Take Me to the Cat by Bryant A. Loney book review

Hey Everyone,

it's been a long time since I have done a book review here on my blog, but I am definitely planning on catching up with that in the near future because throughout the summer I've read so many good books and I am so excited to share my opinion about them with you.

Today I am going to review Take me to the Cat by. This book I was sent by the publisher, Verona Booksellers in exchange for an honest review. I got so excited, when they reached out to me, because I've been planning on exploring new genres and this book being a YA psychological thriller, is perfect for that. I am always a bit hesitant about thrillers in general because I am a person with very vivid fantasy and these kinds of books definitely make my anxiety level rise in general. So, without me rambling, let's jump into the review, but first here is the synopsis. Keep in mind that this review is entirely spoiler free.

The synopsis:

One innocent reunion. One dark and deadly secret. And the truth that threatens them all.

Nostalgic high school senior Michael Jackson wants nothing more than to reunite with his friends from elementary school—and possibly change his name. Transferring before middle school after his parents’ nasty divorce, Michael always felt he was at his happiest back in his Oklahoma hometown. Inviting his lifelong crush Catherine, among other former classmates, to a spring break reunion party seems like the perfect plan for Michael to get closure on the formative years of his life.

Yet nothing is as he remembers when Michael finds himself entangled in his own confusion between reality and nightmare. Suddenly, secrets from his childhood resurface, and the fanatic ringleader from Michael’s past will do whatever it takes to silence his friends. Now it’s up to Michael to save them all before it’s too late. But does he have the courage and strength to go up against his own worst enemy?

In this quirky psychological thriller from the mind of Bryant A. Loney, Michael will go through hell and high water as he faces his inner demons, unaware that the revelation he seeks demands the ultimate sacrifice.

My thoughts:

I kind of have mixed feelings about this book, hence the fact I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads.  Let's start with the main character Michael. First of all, finally a book with a male lead, I would love to see more male leads in books, especially in YA. But sadly I was more annoyed with Michael than I liked him. He is a character who lives in the past and wants his old friends back, while he seems to have good enough friends where he is.

A huge plus for this book was a number of diverse characters in it. In this book, there are not only LGBTQ characters, but there is an Otherkin character, which was interesting because I have never heard about them before. So, that was a surprise. If you don't know who Otherkins are definitely read about them. Although it's very good to see diversity in books, I feel like, in this book, the writer tried to put as many diverse characters he could and because of this, they didn't feel whole for me. I don't feel like I got to know either of them enough to truly care about them. 

About the story itself I don't really want to go to much into detail, because of the spoilers, but the thing I will say about this book that the beginning was very slow. Half the time while reading the first 100 pages I was wondering if I missed something or not. But after the first 100 or so pages the story took off and I loved the writing. I will definitely read other books by Bryant A. Loney because although the story in this book wasn't really appealing to me, the writing was very good and kind of saved this book for me.

Altogether I think if you love psychological thrillers you can pick this one up, but stick with the book until after the first 110 pages.

Although I had problems with this book, I definitely enjoyed reading it and I will for sure pick up another book by this author, because I loved his writing. And I would like to say thank you again for Verona Booksellers for sending me an eARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Until next time,

Bianka

Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Ally Carter Book Review

How is Everyone doing? I had the most amazing weekend and now I am back with another book review. I cannot believe this series is already over... When I started reading it, I was still in high school and now I am a freshman at university. Yes, time goes by so fast. If you don't know what the Embassy Row series is about, then click here and you can read my spoiler-free review, which I did last year. I tried to keep this post as spoiler-free as I could, but I cannot say is 100% spoiler-free, so if you haven't read the first two books then I don't recommend reading further.

The synapses:

The princess is dead. Long live the princess.
Centuries ago, the royal family of Adria was killed…or so everyone thought.

Now Grace Blakely knows the truth: There was one survivor, and that survivor’s blood runs through her veins. This simple fact could cause a revolution—which is why some people will stop at nothing to keep it from coming to light.

There is only one way for Grace to save herself, save her family, and save the boy she loves. She must outmaneuver her foes, cut through the web of lies that has surrounded her for years, and go back to the source of all her troubles, despite the risk.

If she wins, she will inherit a throne.

And if she loses, she will inherit the fate of all the dead princesses who came before her.

My Thoughts:

Usually by the time I read a series I can decide, which book was my favourite, but this time I can't. Though I am leaning towards the this one as my favourite. It was very enjoyable and even funny at some point. 
Grace was so sassy and sarcastic in this book, I was laughing so many time, partly because I am a very sarcastic person too. She was very similar to Cammie in the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter, just a little bit more darker, if that makes any sense. 

Grace has the most amazing group of friends on the planet and at the beginning I was afraid that I won't get to see them work together as much as I would've loved to, but I was wrong. They were there supporting the "cause" all the way and they always showed up when Grace needed them. And now let's talk about Alexei. Is anyone out there, who loves this guy as much as I do?! He is such a perfect fit with Grace, although I find the way their relationship developed a little weirdly, because we could already see them getting close in the 2nd book, but in this one they just out of nowhere "define" their relationship, seal it with  kiss to be exact in the middle of a fight (which definitely gave me Pirates of the Caribbean vibes, because remember Elisabeth and Will's wedding in the middle of the fight?! Yes, I was a massive fan when I was a kid...). The main villain of the whole story was pretty predictable, but it wasn't instantly obvious who it is. 

