Why I’ve Been Gone For So Long And Six Of Crows Review:

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. I know that it has been a long time since I last wrote a blog post, which I apologise for, but I have a good reason for this. Since my last blog post, I have had a very busy time at college with my course. I have had a lot of full-on rehearsals for dance shows that I have been in and I have had tons of coursework as well for university next year. I have also had to go visit a few universities for next year so I have had no time to write anymore. As you can probably tell from everything that I have been doing, I have come back home exhausted from hours of rehearsals and coursework. Now, however, I should have more time so I will try and write blog posts for every week. Now that I have talked about all of this, I will talk about the book that I have just finished reading today which is… Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

I really enjoyed this story as it was fast paced and had me glued from the first page to the last. So much happened and I really enjoyed learning about all of the characters.

The characters were all very different to each other which was good and they all had something interesting about them which made them different. My favourite male character was Kaz Brekker. I like him the most as he is such a clever character. He’s so young, yet he went through so much and ended stronger because of it which I have to say I really admire about him. I was amazed at the schemes that he came up with and how everything he did ended up working. He is also a born leader which was really interesting to me.

My favourite female character is Inej aka The Wraith, as she is really important to the story. I feel like I could relate to her with the fact that she can sneak up on people and they won’t know she’s there as I can sometimes go somewhere and not be noticed. I feel sorry for how she was treated when she was younger but feel happy at the way she is now. I really want her and Kaz together so hopefully that will happen in the second book. I liked how their relationship grew so much, yet it was more in the background so it didn’t take away from the main plot.

Nina is a good character as well as she is a Grisha and has to go through so much throughout this novel due to what happened to her in the past and what happens to her in the present. She is really tough and cares about the people she is with. I like the fact that she won’t be pushed around and that she will fight when she has to which is really good to read.

Jesper is a really interesting character as he is very different from the others. He cares about all the people that he is with and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to them. He interested me but he wasn’t my favourite character in the book.

Matthias grew on me during the story. At the beginning I hated him, but the more I learned about him and saw him change, the more I started to like him. It was the things that he believed in that truly annoyed me and made me think of him as a villain at first. I like how his character progressed and changed into a more likable character.

Wylan I really like as he is such a naive character who didn’t want to be a criminal, yet ended up working with a group of criminals. He is such a clever character and did things that I didn’t think that he was capable of doing. I like how his relationship with everyone grew and how he changed throughout the story.

There were so many twists and turns throughout the book that I was on the edge of my seat throughout most of the story. I didn’t know what was going to happen next and I didn’t see anything that happened coming. Even up to the last ten pages twists keep happening and you don’t know who to trust anymore. I loved this book so much will start reading Crooked Kingdom immediately. I gave this book a 5/5 stars.

P.S. I just created an Instagram account for my blog which is A Universe For Books. I just started on there today so my first picture might not look the best but I will improve with time so you can follow me on there if you want. I hope you all have a good evening and I should have a new post up next week.

My Holiday Adventures:

On Monday, my family and I came back from my holiday to Bournemouth and it was fantastic. If you don’t know where Bournemouth is, it’s by the beach in the UK. We went there especially for this one week because of something that I will tell you later. 

On Monday, we arrived in Bournemouth and had a look at everything while also meeting up with some friends who were also there for half the week. 

On Tuesday, we all went to the beach and had a swim in the ocean. We did this on Monday too, but when we arrived it was late. It was so nice and hot and very relaxing too. This was the first time that I ever got a tan because normally I burn and not tan so this was very alien to me. We ended up staying at the beach for a good six or seven hours, no exaggeration.

 Wednesday was the start of the best part of the holiday though. Our friends were leaving later on that day which was a shame for them because they missed the best part of the year there which, again, I will explain a bit later. There was a treasure hunt type challenge going on where they give you clues and ask you questions about certain things all around Bournemouth. We decided to do this and came across so many cool things such as an arcade, a patisserie valerie shop (one of the best dessert places ever besides Creams) and a 6D cinema. I didn’t go there on Wednesday but I did go on Sunday. While I did this with my friends, my mother and brother found my dream. A dream cone to life. 

A waterstones with a coffee shop on top of it.

That was all I needed and now, I will try to move there as soon as I can. We also found the church where Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, was buried alongside her family.

On Thursday was the first day of the Bournemouth Air Show. This is the part of the holiday that I have been looking forward to all year. This air show is all about the military including: the army, the navy and the royal air force. This event has always been important to me since we found out about it last year as I have been wanting to join either the army or royal air force for a long time. Turns out, I only have to wait two more years now due to some buildings needing to be built. I’m so excited. 

On Thursday, we also went to Waterstones and I got myself an iced banana latte which was okay but really strong. I also brought myself The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson which is the first book in the Mistborn trilogy. The books are huge but I started the first book and it is so good. We went back to the air show where we watched a lot of displays. They were all with war planes and helicopters and they were awesome. Later that night, they did a firework display with the war planes where they shoot out the fireworks which looked amazing. 

