May Wrap-Up

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo........ my May goals turned into an epic dose of failure. I didn't finish any of the books in my TBR. I started most of them but couldn't muster the motivation to finish any of them. Don't really know how I feel about it.

Despite all this, I didn't go all month long without reading. Now that... that would have been a complete disgrace. Instead of reading/finishing any of the books I thought I would, I found myself obsessing over comic books. Said obsession began when the season 2 of this little show on the CW called Arrow ended. I am absolutely in love with the Justice League heroes, and Green Arrow is probably one of my favorites. Mostly because I am an inspiring archer and wish to be as spectacular as Oliver Queen. So with the show not returning until fall, I wasn't completely satisfied; I wanted more Arrow. More more more! So was I was like, "Lyric, why don't you just buy the comic books?" And my always right-subconscious-self was like, "It's not like you have anything against comic books. Besides, there are pictures. And you LOVE pictures." So myself caved in and I bought the first 10 comics that make up the Quiver volume.

I've been hooked ever since.

Books I read/finished in May

Oliver freaking-sexy-mofo Queen.

Need I say more?

Wasn't as in love with this story as I was hoping I would be. I've already posted a REVIEW on this. So check it out if you wanna know my opinion.

I don't know much else to say, other than this month was kind of disappointing for me. But I will most definitely, in-the-somewhat-forseeable future re-read and finish the books I hoped to read this month. Oh well. Ish happens, ya know?

Hugs and Candy,
Lyric♥

Review: Breaking Beautiful

Publisher: Walker Childrens
Date Release: April 24, 2012
Author: Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Goodreads Rating: (3.94/5)
Heart Score: ♥♥♥ (3.21)
Whistle Scale: (9/20)

Summary: Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident - including her memory of the event. She doesn't remember driving on the cliff road. She doesn't recall jumping from the truck just before Trip lost control. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she's kept hidden for so long, the horrible reality of their abusive relationship. When the police reopen the investigation, it quickly turns on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. As the threats begin and the survivor's guilt takes over, Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free?

Fans of dark contemporary stories will feel right at home in the hands of debut writer Jennifer Shaw Wolf as she takes them on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and ultimately, forgiveness.

Going into this story I think my expectations were a little too high. For the semi-most part, the majority of what I read was good, not bad or great, just... good. However, the subject matter was fresh, in a way that it lit the spark i needed to get over my reading slump. I felt rather bittersweet - mixed feelings stirred with a handful of annoyance. There were things I seriously couldn't stop from rolling my eyes at and wanting to punch the main character; then there were things (namely characters) my heart couldn't stop beating for. 

Mild Spoilers Ahead

(I warned you.)

"It came on slowly, like the ride filling up the entire shore before you even realize it's coming in."

This quote completely explains the hetero feelings I had towards this story. Some feelings were expected; others snuck-up on me - whether for better or worse, was always different. So let's start from the beginning.

As usual, we're introduced to the main characters. And the main character/narrator is Allie. We find out she's been in a horrible car accident, which has not only injures and causes her to lose her memory of the night of the accident, but also kills her boyfriend, Trip. Instantly, the reader is dumped with information - things, I think could have slowly been distributed throughout the book. This was one my turn-offs. 

But first let's start off with the things I really LOVED:

• Andrew - OMG Andrew! *squeals and gushes irrationally* For me, Andrew, Allie's twin brother, was the best part of this book. Andrew has Cerebral Palsy, which has hindered him from many things. But the one thing it hasn't, is protecting and loving his sister in all her crazy shit. Gah! Andrew was just the beakon of everything light and shiney in world, for Allie and myself, as a reader. I just loved him and seriously wished there were more scenes between him and his girlfriend, and him and Allie. And ugh, I just wish the whole book would have been from his perspective, because it would've the story 10x better. So 5 ♥♥♥♥♥ for Andrew.(:
• Chemistry: There were a couple scenes in the story I just had to highlight and reread, because... well everything about those scenes really made me smile. One of them was with a slight showdown between Allie and Hannah. When Hannah accuses Allie of trying to get with the new hot detective in town. (cue eyeroll) but what Allie did to defend herself was beyond badass, and I seriously wished that kind of attitude would have stayed with her throughout the story. Another fave scene of mine was between her and Andrew. Actually, most of the scenes between her and Andrew are my fave. But this one stood out the most for me because it really highlighted the strength of their relationship despite everything that was happening.
• This might sound completely horrible, but it must be in this list - Allie and Trip's abusive relationship - now before you click off and start calling me all kinds of horrible names, the last thing i want you to think is that I am gung ho about abusive anything. The reason this is on the list is because this topic has never really been highlighted in YA. And because of that, I commend Jennifer Wolf for being so brave and touching the subject. It was a really fresh intake of breath to actually read something we don't normally hear or read about on a daily basis. Allie and Trip's relationship was pretty typical but it was so raw  that I had to look past the cliches. In any sense, I felt for Allie in almost every flashback spotlighted in the story. But at the same time, I wish those memories would have helped her want to solve the absence of her memories and officially move on with her life.

