Do You Even Read Book Dedications? Now You Will!

Oftentimes, we are too excited to read a book that we open the book straight away to the first chapter so we can start reading. Do you ever spend a little time reading the book dedication? Some are pretty standard but if you look hard enough, you might just find some hidden gems amidst the nondescript pages. Here are some that I  found. 

1. The Selection by Kiera Cass

I didn't like the book but I gotta admit, the acknowledgement is kinda cute. 

2. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

I haven't read this book yet but the acknowledgement give me a warm feeling. :D

3. No Thanks by E.E. Cummings

Now, that's another way to do it.

4. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

5. The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

Famous from his act on Glee, Chris Colfer tried his hand on being an author. Grandma don't need to worry now. :)

6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I don't know why but this make me feel sad. :(

7. Ruins by Dan Wells

I DNF this book but not before reading the dedication! xD

8. The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell  

How on earth had I not known about this book! It sounds so amazing. What's a better book for literature lover to read than a book about libraries! The dedication is so true. You guys should really check out the book here.

9. House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Ouch!

10. House of Hades by Rick Riordan

I remember when I first saw this. I had a mix feeling between wanting to rage out or laugh. I ended up laughing more though. 

I didn't pay much attention to dedications before but now I know to keep a lookout for them. The dedications can be as amazing as the story itself. So, the next time you read a book, don't forget to read the dedication too! Who knows you will find one that is awesome! 

The Archived (The Archived #1) by Victoria Schwab

Published: January 22, 2013

Publisher: Hyperion

Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy

My Rating: 3/5

The dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead, called 'Histories', rest in the Archive.
Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often—violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a tool for staying alive.
Being a Keeper is dangerous and a constant reminder of those she lost, Da and her little brother. Mac wonders about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. Yet someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

Imagine a file of your entire life, of every moment, every experience. All of it. 

This book has the most interesting ideas ever! Have you ever read a book about libraries that has not books, but, souls. I think not! Well, something like a soul. It's a copy of your soul that stores every living memory you ever experienced. The idea of it is so intriguing that I waste no time in engaging to the idea. It's totally unheard of.

Mackenzie, the main character is a Keeper. A Keeper is someone who hunts for the souls that managed to escaped from the Archive and return them back to where they should be. I truly enjoyed the actions and everything there is to it in the job.

Wes, oh Wes! I normally don't have a thing for guys with eyeliner (except for a select few!) or in this case, guyliner but I got to admit, Wes totally rock it off. Only a select few can totally rock guyliner like Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Hook and Oliver Queen from Arrow!

Cheers for guyliner! :D

I love the idea of the Archived of the dead but the story fails to include the vital information of why it is there in the first place. Surely, a thing of such importance will have a reason for its existence in the first place. It felt like there were not much use for the Archive. I would have thought that the knowledge obtained from all those memories would have been used for a greater purpose and not just to be stored away. I hope there will be more entailed details about the Archive in the sequel because it will be a waste for the Archive to exist for no foreseen purpose at all. 

Also, there were times that the plot seems to be pretty obvious and that eliminate any surprises that I should or may have. 

Besides, what also irritates me is Mackenzie's affair (not like she is involved with someone else at the time but it felt wrong, somehow.) SPOILER ALERT Oh yeah, because he is a History! SPOILER ENDS with the blonde guy (I forgotten his name) because of how easy she got all kissy-kissy with him and not even caring about his "being" (if you know what I mean). 

The ending felt rushed. Everything seems to fall in place in a highly predictable ways. Also, when Wes kissed Mackenzie (thus, reading her thoughts), I am not sure if it was deliberate, or compulsive. The thing is, if he wanted to just read her mind, he could have just touched her but he kissed her so I am not sure if that is the result of a long bottled-up emotions or if he intended to do that to read her mind (what a way to do it and at an inconvenient time too!).

