tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35730395699116567832023-11-16T06:04:04.191-06:00Eliza ReadsEliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.comBlogger199125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-16485584090332509212018-11-01T15:43:00.001-05:002018-11-01T15:43:42.385-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizh15TH7tUjSFIKNpLvgEZd8C-EhM4NDAQfEjWtOPyvooiUkNYP7hZ1BhiVM54tILIsb4znCQ3jLReLVjGYu8TaRKS-xQQKhW0P33imcxnXDDEVRgVcAqeQW2r9cdqqL3h5ajcLmlbYNM/s1600/517fhcCDjUL._SX327_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizh15TH7tUjSFIKNpLvgEZd8C-EhM4NDAQfEjWtOPyvooiUkNYP7hZ1BhiVM54tILIsb4znCQ3jLReLVjGYu8TaRKS-xQQKhW0P33imcxnXDDEVRgVcAqeQW2r9cdqqL3h5ajcLmlbYNM/s320/517fhcCDjUL._SX327_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Title:</i> Kingdom of Ash</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Author:</i> Sarah J. Maas</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Series:</i> Throne of Glass</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Release Date:</i> 23 October, 2018</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Pages:</i> 992</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>My Rating:</i> ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐</b></span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">** Spoiler FREE section**</span></b></div>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white;">After the ending of<i> Empire of Storms</i>, we knew <i>KOA</i> would be emotional, would be epic, and hoped it wouldn’t be too heartbreaking. Well, I was an emotional mess, not just because heartbreaking things happened, but also because of the hope and strength, of mind and body, that was displayed by the characters I have grown to love so dearly.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">This is the end for new content about one of my favorite groups of characters (as far as we know). Six years and eight books later, and we’re saying goodbye. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Sarah J. Maas is a genius at weaving stories together and making you feel so wrapped up in the world she creates. I don’t think I’ve ever cried, shrieked, panicked, and swooned more than while reading an SJM masterpiece (<i>ACOMAF</i> and <i>Queen of Shadows</i> being my faves). If someone only read <i>Throne of Glass</i> and <i>Kingdom of Ash</i>, they would say it was a completely different series. Celaena to Aelin, Prince Dorian to King of Adarlan, a completely new court, and Celaena’s fight for personal freedom from Endovier turned into an epic, world-changing war about Valg demons. What?! This is one of the only series I know that covers so much ground and takes on so much of a story. And yet, Aelin and Sarah J. Maas never forgot the beginning, or the people along the way.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Aside from specific scenes, my favorite part about <i>KOA</i> was that SJM was so meticulous in remembering to tie up even the most minute of storylines, even the storylines that we readers didn’t remember or think of as storylines. Maas never forgot all the tiny threads she had been intricately weaving throughout her series (okay there was just one tiny one that bothered me, but I’ll get to that in the Spoiler-full section). Seeing all of the pieces that Maas pulled together to create this final tapestry, this final <i>Throne of Glass</i> masterpiece, it makes you realize how invested she was in the story, in the characters, and how detailed she was in making sure this series was the best it could be.</span><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">***SPOILERS (and fangirling) AHEAD***</span></b></span></div>
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<b>*If you haven't finished <i>Kingdom of Ash</i>, do not read beyond this point*</b></div>
</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Gosh, there were SO MANY amazing moments in this series. Big moments, tiny moments, parts that made me cry, parts that made me not want to keep reading so I could stop heartbreaking things from happening. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I think my favorite moment of the series was Manon accepting her Crochan crown. Manon’s character arc is one of my favorites. From a heartless witch to finding hope to accepting her Crochan heritage and fighting for her friend. When she and the Thirteen (omg) landed on Aedion’s battlefield and said we are here for our friend, Aelin, I WEPT. I couldn’t even see the pages. Manon came so far from the character we were introduced to, and her showing up and rallying witches to support the friends she had made was so incredibly moving. I would have loved to see Manon land in the wastes, but I'm satisfied knowing she finally took her people home.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Fenrys and Aelin’s friendship and their secret language was also one of my favorite parts. One of my (few) big issues with these books is that everyone magically finds their perfect pair. Rowan and Aelin, Yrene and Chaol, Manon and Dorian, Elide and Lorcan, Aedion and Lysandra. Seriously, why? Out of everything, Valg demons and all, I find everyone pairing up to be the most unbelievable and annoying (Even though I know I’m really supposed to be mated with Dorian, but whatever). Anyway, because of this, Aelin and Fenrys’ friendship was even more special for me. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I can’t list everything I loved or was sad about, because my review would be as long as <i>KOA</i>. But here are a few things I can’t stop thinking about: Page 800, Feyre and Rhys omg, I loved it. The Thirteen sacrificing themselves and breaking the curse, I can’t believe it. Evangeline and Darrow. Gavriel.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Aelin remembering Sam Cortland moving the canons at Skull’s Bay. Dorian and Kaltain. Yrene and Elide’s friendship. The way Manon and Dorian left their relationship. The role Endovier played in this book. The themes of going/coming home finally. The goodbye scene between the original three (they were the catalysts that started the <i>TOG</i> ball rolling, Rowan knew to give them space, and none of them forgot where it all started). </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">The tiny thread I wanted to see wrapped up was Aelin’s dance teacher bringing music to a free Terrasen. The <i>Heir of Fire </i>musicians’ sacrifice scene is one of my favorites in the series, and I would have loved for the hope of music to be brought to Terrasen. But I know there’s time and hope for that in their future. That there's hope for a better world.</span></span>Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-74872484113762713492018-03-18T15:42:00.004-05:002018-03-18T15:42:59.661-05:00Review: Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Title: <i>Obsidio</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Series: The Illuminae Files</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Release Date: March 13, 2018</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pages: 615</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*Spoiler-Free Review*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wow, what a wild ride!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I first heard about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Illuminae</i>, the first book in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Illuminae Files</i> series, I was skeptical
about the unique formatting. While I can’t say too much about the plot without
spoiling the first two books, the series is set in space in the year 2575,
beginning with the hostile attack of an ice planet called Kerenza by a
corporation called BeiTech. The survivors escape to two spaceships, but their
problems are far from over as the corporation attempts to cover their tracks by
killing the witnesses. Told through dossier-style documents, the story follows
the attempts to survive spaceship attacks, limited supplies, diseases, and hidden
information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sure, it sounded like an
interesting story, but would it be hard to follow? The answer is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">no</b>. I devoured <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Illuminae</i> in one day, and I’m so glad I gave this series a chance. I
was going to say that the book was amazing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">despite</i>
the format, but that would be wrong. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Illuminae</i>,
and its sequel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gemina</i>, were so amazing
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">because</i> of the immersive dossier
style of the books, as well as the cast of characters. The myriad of document
types, such as IM chats, emails, video footage reports, and more all added to
the exciting tale. After the first two books, I was hooked and couldn’t wait
for the third and final installment, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Obsidio</i>.
