Wednesday, January 27, 2016

The Totally Should've Book Tag



Lacking inspiration and originality, Nadi set out to find another, the umpteenth already, nice book tag. Then she stumbled once again on Katytastic's booktube-channel and she found the Totally Should've Book Tag. Watching the video and loving the questions, she decided to do it too.
So have fun with another tag post!



1. Totally should've gotten a sequel

Ooh, this is a tough one... I mean, most times I just love the book the way it is and the way it ends; it may kill me every now and then, but it doesn't necessarily needs a sequel or anything. But I wouldn't mind to get a sequel to Wonder by R.J. Palacio, a beautiful book by the way that made my heart melt and my eyes water.
I would like to see Auggie grow up and see him experiencing all these things that other people experience, but then with his face deformity. Although I do think that the sequel wouldn't be better than the first or as heartbreaking, I'd still find it interesting to see the rest of Auggie's life and how he changes and how new people in his life see him then.

2. Totally should've had a spin off series

Well, I'm going to be very cliché for this one, but like Katy I'd like a spin off series for the Harry Potter series. Now I haven't read the series YET, but I'm half way through the first and I'm really enjoying it! I'm just sooo curious about how Harry's and Ginny's and Hermione's and Ron's children are going to experience Hogwarts with maybe a new enemy or soemthing like that. Or perhaps how Harry's parents experienced Hogwarts - that we sooo fun to read!
I NEED THIS - J K ROWLING, PLEASE WRITE A SPIN OFF SERIES FOR THE HARRY POTTER SERIES!!! I PROMISE I'LL READ ALL THE BOOKS!
#DesperateFanProblems

4. An author who totally should write more books

MARCUS SEDGWICK, MARCUS SEDGWICK, MARCUS SEDGWICK, MARCUS SEDGWICK!!!
Or I totally should read more of his previously written books, but either way I love this author, even though I haven't read much of his books YET. But well my wallet doesn't have an endless stock of money and the bookstores don't seem to appreciate him as much as I do, because there are almost no books of him to be found. Or it might be because most of his books are from 2009 and the books they sell are ones published recently...
But I still think he should write more books. Definitely.
I love you, Marcus Sedgwick!


5. A character who totally should've ended up with someone else

For this one I'm going to go with Celaena from the Throne of Glass series. Though I've only read the first book and a part of the second book, I still can't stand the fact that Celaena broke up with Dorian. Nope, I just can't. It breaks my heart. I just can't - Nope - I can't even - Nope.
I have nothing more to say.

6. Totally should've had a movie franchise

THE CHAOS WALKING TRILOGY!!!
EVERY SINGLE BOOK SHOULD BECOME A MOVIE!
I'm still busy reading the third and last - *sniff* - sequel of the trilogy, but man I love love love these series and I would love them even more if they'd become a movie. I mean, the movie would be really action packed and I need some visualisations of my OTP Todd and Viola, because then my life will be complete.
I just think these books would be great movies.





7. Totally should've had a TV show

Actually I'm more the kind of girl who likes to have books that become movies than books that become TV shows. I have the feeling that when a book or book series become a TV show, a lot of stuff that doesn't happen in the book will be added in it and I just would find that a shame.
So no book that should've totally had a TV show!

8. Totally should've had one point of view

Well, to be honest, I haven't read many books in which I had many point of views and that those perspectives bothered me. But I do have read books in which I liked to have more point of views. Neither do I have read books that really bothered me with its single perspective.
I think that the perspectives in the books are just great the way they are, because they make things more surprising or interesting - they just fit the story.
So again, no book for this one.

9. Totally should have a cover change

I think I'd like to change the cover of my own book, Het Geheim Van Mystic Mountain, especially the font of the title.
I would like to have a bit darker blues in the back and the monster school bigger and on a mountain with four kids - the protagonists - at the front.
And I'd give the title this gothic-like font - ooh yeah, that would be cool.

10. Totally should've kept the original cover(s)

I think the covers of the Chaos Walking Trilogy, shouldn't have changed their covers. I own the older cover and I really like them because the "Noise" in the book is printed on it and that isn't there on the new ones. Those thoughts that were pressed on the covers of these books, really made me want to buy them even more. I am not exactly sure if these were the original covers, but I still like these covers better than any other cover.

11. Totally should've stopped at book one

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. I really enjoyed the first book, but the second book didn't feel appealing to read anymore. Could be because of the many books I had read in between, but still comparing to the first book - I didn't think it was really good; I stopped halfway through.








Well, that's it for this blog post!
Until the next blog post, then! :)



Thursday, January 21, 2016

Exciting Book Releases in 2016!

You know what's so great about the New Year?
The books you've been waiting for for ages finally come out! GOD, I'VE WAITED SO LONG!!!
But you also discover that for some books (*cough* A Torch Against The Night *cough*) you might have to wait even longer than you want too... But either way - it's full of new books for me, uh, I mean all of us readers, to take...
*rubbing her hands together and laughing an evil laugh*
And today I'm going to share you some new book releases I'm really really really but like really excited about!

