The Book Courtship Tag

I'm back with a tag, people!
A few days ago I was watching some video's from my favorite booktubers and came across a video of Katytastic called the "book courtship tag" (Click here to see her video). I really liked her video so I thought I'd do the tag too! 

Phase 1 - Initial Attraction: A book you bought because of the cover?
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. Bad book, but nice cover. I bought this book partly because of its (misleading, VERY misleading) summary on the back, but mainly because of its awesome cover. Yes, it is very simple and maybe even plain, but I just love the black background with the golden letters jumping out of it. It has something cool and mysterious - it's like it's calling for me: look at me. I'm a mystery - unravel me.
Do not recommend, though. But just look at the cover - doesn't it call for you, too?






Phase 2 - First Impression: A book you bought because of the summary?
The Incarnations by Susan Barker. If you follow me on Twitter and Instagram, then you already know that I stopped reading this book because I found it a bit too "adult-like". But the summary of this book was vague, which made it mysterious, and interesting that it compelled me into buying it. It was verse-like and reminded me of my favorite book The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick (Click here to read my review on that book), so I felt obligated to buy it.

Phase 3 - Sweet Talk: A book with great writing?
An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Lovely story with great characters and an awesome world. I felt I had a great and detailed picture of where the main characters were - she painted a clear picture of the world. But most importantly - I found that the writing-style was engrossing, mainly because of the great main characters. 

Phase 4 - First Date: A first book of a series that made you want to pick up the rest of the series?
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. Fun fact: this was actually the first YA/fantasy-book I've ever read! Kagawa has created a beautiful world and awesome story in this series. After reading the first book I just felt obligated to read the rest of the series.
Currently waiting on the third book in the sequel-series (that's how you call it, right?) The Call Of The Forgotten, The Iron Warrior!

Phase 5 - Late Night Phone Calls: A book that kept you up all night?
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I've read this book with so much pleasure and amazement that it managed to drag me away from the real world and made me lose track of time. 
I eventually have stayed up many nights just to read this book till my eyes were burning from staring to long at my phone (I have this book on iBooks). Hehe.

Phase 6 - Always On My Mind: A book you could not stop thinking about?
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. This book literally bounced through my head for four days straight. I just couldn't believe how the book had turned out - in a positive way, of course - and I just. I don't know. Well... AARGHH. (Click here to read my review on this book!)

Phase 7 - Getting Physical: A book which you love the way it feels?
Dreamwalker by J.D. Oswald. I haven't read this one yet, but when I felt it in my hands for the first time I had to supress the feeling to hug it. It's has a slightly rough texture, but it's  mainly soft and it just feels so nice :). 

Phase 8 - Meeting The Parents: A book which you could recommend to your family and friends?
The Humans by Matt Haig, because everybody can read it, whether you like reading or not! This book WILL make you laugh, WILL give you a better look at yourself and the humans in general and it WILL touch your heart. It WILL. (Click here to see my review on this book!)


Phase 9 - Thinking About The Future: A book or series you know you will re-read many times in the future?
The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick. The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick. THE GHOSTS OF HEAVEN BY MARCUS SEDGWICK.
I just thought it was an amazing book :).

Phase 10 - Share The Love: Who do you tag?
I tag all of you guys! Any bookblogger, booktuber, bookstagrammer - I TAG YOU!
(Definitely not rephrasing Pokémon's "I CHOOSE YOU!")

That was it for this blogpost!
Until the next blogpost, then! :)

Review The Humans By Matt Haig

Stories about aliens have always bored me.
I don't know why, I don't how, but they just do. I don't like watching the movies, like Star Wars and a book about them will never end up on my shelf. NEVER. 
Well, at least that's what I thought.
Because when my friend came the school with probably her billionth book (I know that that is impossible, but she just reads a lot of books, which I'm very proud of, of course) and told me it was some kind of description of the humans from an alien's perspective, I was immediately interested. I think it was mainly because it made me think of philosophy, about looking at yourself, your kind from another perspective. So I got the ebook-version on iBooks and started to read it. And guys - it was probably the funniest book I've ever read in my whole life.

