As Rico pursues his new targets, the hunter and his prey develop an unlikely respect for one another and Rico is faced with a momentous decision: follow his orders to kill the couple whose courage and character have won his admiration, or refuse and endanger the life of the woman he loves?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Overview</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">You might be reading the title and thinking Pigeon Blood Red? What on earth is that about? Well it's actually about the consequences of when rubies go missing and the domino effect that this one act has on others. Well that's my take on the story anyway. With a healthy dose of murder, affairs and hot weather thrown in there too. I'm not typically a fan of adult thriller books that aren't 'who dunnits?' but this was a refreshing change of pace for me and I actually enjoyed it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Pigeon Blood Red has multiple point of views from the four main characters. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Writing</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">At the beginning of the book I thought it was quite slow, but then gradually warmed up, causing me to be well in to the book by around 50 pages. A lot of the book did rely on internal monologue and there was also quite a few flashbacks chucked in there too. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Characters</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Evelyn is one of our main characters, she is a middle aged woman trapped in a loveless marriage, so her way to to make it or break it for her and her husband is a trip to Hawaii. She then gets wrapped up in a situation that she had no business in and gets swept into a world that she never even realised existed, let alone one where she is wanted dead. Evelyn is not the most interesting of characters, even her flashbacks seemed a bit limp for me, she chose Robert because he was the 'bad boy' and that didn't pan out, now only realising at middle aged how unhappy she is, sort of mid life crisis anyone?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">The next main character is Robert, Evelyn's husband, whose an excessive gambler and alcoholic, who owes lots of various people money. Robert is basically to cut it short, an idiot, who I have no sympathy for. He makes stupid decisions and when push comes to shove he doesn't have the backbone, when then the threats start coming in. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Unlike Rico, our next main character, Rico is an assassin working for Litvak a renowned loan shark. Ricoc is probably the most complex character, with his murderous ways, which we found out more about in the flashbacks. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: 13px;">The fourth main character (I'm calling these main characters, because each of these have a point of view in the book) is Paul, to me, he was a bit of a wet wipe, I wasn't a huge fan of him until the end, when he finally started coming out of his shell more. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: 13px;">And finally we have Litvak who is the loan shark with a missing stash of pigeon blood red rubies. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Conclusion</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">In conclusion, I really enjoyed it and Rico was my favourite point of view by far. To me this was mainly setting up the series for the rest of the trilogy, as it did have action in it, but I expect it to really kick off in the next couple of books. A huge thanks to Ed E. Duncan and Kelsey and Taylor at Book Publicity Services. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Recommend...</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px;">I would recommend this to anybody who likes adult thrillers with hints of organised crime. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px;">Book Links</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28223259-pigeon-blood-red?ac=1&from_search=true">Goodreads </a>| <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pigeon-Blood-Red-Ed-Duncan/dp/1943549508/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8">Amazon US</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1943549508/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_uk-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738">Amazon UK</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">Author Links</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15019118.Ed_Duncan">Goodreads</a> | </span><span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://eduncan.net/">Ed E. Duncan</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/pigeonbloodred">Twitter </a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #292929; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19.5px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3f0d5e8a-d1ad-fafc-e764-7226979d01ee"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed Duncan is a graduate of Oberlin College and Northwestern University Law School. He was a partner at a national law firm in Cleveland, Ohio for many years. He currently lives outside of Cleveland, OH and is at work on the second installment in the </span><span style="color: black; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pigeon-Blood Red</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> trilogy.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Previous Book Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Previous Bookish Post: Emma Recommends... books to read on holiday</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Next Book Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Next Bookish Post: Battle of the Book covers (UK vs US)</span></span></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-43879229101296355802017-07-17T18:00:00.000+01:002017-07-17T18:00:05.236+01:00May and June Wrap Up & July TBR!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hey my lovelies, welcome to another (two) months wrap up! In May I only managed to read four books, so I decided to wait and do another combination wrap up with June! So lets get down to it...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first book I read in May was Half Wild by Sally Green, I first read this a few years ago, when it first came out, but when I decided to finally read Half Lost for the first time, I had to read this as well, as in April I read Half Bad. And shockingly the next book I read was Half Lost, are you seeing a theme yet? <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/book-review-half-wild-by-sally-green.html">You can find my review of Half Wild by Sally Green here</a>. As I said I also read Half Lost, however currently I'm not really sure how I'm feeling about it, as the series definitely did not end the way I was expecting it too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The third book I read in May was Caraval by Stephanie Gerber, and I loved it! This will definitely be making it on my favourites of 2017 post at the end of the year, and I am so excited for the sequel, I won't delve into any of the juicy bits right now, as I have plans to post a full review by the end of next month. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The fourth book I read in May was Love you to death by Meg Cabot, I got it in my head that the best way to get myself out of a (mini) reading slump, was to read an old favourite series of mine, however when I went to do this I actually only got round to reading the first one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And now onto June I read a grand total of 5 books. With the first one being </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and wow was this a book, for me the only downfall is the novel definitely seemed to last forever, as I got thoroughly enraptured in the world building and writing of the book. And in all honesty if you haven't read it yet, what have you been doing? And you should do exactly what I did and go into it completely blind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The second book I read in June was Pigeon Blood Red by Ed E. Duncan, in all honesty I received this book in exchange for review last year, and I have only just managed to get round to reading it (I'm sorry), which is why I'm not going to get to into the nitty gritty details, as the review is scheduled for the 21st July. However, Pigeon Blood Red is a multiple point of view thriller, following our mains face the consequences for actions they didn't necessarily take. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The third book I read in June was Landline by Rainbow Rowell, I started reading this book about two, maybe three years ago, whilst on holiday and didn't enjoy it, so I put it down. So I decided to give it another go, and I really enjoyed it, maybe it is because I'm older now? I'm not really sure. Landline follows a woman in a declining marriage, who finds an old telephone that allows her to ring her husband back in the late nineties, which gives her the option of changing the past, so he never married her in the first place. </span><br />
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The fourth book I read in June was <span style="font-family: inherit;">Soundless by Richelle Mead, this was another book I wanted knocked off my TBR, and I've finally done it! Woohoo. It also means I've read every book on my Richelle Mead/Marie Lu shelf, which I am very happy about. Soundless follows Fei, who lives in a deaf village, which relies on the town below to deliver them food, however everything changes when she suddenly regains her hearing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The fifth book I read in June was </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, this was another reread for me, as I have plans to complete the Red Queen series this summer. <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/book-review-red-queen-by-victoria.html">The last time I read Red Queen I wrote a review, which you can find here. </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And now onto the books I plan to read in July, So this months TBR pile has 4 books in and they are...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first book I plan to read in June is Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard, as the final book I read in June was Red Queen, my plan is to try to complete the series, as I have yet to read the next 2.5 books. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The second book I plan to read in June is Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard, I have technically read this book before, as I did read Queen Song, when it was released, however bar Coriane dying (which isn't a spoiler), I can't really remember what happened. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The third book I plan to read in June is King's Cage, also by Victoria Aveyard, and is the most recent published one, as it only came out in February. With the fourth and final book expected to be released in February 2018, and I know if I don't get this series knocked out this summer, there is no way I will be able to read it when the next one comes out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">That is it for this months tbr and last months wrap up, I hope you've enjoyed finding out what I've read in May, and let me know what you're planning to read in June, either by commenting, on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28536008-emma-englishblonde" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Goodreads</a> or via <a href="http://twitter.com/blonde_english" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Twitter</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Previous Book Review:</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;"> The Midnight Star by Marie Lu</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Previous Bookish Post: 2017 Anticipated Releases (Part 2)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Next Book Review: Pigeon Blood Red by Ed E. Duncan</span></div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next Bookish Post: Emma Recommends... Books to read on holiday</span></span></span></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-20741888977149729102017-07-14T18:00:00.000+01:002017-07-14T18:00:04.424+01:00Book Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks book review and it is The Midnight Star by Marie Lu. <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/book-review-rose-society-by-marie-lu.html">Last week I reviewed The Rose Society, so if you haven't read that yet, I recommend you do now.</a> As this book review will contain spoilers for <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/book-review-young-elites-by-marie-lu.html">The Young Elite</a> and <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/book-review-rose-society-by-marie-lu.html">The Rose Society</a> (and very minor spoilers for The Midnight Star). I'm sorry if this review turns more into a series review, but this is the only place I can appropriately describe my thoughts and feelings of the series as a whole.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Title: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Midnight Star</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Author:<i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Marie Lu</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Publisher: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Penguin </i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pub. Date: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">October 11th 2016</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Date Read: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">12th April</i><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> 2017</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pages: <i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> 316</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Rating: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">4.5</i></span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">/5 stars</i><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Summary</span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">: </i></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.</span></i></span><br />
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Overview</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Midnight Star kicks off a while after Rose Society, in a world where Adelina is still not speaking to her sister, and is ruling Kenettra with an iron fist. She is soon forced to help her old allies turned enemies to save the rest of their kind, as all of the characters are in some way turning against themselves, some mentally and some physically. And due to this have to band together, much to Adelinas disgust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The only real downside I have about this series is that even though I really enjoyed The Midnight Star, for me The Young Elites and The Rose Society could have been a duology, as a lot of this book was Adelina realising the wrong to her ways and her getting a redemption arc, although I may just be feeling this way because I really have a thing for villains. </span></div>
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Writing</h3>
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The Midnight Star appropriately finishes off Adelina's character arc, with the Young Elites have her discovering and developing herself, the Rose Society is when the villain is made and The Midnight Star, is her realising that her actions have consequences and learning about what good and bad truly is.<br />
I also really liked how Marie Lu pulled all of the world building together from the first two books, with the myths and fables told and how they all came together, which made the book very satisfying to read, well for me anyway. I love it when books have little Easter eggs hidden in there. <br />
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Characters</h3>