But I made it! And it was well worth the wait. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was so excited that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Obsidio</i> brought together my beloved
characters from books one and two. The third installment was the perfect mix of
characters I have loved from the first book (though I can’t say who, because
the survivor list is spoilery) and new characters that added a great new
vantage point to the story. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The three stories come together in a mind-boggling
way- how did Kaufman and Kristoff manage to work all of these pieces together
in such a satisfying, heartbreaking, meaningful story?? The culmination of this
series is not only a brilliant masterpiece of fiction, but is also a tale of
humanity, loss, and the grey area between good and evil, right and wrong. </span><i style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Obsidio</i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> really made me think and, although
it is a romantic story, the focus is survival and finding the truth in a censored
world. I can’t recommend this series enough.</span></div>
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Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-69945593352321972892015-02-24T20:12:00.000-06:002017-09-29T14:08:05.905-05:00To-Read Tuesday<span style="font-family: inherit;">The other day my best friend and I were discussing how ridiculous it is that we love reading so much that we decided to be English majors, but now that we are actually majoring in English in college, we have no time for recreational reading. Does this make any sense at all? Not to me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I see all sorts of books that I would love to read, but I just have no time! Between attempting to understand Shakespeare for one class, writing 12 page papers about Reader Response Theory in another, writing 25 page persuasive research papers for another, and reading Samuel Shem's House of God for a fourth class, it seems like my days of reading for fun have been left behind in high school. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I make time to read for fun sometimes, and it seems like the Young Adult releases for 2015 are going to be very exciting. I have already read Red Queen, which was the book I was most looking forward to reading, but here are some more releases I can't wait to read this year:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>A Darker Shade of Magic</i> by V.E. Schwab</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pub. Date: 24 February 2015</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London - but no one speaks of that now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Shadow Study</i> by Maria V. Snyder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pub. Date: 24 February 2015</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Once, only her own life hung in the balance.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Oddly enough, when Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. But she'd survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia. Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands and protect her relationship with Valek.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Suddenly, though, they are beset on all sides by those vying for power through politics and intrigue. Valek's job - and his life - are in danger. As Yelena tries to uncover the scope of these plots, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked. She must keep that a secret - or her enemies will discover just how vulnerable she really is - while searching for who or what is responsible for neutralizing her powers.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Yes, the days of tasting poisons were much simpler. And certainly not as dangerous</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>My Heart and Other Black Holes</i> by Jasmine Warga</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pub. Date: 10 February 2015</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) who’s haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.</span></div>
Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-38912529399571459652015-02-20T17:10:00.000-06:002015-02-20T18:27:08.548-06:00Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: Red Queen<br />
Author: Victoria Aveyard<br />
Series: Red Queen Trilogy<br />
Release Date: 10 February 2015<br />
Pages: 388<br />
My Rating: 4.5 Stars<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?</span><br />
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Wow, <i>Red Queen</i>. First of all, I try not to buy books at their full price, because, even though I like to support the author, I can't frivolously spend between $18 and $25 for a new hardcover book. That being said, I had seen previews for <i>Red Queen </i>and I was so excited to read it, so I treated myself to it (on Valentine's Day…Happy Valentine's Day to me). In between classes, studying, and reading for school, I snuck in time to read to <i>Red Queen</i> and I was not disappointed. If you like <i>Hunger Games, Divergent</i>, and other dystopian novels, read this one.<br />
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Although I had seen from other reviews that the premise is similar to <i>Red Rising</i> by Pierce Brown (now on my to-be-read list) and although I have read quite a few dystopian young adult books, I was still blown away by the originality. While I will admit that the original plot points are mixed in with parts that are not so original- such as people having powers, forcing people to watch violence in order to keep them from rebelling, and other themes- I found the plot original enough to be shocked and enthralled. The author, Victoria Aveyard, is also a screenwriter, and I could visualize the story as a movie the entire time. I am sure that it will be a movie soon enough, joining Divergent, the Hunger Games, and Harry Potter on the big screen.<br />
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As readers, we have grown used to the "Love Triangle" of the guy she should be with, the guy everyone wants her to be with, and the guy she wants to be with (two of these labels being attached to one of the two boys in the triangle). However, is <i>Red Queen</i> it was like a Love Rectangle and I couldn't keep track of my emotions. One minute I loved Cal, the perfect prince and future King. The next minute I adored his younger brother, Prince Maven, the shadow behind his "perfect" brother. And then I would find myself drawn back to Kilorn, the Gale to Katniss, the Mare had known forever and secretly saw herself growing old with. I won't spoil the book for anyone, but CRAZIEST PLOT TWIST EVER.<br />
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I thought the ending would be predictable- the typical good guy wins over bad with the love of their life. Boy, was I wrong. The plot twist was so shocking, I'm still shocked. It was almost a "Jace is Clary's brother" revelation and I couldn't help myself from gasping (thankfully not loud enough to wake my roommate). I thought I would explode and then I thought it must be a joke, a trick, that it was all just a misunderstanding.<br />
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Obviously, I can't wait for the second book to see what happens next. Sadly, it only came out last week, so I have a long time to wait. This book was not only a fantastic read that kept me on my feet, but it by seeing how young the author is, I was shocked into thinking that maybe I could be a writer.<br />
I definitely recommend reading it! But seeing that it has already reached #1 on the Young Adult New York Times bestsellers list, I have a feeling that people don't need me to tell them to buy it.Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-38840770659742028542015-02-08T17:47:00.002-06:002015-02-20T16:38:08.108-06:00100 Books To Read Before I DieAs an English major, I have often found myself thinking "I <i>really</i> should have read that book already"…with a twinge of guilt. This happens especially when I stroll awkwardly past the Classics display in the bookstore, trying to ignore the glares I feel from the Charles Dickens and Shakespeare covers on my way to the bright and shiny Young Adult section. So, in an attempt to dissipate my guilt and become more "worldly" I suppose, I am going to make it my mission to read more of these books.<br />
