Monday, March 30, 2015

March Wrap Up and April TBR


My March Wrap Up:

     I read 7 books this month...it's been a busy month with it being the time of year where my term paper is being written up...It's due Wednesday ( April 1st :( )...It's on Louisa May Alcott..the writer of Little Women & Little Men.
Here's what I read this month!



The Gemstone by Sarena and Sasha Nanua
My Rating: 3 & 1/2 stars
Click [here] for my review!
Where to buy: Amazon // B&N // iUniverse


The King's Jewel by Sarena and Sasha Nanua
My Rating: 4 stars
Click [here] for my review!
Where to buy: iUniverse







Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
My Rating: 4 & 1/2 stars
Click [here] for my review!
Where to buy: Amazon







 Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
My Rating: 5 stars
Click [here] for my review!
Where to buy: Amazon 







Invaded by Melissa Landers
My Rating: 5 stars
Click [here] for my review!
Where to buy: Amazon 


Geek Girl by Holly Smale
My Rating: 5 stars
REVIEW COMING SOON
Goodreads link: [click here]
Where to buy: Amazon 






One Man Guy by Micheal Barakiva
My Rating: 4 & 1/2 stars
MY REVIEW COMING SOON
Goodreads link: [click here]

Where to buy: Amazon 






Currently Reading (3/30&31/2015)



Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

So far I really love this book! So far it would have 5 stars. :D

I wonder if Sloane will come back...I'm off to read :P







March TBR (To Be Read) List


  • The 100 by Kass Morgan
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
  • The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
  • This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
  • Landline by Rainbow Rowell
  • Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
  • Day 21 by Kass Morgan (???)
     I plan on reading a lot of contemporary books during my Spring break...then I'm going on a book borrowing (library) ban because I need to read the books I own and haven't read. Haha....oops...

Until later guys!
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~











Friday, March 27, 2015

Invaded by Melissa Landers


Invaded by Melissa Landers


Page Count: 356 
Published on: February 3rd 2015 
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Library book
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Contemporary, Dystopian, Young Adult, Fantasy
Goodreads link: [click here]

My Rating: 5 stars


Where to buy: B&N // Amazon // BD


Goodreads synopsis: 

The romantic sequel to Alienated takes long-distance relationships to a new level as Cara and Aelyx long for each other from opposite ends of the universe...until a threat to both their worlds reunites them. 

Cara always knew life on planet L’eihr would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L’eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a new school, surrounded by hostile alien clones. Even the weird dorm pet hates her.

Things look up when Cara is appointed as human representative to a panel preparing for a human colony on L’eihr. A society melding their two cultures is a place where Cara and Aelyx could one day make a life together. But with L’eihr leaders balking at granting even the most basic freedoms, Cara begins to wonder if she could ever be happy on this planet, even with Aelyx by her side.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx, finds himself thrown into a full-scale PR campaign to improve human-L’eihr relations. Humans don’t know that their very survival depends on this alliance: only Aelyx’s people have the technology to fix the deadly contamination in the global water supply that human governments are hiding. Yet despite their upper hand, the leaders of his world suddenly seem desperate to get humans on their side, and hardly bat an eye at extremists’ multiple attempts on Aelyx’s life.