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Something I really liked about this series is that we saw what was going on from a variety of different point of views. And this way we see the light and dark side of all of the characters, which truly makes the reader see them more as human and enables you, as a reader, to see them more as human and enables you to find out what is truly going on from a wider perspective. </div>
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As mentioned in my previous reviews of the rest of the trilogy, I have never been interested in the Raffaele chapters, and I was still uninterested reading this, instead I much preferred Adelina's, as well as Magiano and Violetta's one off point of views. Although Adelina has got to be one of the best anti-heroes I have ever read, and even though objectively I knew what she was doing was bad, I still felt myself rooting for her.<br />
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Conclusion</h3>
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In conclusion, I really enjoyed this series, and Adelina is probably one of my all time favourite book characters. The ending wasn't quite what I expected, but I enjoyed it nether the less and will be recommending it to my friends and family for them to read. However, one of my absolute favourite things of this series was each of the characters individual character development, whether they were becoming better people, or worse. </div>
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Recommend...</h3>
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I recommend this to fans of YA fantasy, and of cause fans of the first and second novel, because in my opinion the series just got better and better. As I said in my last review I would recommend this series to fans of the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas and And I Darken by Kiersten White. And I Darken due to Adelina being a strong anti- hero. Red Queen due to the magical powers aspect and Throne of Glass because of the violence and the magic aspect again.<br />
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Book Links</h3>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28588345-the-midnight-star?ac=1&from_search=true">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0399167854/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_uk-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738">Amazon US</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Star-Young-Elites-Novel/dp/0399167854/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-midnight-star-the-young-elites-book-3/marie-lu/9780141361840">Waterstones</a> | </div>
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Author Links</h3>
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<a href="https://t.co/EqZgFgRecy" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009eed; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Marie Lu</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4342215.Marie_Lu" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009eed; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Marie_Lu" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009eed; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Twitter</a><br />
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, I hope you enjoyed this weeks review, do you know of any good books with a strong antihero? If so please let me know in the comments, as that is the exact type of book I am looking for at the moment. </div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/2017-anticipated-releases-part-2.html">Previous Bookish Post: 2017 Anticipated Releases (Part 2)</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Next Book Review: Pigeon Blood Red by Ed E. Duncan</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Next Bookish Post: May/June Wrap Up & July TBR</span></span></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-64489173776093468012017-07-10T18:00:00.000+01:002017-07-10T18:00:25.187+01:002017 Anticipated Releases (Part 2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to my second most anticipated releases of the year. If you haven't already checked out my part 1, you can do so here. But can you believe that we are already half way through the year? I honestly can't, especially when I look at all the books on my tbr pile, which i still haven't had a chance to get round to yet. Never the less here are all of the books being released from June onwards that I shall be picking up anyway. These are in the order for the expected publication date.</div>
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The first book on my list may be slightly cheating (it's release date was May 30th), but I don't care and it is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25752041-royal-bastards?ac=1&from_search=true">Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts</a>. This is the first book in a brand new trilogy and follows Tilla, the bastard daughter of a Lord, who quickly cast her aside once his legitamite children were born. And her adventure, as she bands together with other bastards when people begin hunting them due to others treachery. If this doesn't sound like my cup of tea, I honestly don't know what does. Royal Bastards was published on May 30th by Disney-Hyperion.</div>
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The second book on my list is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32078787-once-and-for-all?ac=1&from_search=true">Once and for All by Sarah Dessen,</a> this is the first Sarah Dessen book I've thought about buying, as so many people seem to love them, so I really want in on that action, so why not go out and buy the next one to be released? Plus I'm a big fan of reading romances in the warm, so why not read it this summer? All I know of Once and for All is that it follows Louna, who is overly cynical about romance, and it is up to Ambrose a serial dater to change her mind. Once and for All was published on June 6th by Viking Books for Young Readers.</div>
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The third book on my list is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450752-because-you-love-to-hate-me?ac=1&from_search=true">Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy</a> by a large number of authors, which would take too long to type them all out, but some of the booktubers who I watched that are involved are: Benjaminoftomes, abookutopia, JessetheReader, readbyzoe, PeruseProject and my personal favourite polandbananasBOOKS. If you haven't heard of this book, it's an anthology where 13 booktubers and 13 best selling authors have teamed up in order to rewrite fairy tales from the villains point of view. I am so excited to read this, and am hoping to do a mini review on each of the individual stories. </div>
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The next one I shall definitely be picking up is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30457727-ringer?ac=1&from_search=true">Ringer by Lauren Oliver,</a> this is the second book in the Replica series, which I read back in October, when it first came out. I'm a big fan of Lauren Oliver, and really enjoyed the first one giving it 4 and a half stars. I'm really excited to explore more of this world, and to get my hands on the hardcover (I really embraced the format of Replica). From what I know of Ringer, it continues to follow Lyra and Gemma, and the way that they are adjusting to the information we found out at the end of book 1, and how this affects them. It also really makes me sad knowing that Orphan Black is finishing this year, and using this as a distraction. Ringer is expected to be released October 3rd by Hodder & Stoughton.</div>
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The fifth book on my anticipated releases is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28421168-renegades?ac=1&from_search=true">Renegades by Marissa Meyer</a>, this is the first book in a brand new series (you know because I need to add more books to my tbr) and even though I have yet to read any Marissa Meyer books, which are all sitting pretty on my bookshelf, I clearly need this one too. After all its got people with powers in a crumbled society, so at the moment I'm kind of getting a mix of The Young Elites by Marie Lu (although probably not as dark) and Control by Lydia Kang. So if its anything like these two books, I'll be happy. Renegades is expected to be released on November 7th by Feiwel & Friends.</div>
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Other notable releases include Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas and Tower of Dawn by Kendare Blake.</div>
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, and I hope you enjoyed hearing about my most anticipated releases part 2, what books are you dying to get your hands on? Let me know in the comment section below.</div>
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Previous Book Review: The Rose Society by Marie Lu</div>
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Previous Bookish Post: May & June Wrap Up & July TBR</div>
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Next Book Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu </div>
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Next Bookish Post: Emma Recommends... books to read on holiday</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-38160515740720550192017-07-07T18:00:00.000+01:002017-07-13T23:06:22.613+01:00Book Review: The Rose Society by Marie Lu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks book review and it is The Rose Society by Marie Lu. Last week I reviewed The Young Elites, so if you haven't read that yet, I recommend you do now. As this book review will contain spoilers for The Young Elite.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Title: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Rose Society</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Author:<i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Marie Lu</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Publisher: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Penguin </i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pub. Date: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">October 13th 2015</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Date Read: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">11th April</i><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> 2017</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pages: <i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> 397</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Rating: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">4.5</i></span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">/5 stars</i><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Summary</span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">: </i></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all. </i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she flees Kenettra with her sister to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her. </span></i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good when her very existence depends on darkness?</span></i><br />
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Overview</h3>
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The Rose Society picks up with Adelina and Violetta escaping Kenettra and traveling in an attempt to find more malfettos and get their own version of the Young Elites.</div>
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Rose Society is the perfect example of a tumblr post I once read for a writing prompt. You follow the hero, only to find out at the end that they are in fact the villain. </div>
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Writing</h3>
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I do wonder if Marie Lu decided to do three point of views in order to do the whole "Three sides to every story. Their side. Your side. The truth' sort of thing. </div>
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The only thing that I kind of feel after reading both this and the final book in the trilogy is I honestly feel like we could have finished the book there and kept it a duology, rather than the expansion into the next book. </div>
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Characters</h3>
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Adelina began to embrace her dark side a lot more in this novel. From the beginning you could just tell there was going to be a lot of conflict between the sisters from the very beginning of the book. Because honestly Violetta is so self righteous. She says that she is only looking out for Adelina but everything she does has some sort of detrimental effect on her sister. </div>
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Teren is such a love struck fool, like what an idiot. Has he honestly still not realised that the reason for Guilettas obsession for malfettos is because of her brother, and the weird hierarchy for the throne. Although he did start going against his dear beloved, and growing a back bone, even if it wasn't necessarily in the way I wanted him too, but at least he stood for his values.</div>
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Even though of cause The Rose Society has three main characters, but I don't really have anything to say about Rafaelle, I didn't really enjoy him as a character and I don't really care for him. </div>
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A lot of new characters were introduced in the Rose Society and some that I liked a lot more than others. As we met Magiano (my personal favourite), Sergio and of cause Queen Maeve, who we met mildly in book one. **Spoiler ahead** I found it really interesting that they added Sergio 'the weather manipulator' into the mix. As the Young Elite did say that they had killed him due to him not being in control. **End of spoiler**</div>
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Conclusion</h3>
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In conclusion, I really enjoyed the Rose Society, only wishing that we delved into Guiletta's character a bit more. But after finishing reading this I am ready to move on to the next book, The Midnight Star. </div>
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Recommend...</h3>
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I recommend this to fans of YA fantasy, and of cause fans of the first novel, because in my opinion it got better. As I said in my last review I would recommend this series to fans of the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas and And I Darken by Kiersten White. And I Darken due to Adelina being a strong anti- hero. Red Queen due to the magical powers aspect and Throne of Glass because of the violence and the magic aspect again. </div>
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Book Links</h3>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24366952-the-rose-society">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rose-Society-Young-Elites/dp/0141361832/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8">Amazon US</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rose-Society-Young-Elites-book/dp/0141361832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495713678&sr=8-1&keywords=rose+society">Amazon UK </a>| <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-rose-society/marie-lu/9780141361833">Waterstones</a> | </div>
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Author Links</h3>
