If You Like...Slightly (or Very) Crazy Narrators (1)

Oh my god Harmony is doing that thing where she makes a new feature and hopefully she won't abandon it in three weeks (I know, I know. But now that final renovations are on the way for my website and my move to wordpress, I'm slowly starting to put all of my ideas that I was waiting for the big change to reveal...but yup, there's a lot of stuff in store!)

This feature is pretty self-explanatory. If you like SOMETHING or want to try SOMETHING, I recommend to you a few books that have to do with that thing! It's mostly a way for me to bring some awareness to books I love, which is most of the point of this blog, but also because you guys have mentioned you wanted me to do this :)

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves    

a girl who is manic depressive in a crazy weird town in Texas 

        

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

now there's no concrete proof that Mara is crazy but she's definitely an unreliable narrator

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

Basically anything Dia writes is crazy. Two sisters who are the daughters of a serial killer and

have inherited some....mutual interests. 

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Now I know you guys are all like: wha? But Shatter Me is written as a sort of stream of

concious first person narrative and Juliette is definitely damaged. (You notice it more so

in Unravel Me, which I'm reading right now, and that's why I included it. What do I think so far 

of it, you ask? Kenji is now easily in my Top 10 favorite characters.)

Life Is But A Dream by Brian James

A schizophrenic girl finds love in a mental hospital but things aren't what they seem, as usual. 

And that's it for me! See you guys tomorrow with my spoiler-y Full Metal Alchemist post which sorry of you guys who aren't into anime or manga but...no regrets. It's going to be something that happens every so often on the blog, I might make it a bi-weekly feature!
Happy Reading!

Pretty Little Liars 3x12 Something Something? Let's Talk About It!

How excited is everyone for this season finale? If i'm being honest, I'm not too excited. This show has been boring me but for some reason (probably Spencer and sometimes Hanna), I'm still watching. And also because I love recapping; let's do this!