First up: Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard.
I've written a blog post about my thoughts on the sequel to Red Queen before, so click here if you want to check that out. But O MY GOD - I'M SO FREAKIN' EXCITED!!!!
Red Queen left me broken into twinty billion pieces and I just... I can't... God, I feel like... Red Queen was such a great book; the magic, the world, the FREAKIN' UNEXPECTED MINDBLOWING HEARTBREAKING DEADLY (YES DEADLY) PLOT TWIST and that endinggggggggg! It was such a fun and awesome reading experience and I'm just going to say it again; the plotline was sooo great! I just really hope that Glass Sword will be just as great or even greater.
And I've heard so many great things on the sequel from people with ARC's of Glass Sword! THEY SAY THERE WILL BE ANOTHER PLOT TWIST! THEY SAY IT'S WORTH THE WAIT!
It just makes the wait more painful... Ugh.
This book comes out February 9th!

And of course, A Torch Against The Night must be included in this list!
The first book, An Ember In The Ashes, was another great book. Although I didn't find the plot particularly mindblowing, the characters in this book were so colorful and well worked out that this book became a really great read. And I might've loved it a lot too, because it was my first hardcover and it had a map included. Hehe.
But here too; the world Tahir created, which was inspired on the Roman Empire, was beautiful and interesting!
The book itself was really well written and I'm just so so so curious about what will happen in the sequel. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN BETWEEN ELIAS AND LAIA? GOD PLEASE TELL ME!!!
Well, I guess I have to wait till the 30th of August, till I can find out. *sigh*

I haven't read any books of this series yet, but I'm going to, I swear I'm really going to, but I'm thrilled for the third book in the Half Bad-series by Sally Green - Half Lost!
My bookish friend made me read fanfiction on Half Bad and told me so many awesome things about it, so I'm going to have to read it, don't I?
I can't tell you much about this series, but what I do know is that the first book is about a boy called Nathan who is half a white witch and half a black witch and he's stuck in cage and he's going to escape out of a cage. And he's in love with a girl called Alice. And there's this really really really sweet and loyal guy called Gabriel who's in love with Nathan and Nathan is aware of that, but he's in love with Alice, but kinda also with Gabriel, I think, and it's just so unfair, but I don't have any idea what's actually going on, so yeah...
I'm going to have to read it either way, though.
This book will be out the 29th of March!

WHO'S READY FOR THE YELLOW BRICK WAR? ME ME ME ME ME!
Or actually I'm not, because I don't want anyone to die, I don't want to lose Amy and Nox or anyone else. *thinks of Gert* *Cries*
The first two books were just complete awesomeness; I just love our sassy, pink-haired Amy and I love Oz, although it's corrupted by the poopiehead of a Dorothy. Such a pain in the ass, that woman. I love her.
Amy has become even more badass in the second book and I'm just so excited for what will happen to her and Oz in the third book. It's been a while since I read the books, though, so I can't recall much, but I just love these fairytale-retellings!
This book will be out the 15th of March!

This book is actually already out, but I'm still going to include it in this list, because why the hell not.
Endure by Sara B Larson - I've been waiting for way too long! TOO LONG!
It has been ages since I've read these books, and I'm going to read them all over again and then read this one after that, because it was such a great reading experience.
Basically it's about a girl who has spent quite some time pretending to be a boy in the personal guard of the prince of the world she lives in. She is one of the best soldiers and goes by the name Alex Hollen. It becomes quite difficult to keep up the pretence, especially when she starts to fall for the prince. Meanwhile a lot of dangers are awaiting them.
The sequel to first book ended on such a cliffhanger - it wasn't necessarily exciting or anything, but it was so so so romantic! I ship Alexa (that's her actual name) and Damian (the prince), so so so much, but there is just a lot of stuff happening right now that might stand in the way of their happiness and I'M TERRIFIED!!!
This book came out the 29th of December, 2015.

And I guess that's it for this blog post!
Most books I want to read came out way before, but I just haven't got my hands on them yet.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this blog post!

Until the next blog post, then! :)

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Review Montpelier Tomorrow by Marylee MacDonald

This book was an interesting reading experience.
Besides having enjoyed the story itself, I've also got to learn more about ALS and not only the physical troubles to person suffering from it but also the family troubles and mainkly the financial troubles it causes.
After seeing the movie The Theory Of Everything in which we see Stephen Hawking also suffering from ALS, but having everything he needed to remain alive and well in a way, I didn't think it would be so hard to deal with. I mean yes, there are definitely tons and tons of emotional struggles, but the tools that are needed are here, so everyone can have them, right?
But this book showed me that that wasn't true and showed me the reality of living with such a person, while taking care of your family.