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<a href="https://t.co/EqZgFgRecy" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009eed; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Marie Lu</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4342215.Marie_Lu" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009eed; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Marie_Lu" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009eed; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Twitter</a> </div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Previous Book Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Next Book Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Next Bookish Post: 2017 Anticipated Releases (Part 2)</span></span></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-52656279928432211232017-05-12T18:00:00.000+01:002017-07-13T23:08:20.999+01:00Book Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHG1j9l8sLKM5YhwKH82kxwZwRKTB2cSoBlpjt_UCFlHT1Qo2itMdLgtMymc17fxwQIDtWn2eV8_1hTLuwNME5rBitckDe-MHH_5sUJwmIQJxZzE9NuXa18e5BDwStr0spErC5Xk1LbQ/s1600/young+elites.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="1140" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHG1j9l8sLKM5YhwKH82kxwZwRKTB2cSoBlpjt_UCFlHT1Qo2itMdLgtMymc17fxwQIDtWn2eV8_1hTLuwNME5rBitckDe-MHH_5sUJwmIQJxZzE9NuXa18e5BDwStr0spErC5Xk1LbQ/s320/young+elites.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hey my lovelies, welcome to my first book review of the month of May and it is, drum roll please, The Young Elites by Marie Lu. I first read the Young Elites, when it first came out and even though I did enjoy it, I probably wouldn't put it down as one of my favourite books. But after reading it a second time, I definitely found it a lot better. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytruLp65ioyZxKHjyibEikTLCx09hEZCmjCLM4UqOTEVMfefRdZ3t1LcZ6jebPVatU0jBK15lliWO3a0ASKXOlGf0RlJscRZEobOKj6d97mIeGVd7prkCUG36ItNvjObPeUUIlCiN94A/s1600/20821111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytruLp65ioyZxKHjyibEikTLCx09hEZCmjCLM4UqOTEVMfefRdZ3t1LcZ6jebPVatU0jBK15lliWO3a0ASKXOlGf0RlJscRZEobOKj6d97mIeGVd7prkCUG36ItNvjObPeUUIlCiN94A/s320/20821111.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Title: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Young Elites</i></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Author:<i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Marie Lu</i></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Publisher: <i>Penguin </i></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pub. Date: <i>October 7th 2014</i></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Date Read: <i>9th April</i><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> 2017</i></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pages: <i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> 356</i></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Rating: <i>4.5</i></span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">/5 stars</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Summary</span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">: </i></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside. </span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever.</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"> A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">Teren Santoro works for the king.</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"> As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society.</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"> This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.</span></i></span><br />
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Overview</h3>
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The Young Elites opens up with a kingdom still recovering from the scarlet plague, which took place years previous. Leaving the adults who contracted it to die and the children marked with the scarlet mark. With these children being known as malfettos, with few being shown to have extraordinary p<span style="font-family: inherit;">ower</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">, with a select few going against the patriarchy and naming themselves the Young Elites.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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Writing</h3>
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It is beautifully written, for such a short 356 page novel, and the world building is exquisite. Making me really feel as if I am in Kenettra. It was just the little things that I loved, such as the weird royalty laws. Like them not allowing female heirs in Kenettra, unless the female heirs were to marry (like the old British monarchy), whereas in Beldain, they have to have a Queen, with female heirs.</div>
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Characters</h3>
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It is split into three main points of view; Terin, Adelina and Rafaelle. This creates a diverse atmosphere, as it ensures that we are finding out what is going on from all angles. And considering The Young Elites is a fantasy story, I really enjoyed how real some of the characters seemed, and that all of the characters had flaws. </div>
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Adelina was such an amazing character, I love a good antihero, and with the exception of 'And I Darken' by Kiersten White, I don't think I've really read any other books with a female anti-hero, so that was an amazing character she is. I felt anger, when she felt anger, I felt upset, when she felt upset, and I think that is amazing for an author to do, as I don't tend to feel sympathy for characters that often anymore. Adelina's main flaw was probably her jealousy and contempt for her younger sister Violetta, and I truly loved their relationship, in both flashback and when they were together, because their was just something so raw about the pair. Violetta herself, is a great and complex character hiding herself behind naivety and kindness, even if that kindness has a detrimental effect on others. Teren was another complex character, from his love for his Queen, to his insecurities and how they effect him.<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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Conclusion</h3>
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Overall, I really enjoyed The Young Elites, much more than I did the last time I read it anyway. However, it did take me around 2 hours and a half hours to finish it, due to my awful reading slump, which isn't really the best for me. I do have high hopes for The Rose Society now though, which I plan to read as soon as I finish this review. As I really want to learn much more about Queen Guiletta, as I feel like she has the potential to become a much more complex and deeper character. </div>
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Recommend...</h3>
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I recommend this to fans of YA fantasy, and specifically fans of the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas and And I Darken by Kiersten White. And I Darken due to Adelina being a strong anti- hero. Red Queen due to the magical powers aspect and Throne of Glass because of the violence and the magic aspect again. </div>
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Book Links</h3>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20821111-the-young-elites?ac=1&from_search=true">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Young-Elites-Novel/dp/0399167838/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8">Amazon US</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0399167838/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_uk-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738">Amazon UK</a> |<a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-young-elites/marie-lu/9780141361826"> Waterstones </a>| </div>
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Author Links</h3>
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<a href="https://t.co/EqZgFgRecy">Marie Lu</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4342215.Marie_Lu">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/Marie_Lu">Twitter</a> </div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/book-review-f-student-by-xyla-turner.html">Preview Book Review: The F Student by Xyla Turner</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next Book Review: The Rose Society by Marie Lu</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next Bookish Post: Battle of the Bookcovers</span></span></span></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-20280606076947524642017-05-08T18:00:00.000+01:002017-07-13T23:16:47.273+01:00April Wrap Up & May TBR!<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to this months reading wrap up and I am happy to say that I have finally ended my reading slump. Woop Woop! Which is why I read a grand total of 7 books in the month of April, and pretty much all of them are Marie Lu books.</div>
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April Wrap Up</h3>
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The first book I read in April was a reread and it was The Young Elites by Marie Lu, I first read this book around two year ago and planned to read the other books in the trilogy when they came out, however I never got round to it and now I finally have. I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than the last time, as I am really into reading stories about anti-heroes right now, which you probably would have realised on your own by the end of this wrap up. You can find out more of my thoughts on The Young Elites on the 12th when my review is scheduled to come out.</div>
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The second book I read in April, shockingly was The Rose Society by Marie Lu, the second book in the Young Elite trilogy. Again, I really enjoyed this. There was certain things that I would have preferred to of happened, but again it's not really something I have much of a say on, as I didn't read it. And I really wanted to explore Guiletta's character a lot more, and sadly that did not happen. </div>
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The third book I read in April was The Midnight Star by Marie Lu, this is the final book in the Young Elite trilogy, and it did not disappoint. I really like the ending of this series and how all of the loose ends tied up in a little bow. My review of The Midnight Star is expected to be out on the 26th May.</div>
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The next series I started and then completed was the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu. After really enjoying the Young Elites, I thought I would finally knock this one of my tbr and gave it ago. Although I have to say I did not enjoy this as much as the other series, and would have preferred it if some things were slightly different, but you can find out what I thought about the entire trilogy in my review of it coming out on the 2nd June.</div>
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And the final book I read in April was Half Bad by Sally Green, this was another reread for me, as I really want to finish this series and find out the end of Nathan's story. I read both Half Bad and Half Wild almost two years ago now, and have been planning to read Half Lost for quite sometime and after picking up a signed hardcover, with a small note inside, I've been desperate to find out what it means. </div>
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And now onto the books I plan to read in May, but probably won't. And this months TBR is all to do with retellings, due to me picking up Heartless by Marissa Meyer last months and putting it at the top of my TBR pile. </div>
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You can probably guess what the first book on my TBR is, and that is Heartless by Marissa Meyer. I've owned the Lunar Chronicles for round about a year now, and have only ever got round to reading it once, and then I couldn't get passed the first chapter of Cinder, so it didn't go the best. And since then I've been ignoring that section of my shelf, so in order to hopefully get used to her writing styles I am starting off with Heartless. Heartless is a prequel to Alice in Wonderland, following the story of the Queen of Hearts before she even became Queen. All I know of it so far is what I've read on the blurb, and that alone has me interested. I purchased this due to being Llandudno and felt inspired after seeing all of the statues around the town. </div>
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Another shocking book on my tbr is of cause the first book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Now this is a much loved book series for some people, and other people hate it, and after owning all of the books I really don't want to be a part of the group of people who hate it. But hopefully after reading Heartless, I shall be more accustomed to her writing style, and be able to get on with the rest of the series. All I know about Cinder, is that it's a Cinderella retelling with a scifi twist, and based on the book cover Cinder is in fact a cyborg, or part cyborg. Hopefully after finishing this one then I will be able to move on to Scarlet. </div>
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The third book on my tbr is Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige, I don't really know a lot about this one, only that it is a retelling of the Snow Queen and is set in modern upstate New York, in some sort of mental facility. But other than this I am going into this book completely blind (how I prefer to, in all honesty). </div>
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And the fourth and final book on my tbr is The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige, The Wicked Will Rise is the second book in the Dorothy Must Die series, and I read Dorothy Must Die back in January, and really enjoyed it, and never got round to reading it (are you guys sick of me saying this yet?), however I've been dying to read it, so why not in my very own retelling's month? </div>
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That is it for this months tbr and last months wrap up, I hope you've enjoyed finding out what I've read in April, and let me know what you're planning to read in May, either by commenting, on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28536008-emma-englishblonde">Goodreads</a> or via <a href="http://twitter.com/blonde_english">Twitter</a>. </div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next Book Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next Bookish Post: Battle of the Bookcovers</span></span></span></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-22568190003578192592017-04-03T18:00:00.000+01:002017-07-13T23:22:49.022+01:00The Most Intimidating books on my shelves!<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks monday post and it's about the books I find the most intimidating books on my shelves! </div>
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The first book on my list is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas, the reason I find the first two books in this series so intimidating is due to the various reviews of the novel. As some people appear to love the first book in the series and then go on to either slate the second book or talk about how some characters were incredibly OOC. And the idea of reading a book like this is why it is currently being just one of my bookshelf warmers rather than being high on my TBR pile. </div>
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The next book on my list is a series and that is A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, I am a huge fan of the Game of Thrones tv show, and due to this purchased the boxset. However, now that the tv show has overtaken the books, it's really not setting a desire off inside of me to read the series, especially not when you take into account the size of each of the novels and that we have no idea when the next novel is to come out (It's expected for this year, but who really knows?). On the other hand, I have not read a lot of books, where the tv show actually surpasses the book in standard, so that is another pro for reading it. </div>
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The third book on my list is another series and another Sarah J Maas book, and is Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas, I own all of the released TOG books, and all of them are sitting pretty next to my ACOTAR books. I read the first book approximately 2 years ago, and enjoyed it, however none of it really impressed me much, which is why even though I own the rest of the series, I never felt the inclination to pick the next book up. However, after going into a Waterstones to purchase Kings Cage by Victoria Aveyard, the woman behind the counter, recommending this series to me, and said it only got better after the second book. But the fact there is already six books released and one(+ a novella) more to come, does not inspire the greatest of confidence within me. </div>