Summary

So the book is basically about an alien who describes the humans from his perspective. He does this in such a funny way that you have to make sure you're near a toilet, otherwise you're going to pee your pants. Literally.

But the alien is here for a reason, actually, because he's on a mission. He's been assigned to destroy evidence that Dr. Andrew Martins had solved a major mathematical problem. But while he's on the mission he starts to learn more about the professor, the professor's wife and son and "the humans". Eventually he has to choose whether to stay on earth and live as a human or go back to planet where he originally came from.

My opinion

Rate: 9/10

This book really messed with my emotions. It was funny, touching at times and eye-opening, I'd say, since it shows you your kind with its relatable actions through a new pair of eyes. There were some moments in which I thought: wow, we humans really do that. Why do we do that? It is really strange that we do that. Wow. And there were other moments in which I nearly cried - the tears were literally welling up in my eyes - because something sweet or sad happened. Or because I just laughed so much. 
*thinks back about the book* 
*starts to giggle and cry*
*realizes she needs to finish her blogpost*

No, but seriously - this book has made me laugh and gave me a better look on myself and the humans in general and all the stupid, but also the good things, we do.
I love how Haig has done this; instead of using another human who looks at us differently or just telling his own thoughts about us, the humans, he decided to use an alien. A hilarious alien, which made me love aliens. I love how he directed the book from the alien's perspective towards the other aliens and how he made the alien compare our ways of living with his ways of living on his planet and that he comes to realize that how highly developed his planet, his people, may be, the humans and their imperfections make them who they are. The humans are still happy with how they live even though they live such a "primitive" life. Even though they manage to make themselves miserable, they also manage to make themselves happy. Makes me feel slightly better about being a human :D.
Besides that, Haig has done a great job with capturing the growth of this alien in this book. Though I felt like I knew where this was going, I found that the development in his point of view wasn't forced or anything, it came slowly. The doubts and question marks the alien had about our behaviour are just so fun to read and where still there at the end, but he started to respect the humans and their imperfections, which is nice to read. Furthermore Haig has accentuated the strange things we humans do without making it an emotional or serious story by letting ourselves be watched by someone from outerspace who doesn't understand us at all. That's what I genuinely love about this book - Haig shows ourselves and the things we do wrong (and right) in a hilarious way.
Thank you, Matt Haig, for this wonderful book. For the first time in my life I'm happy that I nearly peed my pants and nearly cried in front of everybody in myself. 


Well that was it for this blogpost!
Until the next blogpost, then! :)

Life - a path to discover

Where will the road of life take you?

"Life isn't about finding yourself,

it's about creating yourself."

- George Bernard Shaw

 This quote inspired today's blogpost. This quote has kind of changed my point of view on life, actually. Simply because it made me adjust my goals, my thoughts, just a little.

We all say that we need to find what we love, that we need to find what's really meant for us and what to do with our lives.

To become a singer, a writer, a doctor, an engineer - whatever you can think of.

Basically we're saying that we're looking for an already laid out path possibly made by faith or God - whatever you believe in - to follow and meanwhile hoping that our true selves will come to us naturally. We are already gifted with quite some qualities from our parents so we kind of have an idea of who we are and the rest will just come when the time is right. We believe that once we've found it, we'll know.

Nice thought, but lets get back to reality.

Because in reality this is not how it works, how hard you may believe in it. In reality you start out with a blank canvas. Yes, you may have inherited quite some qualities from your parents, but with those qualities you're never able to say how you will turn out as a person. They don't decide what you love and are capable of - they can't tell what you should be looking for and what you want. Only you can.
But sometimes you do follow these thoughts, because people make these boundaries for you, judging by your origin or gender or your parents - most times your parents themselves do this, other times other people. But if you keep on thinking this way, you won't ever find what you're looking for. You won't be yourself, whoever that may be.

Now don't get me wrong - these people might now what they're talking about. They've probably walked around this world for quite some time and in that time they've made quite some mistakes and they've learned from them. They want to protect you and guide you and that's okay. But you can't let them do the living for you.
You can't let this influence your judgement - you can't always let them decide what's best for you. You can't let them create you.
One day you have to step out of that box and walk the road of life on your own.
One day you have to start to create. On your own.