• Okay we start this episode with an ambulance? Well, that escalated quickly. Hanna is sobbing so my mind automatically thinks it's Caleb who is getting transported but..let's see! The police officer is trying to ask Emily questions but she's distracted by the Liars comforting Hanna. What? Why isn't she with them? Was she driving the car or something? Wha?
• And we're back to normal time I guess! The Liars are watching Spencer's mom defending Garrett on the telly. Spencer is nervous about meeting up with Emily after the whole Paige fiasco because now they have to tell her her girlfriend might be a murderer. Hanna spews some psychological stuff about interventions -- did you get this from Wren?
• Why do Hanna and Aria look like they're going to a party? You guys are at Spencer's house, chilling. Like...what? Wow, Emily has perfected her bitch face. Congrats. 
• Emily is putting on her Bitch Face (yeah, it's in caps now) and telling the Liars to stop lying to her because they're friends. But the girls are just worried about her! I understand where they're coming from: we all know Paige has major rage issues (SHE TRIED TO DROWN YOU EMILY LIKE WHAT THE HELL), we know she had a grudge with Ali, and she has the earring. She may not be A but she's definitely not good girlfriend material. But fine, walk away. 
• Yeah Hanna, Aria wants to talk about HER PROBLEMS SO LET'S DO THAT. Aria's Baby Mama Drama. Blah blah blah. Hanna is like: do the right thing and own up to your mistakes and Aria was like: waaaaah, I don't wanna. 
• Oh my god Paige sounds like a psychopath. Like a legit obsessed psychopath. "I won't let you come between us" "You're the one who's gonna get hurt". She has a crazy face man. 
• I feel like Paige is emotionally controlling Emily to get the right responses out of her and it's a classic mentally-abusive relationship. Trying to alienate her from her friends, egging her on when she's against the girls, trying to distance her from her other relationships. 
• Oh my god, Emily is seriously going to tell everything to Paige you are so dumb. "I would do anything to protect you" with those crazy eyes.
• "Things just went from worse to worser" "That's not a word but continue" HA.
• Whoa, they got a text from A (it's been a while). BAHAHAHA, Aria's face is hilarious. She looks like a deer in the middle of the road with those eyes. 
• MONA IS OUT YAAAAAY. Mona is crazy; I love her. Also: how in the world does she pass for a nurse in that man's eyes? Doesn't he recognize her as a patient? 
• Hanna is lamenting over Emily's failed love life and yup, that's true. Now A sent them a message showing a bunch of photos of them at Ali's gravesite but none of them have Emily! Paige is going to try to frame them and keep Emily out of the drama, apparently. I'm skeptical. I don't know if she's A, I just know she's crazy.
• Someone is downstairs! Oh no! These girls should keep a knife in their nightstand like honestly. 
• HA, it was just Caleb. Wow, I totally knew it. 
• Oh my god, Emily might be the dumbest person ever. She's going out of town, for the weekend, to some inn she's never heard of, WITH NATE. NATE, who has made it clear he wants more out of their relationship than she can give, Nate who seems to know a lot about Maya but for some reason can't talk to her family, NATE FREAKY ASS NATE. 
• Hanna and Spencer separate and while Spencer is checking herself in the mirror of a passing store (I do that all the time), she sees Toby! And I'm sorry because I love them so much, they actually SLOW-MO walk to each other and hug. Like, legit slow-mo. I cannot. 
• BAHAHAHAHA, now the camera is panning out and spinning around them. Oh my god, this is so cheesy. Did Toby get a haircut? 
• I...actually like Aria's outfit. Why is she at Ezra's if he's working? Like...go do something Aria. Oh my god LOL "Ezra?" "Love you babe." Dude, he's working. 
• WHOA, Maggie is at the door. Wut. Aria is gonna be in some deep shit but because Maggie is a super nice person, she pretends she's never met Aria before. 
• Aria is trying to tell Maggie she needs to tell Ezra and um sorry Aria, not your business. And then Aria is like: well you have to because MY PROBLEMS. And Maggie's like: girl. chill, please. 
• Maggie has now decided Aria needs to shut up and says if Aria says anything, she'll tell Ezra about how she went to her work posing as Amy. (I'm eating and writing and watching so this is difficult, ha)
• Bahahaha, Caleb is bringing a gun. Ooo, you're so hardcore. But dude, I think Caleb is actually smart. BRING A WEAPON OBVIOUSLY THIS PERSON IS A MURDERER. 
• Oh my god he hid it in her closet? Her mom is totally gonna find it. Jesus, stupid teenagers. 
• Pfft Caleb, we don't know how many A's there are so your argument is invalid. 
• Mona does not look happy with her orders so I'm kind of nervous about that. It probably has something to do with Hanna or something? 
• OH MY GOD ARE SPENCER AND TOBY? OH. Oh. Well! Is it bad if I say about time? Probably. I like this song, ha. 
• Now it shows all the Liars getting ready for this epic showdown with A -- Aria is chilling, Hanna is getting the bag, Caleb is putting the gun back in his bag, Spencer is getting it on. 
• Aria is now all guilty looking watching Maggie and Ezra talk and WELL YOUR OWN FAULT. 
• Spencer is walking about her house in only Toby's shirt. SPENCER, YOU HAVE FAMILY. REMEMBER? 
• And now he's leaving again and he's looking all guilty while hugging her and now i'm suspicious. No Toby, please, you are like my favorite if you become evil or do something bad to Spencer I will be very upset. 
• WHOA, it's the creepy A room again. Mona is telling Other Evil Person that there's been a change of plans. I mean, I knew all along that Mona is just a pawn but ha, proof. 
• On another note, I really want to see House At The End of the Street. One) I love horror movies and Two) Jennifer Lawrence. 
• I'm glad that they're actually planning with Caleb stuff because he's a good person to have on your team. Tech-savvy and all that. 
• Emily was sleeping on the couch and she got a creepy ass phone call saying "you have one minute". WUUUUT. That was like the Scream voice or something. 
• And now Emily is like: oh wow maybe this wasn't a good idea. Huh, no kidding. Honestly. 
• Caleb and the girls are splitting up to try to find the motel Emily is at and now Emily is running away because obviously. And whoa! Nate just caught up to her! HE'S SO CREEPY I WARNED YOU. Character's lives would be so much easier if they could hear me. 
• Oh my god, this dude is crazy. I knew this Maya stuff has nothing to do with A. He's showing her a video about Maya telling Emily about how she's at Noel's cabin and she wants them to be together. And now Nate is all: I shallz destroy you because you took my love and all that. 
• OH MY GOD PAIGE ISN'T EVIL? Okay season finale, you ACTUALLY managed to surprise me. Wasn't expecting that. 
• Paige is probably like: god damn, this is why you can't have nice things. 
• OH CRAP, they're in the wrong cabin! 
• Oh my god Emily, seriously? To escape, YOU WENT UP A LIGHTHOUSE? I cannot even with the lack of freaking logic. Oh, she's looking for phone signal. But really, that shouldn't be a top priority. 
• I have noticed there is always a scene like this. Spencer with Ian and now Nate and Emily. Big fight scene between girl and Evil.
• Oh my god, Emily just killed Nate. SHE STABBED HIM. Oh my god, Emily seriously has the WORST luck. Not only losing her girlfriend traumatizing but then KILLING SOMEONE.
• OH MY GOD CALEB GOT SHOT? Oh my god why didn't you put the gun in your pocket or something? Wait is Caleb dead? Or is he just shot? I'm pretty sure he's just shot!
• Garrett is now free because Emily caught Maya's killer and he just did an evil smile urgh stop it. 
• Mona is saying it was a shame that she didn't get to do her part in the plan and she's walking with Other Evil Person. She tells him she'll see him later and oh my god. 
• NO
• NO
• NO
• NO
• THE OTHER PERSON IS TOBY NO THIS SUCKS I HATE THIS SHOW NOOOOOOOOOO. 
• THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.