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The fourth book on my list is Cinder by Marissa Meyer, this is like some of the others due to the sheer size of the series, and I know once I commit to the first book, I will have to read the other four books in the series. And as at the moment I am finding it quite difficult to read one book, let alone five or six. And I know if I don't finish the series, it really will grate on me like it does with the various other unfinished series on my shelves.<br />
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The fifth book (series) on my list is another one that I've read the first before, and is the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling. The reason this book intimidates me so much is due to my love of the films. The Harry Potter films are some of my favourite films of all time, and I have been told by various people that the books made them dislike the films, due to the inconsistency's and because of the cutting of various story lines. And after being so disappointed with the Divergent films, I really don't want this to happen to my beloved Harry Potter films. Although despite this I will be still getting one of the new Slytherin editions of books as soon as the first comes out in June (I believe?), because they are stunning, even if green isn't my colour. </div>
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The sixth and final book on my list is The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, this is another book that lots of people claim to love, and then a lot of people hate depending on your writing style preference. I have never read a Maggie Stiefvater book as of yet, and already own the Shiver series, but I am slightly nervous to read this, as I do really want to enjoy these books, and despite what this list has to say about me I do tend to read more contemporary's than fantasy, even if I do own more fantasy. Has anyone else ever noticed that fantasy books tend to have prettier book covers? I am a sucker for a good cover, I have to admit.</div>
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That is it for this weeks monday post my lovelies, I hope you enjoyed it, and don't hesitate to let me know what books you find intimidating or even if you think I should change my mind about some of the books on my list. </div>
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Previous Bookish Post: Book trends I'm tired off</div>
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Next Bookish Post: Underrated YA book Gift Guide</div>
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EnglishBlonde</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-90181761654253162872017-02-10T18:00:00.000+00:002017-07-13T23:11:08.104+01:00Book Review: The F Student by Xyla Turner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks book review and it is The F Student by Xyla Turner, this week I am taking part in 'The F Student' blog tour hosted by Xpresso Blog Tours. So a huge thank you to them for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review. <br />
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<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Title: <i>The F Student</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Author:<i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Xyla Turner</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Publisher: <i>Azina Media</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pub. Date: <i>January 10th 2017</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Date Read: <i>6th February 2017</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pages: <i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> 92</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Rating:3.6</span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">/5 stars</i><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Summary</span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">: </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i>Cassius Rice, A.K.A., Cash has not been doing well in his classes for over a year. With one semester to go, his father cut him off, leaving Cash out of luck. With no other options, he took up an offer that he later regretted. Sleep with his professor and record it, then he would have the money to obtain his college degree.</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i> </i></span><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Simple enough for Cash. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">What he did not expect was the Professor’s Teaching Assistant to block his efforts nor did he expect the underground fighting world to be so lucrative. All he wanted was to accomplish his quest and graduate. </span></i><br />
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The F Student wasn't exactly what I expected. When I first read the blurb I was interested (hence the reason for requesting to be put on the tour), however it wasn't really what I wanted the book to be. The book is from a male point of view, which I have never read a NA book from before, so I'm not really sure if it was just that, but then I wasn't really a big fan of the writing style to be honest. And especially with it being such a short novella really, I expected more, especially because of all the high class short novella's I have read in the last year.<br />
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The book follows Cash, an average student at college, however when his brother dies, his life completely changes, causing his only real passion to be his love of older women. And when his father see's his grades dropping, he cuts him off, causing him to have to find a quick way to pay the rest of $20,000 owed before the end of term in order to graduate. Whilst looking for ways to get this income, he is the offered the chance to receive all of the money in return for sleeping with one of his professors and filming it. However, he soon finds the professor's TA is exactly what he needs in his life.<br />
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Conclusion</h3>
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Overall, I believe The F Sudent was an okay read, and if it was slightly longer, I believe it would have allowed us to connect with the characters a lot more, and given them added depth. </div>
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Recommend?</h3>
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I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading short NA novels, from a male point of view. Who enjoys incredibly short reads. </div>
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Author Bio</h3>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Xyla Turner is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning romance author. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is a dedicated educator. Outside of reading, Xyla likes to spend time with her family and travel as much as her schedule permits. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">As a teenager, Xyla started to write short stories and essays that won awards and nation-wide competitions. She is from Brooklyn, NY, where she is an educator, innovator and entrepreneur.</span></div>
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Book Links</h3>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33230865-the-f-student">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MZYSB3J/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_uk-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738">Amazon UK</a></div>
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Another huge thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for sending me The F Student in exchange for an honest review. <br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "source sans pro" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; text-align: center;">Thank you for reading my lovelies, this is it for this week, if you would like to see more of what I am currently reading you can check me out on </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28536008-emma" style="border: currentcolor; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: "source sans pro", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida grande", verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.25s linear;">Goodreads</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "source sans pro" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; text-align: center;">,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "source sans pro" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; text-align: center;">and </span><a href="http://twitter.com/blonde_english" style="border: currentcolor; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: "source sans pro", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida grande", verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.25s linear;">Twitter</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "source sans pro" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px; text-align: center;">. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "source sans pro" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px;">Preview Book Review: <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/book-review-wintergirls-by-laurie-halse.html">Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "source sans pro" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px;">Previous Bookish Post: <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/t5w-book-trends-im-tired-off.html">T5W: Book trends I'm tired off</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "source sans pro" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida grande" , "verdana" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.2px;">Next Bookish Post: Favourite Non-Written Novels</span></span></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-48995645860112849292017-02-08T17:37:00.000+00:002017-07-13T23:26:14.661+01:00T5W: Book trends I'm tired off<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks top 5 Wednesday post, and unlike last weeks, this one is actually about books. And it is a list of my least favourite book tropes, that I am completely done with. Completely. Unless of cause, they have a new take on them. </div>
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The top trope on my list is of cause 'The Love Triangle", I am quite sick of badly written, underdeveloped love triangles. Where the author clearly decides which one they want the protagonist to be with and makes the other one out to be the bad guy, whilst only actually developing a relationship between one of the two love interests. Or you will get the absolute worst kind of love triangle, when the author spends the first, two or maybe even three books developing a relationship between two characters, and as soon as the mysterious 'bad boy' comes into town, the author ditches all of the development that the former love interest has had, for this new and exciting guy. Who mysteriously stares off into the distance and broods. Yes, broods. Do I need to say any more? </div>
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The next trope on my list is 'The servant best friend', you know the one. Where they have been best friends for years and have never had a disagreement in all that time. The main character then proceeds to drop said best friends for the new boyfriend at every chance they can get, and said best friend is completely fine with this and even encourages it. </div>
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The third trope on my list is 'The disappearing parent', like seriously, where do they all go? One minute there they are fulfilling their parenting role, and the next 3/4's of the novel, we never see them and they clearly have no interest in what their children are actually doing. Like I'm sure here are some kind off parents that actually do this, but mine certainly aren't one of them. </div>
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The fourth trope on my list is 'The Main Character is a wallflower', I am sick to death of characters not appreciating themselves, and just blending in with the background, with no one really knowing who they are. And whenever I read a book, where the character is not a wallflower, and is either popular or stands out in their own way, they are always blatant 'bitches' for not being wallflowers. Like what is with this YA 'VERSE? </div>
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The fifth trope on my list is 'Instalove', and I don't mean how my twelve year old sister has a weird obsession with the notorious app. How on earth do these characters fall in love so fast? Like I find it difficult to become friends with people in the same time periods, that some of these people get together, move in and get engaged. Plus, the reader see's no actual development between the two, or that they actually like each other, bar a few kissing scenes. </div>
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So that, my lovelies is my top 5 book trends that I'm tired off. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you haven't already check out last weeks <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/t5w-my-current-favourite-make-up.html">Top 5 Wednesday post!</a> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "istok web" , sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "istok web" , sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; text-align: center;">Thank you for reading, and don't forget to check out my</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "istok web" , sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28536008-emma-englishblonde" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009eed; font-family: "Istok Web", sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Goodreads</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "istok web" , sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "istok web" , sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; text-align: center;">and</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "istok web" , sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/blonde_English" style="border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #009eed; font-family: "Istok Web", sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s linear;">Twitter</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "istok web" , sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "istok web" , sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px; text-align: center;">to stay more up to date with what I'm reading. </span></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-31152147726303676932017-02-01T18:00:00.000+00:002017-07-13T23:27:37.029+01:00T5W: My Current Favourite Make Up Products<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to another top 5 Wednesday post, i wanted to do this post, as I don't really get to talk about non-bookish things really on this blog, and I figured this also gives you guys the chance to get to know me that little bit better. So lets jump right in, here are my current favourite make up products.</div>
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The first item on my list is my Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette, I picked this up last September and have been loving it. It is such a versatile palette, allowing me to use the different shades depending on where I'm going. And the pigmentation of the shadows are exquisite. With my favourite shades being High, a white shimmer shade, Armour, a mid grey shimmer, combust; a matte naked shade for all over your lid and whisky; a warm matte brown, perfect for your crease. </div>