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About a year ago, Amazon released a list of the "100 Books To Read In A Lifetime". Amazon's editors voted and chiseled down the list to just 100 books, ranging from <i>Where the Wild Things Are</i> to <i>1984</i> to <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>. I was pretty pleased with myself because I have read 20 off the top hundred, but I want to make it my mission to read all of them.<br />
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I have listed the books under a "100 Books To Read" tab and cross them off as I go. I also wanted read the list of books Rory Gilmore read in the TV show Gilmore Girls, but I don't think I can read all 339 of them any time soon.Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-41961581799805400102015-01-28T23:18:00.000-06:002015-01-28T23:18:00.325-06:00Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Title: </b>If I Stay<br />
<b>Author:</b> Gayle Forman<br />
<b>Release Date:</b> April 6th, 2010<br />
<b>Pages:</b> 259<br />
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<em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">On a day that started like any other,</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, admiring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. In an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left. It is the most important decision she'll ever make.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting, and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying, loving.</span><br />
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I got<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> If I Stay</i></span> as a Christmas present from my best friend, without having seen the movie. I trust her taste completely, so I decided to read it wrapped in a blanket by the fire on a cold January day….annnd finished it the next cold January day, by the same fire and under the same blanket.<br />
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Mia's family was not the normal family, with a dad who was a rocker-turned-teacher and a mum who was a groupie-turned-mother, but her connection to them and love for them reminded me of my own.<br />
Although there were things that did not allow me to connect with the story as well as I would have liked, I was taken aback by how in detail and real it felt, for a story about a ghostly figure.<br />
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Mia is in a car accident that kills her mother, father, and brother, and leaves her as an outsider of her own body. She tells the story from her perspective during an out-of-body experience, as she watches doctors and her loved ones attempt to keep her alive. Although it was supposed to be mainly focused around her romance with her boyfriend, I felt that I was more intrigued by the rest of the book and the questions that it raised for me: how would I react if this happened to me, does this really happen to people, do people who are injured actually have an influence in whether or not they keep living?<br />
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The most important part for me was the effect Mia's accident had on other people. Just like John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, Mia's grenade went off and the people around her were affected. But that doesn't mean that just in case we might lost someone, we should block ourselves off from love and friendship. My favorite part of the book was the feeling that it left me with, knowing that although Mia had lost her immediate family, she still had a family of a mixture of blood relatives and people she had collected along the way through friendships.Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-11858305317316104392015-01-25T13:19:00.003-06:002015-01-25T13:19:38.489-06:00New URL and New Name!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNEWf_nm2rD2oXHle8ihMEBX44AqNr5cgYm1vY571j7jHQyGS5E3xqdzMueHaqn6ov7u73G_pB2vKXl0kEdxehGupsmKUgZJl0DFnzHl0UcxPww8rdy5hgfWQYF-G_ojtwB5muCETvf4/s1600/eliza+reads+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNEWf_nm2rD2oXHle8ihMEBX44AqNr5cgYm1vY571j7jHQyGS5E3xqdzMueHaqn6ov7u73G_pB2vKXl0kEdxehGupsmKUgZJl0DFnzHl0UcxPww8rdy5hgfWQYF-G_ojtwB5muCETvf4/s1600/eliza+reads+3.jpg" height="73" width="320" /></a></div>
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I am excited to share that I now have my own domain, under a new name. Although the content and look of my blog will remain the same, I have changed the name of the site to Eliza Reads! </div>
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The new domain is elizareads.com, which is a lot easier to remember than ramblingsofeliza.blogspot.com… too long. Anyway, if you type in either you will still end up at the same place, but I think the new URL is a lot more snappy!</div>
Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-17493147313075609572015-01-21T15:33:00.003-06:002015-01-21T15:33:51.210-06:00Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith<div>
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Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight</div>
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Author: Jennifer E. Smith</div>
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Release Date: January 2, 2012</div>
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.</span><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">
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A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?<br /><br />Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it. (From Amazon)</div>
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Every teenage girl has a dream of sitting next to a cute guy on a plane and falling in love before you land, right? I know that every time I get on a plane, I'm hoping for a good looking boy my age instead of a crusty old man who sneezes the entire flight or a person who really should have bought your seat too, because they keep spilling over…The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is that dream on paper. <div>
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I wasn't expecting anything too literary when I picked this book up. I thought it would just be a fun and silly read that I could use to stop thinking about my school work over the weekend, but I surprised myself when I couldn't put it down. I started reading it in the bookstore when I picked it up as part of a 3 for 2 deal, the other two being books I desperately wanted, and this as the "looks cute and it's free" pick, and by the time I left the bookstore I was sixty pages into it with no drive to stop reading other than my stomach yelling at me to put food in it.</div>
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Hadley, the main character, is a 16 year old girl who could come off as annoying because she complains about missing her flight to London, complains about how her dad left her mum, complains about her dad getting remarried to someone she has never met…but, I didn't find her annoying, I actually found her very relatable and real as a character. She wasn't gracious about the negative changes in her life and she wasn't overly dramatic about how much she hated them. I found her to be a refreshing character who seemed very real in her emotions and her personality.</div>
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I loved the boy that she met in the airport after reading the second sentence about him. It didn't take long at all to picture Oliver and swoon (on the inside) at the cute or funny things he said. Although I did find myself slightly annoyed by his jokes and attempts to be mysterious at times (like his pretend research projects), overall I thought he was pretty great.</div>
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I have thankfully never dealt with parents getting divorced, and hopefully never will, but I did find Jennifer E. Smith's portrayal of Hadley's family to be believable. Hadley's rift from her parents was well written, and it added an interesting layer to a story that would have just been cheesy if it ended with two teenagers meeting on a plane and falling in love at first sight.</div>
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One thing that I didn't like, but I understood as part of a story that was supposed to be a whirlwind adventure, was that the majority of the book happened on one day. The story felt rushed and like it ended too quickly for my liking. Instead of ending the story with the end of Hadley's trip to London, the story ends on her first day there, the same day that she was on the plane. To be more believable and satisfying, I would have liked the story to end with the plane ride home. </div>