 Since I am an International Relations student, the thing I would've loved to see more, would've been a little bit more of Embassy Row and politics, because I feel like in this book that was kind of in the background and I definitely missed it a lot.

The action scenes were good and also the tension was built up properly. I had that "I cannot trust anyone" feeling all the way, which I think made it  more enjoyable.

All in all, I think you should definitely read this, if you haven't yet or check out the whole series, because it is a fun- and very enjoyable read.

Until next time, 
Bianka

Talking As Fast As I Can by Laure Graham Book Review

Hello Everyone,
Today I am going to talk about one of the my most anticipated book for 2016, although it's already 2017. And yes, it's by Lauren Graham. You may or may not have heard about her and her most widely known and loved TV-show, Gilmore Girls. Let me tell you I am a huge Gilmore Girls fan and also a big Lauren Graham fan as well. I am almost entirely sure I have seen most of her interviews on youtube and watched her movies and tv-shows. So, yes I was excited for this book.

The synapses:

In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood reveals stories about life, love, and working as a woman in Hollywood—along with behind-the-scenes dispatches from the set of the new Gilmore Girls, where she plays the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore once again.

(click here for the Goodreads page)

My thoughts:

Going into it, I never anticipated it to be so real. I listened to the audiobook, which I never really do honestly, but hearing Lauren Graham reading it, just made it so real and "authentic". I normally don't like autobiographies, because often they are filled with facts and boring stories. This book was telling her life through a fun point of view,  the sort of I could really feel related to. What I gained from this book was, everyone has their own ups and downs, you just have to find a way to learn something from it. My favourite part out of the book was by far, was the part about the GG revival, because I truly felt like she was talking about "going home" or reuniting with er "family" and this just makes the whole GG thing more lovely and cute.

Also I really enjoyed how she was "telling" the story. It was mostly funny and sarcastic, exactly how you should reflect on your life in my opinion, because why be sad about it if you cannot change it anymore?!

So, yes, I recommend you reading this book if you love Gilmore Girls or if you don't and you just want an easy, entertaining read, but mostly I recommend listening to the audiobook, because it's just better that way. I never thought autobiographies can be fun like this and I actually think I will read more after reading this.

I hope you're all having a wonderful Sunday and I hope you enjoyed reading my review, if you have any suggestion for me to read or if you just want me to write about something, just leave a comment.
Until next time,
Bianka

Heartless by Marissa Meyer book review

Hello Everyone,
I hope you're all having an amazing weekend, in todays post I am going to review Heartless by Marissa Meyer and I am so excited to share my opinion about it, because this book is one that I have so many mixed feelings about. When I first heard that this book is going to be released, I wanted it in my hands right away. It had everything in it and yet it I had a few problems with it. So keep on reading, if you want my further opinion on this book.

The synapses:

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

My Thoughts:

I wanted to love Heartless so much, but I had a few problems with it and it just wasn't the book for me. I mean there were so many things that could make this book out of this world, for example it takes place in Wonderland and it's a villain origin story and did I mention it takes place in Wonderland?! I love Alice in Wonderland and I was so happy when I saw this book. The writing was beautiful, Marissa Meyer managed to recreate the world and for me the way she described it made it more like our world, but a bit crazier. I want to live in this Wonderland. But I don't know why, Marissa Meyers writing is just not for me. Something is just not compactible with my mind, I don't know why. I tried to read her books in Hungarian as well as in English and although I loved the stories and characters, her books just aren't for me. Other than that, I liked this book and I would totally recommend for everyone, who loves a good retelling or a villain origin story.

The characters were crazy enough and even Catherine didn't annoy me, although at the beginning of the book I was a bit worried she will. She was brave and kind and pretty normal, but also very passionate, I can understand why everyone thought she would make a great queen. Also I think she could have been a very good business owner (if they would have let her). To be honest, I liked her a lot at the end and I love the way she became evil, because a lot of times people get "sour" after they lose a loved one instantly and in this case she gave her heart for revenge. I think it made the whole character of the Queen of Hearts a bit ironic, at least for me, because I think its funny that the Queen of Hearts doesn't actually have a heart. I can totally understand why she did what she did, because in a lot of times people can't or don't want to live with their grief. She choose the easier way and whether she did it to get revenge or not, in that position her heart was something she could live without.

Jest was the perfect Joker and I never really knew, whether his intentions were clear or not honestly, but he was just the right character to make Cath question everything about her life.

The king was....the king. He is the weakest person I have ever seen in books, I don't even understand how the kingdom is still his and in one piece. He is a typical king, who never really wanted power, he just inherited it and I fully understand why Cath didn't want to marry him.

Seeing the Mad Hatter before he got mad was kind of a surreal experience, because in my opinion he never was normal. That's kind of how I imagined him.

All in all, I would recommend reading this book to everyone who loves the world of Alice in Wonderland or if you simply want to read a villain origin story.

This was my overall opinion about this book,I hope you enjoyed reading it and if you want to, let me know your thoughts in the comments below and I will be back with another blog post next week.

Bye,

Bianka

Your voice is all I hear book review

Hey Everyone, yes, I am finally doing a book review, I feel like I haven't done one in a long time, but today I am going to. I am sorry for my absence from social media in the past couple of weeks, but I could really do a proper schedule, because everything is all over the place right now, so be patient and I will be back on schedule in a couple of weeks.