Now for my PEEVES:

• Hannah - She was the typical superficial mean girl. However, there were some things that surprised me. Then right when I was starting to somewhat warm up to her character Hannah fell right back into the cliche. So sad. Although, I have to say I never trusted her anyway.
• Scatter plots - This was another thing that dug under my skin about this story; some ideas in the plot didn't really add up, and most of the time, unrealistic, throwing me off and making me want to throw my phone at the wall.
• Filler details/chapters - This as a writer is one of the worst things you can do for your story: add filler details so your story can be a certain length or you have writers block and just need something to fill your blank pages. Now, don't get me wrong, I know there are all kinds of great stories out there that probably have filler chapters/ details, but because the author was sneaky and hid it well, the details were most likely not easy to catch. Breaking Beautiful wasn't part of that list, unfortunately. Because I'm a writer, it was pretty easy to see what chapters/details could've easily been snipped and clipped from the story. But with them, the plot really dragged on whenit didn't have to.
• If there's one thing I hate more than anything else on this list it's a whiney narrator. Towards the middle/end of the story, Allie was that to me. I felt like she was just starting to make up excuse after excuse and giving up so easily. Like dude, grow some balls. Quit running away from your past, solve the mystery behind your boyfriends doom so everyone and yourself can move on with their lives. JEEZUS.

All in all, as my rating shows, I wasn't all that in love with this story. There were things I would seriously change; then there were the things I will keep and story away in my fave book moments. Other than that I hope you all enjoyed my first review. This is just one of many to come. 

So until next time, my loves.(:

Hugs and Candy,

Lyric ♥

BOUT OF BOOKS 10.0

YAAAYYYY CHALLENGES!!

One of the best parts of being a book blogger/obsessor are the handful of challenges you find yourself getting sucked  into.

Now I told myself I wouldn't let myself get dragged into this mess, but I did some thinking and asked myself.... "Really, Lyric, what the hell is stopping you?" And myself said, ".... nothing. Except maybe school...? Butwhoreallycaresaboutschoolwhenyouhaveallthebookstoread?!!" *laughs hysterically/nervous* So I was like "oh all right. Fine fine fine, guess I could do the challenge." And in the end myself won over and here I am.

Oh GAWD.

To be completely honest, I have never been highly successful with any type of book or writing challenge. I'm a procrastinator. Probably the best one to ever grace this planet. Butthat'sbesidethepoint. The point... the point is, I have books in my TBR pile that I needs to get out of zee way, and what better way to do that than with a week long challenge that is more or less gonna ruin my school life. This sounds really bad, but you guys, its the end of the year and I could care less about nuclear physics, circles and ellipses and anything else unrelated to reading or fangirling.

So as for the challenge, it's the Bout of Books 10.0 challenge, which every blogger, Youtuber and recreational reader and their moms is getting into. So here I am joining the bandwagon.

Here goes nothin'.

Time Devoted to Reading:

Me: All week, man!

My Goals: 

Me: 2 and 3/4 books

Books to Read:

Me:

(finish)

(finish)(start)

And that's all for now you guys, I will try my hardest to update you whenever I can. Please be sure to follow me on Twitter and Goodreads.

Like seriously. 

I need friends you guys. I'm so desperate.

(loveme)

Hugs and Candy,

Lyric♥

May TBR

Sup guys(:

Can you believe it, can Y O U believe I T, the school year is almost over. It's already May and next month I'll be out for summer break headed for my senior year of high school.

Oh my heart. I'm just growing up so fast. (THANK GAWD!) Anyway, so as the year comes to a close and everyone begins getting ready for final exams and graduation, I find myself with more and more free time. Which means, (because i have no social life outside of work) I can spend my time reading. And that makes me super happy. So in this post I will be presenting you with my May TBR (to be read) list.