We're all unique - every set of genes is different in maybe the tiniest or the biggest ways, but some of these genes might come from your father or mother specifically. Your sibling can have some of these genes too. So, yes, you might have something in common.
But since there are also differences - big or small.
Therefore, once again, we're unique.
But having something common isn't always inside the family. Sometimes it's outside it.
Sometimes you may find that someone is so much like you or you're so much like someone else. Is your uniqueness fading away? Would it be better to live in that box again? Do people have the right to make boundaries for you? Are you already living by them?
No. 
As soon as you step out of that box and walk down the road of life on your own, you're going to meet so many different people and you will definitely take some bits and pieces of those people. Whether they make you a better you or a worse you.
You're copying. And that doesn't have to be a bad thing, because most times you gradually start to do something else.
You're starting to create. You're putting colour on that blank canvas of yours. And sometimes other paintings might have been created by the same brushes and colours.
But they're not the same.

So tell me, how are you going to find something or someone that isn't there yet? That is yet to be created?

There's no finding yourself, because there's nothing to find - there's only to discover.

You'll discover so many things that you might hate or love and this makes you you. You'll never be prepared for what will come after the next turn on the road. Maybe you're going to like this part, maybe it's awful, maybe it's so empty that it bores you. 
You create an opinion, you create taste, you create hobbies and yes, this might be the same as your parents or somebody else, but still: you decided it should be yours, too.
You discovered that you felt the same way about it.

Because we're always discovering these new things and because we're always copying people and making those copies our own, we change a lot throughout life. 
The boy or girl you were when you were four is possibly different from who you are now. The man or woman who's yet to come can also be someone completely different from who you are now. Because in those moments we thought we should be that person, that version of ourselves, because it seemed right back then. In those moments we had this taste and this opinion. Like for example: when I was younger I really loved the colour pink and later on I started to hate it and right now I embrace every single colour - all of them have some kind of beauty, though I do have my favorites. And why did my opinion change? Because I decided I agreed with other opinions, I decided that I wasn't going to to be picky and miss out on the beauty of every colour (even though some colours are more beautiful than others).
And how tiny and unnecessary this change may seem, it does prove that you don't stick to one opinion. You don't stick to one you. You always, always, change into a different you.
You're always creating.

What I'm basically trying to say is: life is a path to discover. An already laid out path only exists in the minds of the others, but not in yours. If you're going to look for that path, for yourself, for something, you won't find it, not even by asking the others. 
You're going to search for a path, for something, for someone that isn't there and isn't going to be there, not even at the end of the road. Your canvas will turn blank, even if you pour colours on it.

But by discovering and copying you can shine some light on that dark path and put some colour on your canvas that will stay.
You can create.
And then, only then, you'll figure out what will be at the end of the road. Even though you change as a person you don't become someone else - if you do then you did something wrong in the creating-process. There is always a part of you - big or small - that remains. A part that you once created and fell in love with and relied upon. Your heart, your inner guide - your true self.
So stop looking for something, for yourself and go, create that something, create yourself! 

P.S. So! That was eh... inspiring? Deep? Weird, perhaps?

Sometimes I'm surprised by what I have to say, sometimes even ashamed... I even find it scary to put out some of my thoughts on the internet for everyone to see, but then I remind myself of the fact that it's just a thought. Not everyone will agree, but some might need it. And maybe I need it.
But I'm NO professional, I don't know much about life (I'm still a teenager, hehe...), but I just thought I'd share this thought with you. Maybe you can do something with it - I don't know.
Until the next blogpost, then! :) 

Review Ghosts of Heaven By Marcus Sedgwick

One time I was in a bookstore and I was searching for a book for English class. We were about to have a booktest a couple weeks later so I decided to run to the big and probably the only real bookstore in town. When I was standing between the tables full of books I was hoping to find this one, awesome book which I and would love to read and could review positively and easily. Because the last book I had bought for my bookpresentation for Dutch class didn't turned out to be that great. I was there for like 15 minutes and then - as if the angels of heaven had put it there just for me to see - I found this beautiful book with a spiral staircase called "The Ghosts of Heaven". I read the first few pages of the book, which were written in a verse-like style and immediately thought - this is it. This is the right book. And it definitely was.