The book I am going to talk about is Your voice is all I hear by Leah Scheier and this has been on my TBR for the longest time, but I never really picked it up, I don't know why. When I saw, it's going to be published in Hungary, I knew I had to get it. Especially after I saw the cover. It's so beautiful.

The summary:

April won't let Jonah go without a fight. He's her boyfriend-her best friend. She'll do anything to keep him safe. But as Jonah slips into a dark depression, trying to escape the traumatic past that haunts him, April is torn. To protect Jonah, she risks losing everything: family, friends, an opportunity to attend a prestigious music school. How much must she sacrifice? And will her voice be loud enough to drown out the dissenters-and the ones in his head?

My thoughts:

This book is one of those YA books which features mental-illness, but it talks about it with a twist. We see what is happening to Jonah from Aprils point of view. We don't see what is happening in Jonah's head, we see how it affects his surrounding. We see how it makes April feel, how it affects her life and thoughts. And this was where it became interesting. The most appealing thing about how April reacted was how she always tried to explain it and find excuses. I think it's just how it is with mental illness, the people around you just cannot believe anything can be wrong with you. I have read plenty of books with the main character suffering in mental illness, but I have never see the "other side" of the story. It was really eye opening and it really shows that every story has two sides and honestly I think seeing the other side of the coin is bad. In my opinion YA would need a lot more of these kinds of books. April in this book tried to keep things together and honestly her love-story with Jonah was so cute, I don't think I would want to believe there is something wrong if I have a relationship like that. And as title says, Jonah for some reasons listenes to April. He hears her voice among the other voices. I think April managed to be strong during this whole craziness and tried to be there for Jonah, but it just wasn't enough. I don't feel like I can talk about Jonah, because honestly I don't know what was going on in his head and honestly I would really read this book about his point of view. And I don't think this book was necessarily about him or his illness. It was about April and her family and about Jonah's family. And there were problems to talk about on both sides.

All around, I definitely think you should read this book if you want to see the other-side of a common problem. I enjoyed reading it, it wasn't that rough and emotional, which was good. I hope you enjoyed reading my review and leave your thoughts in the comments if you feel like it and I will see you next time. 

I'll meet you there by Heather Demetrios book review

Hello Everyone, 

how are you today? I wanted to write this review since the minute I finished reading this book, but I didn't had the time back in August, so I finally decided to do it. Throughout last week I tried to collect all my thoughts about the story and the characters, so here we are. I'll meet you there by Heather Demetrios is not just a contemporary romance book as I heard it before. Going into it I thought it will be a fluffy, typical, YA romance book, but soon it turned out it, is so much more than that.

What the book is about:

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom―that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she's ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. 

What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise―a quirky motel off California's dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

My thoughts on the book:

Yes, there is  romance in this book, a cute one actually, but for me it was the least significant part of the story. It deals with so many, more important topics. Let's start with Josh, since he was by far one of my favorite characters in this book. His personality is the most interesting. I don't see young "boys" coming back from war in YA often. Or I haven't read a book, which featured a character like this. I think Josh is one of the toughest characters I read in YA. He translated to me as a fighter, as a person who has a goal in life, who found a cause he would die for. Not a lot of people find that goal in their lives. And not a lot of people would continue fighting for it after loosing a leg. Especially not as a 19 year old young person. And I especially found his chapters interesting. I wish there was more from his point of view, but at the same time I liked it was just peek into his mind from time to time.

Skylar is a young person, who wants to get out of her little town. And I have to say I understood her really much. I think at age, almost every person feels like exploring a world. At some point everyone wants to be independent. And that's why Skylar is so relatable to me. 

And my other favorite character was Dylan. While every friend of hers wants to get out, she is perfectly happy where she is. She doesn't have much, but she loves it. It couldn't be easy to watch all of your friends complain about the place you'll probably live for the rest of your life. But she is strong and knows what she wants. I liked that there was friend like this in Skylar's life.

And the Paradise motel... I loved, that it was differently themed in every room. I would totally go there, if it would be an existing place. Also, somehow it seemed like the center of everything to me and I was always toying with the idea of hanging out in a motel or in a hotel all the time (hello, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody), I think I got that from my Dad. We both would move into a hotel or even to airport, because there are so many people from different places and it's so good to talk with all these different people.

Altogether I really enjoyed this book, although I didn't necessary think the romance was needed in order to tell the story of these two characters. It was a cute addition to the story and it just made it enjoyable.

So this was my short review, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have read this book feel free to share your opinion in the comments and I'll see you next week.

Bye,

Bianka

P. S.: From now on I am going to upload my new blogposts on Wednesday, so if you want to keep updated follow me on twitter and on my Instagram or just subscribe to the blog.

The Siren book review

This week I am here with another book- review and hopefully it will will be more expressive than my previous one. This is a spoiler-free review, so you don't have to worry about being spoiled. As you could already see from the title, the book I am going to talk about today is going to be The Siren by Kiera Cass.

What the book is about:

Love is a risk worth taking. 

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again. Love is a risk worth taking. 

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude…until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of. And though she can’t talk to him, they soon forge a connection neither of them can deny…and Kahlen doesn’t want to.