WELL, THE SHOW ACTUALLY MANAGED TO SURPRISE ME BUT NOW I HATE THEM.
What did you guys think?

NOT HAPPY WATCHING.

p.s now that this is over, there's a month before my Vampire Diaries recaps can begin....I love talking about TV so I might make this an anime talk because god knows that's the only TV I watch nowadays. But recaps shall come back with BOTH Once Upon A Time and Vampire Diaries! 

“Aren’t universal transmissions supposed to be pure and uncorrupted?”

Title: 52 Reasons To Hate My Father

Author: Jessica Brody

Release Date: July 3rd

Publisher: Macmillan 

Pages: 352

Edition: Hardcover
Cover Judge: I'm not a fan but it's a good indicator of what the book is about

Quote Choice: hehehehe
Source: For Review 

Goodreads: Link

Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.
Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteen birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

I think the best way to describe this book is simple: cliche but cute! It's the type of book that would probably make a cutesy ABC Family movie (not Disney considering she's eighteen and there's partying, drinking, and the like).

So if you don't know what the book is about, Lexie is a rich heriess who is causing way too much trouble for her dad's public relations. The day she crashes her new car seems to be the last straw for him because he withholds her trust fund check and instead gives her a year to do 52 jobs (one a week) and see if she can learn anything from them. He also gives her a personal babysitter, albeit a young and hot one, and you can guess what does down from there!

Lexington is your typical rich girl who discovers what it's like to be a normal person and learn to love again and all that but regardless of the cliche, I really ended up liking her! I think my favorite job she did was probably the one where she had to deliver flowers because that's when you really see her new outlook on life shine. Her relationship with her father was shot and I already really hated him for most of the novel because even if he was doing what she best for me, it infuriated me that he refused to actually talk to her. I think so many things would be different for Lexie if her and her father had some communication going on so I was happy with the end of the novel.

As for the rest of the characters, there not too fleshed out but regardless, fun. Luke was cute and him and Lexie were seriously hilarious together. Something I loved, side note, was Lexie's best friends. In every "this kind" of book/movie, the "rich best friends" are in reality backstabbers and were only with the main character for her money or something but from the minute she got her trust fund frozen, these girls stuck by her through thick and thin. Mendi, her ex-boyfriend who is basically a douche-nugget, sucked and I hated him which was the intention, of course.