There wasn't anything that is ugly about the story. Overall, it was more like a "mehh" than amazing. I love this book for the idea of the story but not so much for the plot itself. There was no fault in the writing. It was amazing and beautiful. I only hope that there were huger conflicts in the story. The conflict at the end was just not enough. I need more! I will continue reading this series with high hopes that it will be better.

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The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Published: February 10, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
My Rating: 2/5

There's death all around us. We just don't pay attention. Until we do.
The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.
Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.
As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.
Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

I totally adore Cynthia Hand. I love The Unearthly trilogy so I was excited to read The Last Time We Say Goodbye which is of a different genre than the books I've read of Cynthia's. So, I am curious as to how Cynthia will fare with writing a Realistic Fiction. I wish I can say that I love this book as much as Cynthia's other works but doing so will be lying. It might be that I have read similar depressing books before that have a genius teenage main character that so to happen, be a total bitch. I have encountered main characters that have similar traits before so it is a total letdown to have the same traits for a main character in yet another book. 

The story includes a series of flashbacks and it provides us the information needed to fill the holes of what we yet to understand of the story. I enjoy the memories that had to do with Lex's brother, Tyler but not so much about the memories of Lex herself. I feel like I didn't need to know about Lex so much and her memories flashback didn't help in raising the needed emotions and sympathy I might have for her. Lex as I have said, is a genius and she can't help but be a bitch because her extensive knowledge of mathematics helped her to realize that everything insubstantial in this world is insignificant. It was so annoying to read her rant and hatred for "love" because it was just a mix of chemicals and blalala. That can be a discussion for another day. 

I've read a LOT of rave reviews about this book so I am feeling quite exasperated to think about what is it that others like about this book so much and how is it that it didn't work for me. It might be due to the fact that I am used to such books so this book didn't present anything new for me to cry on. I did, however, started to feel sad at like a few chapters near the end. I did felt sad but not that much that I have to cry. It was more like "Oh, this is sad" rather than "Oh GOSH, my heart BLEEDS due to this excessive emotional trauma!!!". I am actually concern to this lack of emotion of mine and wondering if I didn't cry for this book because I have a cold heart or is it because of the lack of emotional triggers. By how others are reacting to this book, I might conclude that maybe my emotional response bar were set to "high", thus what was sad for others was not for me. 

I couldn't even forced myself to cry. :3

Despite my lack of emotions, I have to agree that the grieving part of the characters was believable and I did feel for Lex and how she is trying to cope with her brother gone, just like that, there at first and gone the next. It must be hard to imagine a life without someone who was a part of your everyday life and to have them just *poof out of thin air. There's also the impossibility for you to see them again, to touch them and talk to them about everyday trivial things. Now, that makes me sad. 

There were two things that triggered more than "just sad" feeling for me. The first was the last text message that Ty messaged to Lex. I was wanting to know what exactly that Ty messaged to Lex and when I finally did know, I felt a stab at my heart. It was such a sad feeling. It was a "what could have been" moment and that never fails to make me feel sad. The second thing that make me feel more than sad was not in the story itself. It was in the acknowledgement. If you have read the book and did read the acknowledgement, you'd know what I mean. When I read the acknowledgement, then I feel a rip in my soul. I was thinking, what I had just read, was a real emotional account. What I read could be real, is real, and it could happened to anyone, did happened to someone and it makes the story all the more realistic. My heart goes out to the author. 

Overall, it was a sad read, yeah but it fails to make me cry like how it did to others. If you love to read sad books and happened to have low settings on your emotional bar, then you might enjoy this book.

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Top Ten Tuesday #2 All Time Favorite Books

I love to talk about favorite books. I have a list of all time favorites so I am excited to do this. Some of the books are a series. I think it's quite impossible to choose a favourite book from a series so I just include the all the books and count it as one. Without further ado, here are my all time favourite books!

