IceyPick Redesign (Entwined)

 

This week's book was Entwined. Here's my remake of the cover.

(I seriously wish I could find better pictures. D:)

Why I read

   Why do I read?

   That question seems to follow me around. It finds its way to me at school, where I'm trying to get in a few pages before the teacher starts speaking again. It flows out the mouths of my friends, my family. Why do I read?

   There's no one simple answer to that. I can just say 'because it's fun' or 'because it kills some time' or anything like that. If people ask me that, I'll give them a very long answer about the wonders of reading. And that answer would have to be broken down into about four parts.

Part One - The Characters

   I love meeting new people, especially ones I can relate to. I like making people smile. One of the very first things I will do when I meet someone is look for something to compliment them on. I enjoy seeing their faces light up.

   I like people, but not all people. I do my best not to judge. Something I've realized, though, is that if you could truly see into someone's mind, you might find you have more in common with them than you thought. People so often try to make themselves look a certain way on the outside, when it doesn't reflect who they are on the inside at all.

   When I read Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, I was still iffy on reading about Sam. I'm not fond of the popular crowd, because I don't really agree with the people who are in it. Before you ask, yes, I have talked to them. It's not something I solely decided upon rank or status.

   About two chapters in, I realized Sam wasn't as shallow as I thought she would be, and I grew to hope she would undergo a change. I didn't completely agree with everything she said or did, but I understood why she did them, because I read her every thought.

   That's the funny thing about reading. You can go into a book wanting to despise a character, but it's especially difficult not to connect with someone when you've been inside their head. And, in the end, you'll be rooting for them to win.

 

Part  Two - The Setting

   When I go shopping for books, I love to look at books where the world is different. If you look at the genres I read, you'd see that most of them have things to do with otherworldly occurrences. Fantasy is filled with whole other worlds. Paranormal is based upon things that are magical and powerful and different. Dystopian is a world that's been pushed to the brink. Some of my favorite novels even deal with other planets and outer space!

   I enjoy reading about places I can't go to. That's a part of the fun.

Part Three - The Relationships

   I'm hopeless, hopeless romantic. Sure, I don't want a girl sobbing throughout the entire novel because her boyfriend broke up with her, but love is part of life.

   Of course, it's not just romance I enjoy. I like it when characters have good parents, awesome siblings, great friends, and cute pets. Things that make the characters happy usually make the readers happy.

   BUT it's not just the good relationships, either. Every good story needs a villain, right? I like the stories with kickbutt villains that are just iconic. Villains that are hard to beat and mysterious. Call me crazy, but my favorite villains are the ones that have dark pasts behind what they do. It's a deeper story then.

Part Four - The Ending

   I think for a lot of people this is the worst part of the story. It's not for me, though. I actually enjoy the endings the most. I think that's because it's exciting for me to see how everything finally mashes together and becomes coherent.

  Don't get me wrong, I am sad that the story is over, but the ending is so important. It's what everything builds up to. It tells whether the character's goals are met and if they failed or not. It lets us know if the story is over or if there will be a sequel. We either get a Happily Ever After or the rare It Was All For Nothing stories. And there's always the dreaded cliffhanger, too. 

   So, what do I like about reading? I like everything about reading.

 

Suicide.

SUICIDE.

Yes, I've just uttered that taboo of a word. 

Before you fill the comments with your rage and disappointment, let me finish. I'm not in any way condoning suicide, nor do I believe in it. If you're going to yell at me, then fine. Just know that you're being immature.

  How many of you have read a book dealing with suicide? How many of you judged it for what it was, and not what it dealt with?

  If you're one of the people who could raise your hand when I asked those questions, I applaud you. No, I want to hug you.

   Something that bothers me is when a person, ANYBODY, decides to completely judge a book on one aspect of the novel. I may not agree with everything the character says and does, but I don't need to. As a reader, I have to understand that I am not the character and they must make their own decisions. Just because they do something does not mean that I have to do it or even agree with it.

   Think about this: Book characters are always exactly like you. They look like you, they speak like you, they have the same lifestyle you do. They are, essentially, you. They do not have magical powers or go on epic adventures. Instead, they stay at home and do the things you do. The people in their lives are extremely similar to yours. There is no story.

   I'm sorry, but I don't read to hear about my own lifestyle and customs. I read to experience things that I would otherwise not be able to. I read to be entertained.

   

   Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

  I thought this novel was beautiful. It made me think so much about the consequences of my actions. It just goes to show that there are always two sides to every story.

   However...

   This novel has received a lot of good feedback, while it's definitely also received many negative reviews. Why? Because the novel contained content related to suicide.

   In my opinion, this novel doesn't really focus on suicide. It's more a think-before-you-do, chain reaction, make-you-think books. This novel isn't as much about Hannah committing suicide, as it is about why she did it.

   Yet, there are still people who tell me that Hannah is a coward. I fully respect these people and am friends with most of them. But it bothers me how I've heard them making fun of Hannah for "being a coward" and that she killed herself "because she was called some names."

   If you've read Thirteen Reasons Why, you know that it went beyond name-calling. A lot farther. While I don't agree with Hannah's decision, I understand it, in a way.

   I know there are so many families that have been hurt by a family member or friend taking their own life. For me, if an author can write a novel that could make teens think before they speak, or do, then it's completely worth it. If an author could help save a life, perhaps several lives, then why would you disrespect that? It just doesn't make sense to me.

   If you didn't like the novel because you didn't feel it was written well or something like that, then that's fine. But for people to bash on a book because it involved something they didn't like? That's just stupid. These things happen in real life, you know.

   How many of you agree with sex before marriage? 

   There are plenty of books, YA books, with that sort of material in them, but they can rise up the best seller list without a complaint.