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Overall, I found The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight to be cute and an easy read for a cold January afternoon. I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to relax and curl up with a book that didn't require much thought and was easy to get through. I would give the book 3.5 stars. </div>
Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-50367073499182165892015-01-07T10:59:00.000-06:002015-01-07T10:59:32.456-06:00Back From My Hiatus!<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Happy New Year! And hopefully, Happy Back-To-Blogging for me… </b></div>
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I am back from a hiatus, and although I can't promise that I will be blogging too much, I plan to post once a week. The demands of learning how to balance university work, a job, and a social life have left my poor books and blog in the dust. However, with the New Year, I have started to plan how to manage my time better and to make more time for my beloved books.</div>
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I hope everyone had a great holiday season!</div>
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<b>A few updates on me:</b></div>
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<li style="text-align: left;">I am now a junior at a university in Florida (although it's only my second year, I brought credits with me from high school). </li>
<li style="text-align: left;">I work at a cute little bakery, which I love. I can't say that I am any better at baking for it, but my mum trusted my skills enough to let me frost the cupcakes for a Christmas party a few weeks ago, so I'm pretty pleased with that.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">I'm hoping to go into a career based around books and reading- whether it be the writing or the editing side.</li>
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<b>Here are a few of the blogs that I have been following while I've been away:</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.thereadingaddict.com/" target="_blank">The Reading Addict</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.iamareader.com/" target="_blank">I am a Reader</a></div>
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<a href="http://lilisreflections.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Lili's Reflections</a></div>
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<a href="http://thetravelhack.com/" target="_blank">The Travel Hack</a></div>
Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-7896725614495982772013-08-06T09:34:00.000-05:002013-08-06T09:34:00.616-05:00Review: Small Damages by Beth Kephart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: Small Damages<br />
Author: Beth Kephart<br />
Release Date: July 19, 2012<br />
Pages: 304<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">It’s senior year, and while Kenzie should be looking forward to prom and starting college in the fall, she is mourning the loss of her father. She finds solace in the one person she trusts, her boyfriend, and she soon finds herself pregnant. Kenzie’s boyfriend and mother do not understand her determination to keep the baby. She is sent to southern Spain for the summer, where she will live out her pregnancy as a cook’s assistant on a bull ranch, and her baby will be adopted by a Spanish couple. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Alone and resentful in a foreign country, Kenzie is at first sullen and difficult. She begins to open her eyes and her heart to the beauty that is all around her and inside of her.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Small Damages is not like any other book I have read. Instead of being loud with emotion, author Beth Kephart weaves her words slowly and softly to create even more impact. I wasn't sure how I felt about the novel at first, because it was slow and in a peculiar writing style. However, towards second half and definitely towards the end, I felt the emotional pull that the author had intended for her readers.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">There are many, many, many stories released about pregnant </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">teenagers and they all kind of mush together into one. Small Damages, however, was not just a story about the difficulties of teen pregnancy, but the difficulties of loss and carrying on living, self discovery and leaving the past behind. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Small Damages was a story that really made you think. Kenzie was not your typical optimistic protagonist, which is understandable given that her father just died and her mother sent her to Spain to give up her baby. However, in the end, I understood her character, and I appreciated that she wasn't just another unusually happy girl in the midst of a storm of pain.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I didn't realize until after I had finished the book that the novel is set in 1995. The eighteen year gap should have been obvious to me, but Beth Kephart did such a great job of making the novel universal and timeless that I had no idea. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">In the end, I enjoyed the book, but I am confused by the ending. I think it might be obvious if I reread it, or maybe it's a Titanic ending, a "decide for yourself" type. Either way, I would LOVE a sequel to this book, I would definitely pick it up.</span></span>Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-41788838382227395162013-07-28T12:38:00.002-05:002013-07-28T12:38:36.128-05:00Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: Forbidden<br />
Author: Tabitha Suzuma<br />
Series: Stand- alone<br />
Pages: 432<br />
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Release Date: May 27th, 2010<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">I hadn't heard of this book until my affiliate Amber Skye posted her list of Top Ten Most Intimidating books. I decided to read it, intrigued by the completely socially unacceptable topic.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">I ended up with mixed feelings about it. I liked the characters individually, and if they weren't brother and sister I would have LOVED for them to be together. It was just difficult to get past the mental block of the true, blood relationship between the two. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">In a way, it was understandable that Lochan and Maya realized they were "in love" instead of loving each other like normal siblings. They had grown up as </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">though they were the parents, a single unit together to raise their younger siblings after their dad left and their mum subsequently became an alcoholic. They had to grow up at 13 and 12, taking over as the primary caretakers while in school and trying to evade child services. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Instead of having other friends, Lochan and Maya had each other for everything, and didn't grow up as though they were siblings, but more a mix of a parental unit and best friends. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Throughout the book, there is the slow and steady development of their romantic feelings for each other. If it were a normal book, it would have been a good pace. Not too fast and unrealistic, however, there were some parts that were boring and I contemplated not picking the book up again. It probably could have been reduced from the four hundred and something page book.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">There were many references throughout the book to Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights, both romantic and dramatic stories with sad endings. I think the references were a clear foreshadowing technique that left me weary for the ending. In the end, I found the book to be emotionally confusing, sad, but ultimately potentially uplifting with a fairly good message mixed in with the emotion.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Would I reread it or recommend it to read? Probably not. But I don't regret reading it, nor do I feel I have wasted my time. </span></span>Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-1724535312438913102013-07-03T19:18:00.000-05:002015-01-17T20:33:26.471-06:00Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty<br />
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Author: Jenny Han</div>
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Series: Summer, book one</div>
