Legend by Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. – Goodreads

If I’m being totally honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this book. I got it over 6 months ago (almost a year actually…) & have never had the desire to pick it up. I think that the whole ‘dystopian’ thing has been super overdone & I just didn’t feel like getting into another series like that. But I’m so glad I did!

I love Day and I love June. They are such good characters and so similar in so many ways. I’m genuinely curious about the things that their government is doing and I love that there are so many familiar terms (Congress, Los Angeles, etc.). Incorporating those made it so much more realistic to me, like something similar could actually happen. I love how different it was from the typical dystopian novel, and even though I could predict a few things (like Day & June’s relationship), there were still quite a few surprises (like Thomas…) and I loved that. It’s SO refreshing to read something that feels familiar with new twists. I can’t wait to see what happens in the rest of the series.

I gave Legend 4/5 stars on Goodreads and I’ll be picking up the next book in the series soon. I definitely recommend giving this one a shot!

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It’s an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end. – Goodreads

The moment I hit 100% on my Kindle, I decided I hated this book.

Why? Because it was too damn short and left me with a serious book hangover that no other book is curing at the moment.

Despite featuring several things that I completely despise (IE, love triangle, instalove, a heroine who can’t seem to focus on her one job), I absolutely fell in love with this book and could not put it down.

To start, it was written beautifully. It flowed, it created pictures in my head, I could imagine each and every character with ease. The words themselves were beautiful. This is why I love reading. Hell, I love this book.

I fell in love with all of the characters, despite their flaws. I fell in love with Shazi, for being pigheaded, smartmouthed, honest and apparently totally stupid. I fell in love with Khalid for being this mysterious murderous man with a ton of secrets. And Despina. And Jalal. Damn it.

Basically Shazi’s best friend, became one of Khalid’s many murdered wives. To get revenge, Shazi volunteers to be a wife so she can kill him. I’ll admit—I was annoyed that she never even tried to take a stab at him, mostly because she fell in love with his tiger eyes within 10 seconds. She definitely thought about it a lot, though.

So, yeah. There were some parts I didn’t understand.

The book is a series, so not all of my questions were answered in this book. I can’t wait for book two to come out.

Despite its flaws, I rated this debut a 5/5 and added it to my favorites list ~~while sobbing because I finished it way too damn fast~~.

Nowhere But Home by Liza Palmer

After Queenie Wake is dismissed from her restaurant job, she returns to North Star to cook meals for death row inmates.

Hopeful that the bad memories of her late mother and promiscuous sister (now the mother of the captain of the high school football team) have been forgotten by the locals, Queenie discovers that some people can’t be forgotten—heartbreaker Everett Coburn—her old high-school sweetheart.

When secrets from the past emerge, will Queenie be able to stick by her family or will she leave home again? – Goodreads

This book made me so hungry! Liza Palmer does such a good job with descriptions, that (almost) every time Queenie made food for any reason, I would get hungry. The chicken fried steak in this book… I want it in real life. Seriously.

Anyway, I LOVED this story. It was so different than anything I’ve read before, so refreshing and funny. There were a few darker things that they addressed (like Queenie’s mom’s antics) but overall, it was super lighthearted and exactly what i was looking for. The sense of family and history in it were really nice and while it wasn’t absolutely groundbreaking, it was a really enjoyable read for sure.

My favorite parts were with Queenie and her sister. You can feel their connection and how much they really care about each other and just want each other to be happy. I also loved all the small-town gossip in it – those Southern, small town ladies don’t know how to keep things to themselves!

Queenie’s time in the prison (cooking, not being incarcerated haha) was really interesting too – I saw a completely different side than I ever had before and I loved it. It would be so hard to cook last meals!

I gave Nowhere But Home 3/5 stars on Goodreads and I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a quick, light read.

Top Ten Tuesday 9/22

Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR

1. I really, really want to read some spooky stuff this Fall – so Ten by Gretchen McNeil is at the top of my list!

2. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – as well as the rest in the series. The movie comes out on Christmas Day and I can’t believe I still haven’t read it!

3. Switch by Alyssa Cooper – Witches. Fall. Halloweentime. Duh.

4. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater – I’ve never read this series and I hear nothing but amazing things about it. I think it’s time!

5. The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden – New Orleans + vampires + magic = happy Kiesha, so obvs I’m going to read this asap (the bad news is that this doesn’t come out until the end of November…).