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The next item on my list is my Bourjois Liner Pinceau in Ultra Black. This is my go to going out eye liner, as the brush is the perfect length and allows me to do as big of flick as I want. The only problem I have with this eye liner, is as soon as it starts raining you are virtually screwed. It comes straight off, but it gives such an intense black colour, I continue to buy it, just don't wear it when I know it is going to rain. </div>
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The third item on my list, is another eye shadow palette, also coincidentally by Urban Decay (starting to see a theme yet) is their Ultimate Basics matte eye shadow palette. This is the perfect palette if you're just going for a slightly understated look, or if you want to go that little extra combine it with the Naked Smoky Palette. My current favourite shades are; Commando; which is great for all over your lid to hide any veins or blemishes, Extra Bitter; a deep warm brown shade, which is just stunning on, Lethal; a almost plum shade, mixed with grey and brown, and Blackjack; because who doesn't need a matte black?</div>
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The fourth item on my list is the Max Factor Colour Elixir in shade Rosewood, in all honesty I have five lipsticks in their Colour Elixir range and I love them all. However, my favourite has got to be Rosewood, due to you being able to wear at any time, no matter what make up you're wearing. </div>
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And the final item on my list is the Barry M Light Reflecting Concealer in shade Light, I don't actually use this in the normal traditional sense, as it has incredibly light coverage, which makes it perfect for lightening up them dark under eye circles and for highlighting. </div>
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Well that's it for this weeks Top 5 Wednesday post, I hope you enjoyed this little change of scenery, but don't worry next weeks post is already written and is definitely about books. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to check out my <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28536008-emma-englishblonde">Goodreads</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/blonde_English">Twitter</a> to stay more up to date with what I'm reading. </div>
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EnglishBlonde</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-72607142094026263212017-01-25T17:30:00.000+00:002017-07-13T23:26:52.874+01:00T5W: Underrated Books<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, this week I decided to try my hand at one of the Top <strike>5</strike> 4 Wednesday posts , and this week it is my favourite underrated books. Now this is a topic I could go on and on about. Even before having my blog I used to love undiscovered gems, and having EnglishBlonde has let me find even more, which is why I try to accept as many Indie authors for review as I can. But you can find out more about that on my review policy page. Anyway, back to the post. </div>
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Not necessarily an underated book, but what definitely deserves some more love is the Savant series by Joss Stirling, if you've been following my blog long, then you will already know how much I love this series, and one of this series spin off book's was one of my first ever reviews! But this series is great for anybody simply getting into the YA genre, or enjoys a supernatural read, that's just a bit different. But seriously, if you haven't already you should<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8314214-finding-sky?ac=1&from_search=true"> check it out</a>. </div>
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The next book on my list, is a seriously amazing book in my opinion, and that is Faceless by Alyssa B. Sheinmel, I posted a review on this a few months a go, <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/book-review-faceless-by-alyssa-b.html">which can be found here</a>. Faceless deals with the aftermath of a serious facial disfigurement and deals with the stress and emotional trauma that our MC Maisie goes through by processing what has happened to her and how to effectively deal with it. I go in much more depth in my review, but you should read it, it's an amazing book and really does make you feel appreciative for what you have.</div>
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My third book is one that I was actually sent for review and that is the History Major by Michael Phillip Cash. I read this as part of a book tour mid-last year and loved it (<a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/book-review-history-major-by-michael.html">You can find my review here</a>). It was such a strange book, not only was it incredibly short (with only 120 pages), it held a ton of character development for the MC and upon till that point and still now I have never read a book like it. To me it was completely original in both plot, philosophical standards and the ending. </div>
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And my final book, is another quite well known book. but it is AMAZING. That is the <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/book-review-hate-list-by-jennifer-brown.html">Hate list by Jennifer Brown</a>. It took me ages, to finally get round to this, but it's great. Would recommend to everyone if I could. The Hate list discusses the hard hitting issue of the before, during and aftermath of school shootings. However, instead of it coming from the shooter or who you would expect the victim to be, it's the shooters girlfriend, who not only blames herself for what went down, but other people also believe she is partially responsible. It is such a great novel, taking you down various twists and turns you never expected to go on, but you are so glad you did(<a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/book-review-hate-list-by-jennifer-brown.html">You can find out more here</a>). As it is so important to learn more about these drastic situations that happen far too often. </div>
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And on that slightly depressing (but important) note, that is the end of this weeks Top <strike>5</strike> 4 Wednesday post, I am going to try and get some posts done for Wednesdays, but I cannot promise anything, as sometimes the T5W posts, don't take my fancy, but as mentioned in my <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/2017-new-years-resolutions.html">New Years Resolutions</a>, I'm trying to get 2-3 posts up a week. So I will be trying to do as much as I can. </div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-68169398509090413672017-01-20T18:00:00.000+00:002017-01-20T18:00:04.905+00:00Book Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks review and it is... Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. If you follow my reading wrap ups, then you will know that I read this book a long time ago (around 6 months), however I never got round to reviewing it, so here we go...<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Title: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Wintergirls</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Author:<i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Laurie Halse Anderson</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Publisher: <i>Viking Books for Young Readers</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pub. Date: <i>March 19th 2009</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Date Read: <i>June 28th 2016</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Pages: <i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> 278</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Rating:<i>4</i></span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">/5 stars</i><br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: medium none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px;">Summary</span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, utopia, "palatino linotype", palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">: </i><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">"Dead girl walking”, the boys say in the halls.</i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">"Tell us your secret”, the girls whisper, one toilet to another.<br />I am that girl.<br />I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.<br />I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery</span></i><div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Before reading this book, I must say this book has various triggers, which may give spoilers to the book. however I would prefer you to be spoiled, and know if the book is suitable for you then, instead of being triggered because of me. </span></span>TRIGGER Warning: Selfharm, Attempted Suicide, Mental Illness, Anorexia and Bulimia. </div>
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Wintergirls, was not at all what I expected, but I did definitely enjoy reading it. As I liked the ammount of internal monologue there was with Lia, and how the crossed out words effect on her thoughts, as it shows what she knows as the truth, and what society expects her to see. </div>
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This may be a completely inaccurate interpretation of anorexia, however it has made me feel as if i have a better understanding of the mental state of people who have this illness.However, this entire book makes me feel incredibly conflicted as I know that Lia should go to the hospital, as she has a serious problem, however a part of me is still rooting for Lia, as I feel a lot of sympathy for her.</div>
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***Spoiler***Elijah was very wishy washy as he encouraged Lia's visions and then stole her money and pretty much left her there to die. The arse.***End of Spoiler***</div>
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Wintergirls, has a very interesting way of having the chapter numbers, with having it shown as a weight scale. Also, if the calorie for each of the items is correct in this book, I believe a huge round of applause should be given to the author, as you can tell a huge amount of research went into this book. </div>
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Conclusion</div>
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Overall, I believe Wintergirls was a very powerful and thought provoking book, due to the strong and important issues of the book, which is why it took me quite a while (for me anyway) to get through it. </div>
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Would I recommend this?</div>
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I would recommend this to anyone, who wishes to understand the mentality of someone going through the eating disorder illnesses, such as anorexia or bulimia. However, apart from that I really enjoyed it, from the way that it is written and the extra tidbits, which are in there. </div>
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Book Links</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5152478-wintergirls?ac=1&from_search=true">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1407171062/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_uk-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wintergirls/dp/1407171062/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/wintergirls/laurie-halse-anderson/9781407171067">Waterstones</a></div>
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Author Links</div>
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<a href="http://madwomanintheforest.com/">Laurie Halse Anderson</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10003.Laurie_Halse_Anderson">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.twitter.com/halseanderson">Twitter</a> </div>
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, this is it for this week, if you would like to see more of what I am currently reading you can check me out on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28536008-emma" style="border: currentcolor; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.25s linear;">Goodreads</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/englishblonde1/" style="border: currentcolor; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.25s linear;">Instagram</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/blonde_english" style="border: currentcolor; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.25s linear;">Twitter</a>. </div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-74849690329157002852017-01-09T17:30:00.000+00:002017-01-09T17:30:25.672+00:002017 Anticipated Releases (Part 1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ser3MFBqBg4lI0VIY0_GVOQraS2FQMWlTbjpIY64LbnoXs8gssl-2n_DQ1YfbiNuSjOYiy6tRLSrj9RkGPrY2zYhW84nPeog1rTmCN3Q8HyFWOm5xzPYipZ3Y9v_zqKXqu6TKOEs4Lg/s1600/2017+anticipated+releases+p1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ser3MFBqBg4lI0VIY0_GVOQraS2FQMWlTbjpIY64LbnoXs8gssl-2n_DQ1YfbiNuSjOYiy6tRLSrj9RkGPrY2zYhW84nPeog1rTmCN3Q8HyFWOm5xzPYipZ3Y9v_zqKXqu6TKOEs4Lg/s320/2017+anticipated+releases+p1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Hey my lovelies, welcome to my most anticipated reads of 2017, these are all of the books I can't wait to be released in the first part of 2017!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sBttMLgZ1nM02I4BbslhaLI6124yYTNQDD9wC3ffEw-b4s-tb4nF6cIdUnQ0vKUbo7veW64x-IjoKInDGQFgPZaWh_kDnxdMf-rkut03lFavEutCzAZmrOY86PET9kIpoUlPORTJjW0/s1600/30117284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sBttMLgZ1nM02I4BbslhaLI6124yYTNQDD9wC3ffEw-b4s-tb4nF6cIdUnQ0vKUbo7veW64x-IjoKInDGQFgPZaWh_kDnxdMf-rkut03lFavEutCzAZmrOY86PET9kIpoUlPORTJjW0/s320/30117284.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth<br />
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Carve the Mark is one of my anticipated releases, as I remember really enjoying reading the Divergent series, however I have various friends who reread the series recently and claim they did not enjoy it. All I know so far is that its a space opera following two people, in a world where everyone has a powers, with theirs being ones that put themselves at risk to others. Sounds interesting, right?<br />
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Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth is expected to be published on January 17th by Katherine Tegen Books.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5uwQc4q3f7EIkx7D2-f5g2_JkLT_ETjtF4fMnhd8dBVPgqxVgpC82vf6RdXPC6sz0mcT41tS5IE9zvUST-QgWcqIIUV0Nxb_z9Doc1dnDgSEcMLOQ2U5r7QNEjKv6ZETh9THZLbRnyw/s1600/30226723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5uwQc4q3f7EIkx7D2-f5g2_JkLT_ETjtF4fMnhd8dBVPgqxVgpC82vf6RdXPC6sz0mcT41tS5IE9zvUST-QgWcqIIUV0Nxb_z9Doc1dnDgSEcMLOQ2U5r7QNEjKv6ZETh9THZLbRnyw/s320/30226723.jpg" width="212" /></a><br />
Kings Cage by Victoria Aveyard<br />
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What Victoria Aveyard fan is not hanging on the edge of their seat waiting for this to be released? I know I am, since I picked up Red Queen almost two years ago now. Kings Cage is the second sequel to the best selling Red Queen book, following Mare, a member of the lower class Reds, who finds she has a power, that only the upper class silvers are claimed to have. I have been waiting for this to be released before I'm allowing myself to pick up Glass Sword. I have to say out of all of the Red Queen, this one by far has my least favourite cover.<br />
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King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard is expected to be published on February 7th by HarperTeen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KbBnkbT0eM5yyNLrk6_0hoa_sDDREs3ov1I4PyetP0DxLIP0rIYwtrhLnhyphenhyphenlEz3TaM4g3qlqYpWcOS09e7jBGp7tEKXM2yw11FX-XE3FaW0f6raNu306pT3TVUR34XcTR16XPVupaHI/s1600/30256248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KbBnkbT0eM5yyNLrk6_0hoa_sDDREs3ov1I4PyetP0DxLIP0rIYwtrhLnhyphenhyphenlEz3TaM4g3qlqYpWcOS09e7jBGp7tEKXM2yw11FX-XE3FaW0f6raNu306pT3TVUR34XcTR16XPVupaHI/s320/30256248.jpg" width="212" /></a><br />
By Your Side by Kasie West<br />