      

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The Color of Happiness by K. P. Gazelle

Published: March 1, 2015
Publisher: Radiant Books
Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction
My Rating: 2/5

Faith Lane is the girl who has everything. At least, that’s what everyone thinks when they see her rocking a killer dress while laughing with her best friend, Tiffany. But Faith’s life is far from flawless. Her peers torment her relentlessly, and her parents expect her to be the epitome of perfection. Criticized and pressured at school and home, Faith retreats into silent acceptance and finds an escape in her passion of dancing. Then she meets Alex – quirky, forever with a pass, and concealing a mysterious secret of his own. And through his encouragement, Faith starts believing in her gift for dance and gains courage to stand up for herself. But will she be able to keep her footing when the events of one night consume her with the need to jump off the rocky cliffs near her coastal home? And what has pushed her to the edge of reason?

I have always been interested in ballet. It has always been somewhat magical to me. The dancers looks so elegant and pretty while dominating the stage with their graceful dance. Thus, I had high expectations for the ballet and dances aspects in this book. I was not disappointed about how the author had managed to execute the ballet elements in the story. It was beautiful to read and it's all what I was expecting.  Also, the relationship between Alex and Faith was sweet but not over the top so I had no problems with it. I also love how Faith become more strong willed as the story progress. In the beginning, she was so easily bullied and have little self-confidence. But, as the story unfolds, she become stronger as the circumstances grew. The ending was heart-rending. It was both beautiful and haunting how everything wrapped up.

However excellent the execution of the dances aspects, I was a little disappointed that there were not more of the dances. Also, the dances that did happened weren't for long and my thirst for it was not quenched. 

I also didn't like how cliche and easily expected the starting of the relationship between Faith and Alex was. It was too much like a "misunderstood jock who is actually nice and have a thing for a girl who thinks she's not so pretty and is very plain where no one should like her because she's just ain't pretty when we all know that's just not true because every female main character is pretty because then it's not fiction" cliche of a story.

I rate this book 2 out of 5 because it didn't really make me feel attached or want to read this book again. It felt too much like a Disney movie, if I'm honest.

There isn't anything ugly about the story. It was quite a satisfying story to fill the gaps in between if you are looking for a short and light read. The writing in itself was pretty uneventful but was enough to provide a canvas for development of the story. I wish there were more excitement to the story though. The ballet aspects alone weren't enough to provide a bump in the story. Nevertheless, you should try and read this book if you have a passion for ballet, dances and the things in between.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Cover Reveal: From the Ashes by Shelby K. Morrison

I love the graphics and overall outlook of this cover. It definitely portrays the story. The girl in the picture is definitely Aia with the pendant that she found. This is one of the book covers that I can stare at all day. :D

Expected Publication: May 3, 2015

Series: Legend of The Liberator #1

Author: Shelby K. Morrison

For eighteen years Aia Wynnald has lived a lie. Raised as a highborn in the Kingdom of Tharien, she’s filled her days with tutors and archery lessons. But simmering beneath her polite surface is a dangerous gift, one which she must keep a secret. Aia is a Bender. And in Tharien, Benders are feared and hunted.
When her unruly power breaks free with dire repercussions, Aia’s lifelong goal of independence shatters. As she scrambles to piece her life back together while evading capture, she disturbs a vengeful force intent on destroying the kingdom.
Now, with the help of an unlikely ally, Aia will decide the fate of Tharien. To rescue those she cares about will require accepting what she is. But can she risk becoming the monster she’s dreaded to save the very citizens baying for her blood?

About the Author

 Shelby K. Morrison is the author of Shattered, devout member of the Pointless Research Addicts support group, and was voted Most Likely to Be President in high school. She believes fiction should be an escape and any great escape involves a world of wonder, characters you wish you knew, and good food. She can usually be found in three places; her office, the couch or....well just those two unless an overcast day calls her out of doors. She has a particular weakness for animals, Studio Ghibli movies, and Flamin' Hot Cheetos (resulting in a frequently stained keyboard). She is not opposed to tokens of appreciation, particularly edible ones. But if you really want to make her smile, drop her a line! 