Summary

Another book which is quite hard to summarize without spoiling the whole story or without putting the whole book on the internet. You could say that the book's all about spirals, but that wouldn't totally be true. Yes, spirals play their part in this story but it goes further than that. This book travels through time, starting off with the prehistory in which a girl is on the brink of creating the earliest form of writing, followed by witch hunts in the 17th century and a doctor in the 1900s who's trying to save a mad poet with a crazy obsession for spirals in an insane asylum, ending with a voyage on a spaceship which is set off to another world for the first time. And in all of them the spiral is present.

But what does it mean?

My opinion

Rate: 9.5/10

Wow, was my first reaction after I read this book for the first time. Wow, wow, wow.

This book is so mindblowing that it's impossible to dislike it! In the beginning I was afraid that this story would turn out to be very vague and incomplete, but Sedgwick has proven me wrong. His book is a mix of historical fiction, science and philosophy - three things from which I've never thought they'd make a good storybook. Maybe fun for in a schoolbook, but for in a story? Neh.

But then again a point on which Sedgwick has proven me wrong.
I do have to say - it isn't a book for everybody. It's a book for people who like to think deeper while reading, otherwise this book won't make any sense to you and it won't be fun to read. 
But when I read this book I feel like Sedgwick has put me in some timecapsule and I'm literally travelling through time. And he does this simply by his variation in writing styles. In the beginning the verse-like style, then the narrator-like style, then the dairy-like style and then again the narrator-like style. It makes me feel like I have as much knowledge as these characters and that I'm really in that time - every writingstyle fits the story perfectly in my opinion. Though I don't feel like I can really relate to these characters - it doesn't bother me. Because it isn't about these characters, they're more examples. It sounds vague - I know - but I can't say too much about it.
I find that Sedgwick has told me a message in such a unique way that it will stick with me forever. He literally became one of my favorite authors because of this amazing book. I won't tell you what the message exactly is, but it has something to do with human longing. 
Just read the book and you'll figure it out.
I'm really looking forward to reading more of his books!

O, and - by the way - does anyone who has read this book admire Dexter? I mean he's a real lunatic but he has so much knowledge. It seems like he knows so much about the world than the doctor who's trying to save him or anyone else. The fact that he as a lunatic can teach a doctor so much more about life is admirable and it kind of makes me want to meet lunatics like him. In short: I. LOVE. DEXTER.

That's it for this review!
Until the next blogpost! :)

Storytime: Hunter

I made up this story for a school project called 'Vertel Maar' a year ago, when I was a freshman in middle school. In this project we learned how to tell stories without writing them down first or prepare it properly. They basically were like: "Hey, you, tell me a story!" I really struggled in making a good story without writing it down, since I'm more of a writer than a storyteller. But eventually I came up with a story which I'm actually pretty proud of. 

He walked out of the fourth house. 

As he walked he left a trail of blood on the outer walls. He was satisfied.

That night he had killed fourteen people - four families - which was more than usual, but that night he just felt like doing more. He wanted to go to the next town as soon as possible.

But now it was time to get back to the woods. The skies were turning into a lighter shade of blue and Wolf would probably wonder where he would be. He couldn't risk letting Wolf go look for him in this town. God knows what these awful creatures will do to him.

Because humans are the most awful creatures on this world and all they deserve is death.

Humans are awful - they deserve death.
Humans are awful - they deserve death.

Hunter repeated the same words over and over again as he set his way to the woods.

When he arrived at his spot in the thick, dark woods, Wolf greeted him the way he always did.

Two soft barks, a small sprint towards him and a jump, right at him so that he could look into his eyes. Wolf always knew what was on Hunter's mind by looking in his eyes. 

Hunter scratched him behind his ears and Wolf made a satisfied sound.