Falling in love with a human breaks all the Ocean’s rules, and if the Ocean discovers Kahlen’s feelings, she’ll be forced to leave Akinli for good. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

My thoughts:

Since I want to keep this review honest, I had really high hopes for this book, because after The Crown I wasn't really happy and I hoped, this book will make me love Kiera Cass-books again. Don't get me wrong I still love the first three books in the Selection- series, but the last two books weren't my favorites. And I was so disappointed, because this book just didn't live up to my expectations. I still enjoyed it, but it won't make it to my favorites-shelf. The story was really slow in my opinion and at the same time everything happened out of nowhere. The relationship between Kahlen and Akinli was just there after they'd only met like, three times, Kahlen was head-over heels for him and Akinli seemed to feel the same. I just don't like instal-love in books, because some romantic books are already a little unrealistic in my opinion and this makes it more unrealistic. But at the same time I loved them when they were together, they were really cute. I just couldn't see where it's coming from.

Kahlen was a likable character at the beginning, but she became more and more miserable with every single page. I get it, it's not easy to live as a siren serving the Ocean, killing people, but the other sirens could figure out how to cope with it. She had the longest time to get used to it and she couldn't. Miaka and Elisabeth were far more interesting characters and their background-story was also more interesting to me. Or at least what we get to know about their background. But my favorite character was definitely Aisling. She had the most unique story and I think her life as a siren would've been more worthy of telling than Kahlen's, but that's just my opinion.

Last, but not least, let's talk about the Ocean. In this book the Ocean uses sirens to kill people, because she needs them in order to stay alive. I already don't like the ocean and knowing that it can hear my thoughts, when I am in it or it can eat me any time makes it harder to even give it a chance. Although, I gotta say it's an interesting idea to think of the ocean as something alive, but it still scares me.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, it was a good summer read and although I was disappointed, I didn't regret picking it up. In my review I pointed out a lot of things, I have to point it out as well, that this was the first book Kiera Cass has written. And for a first book, it is really good and I know how good the Selection-series was, so I cannot wait to see her next book, hopefully soon. Have you read this book? If you did, what is your opinion about it? Make sure to tell me in the comment section.

Until next time,
Bianka

My Lady Jane book review

In today's review I am going to talk about a book, which was super hyped-up around the book-community. Because of that I am a little bit nervous about writing this review. I have heard nothing but great things about this book and going into it I was super excited, but I think my expectations were too high. It was a great, enjoyable read, don't get me wrong, but I would have loved it even more if there wasn't any hype around it. I am almost afraid to start these kind of books, because most of the time I don't like them as much as I want too. Tell me in the comments if I am not alone, because I start to think that I am just picky.

So lets jump right into today's book review and the book is My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton.

The synopsis:

The comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey. In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.

Like that could go wrong.

I would definitely want to keep this as spoiler free as possible, so I am not going to go into details about the plot. This book seemed to me kind of a historical fiction novel, with a fantasy twist. Usually fantasy books don't really catch my attention, so why did I buy this exactly?! The humor. All of the reviews I read said, this book has a good amount humor in it.  And they were right. Whenever the plot slowed down a little bit (honestly it happened a lot) and you just wanted to put this book down, a joke or a little sarcasm was there and you wanted to continue on, because it just "hit" you out of nowhere and you were curious if there is more. I don't say often that a book is funny, but this one is, without forcing it. And lucky for me, I even liked the fantasy part of the story. People changing into animals is even cool in my opinion.

The main character, Jane is a book lover and because of that I couldn't hate her when she was annoying. I think it was really funny, that whatever situation they got into, she has read a book about it. G was like any teenage boy and yes, sometimes he was annoying too, but I could understand him and that is always a plus point in a book. I think every teenager feels like running away at some point. Edward is the same, but he has to be a king and he doesn't really care about it at the beginning, but at the end I think he becomes stronger and more like a king. Mary and Lord Dudley were the perfect evil characters with obvious intentions, their characters were enjoyable. Gracie was kind of a side kick to Edward along the way and their romance was definitely the cutest thing in this book. Another good thing was the relationship between Jane and G. It wasn't insta love and it wasn't over-thought and all romantic, it just slowly developed between them and it wasn't too much in the way of everything and everyone else in the book. It was settle and simple.

And the best thing was how almost every character in the book has gone trough character-developement throughout the story. This is why this book got the 4th star on goodreads. Love when characters change throughout a book, because it just gives a lot of different aspects of a character and it is what makes them real and relatable, because let's face it: we all change through life.

I think if you haven't read this book and want to read an enjoyable, funny and cool story this summer, definitely pick this book up, you won't regret it. And if you have read it, tell me your opinion in the comments, because as always I am always curious. I hope you have an amazing summer so far,