The Way clearly needs humans’ help . . . but with what? And what will they ask for in return
?

~~~~

Hey guys!

     This week has been so busy. With my term paper and school, it hasn't been the best week for reading but I managed to finish Invaded and read Geek Girl by Holly Smale and One Man Guy by Micheal Barakiva (reviews coming soon!). 

     Invaded follows Alienated and Until Midnight. Cara is on L'eihr and Aelyx is on Earth. Cara is training like crazy and trying to get along with the L'eihrs but merging two cultures is kind of impossible with the practically emotionless people surrounding her. 

     Aelyx isn't having any more luck then Cara is. Aelyx's life is being threatened 24/7 and it looks like the alliance between L'eihr and Earth may not happen. What will Aelyx and Cara do to fix it?

       I really love this series! It's perfect! I can see nothing that I didn't love about it...I loved learning about L'eihr and it's culture. L'eihr is so cool! I find the whole concept so fascinating. I would willingly visit in a heart beat! 

    The whole plot development is so cool! I really want Melissa Landers to write a third book! PLEEEEASE MELISSA WRITE ONE!!! WE NEED ONE!!! YOU SAID IT ENDED ON A SATISFYING NOTE BUT IT DIDN'T I NEED MORE!

   If you loved Alienated and Until Midnight you will definitely love Invaded! 5/5 stars!

Until next time!
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~



Tuesday, March 24, 2015

My Favorite Kick-Butt Heroines

*fanart

Alanna of Trebond* from the Song of the Lioness quartet



I love how kick butt she was and how she never let the prospect of getting the guy get in the way of her duty. She's such a cool character!

Where to buy: B&N // BD // Amazon



Jacky Faber* from the Bloody Jack books


Jacky Faber is from the 12 Bloody Jack books by L.A. Meyer. She did everything she could to survive and get back to her beloved Jaimy Fletcher. She may have been wanton and cheeky, but she's loyal to her friends and family and that's what counts. I absolutely love Jacky.

Where to buy: B&N // BD // Amazon




Sabrina and Daphne Grimm from the Sisters Grimm series


From the 9 Sisters Grimm books by Micheal Buckley. Sabrina and Daphne are decendents of the Brothers Grimm and the fairy-tale stories are actually the history of the Grimm family. The Grimm family is in charge of protecting their friends the Everafters. If you love the show Once Upon A Time and you love the Shrek movies you will love this! These are middle grade but they are some of my favorite books ever!

Where to buy: B&N // BD // Amazon






Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series

I mean duh! Do I have to explain?
And look at Emma Watson! She makes the perfect Hermione! 

Here's the Goodreads link to the Harry Potter books! [boom]

Where to buy: Amazon // B&N // BD




   

Sophie Hatter from Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones


Oh my goodness the movie and the book gahhhh so good! Sophie is a force to be reckoned with! Even when the Witch of the Waste turned her into an old lady she didn't stop from finding how to break the curse! Sophie <3 
Sophie + Howl FOREVER!

Where to buy: Amazon // B&N // BD


Katsa from Graceling by Kristin Cashore


Katsa is so brave and strong and she's not afraid of anyone. Her story is so cool and I was kind of disappointed when Fire didn't continue her story but I loved that at the end of Bitterblue all of the stories came together and made sense. 

Where To Buy:  Amazon // B&N // BD





Friday, March 20, 2015

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers


Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers


Page Count: 549 pages
Published on: April 3rd 2012 
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Source: School library book
Genre(s): historical fiction, young-adult, romance, paranormal, fantasy

Goodreads link: [click here]

Buy it here: B&N // BD // Amazon 


~~~~

Goodreads synopsis:

     Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

     Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

~~~~

Hey guys!


This week has been so busy! This week my high school hosted a music festival and because of that, I had barely any time to read! But I finished Grave Mercy yesterday and I loved it! It's as if Robin LaFevers wrote a story with all the cool elements! 

Grave Mercy consisted of:
  • History
  • Romance
  • Magic/A Godly influence
  • Assassins
  • A young duchess who's duchy is in trouble


     THIS BOOK WAS SO HARD TO PUT DOWN! I hated that I couldn't read it this week haha but the festival was so fun. I really can't find anything I didn't like...honestly I thought this book was really perfectly written. The romance was really sweet, and I didn't feel like it was too rushed and the way Ismae and Duval talk to each other is so..I want to say posh, but the way they speak to each other is just the way the people talked to each other in the 1400s. I also loved how Ismae's character developed by the end and how she realized her full potential as a Daughter of Mortain. I would also love to read a novella of maybe part of Grave Mercy in Duval's POV. 

     I cannot wait to read Dark Triumph and Mortal Heart! From what I hear on BookTube, Dark Triumph is in Sybella and Mortal Heart is about Annith.

Anyway! If you love historical fiction and fantasy you will love Grave Mercy!

If you love __#__ you will love Grave Mercy:
  1. The Girl Of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
  2. Throne Of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
  3. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
  4. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
  5. Alanna:The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
  6. Defy by Sara B. Larson* (*link to my review)
Enjoy guys!

Until later!
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~




Monday, March 16, 2015

Attatchments by Rainbow Rowell


Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Page Count: 323
Published on: April 14th 2011 
Published by:  Dutton Adult
Source: Library book (hardback)
Genre(s): Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Young-Adult

Goodreads link: [here]*

Buy them here! B&N // BD // Amazon

My Rating: 4 & 1/2 stars


Goodreads synopsis*:

"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . "

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys!

     So I picked this up from the library because of multiple booktubers had said it was amazing...and it was amazinggg. If you love Eleanor & Park and Fangirl you will love love love Attachments! Attachments is about a man named Lincoln who moniters a company's worker's emails. Yeah...the nineties were a paranoid time...haha.. So Lincoln starts monitering the worker's emails and web histories to make sure that they won't be accessing porn or something inappropriate. Lincoln's job is quite boring; and the only thing he really has to look forward to is reading the flagged emails...and even that's horridly boring..until he starts reading the emails between Jennifer and Beth..they're emails are funny and he starts to feel like he knows them really well...And then he falls for Beth. He wants to approach Beth in real life but how the heck would he do that without sounding like a weirdo?
     
     This story was so amazingly written and I fall in love with Rainbow's writing style everytime I read her books! The way she set up Attachments was that she wrote Lincoln's point-of-view and the next chapter there would be multiple emails that were written back and forth between Jennifer and Beth. The way Rainbow wrote it was absolutely genius! It was so much fun to read and it just proved how flexible Rainbow could be, writing-wise.

     I didn't like Attachments as much as I loved Fangirl, but I relate more with Cath than I did than any other character in Attachments...but then again I'm 17, almost 18, and the characters were almost 30 in Attachments. 

     Attachments was really easy to read, and if I had had the time I would have read it in probably a day, depending on when I started it. It was so much fun to read and I highly recommend it! I gave it 4 & 1/2 stars just because I couldn't relate as well with the characters but it really is a 5 star book!


Here are the many covers of Attachments...I think the covers are absolutely beautiful: 


 

Until next time guys!
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~














Friday, March 13, 2015

Until Midnight by Melissa Landers


Page Count: 112
Published on: December 23rd 2014 
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Source: Free Ebook
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Romance, Paranormal, Dystopian
Goodreads synopsis: [click here]
FREE ON:


Kobo: http://bit.ly/1AIb45a
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1v06kVd


My Rating: 5 stars

Hey guys!

     I really loved this novella! It follows Aelyx and Cara on the ship right after the end of Alienated [Read my review here :)] Aelyx and Cara are spending as much time as possible together before Aelyx has to go back to Earth and before Cara has to go back to L'eihr to help with the exchange program. They have one day to be together and Cara is doing all that she can to make those twenty-four hours count. Cara is homesick and worried about spending a year apart from her parents and Aelyx, and on top of that she's missing Christmas...you know 'cause she's on an alien space ship...haha talk about worrisome. When Aelyx finds out that she's missing Christmas, he does an internet search for Christmas traditions..and a few things get lost in translation
   