Summary

Colleen Gallagher would do anything to protect her children from harm. So when the husband of her daughter falls ill with ALS, Colleen jumps in like a superhero and comes to support her in whatever way possible. She takes on the roles of grandma, cook and caregiver in house, only to see that even her powers can't fix the problems here.

My opinion

Rate: 7/10

Like I said from the beginning - this was an interesting reading experience, which tackled all my visions on the reality of taking care of someone suffering from such a disease.
It isn't that simple and I learned that from this book.
Stephen Hawking was lucky to have the money needed for things as the respirator and all the other tools needed to keep him alive, but not everyone has that money. And besides that; it isn't always that great. MacDonald showed us, by giving us an example of another person ( Ms. Calabrese) who suffers from ALS, who is laying in the living room, surrounded by machines and people who keep her alive and a daughter who had to give up almost everything to take care of her mother, that it isn't what you expect it to be. It isn't like the person suffering from ALS can continue his life normally nor the others around him.
It really felt like we were slammed into the reality of dealing with such and in a fear so big with the protagonist, that it made me wonder if this was going to be alright in the end.

What I found very interesting was the choice of protagonist for this book. Instead of choosing someone who is directly affected by ALS or someone who is very close (married, close siblings, close friends) to the person, MacDonald chose someone more distant and less loved by the rest of the characters, because of the broken ties in the family.
Colleen gave us a different view on the situation; because of her strong, caring character and her more distant connection to the rest of the characters it felt like a more realistic experience. And not a depressing and blinded one, where everything is distorted to the need to help someone because you love them. She does love them, of course, but she also sees the things people like Sandy - her daughter and Tony's (the one suffering from ALS) wife.
The whole cast of characters was an interesting mix, with Sandy needing her mother's (Colleen) help, but at the same time not wanting her around, Tony who is being consistently unthankful and is devoured in self-pity, Sandy's brothers who actually want to stay as far from the troubles as they possibly can, Tony's parents who are able to help with all the money they have but do just a little.
Their actions and feelings are so true and honest that it really fitted the story.

Although I found it a very realistic story and I liked the cast of characters, they kind of turned me off too. They created this constant agitated, irritated mood that really bugged me. Everybody was being so mean and unthankful. From the first page on you're welcome with this mood! And I just felt like sorry and sad that everybody was acting this way.
I do find it fitting, since everybody is a little agitated because they have to tun their life upside down for Tony, whose behaviour isn't as thankful as you would expect.
The fact that it worsened and that Colleen took it all, made me so angry and sad and blegh!


But I do have to say - it also had a nice effect on the story.
Because of this constant agitated mood, the small happy moments were really special. You see the longing for happiness a lot in the book, with our protagonist having flashbacks to a lot of awful things, but also a few good things.
So when something good happens, when Colleen she's done something right for her daughter, the feelings she gets, the feelings I get, are so strong! It makes the small things like when Tony compliments Sandy on her new haircut, instead of bickering about how nobody understands him and how he's dying and blablabla.
I think that McDonald shows us through this that in times of pain and despair even the smallest acts of appreciation and kindness can do wonders.
Even though the agitated mood didn't disappear after his, it still was special.

And besides the nice effect - it was also quite understandable.
Because everybody wants to help but has no idea what to do.
Yes, it was all a bit depressing and it did turn me off, but it is honest and real, two words I feel like I've used too much already, haha.
I mean, the broken relationships between mother and children and the newest happening - a relative has ALS; that changes everybody's life and is not easy to deal with. 
What can we do? How do we fix this? How do we help and have a normal life?
These were the main questions in the air and remained in the air - they were reflected perfectly, by using the constant bickering and fighting and in the conversations between the characters. Also the feeling of being burdened with such a thing was something that was being reflected in the story. It made it a very fascinating and realistic - another word I've used too many times already - story. It made consistently wonder what they will do next. Will this character drop out? Who will stay and help, other than Colleen? Will Tony's parents help (because they barely do)?

In the end, the book left quite an impression on me.
MacDonald took our o-so-familiar- family drama and gave us a deep insight in it. And she gave us a quite important lesson with that: how hectic and dramatic your life might've been, life still goes on and it's up to you if you move on or not.
And I think we saw Colleen make this decision, after experiencing another close death, other than her husband's who died a long time ago, by instead of allowing herself to fall, she stood tall and moved onward.
I think the showed me the reality of life someway, that it is very painful and hellish sometimes, especially in a situation like this, but that when you keep up and allow yourself to stand tall, you will find light at the end of the road.

So overall I did enjoy this book. I learned quite some stuff about ALS and both the financial and personal troubles that can come with it. And even though the agitated mood was quite enjoying, I still liked the characters and the story itself. It was a very different and unique reading experience!

I also want to thank Marylee MacDonald for letting me read and review her book and @Booktips_tweet on Twitter for connecting us! 

That's it for this blog post!
Until the next blog post! :)