Bianka

June Wrap Up

Hey Everyone, since June is already over it's time for another wrap-up. I didn't do a May wrap-up, because I only read one book in that month, so I figured it would not make sense to do one. But in June I managed to read three books altogether, which is not too much, but it's enough to write a wrap-up. So, a lot of things happened in June, I have a full post about it, if interested go check it out here . Because of those things it wasn't my best reading month.
The first book I read in June was Salt to the sea by Ruta Sepetys and this book was just amazing. It made me cry, it made me laugh and most importantly made me afraid of ships even more than I already was. I have a full review on this one, so go read it if you are interested, just click here.
The next book I read was Be with me by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I have read Wait for me a couple of months ago and I liked it, so when I saw that the 2nd book in the series is coming out translated to Hungarian, I picked it up. I didn't like this as much as I liked the first one, but it was OK. It was a perfect for reading after my exams, because it'S a really easy and fast read. The story follows Tess and Jase and how they fall for each other, it's pretty basic, but the writing kind of makes it enjoyable. I liked the guy in the first book better, his name was Cam and at the same time I liked Tess in this book more than Avery from the first book. But since Cam and Tess are related to each other, I got where the similarity comes from. So if you're looking for a good romance for the summer, I definitely recommend this one.
And the last book I read in June was The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I am going to do a review about this book for next week, but I just want to say,it  was very impossible to put this book down. This story gave me the same feeling as the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter (click here for review) . The only thing I was missing from this book was a little bit of romance, so I hope there will be some in the next book.
This was my very sad and short wrap-up, but I hope I get to read next moth a lot more. I hope you enjoyed reading and if you have read any of these books, please tell me in the comments what you thought about them.
And one more thing is that yesterday I reached a 100 followers on Instagram and I am super happy about it. I am very thankful if you are following me and react to my pictures in some way and I am very excited about this first little milestone since I started my Instagram and my blog.
Until next time,
B

Winter girls by Laurie Halse Anderson book review (World Eating Disorder Action Day post)

I just re-read Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, because it just makes me think about so many things every time I read it. And June 2nd was World Eating Disorders Action Day, so I thought why not post this review. This  is a story about two girls, who are having eating disorders. One of them has anorexia and the other has bulimia. This book might be triggering at some points, but it really shows, what it's like to live with an eating disorder. At the same time it is about friendship, family, love and overcoming mental-illness as well as eating disorder. It is about the time, when you are not dead yet, but not alive either.

The story is told from Lia's point of view, she is the girl with anorexia and her best friend Cassie, the girl with bulimia just died in a motel room and Lia wasn't answering the phone, when Cassie called her. So Lia has to deal with the fact that her best friend died, but it is still not a wake-up call for her. It is perfectly clear that she is hungry, but she doesn't want to eat. Eating is something she can control and as she says in the book "empty is good, empty is pure". Everyone around her thinks that she is finally getting better, but in reality she is just really good in pretending. She is seeing Cassie's "ghost" and she wants her to join. Throughout the book we get to read about Lia's and Cassie's friendship and honestly it was a toxic friendship. Cassie started to throw up and then Lia kind of "followed" her into it, except she just started not eating. They promised each other they will be the skinniest girls in school, they kind of started to compete with each other.
I read this book a million times and I read it from two perspectives: the first couple of times I read it, when I couldn't imagine not eating for a day or two and I couldn't imagine, how could I not eat, when I am hungry. Recently I read it and now I fully understand this book and Lia's character. Some of those thing Lia feels, I feel too.  That is what makes this so realistic.
At the end I think this book is mainly about Lia, finally getting a wake-up call and finally being able to stand up. And it really shows that even though she wants to get help, she wasn't ready or wasn't strong enough to get better until this time. And that is what matters at the end.
This story is so captivating, because it shows a world which not a lot of people know, although it would be important to talk about these types of problems. Some people don't go and get help, because they feel ashamed and at the end that may lead to tragedies. If you're fighting with any kind of eating disorder stay strong and know that you're not alone and take one step at a time.
I hope you liked this post and if you have read this book, tell me in the comment if you have liked it or not and please write some book recommendations for my summer TBR, because I have no idea, what to read.
Until next time,
 Bianka

Gallagher Girls series review

Okay, I didn't plan doing this review, but I recently saw that this series is turning 10 years old this year, so I thought why not do it and if you become interested after reading my review you will be able to pick up the new 10th anniversary editions in June. Because although I have read all the books in this series, I for sure going to be buying the new editions, because there are brand new epilogues in the books.

So you probably assume that already, how much I love this series. I started this series when I was fourteen, I wasn't even speaking English at that time, so I read the first two books, because those were the only ones translated to Hungarian. and then at 16 when I was in England I saw the third book in the bookstore and I thought, why not? And it didn't let me down.

This series is taking place in a boarding school, except this is a school for spies. This is an all-girl school and everybody here is preparing to be the next super-spy. And the outside world doesn't know anything about it, they only assume it's just another girl-school for the "elite". It is like your childhood dream coming true, right?  Or at least I was always watching Totally Spies and I would play with my friends spy games, I know it's weird....
Anyway, our main character is Cammie, the "Chameleon", she is the daughter of the headmistress of the school, so she is from a family of spies. Her father disappeared years ago on a mission and they never found him. We get to read the story from her point of view. She has two best friends: Liz and Bex, Liz is the genius and Bex is also from a family of super-spies. And their team is going to be completed by someone, who arrives at the beginning of the first book: Macie McHenrie, daughter of a senator and she doesn't know anything about the Gallagher Academy being a school of spies and she is not very happy to be there at first. And there is the hot new Special Operations teacher Joe Solomon, who also happened to work with Cam's father, before he disappeared. And spoiler, there is also a spy boy involved... We get to follow these character trough many adventures and if you pick these books up you won't regret it. In the first two books the story is just slowly building up, but from the third one the actual big adventure will start. The first two books are fun, but in the ones after there is also a little bit of fun and besides that there is action, danger, romance and international conspiracy theories. And I didn't even realized how much I enjoyed this series from the 3rd book, I only realized how fast I read the books and how often I had to go online and buy the next book in the series. So yes, I love this series a lot. It has everything that spy novels should have, but it has that extra amount of girlyness and humor to it. Plus this book is full of kick-ass strong girls, who most of the time don't need a man to save them.