   How many of you agree with drinking before legal age? 

   Several books deal with that, as well.

   How many of you agree with teen pregnancy?

   It's not even just books that deal with that. It's on TV, movies, and you can find in the lyrics of popular songs.

   You may or may not agree with any of this. And that's my point. You don't have to agree with it. You aren't the character. It's not your life or your story, so calm down.

   What are your thoughts, guys? I'd love to hear them. Leave me a comment.

Daily Dose (8)

Daily Dose is hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly.

I hope you're as happy as you are when you hear your favorite song. :)

Winner of Swoon and Immortal

Yeah, I really should've posted this yesterday, but I didn't. My bad.

So remember that contest me and Riley held a couple of weeks ago? It's over! Who won? Well, that's what this post is about.

Without further ado, the winner is:

KREAG from I Devour Books

Congrats, Kreag! :)

For those of you who didn't win, I hope you'll stay tuned for more fun stuff coming up in the future. :)

IMM (8)

 In my Mailbox is hosted by Kirsti over at The Story Siren.

  So, I sorta didn't post an IMM last week. I was on a mini vacation and didn't have all my books with me. In other words, I'M SOWRY! Here, I give you cookies. *hand cookies* See? All better. :)

Anyways....

This week I got:

Bought: 

*sigh* Nothing. It's called saving, okay? (I'm not very good at it..)

Received.:

  

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins (Thank you, Kare! *hugs*)

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (Thankith much, Riley. {The 'thankith much' is sorta an inside joke. Haha.})

Signed Half-Blood ARC by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Thank you, Jen and RCL!)

Signed Half-Blood bookmark ( {Came with Half-Blood ARC} Thank you, Jen and RCL!)

From my Pen Pal:

Kare from Epic Booknerd and I have been sending each other awesomesauce letters in the mail. Like, the snail-mail. It's very fun to go check the mail and see little pretties waiting on you. :) This is what I got from her this week.

The Ninja Kit (Manufactured by none-other than Epic Booknerd Inc.) includes:

• One Rubber Ducky tissue (Which I totally haven't been looking for at the store...)
• One Care Bear Dress up sticker sheet (The thing that my flash TOTALLY killed. *sadface*)
• One Paper airplane
• One dinosaur coloring sheet (Which I need to color or something. Haha)
• One Superhero Word Search
• One List of the included items
• One list of Warnings that Epic Booknerd Inc. is NOT responsible for.
• One Letter from the sender
• One Rubber band/Magical stretchy thing. (Haha.)
• And a Hello Kitty Band-aid to seal it all up (Who is now happily living on my wall and has been replaced by a piece of tape.

Thanks, Kare! :)


So, what'd you get in your mailbox?

Review - Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins 

Amazon Link
Goodreads Link

Page Number: 323 pages
Overall Rating: 4.5/5



" 'Let's just say you may regret that second piece of cake.'
Oh my God. Regret cake? Whatever was about to happen must be truly evil."



    I'm going to admit one thing to you before I even start reviewing this book. I didn't want to read this book because it seemed immature. Then I saw all the wonderful reviews for it and the quotes on goodreads made me laugh(Quite loudly...) like I belonged in an asylum.
   So, I decided I would read it if I could get it. I did(THANK YOU, KARE!). I read about two chapters one night, and then was insanely busy the rest of the week. I finished the better part of the novel in two days. During the week. When I have school.

   I'm very pleased with this novel. It made me laugh out loud and scream (Mentally. And through twitter....) and I severely hate one of the characters(Or a few.) because they're just mean and....mean.
   There are, of course, characters I loved. Jenna, for example, completely rocked, even if she was a pink lover and I despise that color. She was, therefore, simply awesome.
   Archer was nearly perfect. Why he's only nearly perfect, I can't say. It's a spoiler. Just read the book.
   Humor is a huge element of this book. There are clever little jokes thrown in and tons of funny situations.
   Sophie has to be one of my favorite characters of all time. She's very well thought out and full of witty comebacks. Her mind operates almost exactly like mine. I think that's why I like her so much. Great minds think alike and all.

    There's a very serious mystery in this story, though. It's not all laughs.
    Students at Hex Hall have been being attacked by something that drain the victims' blood. The students have this pinned on Jenna, since she's a vampire and Elody hates her. Sophie seems to be the only one who knows it wasn't Jenna.
 
   For those of you who watch crime dramas and such, you're probably familiar with screaming "IT WAS HER!" or "HE DID IT!" like a banshee. And then you're presented with more information and you change your mind. You're going for your new theory through the entire show and then you get to the ending. And then it hits you. You were right. You knew it.
   And so you're left sitting on your couch screeching, "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT WAS HER/HIM!"
   ...Or is that just me?

   There's something refreshing about this novel. As far as I can really tell, I think it's the avoidance of insta-love. There's an almost instant CRUSH (Notice how I didn't say love.)  when Sophie meets Archer, but she doesn't walk around going "I looooovvvvee him." and they definitely do not make out for three fourths of the novel.
   It's realistic.
   There's no looking at someone and then running into their arms for a long embrace. There's no first kiss on the fourth page. There's no "I love you" in the fifth chapter.
   So, for that, I applaud the author. Insta-love is hard to avoid these days and it's flipping annoying. There's very rarely a case where it works tastefully and well-written.

   Of course, there were things that I disliked, such as Sophie's sometimes inappropriate joking. I do remember a few inconsistencies in the story, as well, but they might have just been things I didn't remember reading earlier or that wasn't touched on well enough. It also ends on a HUGE cliffhanger, which kill me.
   I did, however, still enjoy the novel very much. For this reason, it's receiving 4.5 stars.