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I read my first Kasie West book, almost two years ago now, and did enjoy the writing, even if I thought the ending was cut off. But it was still a short and sweet contemporary read, which I am hoping this one will be too.<br />
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By Your Side by Kasie West is expected to be published on January 31st by HarperTeen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPoz2xxdJGyBvvGwibTpYBn2B6cEz5QrRMR_IH9UMiKApnOgzUTtUiF0pZ-jl8r3-SVvc_g6sLf8iX69tVX1C6Isl_Qcph0ySNpzkxxhfLwUricJ8YQW4oCx4cByjQLVigsuECqi_W69s/s1600/27883214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPoz2xxdJGyBvvGwibTpYBn2B6cEz5QrRMR_IH9UMiKApnOgzUTtUiF0pZ-jl8r3-SVvc_g6sLf8iX69tVX1C6Isl_Qcph0ySNpzkxxhfLwUricJ8YQW4oCx4cByjQLVigsuECqi_W69s/s320/27883214.jpg" width="210" /></a><br />
Caraval by Stephanie Garber<br />
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The first thing that attracted me to Caraval, was definitely the cover, because how stunning is this? It's honestly amazing, and I would purchase this for the cover alone, even if the book ends up being crap.<br />
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Caraval by Stephanie Garber is expected to be published on January 31st by Flatiron books.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uotZbwnVX5zgy4ArX84RLKcCYSOZd51z_OXs7hhZHhAJEdeWr-34_wXI1PIdzbP9vgCbX6-Ynr9iOSpJ-co2qcVZLXMLfEMfK5z-oFWkTmJA0eGWjpEDyr6zjfjzBRX6hPFDwr9PBv4/s1600/12111823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uotZbwnVX5zgy4ArX84RLKcCYSOZd51z_OXs7hhZHhAJEdeWr-34_wXI1PIdzbP9vgCbX6-Ynr9iOSpJ-co2qcVZLXMLfEMfK5z-oFWkTmJA0eGWjpEDyr6zjfjzBRX6hPFDwr9PBv4/s320/12111823.jpg" width="210" /></a>The Winds of Winter by George R.R Martin<br />
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And of cause a book that is featured on many anticipated releases list, with no expected publication date, we have the Winds of Winter! The sixth and hopefully second to last book in the Game of Thrones series.<br />
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The Winds of Winter by George R.R Martin is expected to be published by HarperVoyager.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9JjpMGNHFXB6pP9NffweYuKK8oFRj-t3hZ-a8n5MqeJoI-NRQVbaiLm1Ll6hGxrpvfUbMjuw5dpTim3LB5kwKWU4KgNChQwzBj0FC8_oT_imhxLudlGiy__YkXWYBuTm4AHgdIzF8Is/s1600/29217027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9JjpMGNHFXB6pP9NffweYuKK8oFRj-t3hZ-a8n5MqeJoI-NRQVbaiLm1Ll6hGxrpvfUbMjuw5dpTim3LB5kwKWU4KgNChQwzBj0FC8_oT_imhxLudlGiy__YkXWYBuTm4AHgdIzF8Is/s320/29217027.jpg" width="210" /></a><br />
Iron Gold by Pierce Brown<br />
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Iron Gold is the first book in the second series taking place in the Red Rising world, even though I have yet to read Red Rising, I am hoping to soon. As a lot of people have recommended Pierce Browns books to me.<br />
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Iron Gold by Pierce Brown is expected to be published on August 22nd by Del Rey.<br />
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Don't forget to check out my second part to my 2017 Anticipated Releases coming mid 2017. </div>
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, I hope you checked out my first full week of posts last week, if you didn't you can check out them all now. With my second book review of 2017 coming out on Friday, which is *drum roll* </div>
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EnglishBlonde</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-83108261056137740272017-01-07T17:30:00.000+00:002017-01-07T21:58:31.170+00:00Inkitt for Android has launched!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg70sneIo01GiYWkhDuz4YVuDMAaG7Qj8dGu92yFvQsBIfoG62Qqv4z8XjUT4-IEV8Y88123_XeM10p0bn0BC3KDirFcvn9JF8zhOoiNQhDPutofIFWI3xgRl5jxDlmqqhQiadKdtidPLE/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg70sneIo01GiYWkhDuz4YVuDMAaG7Qj8dGu92yFvQsBIfoG62Qqv4z8XjUT4-IEV8Y88123_XeM10p0bn0BC3KDirFcvn9JF8zhOoiNQhDPutofIFWI3xgRl5jxDlmqqhQiadKdtidPLE/s320/cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Hey my lovelies, welcome to today's post on Inkitts new android app! A few weeks ago I was asked by Inkitt, to write this little post on their new release. This post is not sponsored in anyway, I just felt that it would be a great edition to all of my readers phones. They successfully launched the iOS app back in November, which was featured in the Books category of the US app store, for more than 4 weeks and become fan favourites for many people.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWF_6_O32D5K0xdtjCPIILC4xpIDLELQMApVi6k5rkITDOSXtkfFBlXtTZzJTX-KjK7ZXFNMCKXdf9iUol6KniVy0b26UgaZhzxTDSkiQHZMyXTqhQTeXXJ1krWOHGYkPVnFVS1VOOc0/s1600/collage+banner+wtext.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWF_6_O32D5K0xdtjCPIILC4xpIDLELQMApVi6k5rkITDOSXtkfFBlXtTZzJTX-KjK7ZXFNMCKXdf9iUol6KniVy0b26UgaZhzxTDSkiQHZMyXTqhQTeXXJ1krWOHGYkPVnFVS1VOOc0/s320/collage+banner+wtext.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-kB0L9Tr1Lor65xR2XqPpvBb0hhE0SySc-jsGi89CcchKVtSy0D8lOQeq5Gr1k0inhK07UqDql0-DZtFzco82-yaqb7oE55gc0josJpJOX66XlEFRnrUiL_vsaMXVXpYazqzDy79Lzo/s1600/blue+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-kB0L9Tr1Lor65xR2XqPpvBb0hhE0SySc-jsGi89CcchKVtSy0D8lOQeq5Gr1k0inhK07UqDql0-DZtFzco82-yaqb7oE55gc0josJpJOX66XlEFRnrUiL_vsaMXVXpYazqzDy79Lzo/s320/blue+3.jpg" width="320" /></a>If you are completely unaware of what Inkitt is, or maybe you've heard of it in passing, but not sure exactly what it could do for you, here is a short and sweet explanation of what exactly Inkitt is. Inkitt is a platform where aspiring and indie authors can share their novels, and readers can find and read new content. However, Inkitt has a very clever algorithm which allows them to analyse reading behaviour in order to predict and find out the very best future best sellers on their website. So the more the readers enjoy, it the more likely it is to be published. With the readers being able to do this for free!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARl55_ceBUXa4Et2rBGfAFp6pXNHQ_ZoN9qG2_sJaPr6okVXjKZpuJc2CX2aTxXvvuSJJCdxpDJaIRnqMjbZbfAL8yeo7pu0vjk_z_l4jAqHXhrv9sGtuCJAAkle6atH_o_bf3baN6zk/s1600/blue+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARl55_ceBUXa4Et2rBGfAFp6pXNHQ_ZoN9qG2_sJaPr6okVXjKZpuJc2CX2aTxXvvuSJJCdxpDJaIRnqMjbZbfAL8yeo7pu0vjk_z_l4jAqHXhrv9sGtuCJAAkle6atH_o_bf3baN6zk/s320/blue+1.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Inkitt for Android has four key features:<br />
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<li>It allows readers to access thousands of novels from a large range of fiction genres (including my favourite YA, of cause). </li>
<li>It offers readers individualised reading suggestions with hand picked novels based on the readers favourite fiction genres</li>
<li>The app offers a customizable look in order to match the user preferences (e.g different colour combinations and range of font sizes)</li>
<li>And the opportunity for readers to keep and save novels to their offline library in order to access them at anytime.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGxTokh6isS2X_0fsGHphSWmJKPD_tn1f9iDf-dHRp1EaGUsXtn8yLBDYvCOkhbzTQdA3fvy1f1_kE_PXf85TN_rhk5jIiZnUY9CjNedVqEMBJiDs3wwfqmLuDCcbRPNpA1La671o5wU/s1600/blue+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGxTokh6isS2X_0fsGHphSWmJKPD_tn1f9iDf-dHRp1EaGUsXtn8yLBDYvCOkhbzTQdA3fvy1f1_kE_PXf85TN_rhk5jIiZnUY9CjNedVqEMBJiDs3wwfqmLuDCcbRPNpA1La671o5wU/s320/blue+2.jpg" width="320" /></a>You may be wondering whether or not Inkitt has published any best selling novels and the answer is yes! Since July 2016, Inkitt has published 7 novels in paperback format, six of these then went on to become best sellers on Amazon.One of which I shall be reviewing next week, for my second book review of the year. And the best thing about the app you may ask? It is absolutely free!</div>
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<a href="https://inkitt.app.link/androidglobal">You can find the app here.</a></div>
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Thank you for reading my lovelies! If you haven't already check out this weeks series of posts including; <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/2016-year-in-review.html">My 2016: A Year in Review</a>, <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/2017-new-years-resolutions.htmlhttp://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/2017-new-years-resolutions.html">My 2017 New Years Resolutions</a>, <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/2017-tbr.html">2017 TBR</a>, <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/december-wrap-up-january-tbr.html">December Wrap Up</a> and my <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/book-review-famous-last-words-by-katie.html">first book review of the year Famous Last Words by Katie Alender</a>.<br />
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Next Bookish Post: 2017 Anticipated Reads (Part 1)</div>
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EnglishBlonde</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-14191228798108343812017-01-06T17:00:00.000+00:002017-01-06T17:00:20.003+00:00Book Review: Famous Last Words by Katie AlenderHey my lovelies, this weeks book review is of Famous Last Words by Katie Alender, to be honest this has been at the bottom of my tbr pile for a long time, and it was there when I needed a book to read, so I read it, however I can't say I was impressed.<br />
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Title: <i>Famous Last Words</i><br />
Author: <i>Katie Alender</i><br />
Publisher: <i>Point</i><br />
Pub. Date: <i>30th September 2014</i><br />
Date Read: <i>23rd December 2016</i><br />
Pages: <i>320</i><br />
Rating: <i>3/5 stars</i><br />
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Summary: <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Hollywood history, mystery, murder, mayhem, and delicious romance collide in this unputdownable thriller from master storyteller Katie Alender. </i></span><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Willa is freaking out. It seems like she's seeing things. Like a dead body in her swimming pool. Frantic messages on her walls. A reflection that is not her own. It's almost as if someone -- or something -- is trying to send her a message. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Meanwhile, a killer is stalking Los Angeles -- a killer who reenacts famous movie murder scenes. Could Willa's strange visions have to do with these unsolved murders? Or is she going crazy? And who can she confide in? There's Marnie, her new friend who may not be totally trustworthy. And there's Reed, who's ridiculously handsome and seems to get Willa. There's also Wyatt, who's super smart but unhealthily obsessed with the Hollywood Killer. </span></i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">All Willa knows is, she has to confront the possible-ghost in her house, or she just might lose her mind . . . or her life.</span></i></div>
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Overview</h3>
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As mentioned above, I was not a big fan of Famous Last Words, as to me, it read more like a middle grade novel than a young adult. By both the characters dialogue and the way that certain scenes were written. The characters were also not as well written or developed as I would like, especially considering it has a 4.2+ rating on goodreads.<br />
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Willa was also quite annoying, as for most of the novel you could tell she did not know what she was doing for most of the novel, but not in the traditional sense, of a naive character, in a annoying, not written well character. I also didn't feel attached any of the characters and was not that affected or shocked when we found out who the killer was. </div>
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However, there were good aspects of the book, such as the way it builds tension at the crucial points of the novel, causing you to wonder if you are sure who the killer is. Although it was who I expected it to be by the way.</div>
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The last time I read a Katie Alender book, it was Bad Girls Don't Die, and even though this was quite a few years ago, I remember enjoying it, and after not enjoying this, it makes me want to reread that to find out if it really was as good as i remember. Famous Last Words reminds me heavily of that Nancy Drew film with Emma Roberts, from the moving into a famous dead starlets home, to the mystery solving the possibly supernatural. </div>
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Conclusion</h3>
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In conclusion, I found this to be an alright read, as I didn;t find it anything special, and did not enjoy it that much. I just found it was another one to knock of my tbr and to helps me reach my 2016 Reading Challenge Goal. </div>
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Would I recommend this?</h3>
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As you have probably gathered, this book was not my cup of tea, however if you are in the 11-13 age range wanting to read a paranormal read similar to the Nancy Drew film then this is probably the book for you. </div>
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Book Links</h3>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20894023-famous-last-words">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Famous-Last-Words-Katie-Alender/dp/0545835623/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1482583447&sr=8-5&keywords=katie+alender">Amazon UK</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Famous-Last-Words-Katie-Alender/dp/0545835623/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">Amazon.com</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/famous-last-words-katie-alender/1118736498;jsessionid=CA1EA61B4132C6F3378CC7C9D4CFFBA6.prodny_store01-atgap09?ean=9780545835626">B&N</a> </div>
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Author Links</h3>
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<a href="http://katiealender.com/">Katie Alender</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1562974.Katie_Alender">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.twitter.com/KatieAlender">Twitter</a> </div>
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, this is it for this week, if you would like to see more of what I am currently reading you can check me out on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/28536008-emma" style="border: currentcolor; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.25s linear;">Goodreads</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/englishblonde1/" style="border: currentcolor; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.25s linear;">Instagram</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/blonde_english" style="border: currentcolor; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.25s linear;">Twitter</a>. </div>
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Previous Book Review: The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson</div>
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Next Book Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson</div>
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EnglishBlonde</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-38655421478631538042017-01-04T17:30:00.000+00:002017-01-04T17:30:22.790+00:002017 TBR<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfsVOpDw9bMiEA2l1U8TLRKX56HI2qodQZGiadD-W9NEwtvCkGkncg6UKgGkQJBzKUpePhdcDZo9iDuzRXOiEP2BBUYWiIbnRejY-XaC4AHzI2jqqbtaC3BuBNS6aLNSa2PV8v5WUwxo/s1600/2017+TBR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfsVOpDw9bMiEA2l1U8TLRKX56HI2qodQZGiadD-W9NEwtvCkGkncg6UKgGkQJBzKUpePhdcDZo9iDuzRXOiEP2BBUYWiIbnRejY-XaC4AHzI2jqqbtaC3BuBNS6aLNSa2PV8v5WUwxo/s320/2017+TBR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Hey my lovelies, welcome to my 2017 TBR! Here are some of the series I plan to read in 2017. This year I have decided to set my reading goal as 50, due to only just meeting my goal last year, so I have plans to read some of these books after I have reached my goal in order to ensure that I do actually meet it this year.<br />