*disclaimer – I post ahead of schedule since school takes up so much of my time, so these books probably won’t be reviewed until it’s technically winter 🙂

6. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling | I preordered this. Then I received it. And it’s been sitting on my damn shelf (okay–entertainment center, because I haven’t bought a bookshelf for the new house yet).

7. The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins | I started this one but decided I was in the mood for fantasy. Usually I’m in the mood for wintery, dark books when the weather cools down, so I’m sure I’ll pick it up.

8. The Micronutrient Miracle by Jason and Mira Calton | I also ordered this and have been intending to read it…but it’s collecting dust and cat hair on my entertainment center. As you can imagine, I’m not on point with my micronutrients yet 🙂

9. Finniken of the Rock by Melina Marchetta | Again. I’ve had this on my Kindle for months!

10. The Lost Girl by RL Stine | I received an ARC of this through NetGalley—I’ve been waiting for Halloween to get a little closer, though!

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page

I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado – taking you with it – you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I’ve read the books. I’ve seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can’t be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There’s still a yellow brick road – but even that’s crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.
They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm – and I’m the other girl from Kansas.
I’ve been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I’ve been trained to fight.
And I have a mission. – Goodreads

Another BookBub deal! I bought this a while back and kept passing it up in favor of other books. I finally cracked it open because payday hadn’t hit yet and I wanted to read something fantasy-ish.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t watch the Wizard of Oz until my junior year of college. My high school yearbook teacher heckled me for years when I didn’t get a glittery red shoe joke, so he was very proud when I emailed him out of the blue and let him know I watched a terrible movie about flying monkeys and munchkins for a film class.

This is a Wizard of Oz retelling (if the description didn’t make that clear or you TLDR’d it). Amy is the other girl from Kansas—though transported in a similar fashion, she arrives in Oz and realizes that the Oz she’s landed in is much different than the one she’s learned about in stories. Murder, magic theft, ridiculous laws—Dorothy has turned into a psychopathic power hungry control freak.

I loved the tone of the story—I was constantly cracking up. It definitely had an air of satire and sarcasm, which I really enjoyed.

“Energy crackled between us, and I felt a strange pull to him. Moth to flame. Magnet to magnet. Stupid girl to impossible, slightly mean witch boy. Wizard. Whatever.”

Every time I read the words ‘witch boy’ I cracked up. I’m going to start calling Harry Potter a witch boy.

I digress.

The worldbuilding was great, though I suspect it was partly because I visualized what I already knew about Oz. The yellow brick road, the Emerald City, the creepy ass flying monkeys, Dorothy, Glinda. That’s okay, though.

I also enjoyed most of the characters, though I felt that most of them fell flat. I wasn’t terribly invested in many of them. Even Amy was a little bit dull (which was the point of her character, I get that).

This book was one of those weird reads where I read, read, read and thought, I’m going to stop and DNF soon. And then I hit 97% and was shocked.

In all, I’d rate this a 3/5. If you’re super into Oz, pick it up.

The Blender Girl Smoothies by Tess Masters

A beautiful collection of vegan smoothies from powerhouse blogger The Blender Girl, featuring photographs, flavor boosters, and nutritional add-ons for every recipe.

The Blender Girl takes smoothies to the next level in this comprehensive guide, helping you blast your way to good health and blended bliss. These 100 creative and delicious recipes are designed to fit your every need, whether you want to detox, lose a few pounds, get energized, or guard against seasonal colds. Each smoothie has three optional boosters (like chia seeds, ginger, coconut oil, or wheat grass) that allow you to ramp up flavor, nutrient value, or both. Featuring gorgeous photography throughout, a smoothie pantry that demystifies unusual ingredients, icons to identify smoothies that fit your particular dietary needs, and strategies for achieving smoothie success, this accessible handbook makes it fun and easy to find your perfect blend. – Goodreads

I looooove getting cookbooks from Blogging for Books, and I was so incredibly excited to see The Blender Girl Smoothies as a review option! In order to truly evaluate a book, I feel that you really need to make 3-4 recipes from it—so I chose one smooth from each chapter.

There were a ton of smoothies to choose from in here—some more ballsy than others. For example, I should have probably made the Red Velvet dessert smoothie made with beets, but I was too scared.

I loved the option of add-ins with these recipes—if you wanted to toss in some minced ginger, acai powder or cinnamon to give it a health boost, you could. She recommended things that would work well with each recipe to take the guesswork out of flavors. As a person who often messes up smoothies, this was good.