[Website] [Goodreads] 

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Sweet Sleep (Children of Ankh #1) by Kim Cormack

Publisher: Corvallis Press
Published: August 7, 2014
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
My Rating: 3/5

What would you do if you discovered that everything you’ve ever known to be your reality was a lie? What if…The things that go bump in the night, things you thought were simply a figment of your wild imagination are in fact very real? Would you live your life differently if you knew you were going to be corrected…erased from this world sometime around your sixteenth birthday? You and your twin sister were never meant to be born. There will be no place to run…No place to hide…You won’t even know they’re coming…Do you have what it takes to survive your Correction? Do you have what it takes to leave your humanity behind?If your answer is yes then hold on tight... …it’s going to be one hell of a ride!

The story started with no dilly-dallying. I was introduced to a set of characters that are no less than intriguing. From the start, I was acquainted with the twin, Chloe and Kayn Brighton. This twin cannot be more different. Chloe is the popular and prettier one and guys fall head over heels with her. On the other hand, Kayn is the complete opposite. She thinks she is the lesser of the twin. There's also a guy character, Kevin who will play a big part in the story later on. I absolutely love the monsters in this story. They were harrowing, ruthless and have thirst for blood. The monsters are exactly the sorts of monsters that everyone have nightmares about. These monsters are literally the best monsters one could ask for. The idea of the conflict of the story is definitely a good one. It was unheard of. The Correction and how the twin caused it was an idea that is so marvelous. I absolutely love it.

In the beginning, a whole bunch of characters was introduced. However, I felt like Kayn's twin, Chloe was almost nonexistent and nearly an insignificant character based on how little I've seen of her. Chloe is definitely an important character later on in the story but by the way she was handled, it's almost like she was not. The story was not lagging in the introduction but instead, it was too fast. I feel like the story took off without setting a solid ground for it to stand on. Tragedies happened to characters that I don't even feel attached to yet. This is mainly because although the characters were mentioned, it was only done offhandedly and in a manner of which it was only because of the necessity to get the characters known to readers.

Also, I think they were just too many characters. New characters just seems to popped up every few chapters. 

I am absolutely tired of a main character that be like "I'm pretty but not that pretty for a guy to fall in love with me". What makes it worst is that one twin feels she is less pretty and less outgoing than the other one. I feel like it's an overused sentiment. Also, I hate it how Kayn realised that Kevin became hot in the seven months she was in comatose. Apparently, he became handsome because of a heavy emotional stress. Well, maybe his growth spurts was activated because of the emotional baggage? But, still, it's not possible for him to grow some muscles unless he work out! So, at first Kevin was an unattractive dork but a few months Kayn was in comatose, she woke up to a handsome man who finally realises that he loves her. How lucky.

Overall, I give this book 3 stars because I think it has a pretty solid story and an intriguing one definitely. However, it also have a lot of minor setbacks that irritates me and of which I can't ignore. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable read and one that I do not regret.

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Cover Reveal: The Color of Happiness by K.P. Gazelle

What a beautiful cover! The ballet shoes and the roses definitely shows Faith's love for ballet. The girl and the guy in the cover presumably are Faith and Alex. I really love the vintage effect of the cover. It's definitely a gorgeous cover suiting the beautifully written story.

Expected Publication: March 1, 2015

Publisher: Radiant Books

Author: K. P. Gazelle

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Faith Lane is the girl who has everything. At least, that’s what everyone thinks when they see her rocking a killer dress while laughing with her best friend, Tiffany. But Faith’s life is far from flawless. Her peers torment her relentlessly, and her parents expect her to be the epitome of perfection. Criticized and pressured at school and home, Faith retreats into silent acceptance and finds an escape in her passion of dancing. Then she meets Alex – quirky, forever with a pass, and concealing a mysterious secret of his own. And through his encouragement, Faith starts believing in her gift for dance and gains courage to stand up for herself. But will she be able to keep her footing when the events of one night consume her with the need to jump off the rocky cliffs near her coastal home? And what has pushed her to the edge of reason?