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The first series I plan on reading this year, is The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, I have already read these books, however I'm planning on rereading, in order to finally read Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows, when it comes out.<br />
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The second series I plan on reading this year, is Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Paige, I received the first book for Christmas this year, and plan on getting the rest of the series, as recently there have been lots of fairy tale retelling's, but I have never heard of a Wizard of Oz one. Especially one, with such as compelling synopsis.<br />
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The third series I plan on reading this year, is the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. If you've been following my blog for along time then you will know I have been trying to read the Harry Potter series for years, it's just that something has always come up, or I've suffered a reading slump, but hopefully 2017 will finally be the year. 2017, the year I read Harry Potter.<br />
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The fourth series I plan on reading this year, is the Game of Thrones series by George R.R Martin, I have been a fan of the show for quite a few years now, and as I received the books the Christmas before last, I would like to finally read them, for when Winds of Winter eventually gets released.<br />
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, and due to it being the first week of the brand new year I have scheduled a post every day for you guys. </div>
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<a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/2016-year-in-review.html">December 31st - 2016: A Year in Review</a></div>
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<a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/2017-new-years-resolutions.html">January 1st - 2017: New Years Resolutions</a></div>
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<a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/december-wrap-up-january-tbr.html">January 2nd - December Wrap Up & January TBR</a></div>
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January 3rd - Christmas Haul</div>
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January 4th- 2017 TBR</div>
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January 5th- Top 10 books of 2016</div>
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January 6th- Book Review: Famous Last Words by Katie Alender</div>
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January 7th- Books I planned to read in 2016, but didn't, but will</div>
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January 9th - 2017 Anticipated Releases (Part 1)</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-26890986286317732012017-01-02T18:00:00.000+00:002017-01-02T18:00:00.168+00:00December Wrap Up & January TBR<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to my December Wrap Up! I didn't read as much as I would have liked, as my goal was 6 books, however only ended up reading 5 books. </div>
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December Wrap Up</h3>
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The first book I read in December was The Selection by Kiera Cass, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected, yes there was points that I didn't like, but I found that it was a very enjoyable read, and really began to route for America. Which is why the second book I read in December was The Elite by Kiera Cass and followed it with The One by (shocklingly) Kiera Cass. Meaning I completed the original Selection trilogy.<br />
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The fourth book I read in December was What I Thought was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick, this is the second book written in this world, with little cameos from characters from the first novel, My Life Next Door, which I read earlier this year. I did enjoy What I Thought was True, however it is definitely one of the most long winded books I have ever read, with most of the plot happening in the final 50 pages, which isn't the best when it is 496 pages long.<br />
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The fifth book I read in December was Famous Last Words by Katie Alender, this book was not as good as I expected it to be, and you can find out all about why in my first book review of the year, coming out on Friday 6th of January!<br />
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January TBR</h3>
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And for my first tbr of the year I only want to read 5 books. Yes that's it. Quite unambitious for me, right?</div>
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Don't forget to check out my other posts coming out this week...</div>
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January 1st - 2017 Goals</div>
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January 2nd - December Wrap Up & January TBR</div>
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January 3rd - Christmas Haul</div>
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January 4th- 2017 TBR</div>
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January 5th- Top 10 books of 2016</div>
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January 6th- first book review</div>
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January 7th- Books I planned to read in 2016, but didn't, but will<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />January 9th - 2017 Anticipated Releases (Part 1)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />EnglishBlonde<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />x</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-56787485700944126442017-01-01T17:30:00.000+00:002017-01-01T17:30:07.357+00:002017 New Years Resolutions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOutQDx-gHUX-_mtgwFt-wNido6ouDZT5TSJzdemengFvw1BcOhWnn9N7sPmXERfhc7mEdOk3X_H-y5N2p4bv9mfqCfOmbCoAVO2zPox5F0qbzhm75PvVLfgnoHQbGIyEznjmS0xewNEk/s1600/2017+New+Years+Resolutions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOutQDx-gHUX-_mtgwFt-wNido6ouDZT5TSJzdemengFvw1BcOhWnn9N7sPmXERfhc7mEdOk3X_H-y5N2p4bv9mfqCfOmbCoAVO2zPox5F0qbzhm75PvVLfgnoHQbGIyEznjmS0xewNEk/s320/2017+New+Years+Resolutions.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to my 2017 goals, which basically leads onto a post of stuff that I plan to do, but most likely won't make it past February, however its always good to make these sort of posts.</div>
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Planning</h3>
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I am someone who really likes planning, the only problem with this is I am terrible at it. Like I won't do anything before I've made a list of things I need to do, however don't tend to accomplish most things on said list. So in order to be prepared I am beginning writing this post on a cold dreary morning in the middle of October, trying to think of things I want to accomplish next year. My solution to all of this is bullet journal-ling. I began bullet journal-ling i early November, and have found that it makes organising my life so much easier. Which hopefully means that I will be completing all of the goals listed below. </div>
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Blogging Goals</h3>
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My first goal of 2017 is to post 52 book reviews, I will hopefully do this by scheduling and ensuring that I write a review for every book I read. With prioritizing Arcs over, my own pile of books. Meaning overall my goal is to be posting 2-3 times a week with at least one of these being a book review. And to do this I am planning to be a month in advanced for posts, which I am already failing at.</div>
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My second goal of 2017 is to read more books than bought. Sounds easy right? Probably not as easy as you originally think. As I really seem to have a compulsion to buy as many books as I can, and my bookshelf can no longer take it. </div>
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I also want to be a lot more vigilant with all of my books, meaning I am going to start tracking my book, purchasing,blogging and author stats. Hopefully, all of this will allow me to compile together, the sort of posts and books that you guys prefer hearing about. I started a reading journal last year, and kept up with it completely until around September time, so this year I plan on tracking all of this in my new Moleskine journal, which I have purchased specifically for reading purposes. </div>
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And my final bookish/blogging goal of 2017 is to start interacting more on social media, as I do have both an Instagram and twitter account dedicated purely to books, which I have been neglecting as of late. </div>
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Personal Goals</h3>
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I would like to save up enough money to go on holiday with my friends this summer, as I have already had enough of the cold. And to go to V Festival again this year, however this year I believe I will camp, to get the proper experience and to take sunscreen this year. </div>
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I would like to finally Pass my driving test, as I just want to do it now and pass, without them cancelling my test, this goal will get done however, as I already have my test booked for the end of January. </div>
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As so far at college, I have not dropped a grade, I would like to continue to do this, in order to get the grades that will allow me to go to University (Even though I am still unsure about whether or not I want to go).</div>
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, and due to it being the first week of the brand new year I have scheduled a post every day for you guys. If you didn't catch my <a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/2016-year-in-review.html">2016: A Year in Review, you can check it out here. </a></div>
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January 2nd - December Wrap Up & January TBR</div>
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January 3rd - Christmas Haul</div>
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January 4th- 2017 TBR</div>
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January 5th- Top 10 books of 2016</div>
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January 6th- first book review</div>
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January 7th- Books I planned to read in 2016, but didn't, but will</div>
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January 9th - 2017 Anticipated Releases (Part 1)</div>
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EnglishBlonde</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-77781639890964910692016-12-31T17:00:00.000+00:002016-12-31T17:00:02.878+00:002016: A year in Review<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to my '2016: A year in Review'. This year has definitely been a weird one for me. It has been one of them that not a lot has actually happened, but at the same time a lot has. Which is why as well as adding all of my bookish stats and info, I have decided to add some personal stuff in here too, so if you aren't interested in that feel free to just scroll past it, everything has clear headings so you can see whats what. Don't forget to check out my 2016 Goodreads Year in Books</div>
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Personal</h3>
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I celebrated my seventeenth birthday, got my first car and began learning how to drive, starting off with my dad teaching me (and quickly admitting defeat), before going to a qualified driving instructor. From there I believed everything was going to be a piece of cake... it was not. I am usually the sort of person, who only has to do something a few times before just knowing how to do it. This was not the case with driving, in all honesty I found the driving quite easy to do, but the theory side incredibly difficult. Which caused me to get very stressed and every time that I tried to read I would infact feel guilty for not reading my Highway code and theory books, which sent me into a really bad book slump. Even though I passed my theory test back in August, I am still suffering from this book slump in December, whilst writing this. I am trying to read, but I tend to stop myself just before picking up the book. However, going on to the positive, I managed to remove myself from my negative friends and get myself into a hardworking and good group of friends. And in college have managed to never drop a grade (meaning I have never got below top marks, in the year and a half I have been there so far). Which I am very proud off, as I worked so hard to get them grades. I also went on holiday twice this year, once to Barcelona, Spain, where I had never been before and also Disneyland Paris, France, which I absolutely loved.</div>
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All of this has left me very undecided on what to do in the next year, when I finish college. Do I go to university? Do I get a job? I know I have always had a passion for books and will continue with this blog, but what else do I do? To be honest I believe that everything has gotten rather on top off me this year and now I'm stuck at a awkward stage, where I do not know what I want to do. That is it for the personal stuff, now lets get onto my bookish year in review...</div>
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Books</h3>
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<b>Books Read: 75</b></div>
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<b>Pages Read: 22,035 (not counting rereads)</b></div>
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<b>Rereads: 2</b></div>
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The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan | Manwhore by Katy Evans </div>
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<b>Standalones:</b></div>
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(The History Major by Michael Phillip Cash | Faceless by Alyssa B. Sheinmel | Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard | Attachments by Rainbow Rowell | The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky | Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson | Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer | Mirror Image by Michele Pariza Wacek | Hate List by Jennifer Brown | Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell | Memories of a Mad Man by Don Spector | Two way street by Lauren Barnholdt | Sugar Baby Beautiful by J J Mcavoy | A Midsummers Nightmare by Kody Keplinger | The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas | Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas | Famous Last Words by Katie Alender</div>
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<b>Series Started: 4</b><br />
Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs | Replica by Lauren Oliver | The Tokyo Cover Girls by Jackie Amsden | The Selection by Kiera Cass | </div>
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<b>Series Started & Completed: 4</b><br />
The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey | Missing 1-800 by Meg Cabot | The 100 by Kass Morgan | The</div>
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Perfectionists by Sara Shepard | </div>
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<b>Series Completed: 1</b></div>
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The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson</div>
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<b>Books by Author:</b></div>
