amarisafloria

Shatter Me was a beautifully written book. Right off the bat, you can tell that this book is written a little differently—there are words crossed out, on-going sentences, and even bits of poetry here and there. I can see why this might be annoying to some people, but I enjoyed it and thought it added a sense of "realness" to the story. We can see what Juliette is really thinking vs. what she "should be" thinking, and the metaphors that Tahereh Mafi used embodies Juliette very well.

I didn't want to put this book down—the pacing was perfect, the storyline was believable (for the most part) and every character played an integral part to the storyline. There was a good amount of action, especially in the last half, and the ending was awesome. I still have a lot of unanswered questions, so I will be picking up the sequel ASAP!

The only reason I didn't give this book a full five stars was due to the romantic parts. It wasn't exactly "insta-love," but it wasn't a relationship I could follow along with and see grow. It just happened, while an explanation came later. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll leave it at that. It was just too intense for me!

Friday Reads is a popular video done on YouTube every Friday about the books you plan to read that day. Here are my picks! (Warning: I ramble on about Warner and Adam from the Shatter Me trilogy ...)

As you can tell, I have something a little different for you today. I thought it would be fun to film a quick video of the books on my bookshelf :) Let me know if you have read or want to see a review on any of these!

Note: These are not all my books. I don't have enough room on my bookshelf to properly display all of them, so the rest are either on my desk or being read by friends.

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon—the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

After seeing the cover of Ruby Red, I knew I had to read it and own it for myself. The designer did an awesome job of incorporating time travel (the clock) and the historical aspect of this book (the photograph, of whom I assume is Gwyneth, the main character) into a aesthetically-pleasing cover.

Although this trilogy is translated into English from German, there wasn't anything that confused me or caused me to stop reading. I thought the storyline was creative and unique—time travel is always fun to read about. It's an interesting concept and difficult to keep consistent, but Kerstin Gier did a great job at making it fun and easy to follow.

I was surprised to find myself laughing at numerous parts in all three books, but I'm glad there were a couple of characters who added a humorous element to this serious story. If I had to choose my favorite character, it would probably be Lesley, Gwyneth's best friend. She was like a sidekick, always searching on Google for information about her family and trying to discover all the secrets. While reading this trilogy, I found myself wishing I had a best friend exactly like Lesley!

The only thing I didn't like about this trilogy was the fact that it was a trilogy. I think this book would make more sense if it was combined into one book instead of being split up into three different books. The beginnings of both Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green are spent discussing what happened in the previous books (Ruby Red for Sapphire Blue, and Sapphire Blue for Emerald Green), and it wouldn't have been necessary if it was one book.

Overall, it was an incredibly fun read and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good YA read with a bit of everything.

First of all, I would like to note that this thoughts and discussion post is my comparison of the movie to the books and how well it performed according to the way the different themes were presented. It is not a critique of what they changed or added (although I may mention some). The point of this post is to start a discussion :)

If you haven't seen the movie or read Divergent, please proceed with caution! (You can also redirect yourself to a spoiler-free review here.)

On Wednesday night, I had the opportunity to watch a pre-screening of Divergent. Before the movie started, I told myself that I did not want to be as critical as I was while watching The Hunger Games — I just wanted to enjoy and appreciate it for what it was.


For the most part, the movie generally stayed true to the book. There were a few times when certain things were changed, but it didn't alter the plot or any of the ongoing themes. Most of the things that were added/changed were done to keep the audience entertained and interested.

Although Divergent is a great book, it doesn't translate very well into a movie. The book is mostly about Tris' internal thoughts and feelings toward the different obstacles she has to face, which can't be visible or adapted in a movie (unless Tris does a voiceover for the entire movie ... that would be very strange). I also felt that there were a lot of events that happened in the book and, in turn, made the movie feel extremely rushed. I won't get into the specifics of exactly what, but I felt like the important things that happened near the ending were brushed over so the movie could make time for all the action points.

However, many of the scenes were similar to what I pictured while reading the book (although the zip lining scene was even BETTER) and well-produced. I really loved watching all the fear landscapes and seeing the Dauntless run around and scale buildings. I also enjoyed the movie soundtrack — Ellie Goulding was an awesome choice and I feel like she embodied the theme of the movie well.

I gave this movie 3.5 stars (out of 5) and will probably watch it again when it hits theaters. Will you be watching Divergent later this month?

Stay tuned for the "thoughts + discussion" post on March 21st!

As someone who enjoys reading books, it's a little embarrassing when I haven't read a "must-read" book. It's not that I don't care to read it, but it's hard when there are so many books in the world to choose from! Not only that, but new books are being released almost every week and the struggle to stop myself from buying every single one is REAL.

These are the top five I am most embarrassed to admit that I haven't read:

5. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
I bought this book last July and tried reading it once, but I couldn't get past the first chapter. I have heard countless good things about this book and I really want to watch the movie, but I don't want to watch the movie without reading the book first. I'm not sure when I'll pick it up again, but I hope to soon.

4. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I watched the movie a couple of years ago and almost got a chance to interview four of the cast members back in high school (key word: almost), but I never thought to read the book until I started watching a bunch of BookTubers (YouTubers who vlog about books) express their love for the series. Greek mythology interests me, so I'm excited to read this one day!

3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
I have no idea why I never picked this book up. I knew of its existence, but I always thought it was for older women (don't ask me why.) After reading Fangirl a couple of weeks ago, I NEED to read all of her books!

2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Not having read this book is just sad and there's nothing I can say to explain why because it's probably just a bad excuse.

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I know, I know. I need to buy this book and read it. I am ashamed.

My real TBR list is actually around 250 books, but I kept it to less than 40 on my Goodreads account so people won't think I'm crazy. Does saying that make me crazy?

Anyway, let me know your top five most embarrassing unread books! I promise not to make fun of you.