"Hey, boy," Hunter whispered softly and he smiled. He smiled his most genuine smile in the world. He couldn't remind himself enough how lucky he was to have such a loyal - non-human - friend like Wolf. Humans had only given him pain and darkness. They had only shown him how bloodthirsty and cold they were. His parents had pushed him away, because he was a "failure". The men in the camp had abused him and tried to turn him into a murdermachine and tortured him when he resisted. People he had helped had always let him down when he needed them. But it wasn't all for nothing, he knew that by now.
It was life showing him that he had to make a change - he was the one who should help the earth get rid of these awful creatures, the humans.
He had finally found a purpose.
Hunter and Wolf eventually went to bed. Hunter lay down on his improvised bed of leaves and branches and Wolf curled up next to him. Hunter told Wolf about his night.
How exciting it was, how he nearly got caught, how calm he was when he killed.
He went on and on, until he fell asleep.

...

The next morning he woke up with Wolf nowhere near him. He jumped up and looked around, his heart pounding in his chest like a wild beast.

Where could Wolf be? he thought as the panic inside him slowly rose. He couldn't be gone - he wouldn't leave him like that. He was too loyal for that, too kind.

He took a deep breath.

He pushed his almost-panic-attack away and decided to stay calm as long as Wolf hadn't gone to town. Because that would mean real trouble.

Hunter thought he might be hiding in his favorite cave, between the big, almost black trees in the middle of the woods.

Maybe he's just playing a game, yeah, that must be it.

But when he arrived at the cave, Wolf wasn't there.

He once again suppressed an upcoming panic-attack and forced himself to think clearly.

And after a moment or two he thought of another place where Wolf might be.

There was a possibility that the child soldiers, who were in the woods for three days now, might've taken him to train with. When he was one, he had always trained with animals, by killing them. It was to perfection his murder-skills.

He clenched his fists.

Those children would pay if they'd hurt him.

He arrived at the camp, armed this time with a katana. He hid in the bushes on the edge of the camp and pulled his hood over his head for extra coverage.

The child soldiers just put up a fire and the older men - guards and higher ranked soldiers - were watching them, giving them commands or laughing at them.

He knew there weren't many ways to get into the camp without causing a bloodbath and even though he wouldn't mind to kill more humans, he knew better than that.
Well, that's what he thought.
Because when he climbed up in a tree to get a better view of the whole camp, he saw a group of child soldiers standing in a circle around some white, grayish animal. The animal looked hurt and tried to let out a big, angry howl, but it wasn't much more than a squeak. 
Wolf.
Hunter didn't wait anymore. He didn't think anymore.
There was only one thought bouncing through his head: save Wolf. Save Wolf. Save Wolf.
He jumped out of his tree and ran straight towards the camp. The soldiers immediately noticed him and started yelling commands at each other. He couldn't quite understand the language, but he was pretty sure it meant "attack!" or something like that. 
And he was ready for it.
As soon as one of the guards nearly stabbed his arm, he managed to turn around in one fast movement and slash his throat. Soon after that he managed to parry another stroke, while trying to move forward, to the other side of the camp. 
Parry, slice, move. Parry, slice, move. Parry, slice, move. Move. Move. Move. Move.
He ran as fast as he could to the other side of the camp and ignored the men who were now following him. In a few minutes he reached the circle of children.
He didn't wait. He didn't think.
In the middle of the circle he saw a white greyish ball of fur on the ground. It took him a moment to realize that it was Wolf. 
He fell to his knees and turned Wolf towards him.
Pieces of his fur were ripped of his body and there were many deep cuts in his stomach.
Hunter found one of Wolf's eyes laying next to him and a small cut from where the knife had been ran over it.
O, his eyes. His beautiful, beautiful eyes.
The tears streamed down his face and he roared out of anger.
And with anger boiling in his head, he swung his katana. He didn't wait. He didn't think.
He did what he always did - he killed. He. Just. Killed.
Parry, slice, kill. Parry, slice, kill. Parry, slice, kill.
Like always, his mind turned off when he killed, his heart and mind went cold. He stabbed them in their hearts, he cut off their heads and felt nothing. Utterly nothing.
He had nearly killed half of the camp on his own, when he saw a reflection of himself in his katana. It was just a glimpse of his face, but it was enough to turn his mind back on.
For the first time he melted.
For the first time he saw the truth, crawling its way up from the darkness.
For the first time he saw his face, his real face.
He looked older than last time. And even - though he didn't want to admit it - more human than he thought. Blood stained his face and he saw the bloodthirstiness in his eyes. The melting coldness. 
He had turned cold. The truth struck him like lightning and he dropped his katana.
I just wanted to avenge Wolf's death, he thought. I just wanted to help the world, he thought. This was my mission, he thought. Life told me to do this, he thought.
But what if he had misunderstood life's order? What if he was the problem?
What would Wolf think of him, when he saw him like this? Would he think he was a hero? Or would he think he was
a murdermachine,
a human,
a bloodthirsty, cold and awful human?
A human who only deserved death?
Humans are awful - they deserve death, was what he always had said. 
But now he knew better.
"I am awful," he whispered, while slowly reaching for his katana, "I deserve death."
And as soon as those words had left his mouth, his spirit left his body.