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Release Date: March 5th, 2009</div>
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Rating: 5 Stars</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.</span></div>
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I just finished this series, in about 3 nanoseconds, it feels like. OH MY GOSH. Can I be Belly? Can I have the perfect summers with the boys and the house and Susannah and the beach?<br />
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The books are centered around a house, a beach house that becomes the heart of the books. Right away in The Summer I Turned Pretty, I was sucked in by Belly's love for the house and her time there. It made me long for that beach house to call my summer home.<br />
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I was in the bookstore the other day, reading the blurb of the book, and some random lady came over to me, raving about how amazing the book was, so I figured I would give it a try. At first, I thought "this lady must not like meaningful and thought-provoking books", but I was so wrong. Despite the innocent sound of the title, I was emotionally sucked into Belly's world, and left with a giddy and sad heart. All of my emotions were wrapped up in this book, just like all the possible emotions were wrapped into the books pages. Belly's heartbreak, hope, calm, love, anger- it was all over the pages, baked in with love by Jenny Han.<br />
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In the first story, The Summer I Turned Pretty, I found myself falling for Susannah's character, wishing she was my aunt or family friend. Her character was developed so well in the first book, it carried her spirit throughout the other books when she wasn't as present. Belly's innate love for Susannah, in the motherly type of way, made me feel the same for her.<br />
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Belly, although it was a strange name that made me somewhat turned off from the book at first, made me want to be her. Her hidden strength and inner turmoil made me want to be a better person, more like her. Especially when she was compared to her fashionista best friend, I saw how materialistic I could be, and how much I would rather change some things about me in order to be a more "chill" person like Belly.<br />
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The Boys:</div>
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Conrad. I have always sort of gone for the bad guy in books. The one that you know she shouldn't be with, but you secretly want her to pick him. I felt bad for Conrad, because it was obvious, I thought, that he was a nice person underneath the lack of shown emotions.<br />
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Jeremiah. He was the right guy for Belly, her best friend. He was kind of the Jake of Awkward, the nice boy, the better choice. Still, I was with Belly, still having to tear her thoughts away from Conrad.<br />
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<a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4lt9xAV8P1qd4q01o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4lt9xAV8P1qd4q01o1_500.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a>I found the brother love triangle very intriguing, because usually it's just two random boys. Being brothers, I think it made the triangle less predictable and more panicking, because either way, she would have to continue seeing both brothers, but break one of their hearts.<br />
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Overall, I thought the trilogy was awesome, and the first book just set it off perfectly, and by the end of the third book, I had to tell myself not to cry.</div>
Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-1906824868627433462013-07-02T22:21:00.001-05:002013-07-02T22:21:55.826-05:00Bloglovin' and instagram<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8358081ff69e20168e77916c8970c-800wi" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="91" src="http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8358081ff69e20168e77916c8970c-800wi" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm joining the technologically advanced people, and have joined Blog Lovin' and Instagram. Finally.<br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5391443/?claim=3gj6pb3j9k6%22%3EFollow%20my%20blog%20with%20Bloglovin%3C/a%3E" target="_blank">Follow me on Blog Lovin' :)</a></div>
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Just search Ramblings of Eliza on Bloglovin, or search my username <b>@elizareads</b> on instagram.<br />
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I'm finally getting with it on here, and hopefully, I'll have some more changes on here soon.Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-23645876287123738432013-06-30T18:54:00.002-05:002013-06-30T18:54:58.323-05:00Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.stephanieperkins.com/images/AnnaFrenchKissSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.stephanieperkins.com/images/AnnaFrenchKissSmall.jpg" width="211" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming,</span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">beautiful</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?</span><br />
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Anna and the French Kiss... At first I thought this would be a silly preteen novel about a perfect romance in Paris. The title and the cover gave me a bad feeling. However, after starting this book with fairly low expectations, I devoured it. IT. WAS. SO. GOOD. I absolutely adored the realistic approach to the modern tale.</div>
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This is my Etienne, I have decided. I think he is basically perfect. The hair, the book, the European outfit, the way he's biting his thumbnail like when Etienne thinks... how much more perfect could Aaron Johnson be? Except that he's married and I would rather like him for myself. </div>
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Although I have been to Paris, and it didn't particularly enjoy it, this book made me fall in love with the city from thousands of miles away. It's crazy, but the way Stephanie Perkins told her story made me want to travel there again. My sister happened to be in Paris last week, and didn't enjoy it either, so I think my romantic feelings towards the city were solely based on Stephanie's writing.</div>
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Overall, this is one of those books that I kept putting off, but when I actually started reading it, I couldn't stop. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good, realistic, and not gooey romance.</div>
<br />Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-42853403980283477142013-03-10T16:13:00.000-05:002013-03-10T16:13:10.434-05:00Breaking Point and Sequels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Article 5</i> by Kristen Simmons was an amazing addition to the young adult dystopian genre. Now the sequel, <i>Breaking Point</i> has been released, but it makes me a little nervous. Sequels have been known to disappoint, especially for me, who is a harsh critic when I fall head over heels for the first in a series.<br />
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The dystopian genre has become an ever-expanding genre for young adults. Dystopian means the opposite of a utopia, a society that seems perfect from the outside, but it is not at all.<br />
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Much like the classics such as George Orwell's <i>1984</i>, Ray Bradbury's <i>Fahrenheit 451</i>, or Aldous Huxley's <i>Brave New World</i>, the dystopian novels are meant to warn against the possible take over of power in the future. The warn against a society that is controlled, the creativity and life sucked out of the citizens.<br />
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<a href="http://media.npr.org/assets/bakertaylor/covers/t/the-hunger-games/9780439023528_custom-49e9c33a338d97f0abb78402bcdee9b1103f33a0-s6-c10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/bakertaylor/covers/t/the-hunger-games/9780439023528_custom-49e9c33a338d97f0abb78402bcdee9b1103f33a0-s6-c10.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
The phase caught on after <i>The Hunger Games</i> by Suzanne Collins and has continued to grow with <i>Matched</i>, <i>Delirium</i>, and <i>Article 5</i>. Delirium by Lauren Oliver is one of my favourite dystopian novels, because it has such a beautiful flow to the words, as if they were song lyrics, and the story is such a nice pace. It allows the reader to really take in the world and understand the characters instead of just running through an action novel.<br />
