Life of a Random

272 pages // published August 26, 2014 // YA, contemporary, romance //  cover rating:  ⭐⭐ ⭐ (fits the story well, good composition, nice colors & font) this is my own copy that I got before I read either >.> Every part of this book looks awesome at first glance--heart wrenching story, check, cool new Youtube aspect, check, a pinch of el Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), check, a super pretty cover, check. It has everything. But it didn't live up to my expectations. It's not that it was horrible.... I liked the Youtube angle , with tips from the main character before every chapter. There aren’t enough books that include Youtube, a HUGE part of the modern world by the way, in their story lines. It was nice reading about the life and routine of a youtuber. It was also a reminder to appreciate family always. Sometimes people get so caught up in living that they forget that death is a thing. A really scary, fast thin...

' I have been wanting to read this forever, EVEN HAD IT ON MY KINDLE, and just now read it. I feel so bad because this book was pretty friggin good.  WHAT IS THIS: When Ileni lost her magic, she lost everything: her place in society, her purpose in life, and the man she had expected to spend her life with. So when the Elders sent her to be magic tutor to a secret sect of assassins, she went willingly, even though the last two tutors had died under mysterious circumstances. But beneath the assassins’ caves, Ileni will discover a new place and a new purpose… and a new and dangerous love. She will struggle to keep her lost magic a secret while teaching it to her deadly students, and to find out what happened to the two tutors who preceded her. But what she discovers will change not only her future, but the future of her people, the assassins… and possibly the entire world.   (pros)   I gotta tell you, the expectations for a book about assassins ...

The Bad Beginning   by Lemony Snicket Pages: 162 Published: September 30, 1999 Genre(s): Middle Grade, Fantasy Cover Rating:   ★ ★ ★ ★  (I like it. I always like weirdly artistic covers and this does it for me.) Dear Reader,  I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast. It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales With all due respect, Lemony Snicket ~~~ First of all, you should read my whole review before judging me all you Lemony-Snicket-lovers. I promise I don't hate on books. And because... Well. I liked it. Btw these actors were the perfec...

All Fall Down by Ally Carter Pages: 320 Published: January 20, 2015 Genre(s): YA, Spy Thriller, Mystery Cover Rating:  ★ ★   (Eh. Not too crazy about this one. Love the type treatment though.) Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things:  1. She is not crazy.  2. Her mother was murdered.  3. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay. As certain as she is about these facts, nobody else believes her -- so there's no one she can completely trust.  Her past has come back to hunt her . . . and if she doesn't stop it, Grace isn't the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall down. ~~~ It was really interesting seeing espionage from a different standpoint than the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series. Those people are pros. They know exactly what they're doing, why they're doing it, and when they're doing it. (I re...

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender  by Leslye Walton Pages: 301 Published: March 27, 2014 Genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Magical Realism Cover Rating:   ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰  (Yes. YES. This is one of my favorite book covers of all time. I love the way the title is incorporated in the feather. I love everything.) Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.  In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.  **note: The book image links to its Goodreads page. ~~~ I've ...

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, & Maureen Johnson Pages: 528 Published: November 11, 2014 Genre(s): Fantasy, YA, Magic Cover Rating:   ✰ ✰ ✰  (not bad, I like the picture and the title placement but it's not amazing imo) This collection of eleven short stories illuminates the life of the enigmatic Magnus Bane, whose alluring personality, flamboyant style, and sharp wit populate the pages of the #1 New York Times bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices . I'm so glad I read this book. I kind of already had a soft spot for Magnus Bane...his flair, his sass, and his continual help even though at times he seemed reluctant or cold (and of course he had the right to be).  But now I think I understand better how hard it could be to continue on through the centuries, continually finding and losing people. And how it would most definitely be easier to not care. Magnus is so strong.  He cont...

Red Queen  by Victoria Aveyard Publication Date: February 10, 2015 Publisher: Orion Format: Hardcover Source: library Pages: 383 Series: Red Queen series ~~ The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers. To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change. Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control. But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win? ~~ I wasn't sure what to expect when I started Red Queen (I didn't want to. Cue ninja skills of avoiding all reviews.). I'd seen it around the blogosphere a lot though. To be honest, at first I was a little disappointed. The pacing was a little slow... there were a lot of things that r...

Dorothy Must Die   by Danielle Paige Publication Date: April 1, 2014 Publisher: HarperCollins Format: hardcover Source: my sister Pages: 452 ~~ I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero. But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know? Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road - but even that's crumbling. What happened? Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe. My name is Amy Gumm - and I'm the other girl from Kansas. I've been recruited by the Re...

So I'm finally back into reading which feels absolutely amazing. And it's very awesome that the first book I've read since I got back home for the summer counted for one of my 50-book-challenge. *happy dance* I hope that after you read this post, you'll go want to read all the books of this series cause it's amazing. :) Den of Thieves by Julia Golding Publication Date: April 27, 2009 Publisher: Roaring Brook Press Format: hardcover Source: Me *swag motions* Pages: 417 (But it's like a cute short book, so it's not as monstrous as it sounds.) TRAITORS, CAPTIVES, AND A PEOPLE'S REVOLUTION The third volume of the CAT ROYAL ADVENTURE series takes readers to Paris on a covert mission. The Theater Royal is closed for renovations, so Mr. Sheridan commissions Cat to act as his spy in revolutionary Paris. Disguised as a ballerina, Cat joins the revolution, only to find that it is up to her to save her friends when they are captured as t...

Rules of the Road  by Joan Bauer Publication date: July 7, 2005 Publisher: Corgi Childrens (this makes me think of corgi pups. aww.) Format: paperback Source: me! Pages: 224 Meet Jenna Boller, star employee at Gladstone Shoe Store in Chicago. Standing a gawky 5'11" at 16 years old, Jenna is the kind of girl most likely to stand out in the crowd for all the wrong reasons. But that doesn't stop Madeline Gladstone, the president of Gladstone's Shoes 176 outlets in 37 states, from hiring Jenna to drive her cross country in a last ditch effort to stop Elden Gladstone from taking over his mother's company and turning a quality business into a shop-and-schlock empire. Now Jenna Boller shoe salesperson is about to become a shoe-store spy as she joins her crusty old employer for an eye-opening adventure that will teach them both the rules of the road and the rules of life. #### So...PROPS TO ME. Rules of the Road  is officially the first book I've starte...