A pretty dark story, right?
I do have to say that I was kind of suprised when I realized that I was able to create a story like this. But at that time I was inspired by the life that child soldiers led and by how people fought - don't ask me why.

I'm just that kind of a person who can be inspired by literally anything, no matter how weird it may be, haha.

Well, until the next blogpost, then! :)

Picture (without the text) from: demo.ilna-andrews.com 
I do not own the picture(s) used in this blogpost.

The Paper Towns Movie!

THE PAPER TOWNS MOVIE IS SO CLOSE! I really loved the book Paper Towns by John Green, so I'm really pumped for the movie. And since the movie is coming out next week I thought I'd share my thoughts on the movie with you guys. 

The Cast

First things first - the cast.

I think the cast is pretty close to what I had imagined the cast to be like. When I first read the book I immediately pictured Cara Delevingne as Margo and someone comparable to Justice Smiths for Radar. I also find that Halston Sage is very very much alike to how I had pictured Lacey and so is Jaz Sinclair for Angela. As for Ben and Quentin - Q - I actually had pictured something different from Austin Abrams or Nat Wolff. I pictured Ben a lot more tanned and bigger than Austin - not trying to be offending. As for Q, I thought he would be a lot tinier and paler - again not trying to be offending. But I actually don't mind the cast the way it is. I mean it would be a miracle to find the perfect people who are exactly like how I had imagined them to be.

The Story

Naturally, when a book becomes a movie, there are some changes in the story to make it fit in one movie of like two hours or so and, of course, to make it better. I mean, as much as I enjoyed this book, I'd rather not watch a movie of four hours long with literally every scene of the book in it. But I'm kind of curious what kind of effect these changes will have. I heard that Angela will be on the road trip with Q, Ben, Radar and Lacey, which actually sounds like a fun change in the story. I don't think she'll really be an addition that will or ruin the story or change this part of it that much. It does make me wonder if Angela gets a bigger role in the story, like will she help Q and his friends with finding Margo? Or will she - just like Lacey - will be involved only then a bit more on the background? 
I'm pretty sure that the emphasis will be put on the search for Margo, because that's what the book mostly is about. But the big, burning question in my mind is how this search will turn out in the movie. I personally think that the search is more about Q finding Margo and by that I don't necessarily mean physically but I mainly mean finding the real Margo. In the search he discovers a lot about Margo he didn't know about before and it feels like he actually never knew her until then. The rest, actually, is more to make the story more fun and exciting. And the other characters don't have this strong need to figure out the real Margo - they either just want to help Q or they just want to find her.
So what I'm basically trying to say is that the emphasis should be put on Q finding Margo, but since that would actually turn out to be boring if we're only going to get to see Q who's desperately trying to find out who Margo is. I'll probably fall asleep just like my dad, although he always falls asleep when we're watching a movie that I like :/. 
So I think that the emphasis will be put on how Q and his friends are trying to figure out the clues that Margo left and what struggles they have with each other (for example, the fight between Ben and Q) and the search and the roadtrip. I'm really excited for the roadtrip - I think I'm going to pee my pants from laughing so hard. And I actually want the rest of the characters to play a big role in the movie, because I need Ben in the movie. I. LOVE. BEN. EVERYBODY SHOULD LOVE BEN! He always makes me laugh and nearly pee my pants, even though peeing your pants isn't so fun... Ben is the character who makes everything less serious and more fun. Without him I'm pretty sure the story would suck. (Maybe not.)