Enjoy.♥

1. Once by Morris Glietzman

     Summary: This story is about a young Jewish boy named Felix, who's hiding from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage in 1942 Poland. But Felix knows nothing about the war and believes he's only in the orphanage because he's waiting for his parents to return from traveling and try to salvage their book selling business. And when he begins to believe his parents are in danger, Felix sets off to find them and warn them, heading straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied Poland.

       I plan on reading this little story in my downtime while I take my state testing next week. The book is like 160 pages and I think it'll keep me entertained while I wait impatiently for the rest of the student body to finish testing.

2/3. Then / Now by Morris Glietzman

Summary: These are the sequels to Once, which follow and Felix as he grows up.

       If I finish Once as fast as I'm thinking I will I'm gonna read the other 2. And I'm pretty sure there's another book out, but I don't own it.

4. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Summary: This story follows a young man named Darrow, who lives in a society with a caste system. Darrow is a Red, which is the lowest level in the system, and like many generations before him, he's worked his whole life believing his people are slaving to help make Mars ready for everyone else to be able to live on the planet. But Darrow and his people soon find out that society has already been living and thriving, and the Reds have been slaving for nothing. Inspired by the desire to finally be free, gain justice and the memory of a lost love, Darrow risks everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, which is a proving ground for the high and mighty Gold Caste.

        You have no idea how happy I was to find this book on sale for my Nook. With my book buying addiction I've seen this book pop up a few times and the ratings on Goodreads are amazing. So I'm really excited to see if it meets to my expectations. But I mean it's being compared to Hunger Games and Ender's Game, so it can't be too horrible.(:

5. Gone by Michael Grant

Summary: All the adults have disappeared. And with a society only consisting of children, things are bound to go completely wrong. Hunger, bullies, a scary creatures lurk. On top of that, the children are mutating with special, dangerous and deadly powers, that are growing stronger every day.

        I was kind of skeptical and, quite honestly, completely uninterested in reading these books. But with the help from the Epic Reads Tea Time girls and the fact that the books can be read on Scribd, I was like why the hell not. So I'm kind of excited, cuz the books have pretty decent ratings on Goodreads and  the whole disappearing-adults is starting to grow on me. So we'll see how it goes.(:

And there you have it folks! My first ever TBR post. I really hope you enjoyed. In the future, I hope to have these put into YouTube videos. 

Yes, I did say YouTube. I've been planning for months to start my own BookTube Channel, and since I have a job, that means  I can have money to buy my own equipment and camera and such. So until then (possible mid/late this summer) I'll be doing blog TBRs and possible book hauls.(: I don't know, we'll see. So yeah, until next time, kiddies. :D

hugs and candy,

Lyric♥

Welcome aboard you wonderful wandering soul to Fangirl Central Station. My name is Lyric I will be your conductor for the remainder of this journey. I'm so elated you decided to stumble aboard and cruise through the fabulous crazy world that is Young Adult Literature. Throughout your journey you will stumble upon bits and pieces of the things I hold close to my heart, as well as that of others. As YA readers, we tend to grown aggressively attached to the people and hearts of those written between the lines. So at Fangirl Central Station you will experience an array of ranting, and squabbling and all around fandomish nonsense we tend to find ourselves caught up in.

So without further ado, I welcome you. And hope you enjoy this crazy ride through Fangirling and Fandom traveling.

Hugs and Candy,

Lyric♥

About the Conductor

Lyric"Leer-RICK"(N)(V)(Adj)(Real birth name): The ultimate procrastinator. A major foodaholic. Someone who loves to stop and smell the candy. A habitual singer; avid writer; perpetual smiler. More often than none, she is socially awkward and, at times, doesn't know which way is left or which way is right. A girl who loves to dream in colors, but doesn't always like to drink from the fountain of reality. Most of the time she finds herself unconsciously sarcastic. A legal midget (4ft 10in). An impatient walker; loud talker when around friends; an easy laugher; a carefree lover.

TBRs

• May
• June
• July
• August

Monthly Wrap-Ups

• May
• June
• July

Book Hauls

• June

Reviews

(Alphabetical by Title)

A
Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
B
Breaking Beautiful - Jennifer Shaw Wolf
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
To All the Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han
U
V
W
X
Y
Z