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Back to my original point. <i>Article 5</i> was such a great addition to the dystopian genre, and to my personal collection. However, the sequel is staring at me from my bookshelf, begging me to read it, and I'm nervous that I will be as disappointed by it as I was by <i>Pandemonium</i>, the sequel to <i>Delirium</i>.Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-19131380700902443152013-01-26T13:46:00.000-06:002013-01-26T13:46:35.669-06:00Rereading Delirium<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I read Delirium by Lauren Oliver a few years ago, and loved it. I was trying to decide which books I would recommend to a friend, and realized how much I loved this one and wanted to reread it myself. So I did, and I can't get over the amazing writing. The writing is so beautiful, even more so than I remembered.<br />
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If you haven't read it yet, you really should before the third book Requiem, comes out in a few months. I will post a review of my thoughts compared to the first time I read it.<br />
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Here are some of my favourite quotes:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“Love: a single word, a wispy thing, a word no bigger or longer than an edge. That's what it is: an edge; a razor. It draws up through the center of your life, cutting everything in two. Before and after. The rest of the world falls away on either side.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“And now I know why they invented words for love, why they had to: It's the only thing that can come close to describing what I feel in that moment, the baffling mixture of pain and pleasure and fear and joy, all running sharply through me at once.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“You can build walls all the way to the sky and I will find a way to fly above them. You can try to pin me down with a hundred thousand arms, but I will find a way to resist. And there are many of us out there, more than you think. People who refuse to stop believing. People who refuse to come to earth. People who love in a world without walls, people who love into hate, into refusal, against hope, and without fear.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">I love you. Remember. They cannot take it.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-1184204219740982682013-01-19T18:16:00.000-06:002013-01-19T18:16:51.126-06:00My Favourite TFiOS Quotes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I KNOW I KNOW, you're probably getting sick of me talking about The Fault in Our Stars so much, but it is just so good.<br />
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The way John Green just slots a magnificent line into the rest of the book flawlessly is beyond me. He makes it seem like any other line, and yet if you think about it, it's some deep quote about life that really makes you stop and wonder. Here are some of my favourite quotes (even though they are all pretty amazing if you stop and think about them):<br />
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<i>"<b>When I got out of the movie, I had four text messages from Augustus.</b></i></div>
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<i>Tell me my copy is missing the last twenty pages or something.</i></div>
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<i>Hazel Grace, tell me I have not reached the end of this book.</i></div>
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<i>OH MY GOD DO THEY GET MARRIED OR NOT OH MY GOD WHAT IS THIS</i></div>
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<i>I guess Anna died and so it just ends? CRUEL. Call me when you can. Hope all's okay."</i></div>
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This is the part in the book when I first found myself falling in love with Augustus' character. I know 'falling in love' with a character sounds ridiculous, but you know what I mean... that if he was a real boy, I would want to marry him. This is the first time when I saw a side of Gus that made me giggle and then think about the text messages I have received like those. It made him such a believable character and really helped me to get into the story.</div>
Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-70529787403293506572013-01-07T15:07:00.000-06:002013-01-07T15:07:00.595-06:00My 'The Fault in Our Stars' Song<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ever since I finished The Fault in Our Stars, I have been thinking about my playlist for the book. I know I keep posting about it, but it was just so deep and complex. One song that struck me is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqJoVlnmdFQ" target="_blank">Kodaline's All I Want</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I feel like it expresses the sadness and the epicness of Gus and Hazel's relationship. The lyrics, I thought, switched perspective from Gus to Hazel, like I labelled below. The song basically makes me want to cry...</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Augustus- </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;">"All I want is nothing more</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;">To hear you knocking at my door</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;">'cause if i could see your face once more</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I could die as a happy man I'm sure"</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><b>Hazel-</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">"When you said your last goodbye</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">I died a little bit inside</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">I lay in tears in bed all night</span></div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Alone without you by my side</span></div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">But If you loved me</span></div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Why did you leave me?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><b>Augustus-</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">"'cause you brought out the best of me</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">A part of me I'd never seen</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">You took my soul wiped it clean</span></div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545559; line-height: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Our love was made for movie screens"</span></div>
</span></span>Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-58784637116578336002013-01-06T11:01:00.000-06:002013-01-06T11:01:00.447-06:00The Fault in Our Stars: Grenades<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, I was struck by the idea that people are grenades. Hazel believes she is a grenade because she is dying of cancer. However, as John Green said in answer to a FAQ about TFiOS, we are all grenades:</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> "</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.983333587646484px;">The central thing that Hazel has to realize at the end of the book is that she has been wrong all along about how she imagines her relationships with people she loves. She </span></span><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 19.969697952270508px;">wasn't</span></span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.983333587646484px;"> wrong about being a grenade (although we’re all grenades)."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.969697952270508px;">"</span></span><span style="line-height: 19.969697952270508px;">Although</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.969697952270508px;"> we're all grenades". That part struck me and I can't stop thinking about it. Every person you get close to and love, you are becoming a grenade for them. Being a grenade for someone means that when you die, when the time comes for your grenade to implode, you will hurt them. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.969697952270508px;">It got me thinking who I am a grenade for, who is a grenade for me, and why everyone in the world is a grenade. Unlike Hazel, I am probably too selfish to cut myself off from the ones I love and want to continue a friendship with. I suppose we all just have to accept the fact that we are grenades.