Tiny Details

I really really really hope that they keep a lot of the tiny details in the movie. For example the obsession that Radar's parents have for black santa's should definitely stay in - don't ask me why, just do it - and RHAPAW! THEY MUST CALL BEN'S CAR RHAPAW.

Or the story that Margo wrote about her and Q is so cute and fun, that it must stay. But I don't want Margo to chop off her hair, they can leave that out.

I always like it when the tiny details in the story come back in the movie, so I'll probably be whining about the movie the whole time if that one tiny detail I wanted to (or didn't want to) be in the movie isn't there. Do you guys have any tiny details that definitely should or shouldn't be in the movie?

Overall, I just hope that the movie stays close to the book and is a good visualization of the story. But I'm pretty sure that - even though I don't know all these actors - these actors have done a great job in the movie and will be a good reflection of the characters in the book. We'll figure it out next week! Ahh, I'm SO excited!!!

Until the next blogpost! :)

Both pictures are from: @papertownsmovie on Instagram

Review We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

For today's blog post I'm going to review We Were Liars.

To be very honest, I think I would've never read this book if it wasn't for a good friend of mine who bought me this book for my birthday. I had seen it a few times on Instagram and on Goodreads but I never thought of actually buying it, since it was kind of a summer romance and I thought it would be all about love and how a guy cheated on a girl or maybe didn't and blablablabla...

But it turned out to be something completely different, actually.

Yes, love was definitely a main point in this book, but there was also another bigger main point which was about the mystery that the main character had to solve and the truth that she uncovers, which made it more a book that I like to read.

Summary

I find it hard to summarize this book, without spoiling the whole story. But I'm still going to give it a shot.

The story is about a rich girl called Cadence Sinclair Eastman who spends her summers on her family's island called Beechwood. She's very close with her cousins, Mirren and Johnny, and even closer with her stepcousin Gat. The four of them call themselves the Liars since summer 8, the summer that Gat came to Beechwood for the first time. During summer 15 Cady gets caught in a tragical accident and she loses nearly all her memories of summer 15. Now Cady is on a quest to figure out what exactly happened during summer 15.

My opinion

Rate: 8.5/10

I really enjoyed reading this book! Like I said before - the book turned out to be something different from what I actually had expected. It wasn't really about the romance between Cady and Gat, although it seemed like it was in the beginning. It was definitely one of the main points in the book, because as soon as this relationship started to bloom, things started to change. But it was actually more about the quest Cady was on, the mystery she needed to solve.

The thing about the book is that the story stays with you after you've finished it, because the ending, the truth that comes to light, is so unexpected. It gives you that 'wow-what-did-just-happen-feeling' and it makes me hate the book and love it at the same time. 

The author has done an amazing job at building up the story in such a way that you can't exactly see where every happening will lead to. She does leave some clues about what the story is actually about, but I still felt like I had no idea what was coming. Especially in the beginning, in which Cady introduces her life to you and jumps through time while telling you how she spends her summers and what had happened in those summers - I didn't really know what I had to expect. Was something really bad going to happen (like will somebody die?) or will it just be something bad for her (she gets her heart broken for example)? I kept making up these different theories about the book, like: o, it's going to be about Cady who meets Gat who will show her that she doesn't need to be "perfect", even though she had spent all her life thinking she should pretend to be perfect. Or it's going to be about the relationship between Cady and Gat, the difficulties they face and how he eventually, like she and her family always do, lies to her and how her cousins who she really trusts lie to her too or something like that.

Of course, eventually, you will figure out what the story's about and what most likely will happen next.

I also like how the author has written this book in quite an unique and fun way. I'm mainly referring to the metaphors she used in the book. The metaphors come out of nowhere and they just pop up in the middle of the story. For example the metaphor in which Cady got shot by her father with a handgun whereupon she fell on the ground, with her heart hanging out of her chest. I first was like, 'wait, what? NOOOO', but then I kept reading and then I was like 'ooooooooo. phew. Thank god

'.