If you have read the series, comment down below your favorite scene or character, or if you haven't picked it up yet, what are you waiting for?!
Until next time,
Bianka

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein book review

Hey Everyone,
 I am here with another book review, which is going to be very emotional, I assume. I just finished reading Code Name Verity and I absolutely loved it. It moved me and it made me think about so many things. This book takes place in World War II., mainly in France, which is occupied by Germany by that time. I don't know why, but these days historical fiction taking place in WWII or between the two wars is my favorite type of book to read. Growing up I was never a big fan of history, but in the past two years I grew fond of it. I always had the greatest history teachers of all time in my opinion, but it was never my favorite subject. And then we started studying about World Wars and the time after them and between them and it is just very interesting what human kind is capable of doing with each  other. I think it didn't caught my attention before, because it wasn't so close to our lives and our "world". Even my parents and my grandparents can talk about some of the World War II and the fact that they had experienced this is horrifying. And there comes the question: is our world getting better or we are making the same mistakes again?!

The story of this book is told from two point of views, in the first part of the book a British spy girl tells her story, who is held as a prisoner of the nazis and in the second part her best best friend who dropped her off tells her story in the same time. In the center of this story there are two best friends, who share an amazing friendship, which survives everything, even war. The girl, who is held as a prisoner is told to write down everything she remembers, so she does from the beginning, except she tells her best friend's story, which will kind of include hers as well. She is kind of cooperating with the nazis, tells them codes, because she thinks she cannot get out of there anyways. All along she makes us believe she is cooperating with enemy. So after she finishes her story, until the point she got to France, we get to read the story from Maddie's point of view and it gives an entirely different look at everyone in Queen's/Julie's story. In Maddie's story we get to see some of the see the people who are around Julie in the prison and some of them are not really evil or aggressive at all. It shows that in wars no one really has a choice, they are all doing what they can do, because they want to survive somehow. And here is a controversial question in wars: What would we do in a situation like that? Would we save ourselves and do things opposite from our values or would we take the tourchure and the suffering, which comes with "doing the right thing"? It makes it hard to decide at the end of the book, who is good and who is bad.

Maddies and Julies friendship is such an extraordinary one and they are both very powerful persons and leading characters. It is very rare that a book has two strong leading female characters. They come from different backgrounds, but somehow they are equaling each other and they are both ready to do what has to be done. Maddie's decision towards the end showes that sometimes hard choices has to be made in wars and there is no way getting around it and you don't get to be selfish. And they way Julie knew Maddie is around just showed us how strong relationship they have.
Julie as a character was one of the most interesting to me, because I could never figure out, who she really was. Telling her story from Maddie's point of view never really gave us a full picture about her and even her days in the "prison", it turned out she never wrote down all the things that has happened. 

As I said in the beginning it is a book, which will make you think, about a bunch of questions and feel a thousands of feelings. It is great if you are into historical fiction or even f you are just looking for an interesting book. But I am warning you: you will not be able to put it down.
This book also showed a very realistic picture of the life in war and the details about the pilots lives and codes were definitely my favorite parts of the book.

If you have read this book, please share you're thoughts in the comments and I will "see" you soon! Also I am thinking about doing a Get to know me post so if you have any questions please ask them in the comments or on Instagram or Twitter.

Bye

Bianka

The Crown book review

Hey Everyone, I am here with an other review and this one is about my most anticipated book in 2016. This series started when I started high school and it ended this year just when I graduated high school. This series is so near and dear to my heart, because it is not only a great and entertaining series, but good memories are in connection with it.
This series is the Selection series by Kiera Cass. And today I am going to review the last book in the series, The Crown. I am not going to lie: The last two books (The Heir and The Crown) weren't as good as the firs three, but I was very happy to see everyone from the first trilogy again, I didn't even mind Eadlyn being a very annoying character. Because in my opinion she was and although this gave the possibility of her developing as a character in a good direction, she didn't seem to be such a strong character as America is/was. In my opinion, before we go to the spoiler section, if you liked the previous books, go read this it's very short and a fast read, but don't expect too much.

Okay, so this book caught me in a very bad mood, just because I have this decision hanging over my head, a big, life changing decision and somehow I expected this book to get me in some sort of way, because Eadlyn has to do her life-changing decision as well in this book. And it was only making me angry. The end, the actual choice was really rushed in my opinion, and although we got the emotional roller-coaster towards the end like in the One, I didn't feel like it was real and reasonable enough. I know that some people knew from the beginning, who Eadlyn is going to marry, but for me it was very insta-love between them. They have talked a couple of times, they had a little chemistry and suddenly Eadlyn thinks they are soulmates. It' either true love, and they are meant to be or it is another insta-love case. I would have even liked the pair of them if there had been more time to see them actually together. In the announcement scene, where Eadlyn finally did the announcement, Eikko seemed very passive for me and I don't know why I feel that way, because his character could have been one of the most lovable ones in this book, but I feel like I didn't get to see enough of him to form a whole opinion about him. The scene where Eadlyn says goodbye to Kile my heart was definitely broken. And it wasn't because I was shipping Eadlyn and Kile together, but they had a more developed relationship and for me it was more believable. I definitely think this book could have been longer. The good part was to see Eadlyn finally make some development a change of heart, but a little bit more determination concerning her choice, would have been better. America and Maxon weren't present in this book as much as I would have liked it, but less is more and they are still adorable.
I think this wasn't the best closure to the series, but I am grateful for Kiera Cass for making me go back into this world once again for the last time.
Let me know your thoughts about the book and I'll see you soon.
Bye, Bianka