And finally, Jessica Brody's style of writing is awesome because it's just fun. It's not weighed down and it doesn't try to hard to be "hip". It's the right amount of teenager and heart to make it a cute contemporary.

Happy Reading!

State of the Union 8/19

Hey guys! So first week of junior year was cool! My school is always really flamboyant when it comes to....everything, so us juniors had J's and Seniors has like a red carpet thing with sunflowers and crowns and insane stuff like that.

WHAT AM I WATCHING?

This is Yuri. Yuri is awesome.

So I finished Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood if it wasn't obvious by my tumbling of all things FMA:B. BUT I'm not going to talk about it because I'm writing a whole post about how amazing it is and how THAT is how you tell a story and wonderful spoilery stuff. But seriously, watch it.

IN OTHER NEWS, I watched an anime called Angel Beats because I had heard some good stuff about it and it was on Netflix (also it was only 13 episodes and it sounded like a nice, light-hearted anime to watch before I started Death Note). Light-hearted? This anime may start out light and cool and awesome BUT I BAWLED LIKE A BABY IN THE LAST EPISODE. Like seriously, I'm super surprised if you don't at least tear up a little bit at that last episode.

It's about teenagers who died before fulfilling their dreams and so they're stuck in this way station high school before they can move on to whatever happens after. So this battlefront of teenagers ain't just going to take this sitting down and form a team to fight against the people trying to force them to move on. Also Yuri (or Yurippe) is my favorite forever and ever so there you go. Leader of a whole battalion of people (including guys who respect her opinion and follow her lead because they know she knows what she's talking about), amazing with weapons, strong-willed and brave while still managing to be vulnerable and emotional at times.

WHAT AM I READING?

I'm almost done with FMA the manga! I'm on chapter 75 and it's every bit as good as I thought it was going to be. Once I'm done with this, I'll feel okay going ahead with Tsubasa Revosoir Chronicles. 

In real book news, I read Outpost by Ann Aguirre! I have...lots of feelings. I mean, I really liked the book and I read it super fast but there are some stuff I want to address in my review soon!

WHAT I POSTED:

Monday: Bout of Books Result
Tuesday: Saving June by Hannah Harrington
Wednesday: Pretty Little Liars Recap
Saturday: Food For Thought: Parents

BOOK HAULING IT UP:

For Review:
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore
Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore
(I'm probably not going to read this for both moral issues and "this doesn't seem interesting to me" issues so I'll see what I do with them! I lent Rise of Nine to a friend because he accosted me and I'm sure he'll never give it back so I might have a giveaway for the first two?)

Happy Reading!

Food For Thought: Parents (10)

Oh my god, I haven't done a Food For Thought in FOREVER!

all I know about Glee is that everyone who watches it hates it except this guy and Darren Criss.

But today I was wondering just what you guys thought about parents in YA.

I mean, I understand why parents are usually absent from paranormal/fantasy books. They put boundaries on a heroine who is supposed to be out training or saving the world or falling into some magic world and if you have parents, you can't exactly be doing all of those things at all hours of the night. But I feel like this sets some unrealistic plans to an already unrealistic world. A good example of parents still being around even though the heroine is out kicking butt all the time is Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton. Her mother is an important character in the book and because she's present, Ellie has the VERY real-life situation of trying not to get in trouble with her mother or make her worry.

And then of course there's the whole fantasy orphan situation where either one or both parents have passed away because how are you going to leave on a spirit quest when there's people around that still care about you? Usually these people are raised by someone who either doesn't care much whether or not they're gone or a brother or sister who will understand what they have to do.

Parents however, are a lot more popular in contemporary and I suppose that's because...you know, contemp is "real-life". And in real life you have to deal with parents setting restrictions and telling you what to do and worrying about your safety.

BUT! How do you guys feel about parents in books? A hindrance? A realistic touch? Awesome? Nonawesome?

Happy Reading!