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c3jeIhnh4Q4/T5Y6wCALtsI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/OKfW_KE4GsU/s1600/Ch+13+Love+a+Grenade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c3jeIhnh4Q4/T5Y6wCALtsI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/OKfW_KE4GsU/s320/Ch+13+Love+a+Grenade.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #111111; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.969697952270508px;">It amazes me how deep John Green's thoughts are (and yes, I have to call him "John Green" every time. I can't call him Green or something, I feel a strange need to bask in the amazingness of John Green, and therefore, I must say his entire name each time. He is basically a god. Like the Greek God of amazing books or something....but I digress). It surprises me, honestly, that any person can just ponder such things about the world in such a way. His intelligence and depth of knowledge astounds me. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.969697952270508px;">So grenades. Grenades are always thought of as negative, right? Hazel definitely thinks they are negative in TFiOS, but I have begun to think that there could be a positive aspect of grenadism (Not a word, but I see no reason why it can't be). Grenadism, to me, means that you affected someones life in the long run. That when you die, that person will be sad for your loss. I think that is great, because it means you are wanted, needed, loved. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.969697952270508px;">"Only now that I loved a grenade did I understand the foolishness of trying to save others from my own impending fragmentation." I agree with Hazel, that there is no reason to try to alienate yourself, everyone is a grenade, and death is a part of life. I love the words "Impending fragmentation", because death is impending, we all know it will happen, why not enjoy life while you can?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.969697952270508px;">Not that I hope for those I love to be sad when I die, I think it's nice for people to know that they will be missed, and that they had a positive impact on someone's life.</span></span></div>
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Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-43627400014518679582013-01-05T15:16:00.001-06:002013-01-05T15:19:12.290-06:00Countdown to CP2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Clockwork Princess comes out <b>72 days from today</b>!!! I am SO excited, I can't wait. I have so many questions, especially about Will and Jem's fate. Agh.<br />
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Also, Cassandra Clare mentioned on her blog that she cried while writing it. Although it could be because she was finishing the series and leaving her characters behind, I have a feeling it will be horrendously, awesomely sad. I might be devastated if it turns out a way I don't want it to.<br />
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Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-65740986107547606052013-01-04T15:49:00.000-06:002013-01-04T15:49:00.760-06:00Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: The Fault in Our Stars<br />
Author: John Green<br />
Release Date: January 10, 2012<br />
Pages: 313<br />
My Rating: Five Stars<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.</span></i><br />
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I finished this book, closed it, hugged it for a while, and pondered the meaning of life for a considerable amount of time. There were also many times during the process of reading when I had to close the book and stare at the ceiling to stop the tears from flowing too profusely.<br />
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After that roller-coaster of pain and contemplation regarding life's gifts and life as a side effect of dying, I have come to one conclusion: John Green is a literary genius.<br />
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Cancer. It's one of the most depressing topics in literary history, I'd say. However, this is not just a book about cancer. For me, it was a story about finding who you are, love giving strength, and finding happiness in life while you can. Although it was sad, I wouldn't be deterred from reading this book solely because of that. This was taken from John Green's The Fault in Our Stars FAQ's page:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><i>Q. How do I</i> ex</span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">plain to someone that this is more than just a book about cancer?</em></blockquote>
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A. It seems like this will be the biggest obstacle the book faces in terms of reaching new readers. A lot of people (myself included) don’t like to read sad books that will make them cry. They figure, not wrongly, that there is plenty of sadness and crying in real life.<br />This is why I advocate the “If you don’t like this book, you can punch me in the stomach” tactic for sharing<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> The Fault in Our Stars</em> with your friends."</blockquote>
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John Green made several points throughout TFiOS to come back to the point that illnesses are romanticized. There is a "romantic" air surrounding cancer, making it seem heroic and beautiful. I have no first-hand experience with cancer, thankfully, but I agree with John Green that it is a battle that its victims do not need to be strong throughout. There is nothing wrong with weakness in the face of pain or death.<br />
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Now that I have been all serious and heavy hearted, I can tell you about the characters. Hazel Grace Lancaster is a sixteen year old girl who is going to battle cancer for the rest of her life. She doesn't know when she will die, but she gets on with her life with few breakdowns. Although she is not a tough heroine in the sense that Katniss Everdeen is, Hazel amazed me with her strength and grown-up attitude. She deserves to be on the list of strong female leads along with Katniss, Clary, and Hermione.<br />
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Augustus Waters. Gus, the love interest, and ultimately, the guiding "star". At first I found Augustus to be the Jace Wayland character- the cocky, sure of himself, hot guy. However, as Hazel began to fall for him, so did I. Especially when the softer side of him, the "Gus" side, came out.<br />
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This book went far beyond my expectations and left me contemplating real questions, not just the usual "oooh, he's hot, will she make out with him in the next book?!". Actual, legitimate in my life questions such as pondering John Green's theory about people being grenades.<br />
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Overall, I don't think I would change anything about this book... It was heartwrenching, thought provoking, tear inducing, and it deserves five stars. And about five hundred tissues.<br />
<br />Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-43739561608897332592013-01-02T10:34:00.000-06:002013-01-02T10:34:25.327-06:00My Favourite Books of 2012Happy New Year! As we segway into 2013, I have been pondering my favourite books from 2012. I would have done either five or 10, but in the end, there were six books that I felt were worthy. They are in no particular order:<br />
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1. <b>City of Lost Souls</b> by Cassandra Clare:<br />
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I am a self-professed Cassandra Clare addict. Anything and everything she writes is pure genius. I would think she was a genius simply for creating such incredible characters, especially my favourite, Jace Wayland. If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you have probably noticed my fangirl-ishness that accompanies any CC review, such as the COLS review <a href="http://ramblingsofeliza.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-city-of-lost-souls-by-cassandra.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />
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2. <b>Clockwork Prince</b> by Cassandra Clare:<br />
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I did tell you I am a Cassandra Clare maniac...Although this book came out in 2011, I was stupid enough to believe that Clare's prequel series would not live up to my all time favourite series, The Mortal Instruments. I was, of course, extremely mistakenly, and fell head over heels for Will, Jem, Tessa, and the other characters of the Infernal Devices, especially in the sequel. <a href="http://ramblingsofeliza.blogspot.com/2012/07/review-clockwork-prince-by-cassandra.html" target="_blank">HERE</a> is my review. I cannot wait until the final installment, Clockwork Princess. I am sure to be a blubbering mess.<br />