My Favorite retellings

Hello Everyone,
In this post I would like to share my favorite YA retellings, because I feel like they are becoming more and more popular every day. I think they are giving a new aspect to every story, sometimes even for villains or they just place the situation into a more modern surrounding. So here are my 5 favorite retellings:
#5. Beastly by Alex Flinn: This was one of the first retellings I have ever read, so it holds a special place in my heart. This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but it takes place in a modern world. Basically there is this very popular boy, who is very selfish and he gets cursed, so he turns into an ugly not a beast, but an animal like creature. He has to find someone, who loves him, so he kidnapps Lindy (the nice girl) to live with him, but don't worry her father was a drug addict and he kind of gives her away to him. And you guessed it, they find love. Cute, romantic, plus it's a retelling.
#4. Saving Juliette by Suzanne Selfors: This is not a really a retelling, but it takes place in Verona, where Romeo and Juliette's story does. It's about Mimi, who plays Juliette in her family's theatre and hates the actor who plays Romeo, because he is a selfish rockstar. But one day they end up in Verona and we get to see the iconic love-story through Mimi's eyes. And they even try to influence the story and save the tragical lovers. This book gave me a hole new side to the story.
#3. Dorothy must die by Danielle Paige: A story taking place in Oz, which is now ruled with the evil Dorothy, who is most likely a mean girl and there is this girl, Amy, who is chosen by the Wicked to kill Dorothy. And the evil ones are the good guys in this story. Now that is what I call an interesting story.
#2. The Wrath and The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh: This is a retelling of a Thousand and one nights, but it opens a whole new aspect to the story. A young Caliph, who is known for killing his wife after marring them and a girl who would do anything to revenge her best friend's death. But as usual things don't go as planned an Shahrzad (the main character) and Khalid (the Caliph) start to develop feeling for each other.
#1.: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson: I am going to be honest the first four books were in no particular order, but this one is by far my favorite, so I saved the best for last. This is a moving story taking place in Neverland before Wendy arrived. In this book Neverland can be reached from the normal world by ship, but people never really go there anyway. Lost boys don't fly, it is just a legend. And the reason why they don't grow up is, because at some point everyone on the the island stops growing.This story is told by Tinker Bell, and it tells the story of Tiger Lily and Peter Pan. Tiger Lily is part of the tribe, but she never really feels she fits in. Her father is a shaman of the tribe. When she meets Peter in the woods they start to have this weird friendship and of course they fall in love. But since they are both weird and stubborn their love is very interesting. And then Wendy arrives and everything changes. If you haven't read this one, I totally recommend it.
These are my favorite retellings let me know in the comments, what are your favorite retellings or if you have read any of the books above, let me know your opinion about them.
Bye
Bianka

The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski review

Hi Everyone, 
I know it's been a long time since I have posted a review, but now I finally have the time to write one about the Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski.  This is the 3rd book in the series and I couldn't wait for it to come out. But at the same time I didn't know if the author is capable of giving the right ending to the series. I don't even know why I doubted. If you haven't read the first two books in the Winner'

s trilogy or the 3rd, don't continue reading if you don't want to be spoiled.
So overall I think it was a great book and it was a good closure for this series. Although there were some weird situations. First, is it just me or the fact that Kestrel forgot everything by the time Arin came to save her, felt like a telenovela?! It was a risky move from the author, but it fit perfectly into the plot. I liked that it was taking place in the war and as a character both Arin and Kestrel grew so much. At first I was a bit nervous about Kestrels amnesia, but at the end I get why it was necessary. Kestrel needed this dramatic change of heart, in order to participate in the story of this book. And Arin is still one of my favorite character in this series, because he grew so much and changed so much, while staying true to himself. The thing, which bothered me was the God of Death inside of his head. I don't know what was the purpose of it, but it was really bothering me. It could've been represented as a simple inside voice or something.
My favorite character in this book was definitely Roshar. He always knew what to say, whether something serious or funny. It would have been interesting to see some of the chapters from his point of view. And the friendship between him and Arin was one of the best bromances in YA in my opinion.
When Kestrel and the General met at the end it was very emotional, at least for me and in my opinion it was one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the book. Reading that scene, I didn't know what to expect, because it was such a weird situation in my opinion and there wasn't really a good solution to the problem.
The war part of the story was very realistic and well written and I felt like I am actually on the battlefield. Speaking of that, I don't think this war will ever be over and at some point in the book it was revealed. I liked this negative aspect to the ending and deep down it made the goodbye from the series a little less sad, because I know these characters will always be up to something.
The writing was also very amazing, although trough the middle it was a little bit slower, but it was slow at the right points of the story. I'm going to be honest, dual point of view was never my favorite in books, but Marie Rutkoski made me love it. It switched between Arin and Kestrel right when something important was about to happens I had to keep reading. 
Needless to say my love for this series only grew after this book and I am very glad that after the second book I didn't put it down. If you have read this series, what was your opinion about it? Leave a comment down below.
Until next time,
B