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Meg Cabot: 7</div>
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Kristen Callihan: 4 (5 with reread)<br />
Katy Evans: 4<br />
Mary E Pearson: 3</div>
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Rick Yancey: 3</div>
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Kiera Cass: 3</div>
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Kass Morgan: 3<br />
Sara Shepard: 3</div>
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Rainbow Rowell: 2<br />
Huntley Fitzpatrick: 2</div>
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Ransom Riggs: 2<br />
Allyn Lesley: 2<br />
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<b>Shortest Book: Burning Yves by Joss Stirling (41 pages)</b><br />
<b>Longest Book: The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson (679 pages)</b><br />
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<b>Reviews posted: </b>29</div>
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<b>Years Blogging: </b>2 years</div>
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Thank you for reading my lovelies, and due to it being the first week of the brand new year I have scheduled a post every day for you guys. Kicking off with my 2017 New Years Resolutions & Goals coming out tomorrow at 6pm GMT. </div>
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January 1st - 2017 Goals</div>
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January 2nd - December Wrap Up & January TBR</div>
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January 3rd - Christmas Haul</div>
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January 4th- 2017 TBR</div>
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January 5th- Top 10 books of 2016</div>
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January 6th- first book review</div>
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January 7th- Books I planned to read in 2016, but didn't, but will<br />
January 9th - 2017 Anticipated Releases (Part 1)<br />
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EnglishBlonde<br />
x</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-75199193513104147042016-12-25T16:00:00.000+00:002016-12-25T16:00:03.593+00:00Merry Christmas Everyone!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ0gBb0It21AQlNFeNZh7aFxr0yWmRfiUUVmjNrumWaXaWKvSi1nm1bZ6HihFsBlgk5An_Tg3RCvqBk9U16BM1ui238p-qH09weOpxnmxr9frIT_X0C8OagjxyWnvFZlgo4Risty7EMsY/s1600/merry+christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ0gBb0It21AQlNFeNZh7aFxr0yWmRfiUUVmjNrumWaXaWKvSi1nm1bZ6HihFsBlgk5An_Tg3RCvqBk9U16BM1ui238p-qH09weOpxnmxr9frIT_X0C8OagjxyWnvFZlgo4Risty7EMsY/s320/merry+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hey my lovelies, welcome to my Christmas post! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a small update on what will be happening in the next couple of weeks. As you may know I am not the best at ensuring English Blonde, is updated and has regular content, so in order to properly kick off the New Year, I have scheduled 7 posts from the 31st December to the 6th January, with everything from my Top 10 Books of 2016 to my 2017 Anticipated Reads, with some small hints to posts I plan to have up in the future, and of cause my obligatory weekly review. As I have now decided that as well as my weekly book review being posted, I am attempting to also have a 1-2 posts up a week too.</div>
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Post Schedule for the next two weeks:</div>
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Wednesday 28th December - T5W: Characters I'd invite to my NYE part</div>
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Saturday 31st December - 2016: A Year in REVIEW</div>
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Sunday 1st January - 2017 Goals/New Years Resolutions</div>
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Monday 2nd January - December Wrap Up & January TBR</div>
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Tuesday 3rd January - Top 10 books of 2016</div>
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Wednesday 4th January - 2017 Anticipated Reads (Part 1)</div>
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Thursday 5th January - Books I planned to read in 2016, but didn't, but will</div>
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Friday 6th January - First Book Review of 2017!</div>
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Thank you for reading, and I wish you a very Merry Christmas! </div>
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EnglishBlonde</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-67871303331034424902016-12-21T18:00:00.001+00:002016-12-21T18:00:21.172+00:00My Top 10 Christmas Films!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XzEozB3oOdUcije7qJBr3Jf1Ni3AzQ_uZfptx5E5bvTbImUeh675M3gRL_OlCqwObYsXz-JwyIg64xDXxlsgDEeV04gApy4Kg93asYsY7ZWoU7MwGuLKZhyphenhyphenKac0ZDQryDMH58oMPUTs/s1600/my+top+10+christmas+films.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XzEozB3oOdUcije7qJBr3Jf1Ni3AzQ_uZfptx5E5bvTbImUeh675M3gRL_OlCqwObYsXz-JwyIg64xDXxlsgDEeV04gApy4Kg93asYsY7ZWoU7MwGuLKZhyphenhyphenKac0ZDQryDMH58oMPUTs/s320/my+top+10+christmas+films.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Hey my lovelies, welcome to my Top 10 Christmas Films! Now all of these are must watch films for me during the
Christmas period, and one does not even have anything to do with the winter
season!<br />
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10. 101 Dalmations (1996)<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Not strictly a Christmas movie, but definitely a firm favourite of mine, I mean how can it not be, especially when seeing all of the puppies running across the snow at the end. It is such a feel good film and how can you not want to watch one of the best Disney villains of all time? </span><i style="text-align: center;">"Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil, if she doesn't scare you, then ain't nothing will, Cruella, Cruella De Vil" </i><span style="text-align: center;">If you try to tell me that you did not sing that in your head, you are lying. And if you really want to get into the Disney winter mood, why not watch the second one? Even if it isn't as good as the first. But not many sequels are. Next up is... </span></div>
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9. Die Hard (1988)</div>
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Who doesn't watch a action film at Christmas? It's practically the perfect time for it, especially if you don't want to face the treacherous snow outside. Instead why not watch Bruce Willis battle the bad guys at Christmas.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZDY00Zpmms24W1vFqBsDPI7nzN3LqYkLDuT3k6rhxMp2egp5ysDRZ95PzKhQgk8Ymd8748eo33iFhkRbWg4HcZYT0ucXE-6nXgqmZAb967Qa9W5l3c8LywU93EkbhBCB3C4IICGfcbA/s1600/p24414_d_v7_aa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZDY00Zpmms24W1vFqBsDPI7nzN3LqYkLDuT3k6rhxMp2egp5ysDRZ95PzKhQgk8Ymd8748eo33iFhkRbWg4HcZYT0ucXE-6nXgqmZAb967Qa9W5l3c8LywU93EkbhBCB3C4IICGfcbA/s320/p24414_d_v7_aa.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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8. Mickeys Christmas Specials (Once upon a Christmas & Twice upon a Christmas)<br />
For this one I am talking about the proper hand drawn Christmas specials, that used to on. Plus who wouldn't want to see mickey mouse and friends decked out in Christmas gear? I loved watching these Christmas special when I was little, and have kept this as a tradition to watch this.<br />
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7. Love Actually (2003)<br />
Do I even have to say anything here? Even if this is the worse Alan Rickman character ever.</div>
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6. Home Alone (1990)<br />
"Merry Christmas, ya' filthy animal"<br />
Another one that needs no reason. However, who doesn't like watching a little boy defend his house to robbers? We've all grabbed the baseball bat behind the settee, when somebodies knocked on the front door late at night.<br />
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Narnia is not typically a Christmas film, however I cannot go through Christmas, without watching this film. I love it with Aslan, young William Moseley and Mr. Tumnus, it definitely reminds me of being younger.<br />
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What is Christmas without watching Will Ferrell in a pair of green tights? Exactly. Featuring some very sickly looking food, shower singing and the overall feeling of festive cheer. </div>
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Every christmas eve, we watch the Grinch, always resulting in me having a nap during the middle of it, with my dad complaining how much he hates this film, it's actually a tradition in my household now. No matter, what my dad says it is definitely a favourite of mine and my mums. This of cause features a baby Taylor Momsen, Jim Carrey and Christine Baranski.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidjfAIOlRiIW28YpRBJlExUU1JD9u_2SCj1CGBcl3Zp3vNpOCGGatyomqDIKFDfB9DCn2f9zp4gVnn95fr5Pcz3J2TvK99Vo59OQqZh8AJXfrZrOKEwm2R6nauG19vDvYeT5zr-y0Wy0/s1600/MV5BMTk2NTE1NTE0M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjY4NTYxMTE%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C675%252C1000_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidjfAIOlRiIW28YpRBJlExUU1JD9u_2SCj1CGBcl3Zp3vNpOCGGatyomqDIKFDfB9DCn2f9zp4gVnn95fr5Pcz3J2TvK99Vo59OQqZh8AJXfrZrOKEwm2R6nauG19vDvYeT5zr-y0Wy0/s320/MV5BMTk2NTE1NTE0M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjY4NTYxMTE%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C675%252C1000_AL_.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
2. Shrek (2001)</div>
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<span style="text-indent: -24px;">I love Shrek, has to be one of my favourite films of all time, and even though the film came out over – years ago, the animation has not suffered much in comparison to newer films. But the reason that it is in my top Christmas films, is because I cannot remember a Christmas, where one of the Shrek films were not playing on the BBC. So now it is simply associated with Christmas to me.</span><br />
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1. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)</div>
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And my favourite Christmas film is of cause Miracle on 34th Street, I love this film. The story is amazing, the acting is amazing, the idea of a little girl who doesn't believe in Santa, learning that her babysitter is in fact St. Nick himself. Well, what could be better? Especially the very end. </div>
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Honourable Mentions:</div>
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<li>Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone</li>
<li>Jack Frost</li>
<li>Nativity</li>
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That is it for My Top 10 Christmas Films, with a few honourable mentions chucked in there too. I hope you enjoyed it, and let me know what you think of my list! Do you have any additions to my list?<br />
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<a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/book-review-beauty-of-darkness-by-mary.html">Previous Book Review: The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson</a></div>
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<a href="http://englishblonde1.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/christmas-gift-guide-bookish-gifts-for.html">Previous Christmas Post: Christmas Gift Guide: Bookish gifts for book lovers</a></div>
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Next Bookish Post: T5W: Fictional items I would give as a gift</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7392347511497268111.post-79403333754812381402016-12-13T18:00:00.000+00:002016-12-13T18:00:30.884+00:00Christmas Gift Guide: Bookish Gifts for Book Lovers<div style="text-align: center;">
Hey my lovelies, welcome to my second bookish gift guide, and this one is for Bookish Gifts! This ones for all your avid reader friends (or you), with a price range of £0-to as much as you like. </div>
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The first bookish gift I have on my list, is a bookmark, as who can ever have enough bookmarks? I know I personally can't, as I either misplace them or have them littered about my bookshelf. Which is why it is the perfect small gift for anyone. If you want to make this even more special, you can even find people who are willing to personalise them for you, on websites such as Amazon, Redbubble and Etsy. </div>
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My next bookish gift is a mug, I love mugs, and have a large collection of them, and its perfect for if you drink tea, coffee or even just water. This mug doesn't even have to be a bookish one, and is perfect for all those late nights, when you can't go sleep until you've finished "just one more" chapter. </div>
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My third bookish gift is a journal or pretty notebook. They can then use this as a reading journal, to track their thought process, reading stats and their goals for the coming year. I purchased a notebook, to track my reading process, this year and will be soon writing a post on here, of my difficulties with using a normal notebook. Which is why this year, I have decided to use a Moleskine notebook to track my progress. You can pick up a pretty notebook from discount book stores such as The Works, or purchase a Moleskine from anywhere between £8-£20 (I've also purchased one for my best friend this year too). </div>
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My fourth bookish gift is a pair of headphones, there is nothing worse than when you get to finally sit down to read a good book, only for a racket to start up somewhere close to you. So a good pair of headphones are almost essential to be able to block everything (or one) out. I personally have a pair of pink Sony XB450AP Extra Bass Headphones, which are the perfect size, as they are small and compact and fit in all of my bags, for some on the go reading. </div>
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The fifth bookish gift is a Bookstore Gift Card, now this could be your local independent or even your local Waterstones. This is a great gift if you know, your friend enjoys reading, but are unsure of what to get or what they already own, as this way they can choose exactly what they want and don't have to pay for it. </div>
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My final bookish gift, is a slightly more expensive one, and it is a e-reader, I got my first e-reader around 4 years ago now and I loved it so much. However, I did drop it so many times, in the end it was held together by sellotape. I replaced that last year with the latest Kindle Fire HD, and loved that one too, with my only grievance being the battery life on the thing (it barely lasts 4 hours if I do anything but reading). Even still I love having an e-reader, as it is much easier to carry around, than having a pile of books in your bag. </div>
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That is it for my second Christmas Gift Guide: Bookish Gifts for Book Lovers my lovelies, this is the third post in my Christmas series. If you haven't already checked out my Christmas Gift Guide: YA books for Book Lovers or my Emma Recommends... Winter Reads, i suggest you fo. </div>
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Previous Book Review: The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson</div>
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Previous Christmas Post: Christmas Gift Guide: YA Books for book lovers</div>
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Next Bookish Post: T5W: Series that got worse with each book (14th December)</div>
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Next Christmas Post: My Top 10 Christmas Films (19th December)</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293448097634775690noreply@blogger.com0