What I didn't really like about this book is the amount of characters you get thrown at you in the beginning. You sometimes have to reread some parts to figure out who is who again. Also, (warning: spoiler) I'm actually interested in this Raquel girl and why Gat was cheating on Cady with this girl. But since that became unimportant, I personally thought that this part didn't need to be in the story.

But all stories have their good and bad sides, don't they?

Well, that's it for this blog post!

I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you later! :)

20 Facts About A Weird Nugget

Hi and welcome to my blog!

Wow - this feels so surreal. I never thought I'd ever had the guts to really start a blog, so this is pretty cool and scary at the same time, haha.

I've thought of many ways of starting out my first blog post. Should I introduce myself in a super original way with a billion pictures and the funniest jokes - which I definitely wouldn't steal from the Internet by the way - or should I introduce myself in a story-like way (Once upon a time...)? Should I just get started and forget about an introduction?

Neh.

I definitely want to introduce myself to you guys. And what better way is there to introduce myself than with a tag?

So here are 20 facts about me:

Fact #1: My name is Nadi Shahid. Nadi means river in Bengali and Shahid means witness in Bengali.
Fact #2: I have a passion for writing. I love writing stories, big and small, and I actually already have written a short book, called "Het Geheim Van Mystic Mountain". It is written in Dutch, though. I hope that by the time that I'm in college, I've published like ten books or something and that I will have one row on my bookshelf with copies of my books - that would be so cool.

Fact #3: My nickname is Nugget or (how I like to call myself) Nadi Da Nugget. One of my friends thought it would be a nice nickname, since we both loved - and still love - chicken nuggets.

Fact #4: I am weird.

Fact #5: I'm half Dutch and half Bengali (Bangladesh), or half Asian. 

Fact #6: I can express myself better on paper than in real words. Basically what happens when I try to talk, is that as soon as I start opening my mouth the "text" I made up in my head starts to crumble and eventually falls apart. Well, okay, that might be over exaggerated - but I do struggle with talking properly and as soon as I start to write, I suddenly know everything I need to say and have to say.

Fact #7: I have an addiction for books. It's kind of becoming my second life. Hehe. Whoops.

Fact #8: I really, really, really, really, really love oreo's. They're like heaven to me. Like seriously - I can't live without them.

Fact #9: My favorite store is the bookstore. Obviously.

Fact #10: I really don't care how I look like when it comes to clothing and my face. I don't wear make-up and I wear whatever I can find in my closet, but when it comes to my hair, we're getting real. MY. HAIR. MUST. LOOK. PRETTY.

Fact #11: I hate being called cute. DON'T. CALL. ME. CUTE. 

Fact #12: I'm pretty small, actually. I'm 1.50 m.

Fact #13: English is my all-time favorite language. I like talking English (though I don't do that very often), I like writing in English and I even THINK in English, hehe.

Fact #14: I have a really strange smile. Unless I make a selfie - then I attempt to look like a supermodel. I'm not sure if it's working...

No, I won't show you my strange smile.

Fact #15: My favorite animal is a panda. 

Fact #16: I'm introvert. I'm really introvert.
Fact #17: My favorite bands are The Script and the Imagine Dragons. And I love Ed Sheeran too.
Fact #18: NETFLIX IS THE BEST INVENTION EVER. I REALLY LIKE NETFLIX. My favorite shows on Netflix are: Once Upon A Time, Teenwolf and Arrow :D.
Fact #19: I'm kind of a morning person and I'm kind of not. In the morning my mind either gets pissed off (I start blaming life for everything or blame a tree for being a tree who only has to make sure that it gets its light, its carbon dioxide and water) or my mind takes me to a happy place with unicorns and Stiles (Dylan O'Brien) and lots of oreo's. So I'm either really grumpy in the morning or just normal, like I'm not mad but neither excited or something.
Fact #20: My favorite colors are blue and mint green :).

So.
That was... Interesting, wasn't it?
Well, I hope you enjoyed my very first blog post and if you have some tips or questions, leave them in the comment section below.
Until the next blog post, then. :)