About the Author:

K.P Gazelle has been connected with young adults in some way for as long as she can remember. She's obsessed with coffee, books, and big dreams.

[Facebook ] [Instagram [Twitter]

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Follow Friday #4 In Which My House Is Burning Down

Welcome, everyone! It's time for the weekly fun! As always, this meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee.

Your house is burning down and you have time to select three books you own to take with you. What three books? - Alison Can Read.

Oh my, let's hope it will never come down to this! I love all my books equally. But, to save only three, I will pick my first childhood book (yes, I still keep it!), The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. I choose The Faraway Tree because it's my real first thick and hardcover book. I re-read it like 10 times already. I still read it now and then. It has saved me from reading slumps a lot of times now. So, I'm really attached to it. For my second book, does a box set count as one? I'm sure it does, right! :D So, my second will be my Harry Potter books. I can't possibly just take three from the series! It's hardcover and these things are expensive! Lastly, I will pick Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein because it's one of my favourite books of all time. For my other books left to burn in the fire, I'm sorry!

The award for ugly crying goes to...

Kidding! xD 

To make up for the ugly crying, here's a marvelously handsome cry:

A scene from Charlie St. Cloud. Breaks my heart evertime! D':

It make me thinking, for all the times we spent picking up books to be saved, we could have grabbed other more valuable things like money and suchs. Man, god bless the book lovers! xD 

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a fun (and safe) weekend!

Cheers.

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The Ocean At The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman

Publisher: William Morrow Books
Published: June 18, 2013
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
My Rating: 5/5

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

I always tried to evade this book before. I think it must be the title that somehow revered me from reading it. The title was ambiguous and quite frankly, I was intimidated by the genre. Thinking about it now, I think I was quite ignorant for thinking so. I shouldn't have doubted Neil Gaiman! After all,
he's the master at this game! This book left me with the same feelings I have after reading every Neil Gaiman's books. That feelings are of awe, wonderment, starry eyed and quite light headed. 

The writing are truly Gaiman's signature. Only  he can string ordinary words together into beautiful sentences that always manage to take my breath away. It reminded me of why I love to read in the first place. None of other books I've read recently get to satisfy the deficient feeling I get from reading too many words that fails to ignite any passions from within me. It's almost euphoric to be reading Neil Gaiman's stories. I guess that's how readers gets high.

The story was unconventional. It used the very facts of unadulterated life as the elements in the story. It was both saddening and illuminating to see how a kid view the world. Neil Gaiman definitely did a great job in narrating the story from the point of view of a seven year old. The villain in the story was also different from the norm. She was only trying to help others but in ways that were not entirely helpful. It just goes to show that it's not that great to get everything we want.

The meaning of the title was lost in me before I read it. I was lost in my head from trying to figure it out without reading the book. After reading the book, though, I finally know the truth. It just makes the title all the more depicting now.

Despite the point of view from a seven year old, nothing in the story was child-like. The thoughts and understanding of the seven year old boy was child-like alright, but, the events that happened was definitely not. There were some real scary things here. Even I shuddered from reading it. Thus, it became all the more saddening to to read how a seven year old struggled to make sense the things that were happening to him and the things he saw. It gave us a perception to how different we are from a child, how the childhood innocence fell away as we grew older.

The ending was sad and I was like:

Leave it to Johnny Depp to cry magnificently!

Although it was sad, I am glad that it happened that way. It's perfect how it ended. After all, the saddest books are the ones that stay with you for a very long time.

One event really stayed in my mind. I still can't get over it.  Only one word is sufficient to picture that moment and my utter disgust towards it. If you've read the book then you will get it. If you don't get it then read the book! That one word is: WORM! BLOODY WORM! YOU GAVE ME NIGHTMARES!

Ooops, that's not one word.

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