  ...Haha if you loved Alienated, you will gobble this story up. I read it in under 20 minutes during a reading day in English class, and it left me in dire need of Invaded. If you ship Aelyx and Cara as much as I do you will feel all of the feels, trust me my dear readers this is essential to read after Alienated...and it's FREE what more do you need?!?! GO! GO READ IT!!!

     I gave this 5 stars, it was perfect..other than the shortness (about 40 pages) but that was solved with an excerpt of Invaded (you get the prologue and the first 4 chapters)! Alien-loving-readers are going to love this! Go read! I urge you! Go! Go! Enjoy!

Until later guys!
Happy Friday the 13th ;)
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~



Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Want To Read Wednesday


     Currently I am reading Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. I needed a fluffy read after reading multiple fantasy/paranormal/science-fiction novels. I'm a mood reader you see so I follow my gut...even if I need to read something for review...Reading is my hobby, I don't want to force myself to read anything. If I force myself to read something I won't enjoy it!

Lesson of the day: If you love to read, don't force yourself to read anything you don't want to read at the moment.
SO! I plan on reading reading (in the near future): 


If you guys have read any of those, comment down below! What should I read next???


     Shout out to Jonas Lee for sending me bookmarks and a copy of A Time To Live! I expected the bookmarks but I didn't expect A Time To Live at all! Thank you so much! 
Expect a review soon guys!

My Weekly Favorites:
  • Once Upon A Time -- I'm obsessed with this so it's soo good
  • Bret's Blend Tea Trop-a-rocka diet tropical tea (Snapple)
  • EOS Sweet Mint lip balm
  • Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  • Corn Casserole
  • Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding
  • My boyfriend Joe ;)

     I've decided to post every Monday and Friday :) I will probably post in between then if I have time but in the next couple months I will be busy with a term paper that is worth over half of my grade. Hopefully I do well haha. 

Until next time guys!
Olivia 
~livthebooknerd~


Tuesday, March 10, 2015

The King's Jewel by Sasha and Sarena Nanua


The King's Jewel by Sarena and Sasha Nanua

Published by: iUniverse
Published on: July 23rd 2013
Page Count: 331
Genre(s): Fantasy, YA, Paranormal
Source: paperback sent from iUniverse
My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads synopsis: click here

Where to buy: iUniverse // Amazon // B&N // BD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys!

The King's Jewel is a continuation of the story from The Gemstone. Arica arrived in the Sorcerer's Underworld. She soon realizes that the King's crown, his jewel, was stolen by a mysterious thief. The queen sends Arica, Jess, Janine, Joseph, and Prince Adam to hunt down the thief. The group ends up on the Water Train..and let me say! The Water Train is so flipping cool! I loved how Sasha and Sarena described it! It was absolutely perfect! If Arica wants to go home she must find the Jewel, defeat the thief, and find her gemstone in the Hall of Lost Gemstones. "...but what she doesn't realize is that the culprit could be closer to her than she'd ever imagined.."*

     I would honestly LOVE it if they would write a story on Drake! Drake is so cool! AND SUMMER! I loved how she spoke half French and half English half the time! As a third year French student I loved that I could understand what she said! She's so bubbly and fun and gahh! Sarena, Sasha! I beg of you! Write their stories!
  
     The King's Jewel is soo much better than the Gemstone. I feel like Sarena and Sasha have grown into their writing style, and there are less undertones of Harry Potter ;). Sasha, Sarena, y'all are word wizards and world creators and I applaud you! Bravo! Bravo!
     
     Now allow me to vent. This book! It frustrated me immensely! Arica! GURRRRLLL... (shakes my head)...She's so naive and she doesn't think with her gut. She needs to trust her instincts and pay attention to the hints in front of her. There would literally be obvious against someone and their funny business and Arica would doubt them and she would think to herself "noo they're my friend it's impossible that they could do something devious!" Girl, obviously they're scheming and plotting against you! Stop doubting your instincts and think with your head! Don't trust anyone! Gahhh! 

     
Random Notes:

     Also! Also! I imagine that Janine and Jess are Sarena and Sasha (XD). Everytime the twin's appearance is described in the story, I have to do a double take because I imagine them as Sasha and Sarena...

PS: Crigoes remind me of thestrals from Harry Potter...I don't know why but they do haha

This was quite good guys!

Enjoy guys! 
Until next time!
Olivia
~livthebooknerd~




*From the back cover synopsis