One downside was the number of ingredients in each smoothie—I could see myself choosing a recipe each week, but it would become very cost-prohibitive to buy fresh produce for different daily smoothies. Overall, I rated 4/5 on Goodreads—some of the smoothies were a little too weird for my taste.

Apple and Mango Madness (Clean & Green chapter)

It was very clean and definitely green. I could see myself making this often. It made two servings, so I poured one for Kiesha. She drank it for about 20 minutes and handed the mostly full glass over. “It tastes like spinach. I’m not finishing this,” she said. “It’s not bad, and I put spinach in everything, so I don’t know why I don’t like it.” So there you have it. If you don’t have the tastebuds of Popeye, don’t pour this one (for the record, I LOVE it). To each’s own!

Vivid Vision (An Exotic Ride chapter)

From the this chapter, I chose the Vivid Vision smoothie, which promises to deliver “omega-3 fatty acids, the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, and vitamins A, C, and E to promote ocular health and stave off age-related vision problems…”. I had to make one substitution—I didn’t have almond milk, so I used some regular ol’ cow milk. This smoothie was weird…so weird. It wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t taste the orange and it kind of tasted carrot milk. “It’s not the worst smoothie you’ve made,” was the feedback from my husband, who was my co-guinea pig.

Pink Cooler (Light and Fruity chapter)

From the Light and Fruity chapter, I selected the super simple two-ingredient Pink Cooler smoothie. It was very refreshing. Feedback from the guinea pig husband? “It’s very good.” I also liked this smoothie, but I wouldn’t make a habit of making it—the sugar content is way too high for me to justify. It would be nice for a hot summer day, though. I usually toss a ton of stuff into my smoothies, so this was a nice reminder to keep it simple once in a while.

Brownie Batter (Dessert chapter)

No surprise here—it was our favorite so far. “It was very good,” my husband said. When I told him that he literally said the same thing for something else, he amended his statement to “and it’s very chocolatey.” With cacao powder, frozen bananas, cashews, pecans, and cacao nibs for garnish, this sweet treat really hit the spot for a post-dinner dessert. It was definitely a healthy, cold take on brownie batter. I can’t wait to try other dessert recipes!

Thank you to Blogging for Books for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Wishing For a Highlander by Jessi Gage

Single-and-pregnant museum worker Melanie voices an idle wish while examining a Scottish artifact, that a Highland warrior would sweep her off her feet and help her forget her cheating ex. The last thing she expects is for her wish to be granted. Magically transported to the middle of a clan skirmish in the sixteenth-century Highlands, she comes face to face with her kilted fantasy man.

Tall, handsome, and heir to his uncle’s lairdship, Darcy Keith should be the most eligible bachelor in Ackergill. Instead, thanks to a prank played on him in his teenage years, he is known for being too large under his kilt to ever make a proper husband. “Big Darcy” runs his deceased father’s windmills and lives alone at his family manor, believing he will never marry.

But a strangely dressed woman he rescues from a clan skirmish makes him long for more. When the woman’s claims of coming to Ackergill by magic reach the laird’s ears, she is accused of witchcraft. Darcy determines to protect her any way he can, even if it means binding her to him forever. – Goodreads

Alright. Whether your love or hate highlander fiction (especially of the romantic variety), that description will either send you running for the hills or running to download a $3.99 Kindle edition. I was clearly in the latter camp.

I never realized that I would be a total fan of highlander fiction until a coworker urged me to read Outlander last year (oh my goodness—I just went to hyperlink this and I realized I read it a year from the date I finished THIS highlander novel. NICE!). Fell in love.

This one popped up on BookBub at a discount so I bought it. It’s been sitting in my Kindle library for a while. I was at a loss at what to read the other night so I said f***k it and started reading. Then I was hooked. It was instantly hilarious and the action started right away.

I’m gonna go ahead and add a ‘read more’ link because it was a ~very~ steamy book not meant for young adults/kids—mature audiences only.

Continue reading “Wishing For a Highlander by Jessi Gage”

Thursday Things 9/17

Damn straight it’s the dawn of the age of the Hufflepuffs! I am a proud ‘Puff for sure & will rock that black & yellow like nobody’s business! (Unless of course it’s football season, then I’m green & yellow all the way).

I’m pretty sure I fall under nearly every one of these 50 Signs You’re Addicted to Reading, and I’m betting some of you do too!