Me before you by Jojo Moyes review

Hi, 
I just finished this amazing book and apparently it's hard to stop crying or stop being so angry. I'm sooooo angry at this book, I cannot even put it into words. And it's not the bad kind of angry, it's the sad kind of angry. You probably guessed it by now, I read Me before you by Jojo Moyes. Everyone has been talking about it in the book community and I saw the trailer for the movie, so I  wanted to read it and see it for myself, why is this book so hyped up. This book made me feel so many emotions and if I'm honest, it wasn't quite what I expected. I expected it to be more about the love, but instead it was more about the decisions, more about the friendship and the fact that sometimes we can't save, who we want to save or we can not make them stay, even when we love them. I think Clark and Will have the cutest friendship in book history. For me their love wasn't that important in this book. Of course it was there, we could see it and there was even a big moment, but it didn't make much difference. Because the most important thing in my opinion were the things they taught each other and the memories and feelings they gave each other. I was hoping, Will will change his mind, but towards the end I kne

w he wouldn't. It was heartbreaking. And parts of me can understand him, but the other part of me is screaming at him for doing that. Louisa is the absolute hero, because I think it would be very hard to stay positive in a situation like this. But she managed it and I think this was the biggest lesson of her life. The scene at the clinic was the most heart-wrenching, because we all knew what's going to happen, but they were just lying there together and telling each other how good the six months together were.
I think this book is about possibilities and to use our opportunities, because they are there just once. Yes, this book was painful, but it also made me think about a lot of things in my life and I like it, when a book makes me question some parts of my life. On some ways every book, every story has a lesson or two about life, even if it's obvious or is something you already know. This book thought me life is short and your possibilities are there to take them and use them to get the best out of yourself. And also it taught me that it doesn't matter how crazy you're brother/sister or parents are, you can count on them when you need them.
Thanks for reading my review, if you read the book, please share your opinion about it in the comments.
Bye Bianka

March Wrap Up

Hey Everyone,
today I'm here with my March wrap-up. I managed to read four books this month, beside learning for my final exams. The next month will be extremely stressful for me, so I was glad that I read four books this month. So here are the books I managed to finish in March:
Conspiracy of blood and smoke by Anne Blankman: I was so excited to read this book and I wasn'T disappointed at all. It's the sequel to Prisoners of night and fog. I have a review about this if you are interested click the link: http://booksdreamsandlifestyle.blogspot.hu/2016/03/conspiracy-of-blood-and-smoke-by-anne.html
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick: This was a fast read contemporary novel. It was about first love and it was so cute. Click the link for the review: http://booksdreamsandlifestyle.blogspot.hu/2016/03/hey-everyone-sorry-for-uploading-this.html
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard: A fantastic sequel, with amazing plot-twists and I can not wait for the next book to come out. And let's be honest, you can not really resist that cover. Spoiler review: http://booksdreamsandlifestyle.blogspot.hu/2016/03/glass-sword-book-review-spoilers.html
Me before you by Jojo Moyes: Everyone has been talking about this one, so I thought: Why not read it?! And it made me think and cry and laugh at the same time. And that cover is also very pretty.  Click the link for review:
http://booksdreamsandlifestyle.blogspot.hu/2016/04/hi-i-just-finished-this-amazing-book.html
So these are the books, which ones I read through March. Basically beside reading I haven't done much this month, okay, probably I freak out daily, because of my exam coming, but other than that I think I had a pretty good reading month. If you have read any of these books, I would really like to know your opinion about them, so please write it in the comments.
Until next time,
B

"The story of a girl, who learned to live from a boy, who wants to die"

For my very first book review I choose a book, which is really close to my heart. It's a really intense but also a really light and funny YA contemporary book. This amazing book is called All the bright places and it was written by Jennifer Niven. I never thought I'm going to enjoy this book so much.

This story is about two broken teenagers, who try to find their way back to life. Theodore Finch is suicidal, and he is always thinking about ways to commit it. He is a misfit at school, everyone thinks he is crazy. He is also very impulsive and he is (in my opinion) trying find his way in life. Violet is the other main character, whose sister died recently and she is kind of trying to get it together. Before her sister died in a car accident she was a popular girl in school, she had a really cute boyfriend, and she had a webzine with her sister. Since the accident she couldn't write and she is struggling with finding her voice again. These two desperate and lost teenagers meet on the edge of the bell tower of the school. I don't really think either of them wanted to jump but they were standing there and When Violet almost fell, Finch helped her and from that point Finch had a reason to live. It's like he found a purpose. He wants to know why Violet wanted to jump and make sure she is okay, he even makes her to do the geography project with him and they start adventures together.While doing these amazing adventures, they realize how good they are together. And no, they don't fall in love immediately.

This book affected me in so many ways. For example, I couldn't just relate one of the main characters, I could relate to them together. Finches darkness and desperation, dealing with being depressed and trying to fit in. In Violet, I found the part of me which loves writing and reading and the need for love. In her grief, I saw mine, only I didn't lose my sister(I don't have one), I just lost a part of myself, which I can never get back.
I would say it's definitely a must-read, if you're really into YA contemporary.
I hope you enjoyed reading my first review, talk to you later, 
Bianka