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3. <b>Shatter Me</b> by Tahereh Mafi:<br />
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Gah, this book. My affiliate, Amber Skye, basically begged me to read this book, and I was quite reluctant at first. However, after I read it, I was desperate to reread it. The premise is so unique given that so many people are writing similar books to each other these days. Although there is a fantastical element, this book reaches the impossible without calling upon werewolves or vampires, witches or wizards. <a href="http://ramblingsofeliza.blogspot.com/2012/10/review-shatter-me-by-tahereh-mafi.html" target="_blank">HERE</a> is my review.<br />
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4. <b>Article 5</b> by Kristen Simmons:<br />
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This book is another dystopian, futuristic-yet-somewhat-believable story that I am in love with. In the same vein as The Hunger Games, this dystopian society creates a heartpounding and heartbreaking story about two characters I love. Especially the wonderful Chase (insert eye-heart emoticon face). He's a book boy who is believable enough, with enough flaws to become a real boy.<br />
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5. <b>Ours Is Just A Little Sorrow</b> by Gwen Hayes:<br />
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Although this book was only a novella, it drew me in, and left me wanting a full novel. The futuristic world that was set in space, but based on the Victorian Era made for a very interesting read. It was certainly a new and intriguing topic. Obviously Gwen Hayes has talent, especially because she only have 70 something pages or so, and still made me fall head over heels for Gideon. That's impressive, if you ask me. <a href="http://ramblingsofeliza.blogspot.com/2012/09/earc-review-ours-is-just-little-sorrow.html" target="_blank">HERE</a> is my review.<br />
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<a href="http://media.npr.org/assets/bakertaylor/covers/t/the-fault-in-our-stars/9780525478812_custom-7eb6cc16a8a3f2266865895e1718ac9e9d6232e0-s6-c10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/bakertaylor/covers/t/the-fault-in-our-stars/9780525478812_custom-7eb6cc16a8a3f2266865895e1718ac9e9d6232e0-s6-c10.jpg" width="137" /></a></div>
6. <b>The Fault in Our Stars</b> by John Green:<br />
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I have nothing else to say other than this: John Green is simply a genius-superhuman and the male version of Cassandra Clare.Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-41379251707980057892012-12-29T13:45:00.000-06:002012-12-29T13:45:00.697-06:00Team Love: Team Jem<br />
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You may have noticed my growing collection of Team Stickers, over on the left hand side. It is pretty much a list of boys that I would marry if they were real *sigh*. Let's just pretend, for now, that they are. You don't do that anyway? <strike>Well, I do...</strike><br />
<strike><br /></strike>Moving on. My list of boys contains the sexy and the sweet, the good and the bad, but never the ugly. <strike>Unless you are looking at pictures of Jamie Campbell Bower from The Mortal Instruments movie.</strike><br />
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<b>TEAM JEM (The Infernal Devices):</b><br />
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<b>Seriously, if Jem dies during Clockwork Princess, I will be like this:</b><br />
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Jem is the ultimate sweet boy. If you imagine a boy that is soft spoken, sweet, kind, everything good about a person, you have Jem. At first, I was bias against him, because Will is related to my ultimate boy, Jace Wayland. However, as I read Clockwork Angel, and especially the sequel, Clockwork Prince, I began to realize who adorable Jem is. </div>
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Now I am stuck in the position of choosing between two incredible boys that I love at lot. Jem is also struggling to live with his addiction to Demon drugs, and he might die. If he does die, I will seriously be like that up there. Dramatic, hey? </div>
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What can I say? Cassandra Clare is insanely good at making people fall in love with her characters and all of a sudden rip your heart out of your chest and stomp on it.</div>
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So, my basic point is that you should read Clockwork Angel and have your heart messed with too. It's just so good!!</div>
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<b><br /></b>Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-57510993683708556942012-12-28T16:08:00.000-06:002012-12-28T16:08:00.271-06:00Clockwork Princess Countdown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As it is nearly January 2012, I am ready to begin the countdown to Clockwork Princesses release date. <div>
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I CANNOT WAIT. Seriously, I might wait outside the bookstore until it opens, run in, buy it, and sit until it is done. Actually, I might have to go home, because I have a feeling I will be an emotional wreck at the end of one of my favourite series.</div>
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All I know is that if Jem or Will die, I will burn the book and cry myself to sleep for about a year.</div>
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Anyway, counting down starting now! Only 80 days left until March 19th, thank goodness.</div>
Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3573039569911656783.post-33803910028667958322012-12-26T13:50:00.000-06:002012-12-26T13:50:00.964-06:00Team Love: Team Gabriel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://sassywomenonline.com/images/team_love_small" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://sassywomenonline.com/images/team_love_small" width="320" /></a></div>
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You may have noticed my growing collection of Team Stickers, over on the left hand side. It is pretty much a list of boys that I would marry if they were real *sigh*. Let's just pretend, for now, that they are. You don't do that anyway? <strike>Well, I do...</strike><br />
<strike><br /></strike>Moving on. My list of boys contains the sexy and the sweet, the good and the bad, but never the ugly. <strike>Unless you are looking at pictures of Jamie Campbell Bower from The Mortal Instruments movie.</strike><br />
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TEAM GABRIEL (The Chemical Gardens):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWHZMZ-eFJWMN6HT9Wqw_5MNa4FuPayFXMrEJBsMbW1U6IMxXcVClSq0Lix4iGuce7r-oOuY1z5D2FtaFOcq4eHbfOsYvNi3tuXvUyJ19PWRdvcb91zNVvZD5e7buG_ITH1R9IM-Tkgc/s1600/tumblr_maxfuupWyg1qdux39o1_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWHZMZ-eFJWMN6HT9Wqw_5MNa4FuPayFXMrEJBsMbW1U6IMxXcVClSq0Lix4iGuce7r-oOuY1z5D2FtaFOcq4eHbfOsYvNi3tuXvUyJ19PWRdvcb91zNVvZD5e7buG_ITH1R9IM-Tkgc/s400/tumblr_maxfuupWyg1qdux39o1_1280.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Gabriel is like the ultimate boy next door. Although his character is from the futuristic Wither by Lauren DeStephano, he is a a boy that could span any time. </div>
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I have often said that boys from books ruin girl's perspective of real life boys. I think it creates a ridiculously high standard when every teenage girl wants the incredible Jace Wayland or Will Herondale. Gabriel is a great character to combat this, because he is a believable and relatable character who has flaws but is still a great guy.</div>
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I always pictured him as tall but not ridiculously tall, with tan skin and dark, floppy hair. </div>
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I have not read the sequel to Wither, Fever, but it is definitely high on my to be read list. I need to find out what happens with him and Rhine, and why this quote was on tumblr, or if it is not talking about Gabriel:</div>
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<br />Eliza Mellarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08098286443455365040noreply@blogger.com0