I’m not going to lie, the majority of the time I’m pretty stressed out. I started coloring when I worked at a call center years ago but when I started working where I do now, I stopped. I couldn’t get all of the things done (and focus on them) and still have time to color. A few weeks ago though, I ordered some adult coloring books from Amazon, and low and behold! It totally chills me out to get in the coloring zone. I highly recommend trying it if you’re stressed out!

If you’re in your twenties, you should definitely take a look at this list from Popsugar – I love it! I immediately flipped to what you should read at age 26 and I actually already own Girls in White Dresses – I guess I’ll have to start it soon!

I was talking to a friend the other day about how pumpkin-spice obsessed I am (and so is the rest of America), and stumbled upon this article about it today. And it’s spot on! We definitely wouldn’t love it as much if it were available year-round, and it just screams Fall to me – which is especially inviting after a horrible summer (and by horrible I mean hot and sweaty).

I love this list from BookBub—11 Novels to Read Based On Your Favorite Book Boyfriends. Hah! I definitely love Jamie, Peeta and Four, so I might have to check those out.

Buzzfeed Books totally killed it this week. First, 21 Signs That Prove Booksellers Are The Absolute Best. Second, 17 New YA Books That Will Make Your Heart Happy. And finally, 32 Books That Are Guaranteed To Give You Wanderlust. Will my read list ever outnumber my TBR list? No.

I’m pretty serious about fitness/nutrition/lifting—but my Achilles Heel is definitely pumpkin spice lattes (and peppermint mochas, but we’ll talk about those in December). There’s something about curling up with a hot cup of pumpkin goodness and reading a book in the crisp autumn air that’s very appealing to me. What’s not appealing is the astounding 50 GRAMS of sugar in a Grande (WTF). I found a healthier alternative that is cheaper and made at home.

I can’t think of anything I need more than this Gryffindor Snuggie. Ok. Maybe the boxed set of these new HP books. Or these 11 Back-to-School Supplies We Want to Buy For Our Grown-Ass Selves.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Peyton, Sydney’s charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion’s share of their parents’ attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton’s increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?

Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.

I’m going to be perfectly honest and say I was worried about this book. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Sarah Dessen‘s last novel (The Moon and More) and was afraid that I’d somehow just grown out of them. Saint Anything though? It’s by far my new favorite of all her novels. She veered a bit away from the typical ‘girl is struggling, girl meets boy, boy makes everything better’ plot line a little bit and brought some deeper, darker feelings into the mix and it WORKED.

I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’m really proud of Dessen. I think she was sort of in a rut and she had this story in her head but was afraid it wouldn’t be a big hit because it addresses issues that she’s never addressed before – but she convinced herself to go for it and I honestly think that it was the best thing she could have done.

Instead of just relating to the main character, Sydney, I found myself relating to Layla a lot as well which is unusual for this sort of novel. I think that finally, instead a guy saving the main character in a Dessen novel, a best friend is coming into the picture and helping more than any dude could and I LOVE that. Best friends are around a heck of a lot longer than any guy is, and if anyone saves each other it should be friends.

While this story did have it’s downfalls (there’s still that recycled romance thrown in), most of it was really good. There was a lot about Peyton and what he did and how Sydney felt, and more than anything I was driven to my breaking point by their ridiculous mother. She was deep, deeeeep into denial and it was very frustrating. Sometimes Sydney got on my nerves because she would just go along with whatever everyone else said or did, but ultimately I really loved the story. I hope that Dessen continues to write like this but if you follow her on Twitter, you know she’s not actually writing at the moment. Fingers crossed that something inspires her soon! I gave Saint Anything 5/5 stars on Goodreads, and definitely recommend it!

Top Ten Tuesday 9/15

Top Ten Favorite Book Quotes

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

2. “If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.”
― Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief

3. “Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .””
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

4. “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

5. “Accept who you are. Unless you’re a serial killer.”
― Ellen DeGeneres, Seriously… I’m Kidding

6. “Sometimes skulls are thick. Sometimes hearts are vacant. Sometimes words don’t work.” – James Frey, A Million Little Pieces

7. “Books can be possessive can’t they? You’re walking around in a bookstore and a certain one will jump out at you, like it had moved there on its own, just to get your attention. Sometimes what’s inside will change your life, but sometimes you don’t even have to read it.” – Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen

8. “Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.” – Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections

9. “Beauty was your armor. Fragile stuff, all show. But what’s inside you? That’s steel. It’s brave and unbreakable. And it doesn’t need fixing.” – Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

10. “Love is needing someone. Love is putting up with someone’s bad qualities because they somehow complete you.” – Sarah Dessen, This Lullaby