Friday was much the same except that we went around Bournemouth for the day and then from the event, we went back to the beach to see the air show displays again. The best display that day was the one where the helicopter was on fire and two planes flew by shooting out fire works again like the previous day. 

On Saturday, we went to Poole to an indoor playground which my little brother loved. After that, we went back to the hotel room. When we left again, I was the one who witnessed the  Red Arrows fly past and low over the beach. We watched this beautiful display which was the highlight to the days displays and then asked about the royal air force. Like I said before, I have to wait two more years so I can prepare and train before I officially join. I want to either join them or the army. We stayed there for a long time.

On Sunday, it was the last day of the Air Festival which was a shame. We went really early in the morning and the first thing that I did was go on the Red Arrows simulator which was incredible as it felt like I was in the airplane. It felt like we did real loop the loops, went upside down and did all of these amazing tricks. After that, we continued down the beach and saw that there were these military tanks, trucks and rescue cars that you can climb into and the soldiers help you climb up and take a picture with you. It was all more cramped than expected but it was all interesting to learn about. There was also this one area where you can shoot with air rifles and the soldiers help you. Seeing as I’ve done air gun shooting before, I knew what to do and did well. After all of this, we went to a formula 1 racing simulator and I did really well on there too. Then, as my mother and brother went off to the water, I stayed behind at the arena which was a barred off area on the sand, and watched first the Parachuters, then the windwalkers, the helicopters, the blades, the Red Arrows and the Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight. I think that the best part of these displays were the windwalkers, the blades and the Red Arrows. The wind walkers were two planes with a woman sitting on top of each one and they did some incredible things like go upside down, lying on their sides and walking on the planes wings all while the planes are flying at incredible speeds. I would love to watch these displays again. This whole event was incredible and its by far my favourite part of the year.

On Monday, we went to Waterstones again and I got myself the rest of the mistborn trilogy and had a chocolate chip mint cooler which was delicious. After that, we went into the arcade and then went home.

All in all, this was an unforgettable holiday and I can’t wait for next year to come back and see the air show again. 

What did you do during the holidays? Did you go see the air show? I highly recommend that you should go see it one time as it was spectacular. I’m not exaggerating either. Also, lwt ne kniw if you want to see any picturea of the event. I tried putting them in this post but it didn’t workproperly. I might try again in a seperate post. See you next time with another post,

A Universe For Books.

My Wattpad Obsession

During the last couple of weeks, my reading has changed in a major way. A way that I never imagined my reading to change. Is it good, is it bad? I don’t know but I have figured out something that I have never thought that I would ever enjoy. 

I have become addicted to books on wattpad…

Here is a list of all the good things about this:

I get to read books from normal people who like to write but do it for fun,

I get to write my own stories,

I don’t have to wait a year for the next book in a series,

The books are for free.
Here is a list of all the bad things about this:

I try to read physical books but can’t get into them which is annoying,

I’m reading books on wattpad througout the day which isn’t very good for my eyes,

They might not update for a long time,

They might only have one book in the series but you have to pay for the rest or they have one book in the series and the rest are excerpts.
As it is at the moment, I will continue to read from wattpad as I’m reading some really good books on there at the moment. 

What do you think? Should I write some reviews on the books that I read on there? Please let me know in the comments.

If you want to check out my story that I have started writing called The Secret Storm or want to follow me on wattpad if you have it, my profile name is readingbooks18. I hope to see some of you there.

A universe for books.

The Mortal Instruments Series:

Last night, I finally managed to finish this brilliant series. I loved this series from the first book to the last, and let me tell you, the last book was one of the best endings to a series that I have ever read. I don’t think that this series should have ended any other way. 
The story from the first book all the way to the last ended up being a major rollercoaster ride with action, adventure, battles and twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. 

Whilst reading the last book in this series, I did end up crying quite a few times due to some things that happened and the fact that I had to say goodbye to some of my favourite characters whom I have been reading about for six books. The descriptions of new places was so well done that I could picture everything so clearly in my mind which I really enjoyed. Also, all of the new characters that I met at the beginning of the book I ended up really liking and I can’t wait to read more about them in Lady Midnight.

I hope that you have all enjoyed my reviews of the whole series and if you’ve read the books ( like I’m pretty sure most of you have,) I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

I will link my reviews here:

City of bones book review,

City of ashes book review,

City of glass book review,

City of fallen angels book review,

City of lost souls book review.
I have given City Of Heavenly Fire 5/5 stars and the whole series 5/5 stars too. 

The next book that I will be reading is Clockwork Angel so I hope that this series will end up being as good or better than the mortal instruments series.

The Sunshine Blogger Award

Hello everyone.

So, last week I got nominated for an award for the first time which, as you can already tell from the title, it’s the sunshine blogger award. I want to thank The Urangutan Librarian for nominating me.

The Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.
2. Answer 11 questions set by the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate 11 bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 new questions to answer.

So let’s start with the questions:

1) Worst book ever written?

I don’t normally like to think in terms of a book being the worst book ever written. However, there is one book that I didn’t like as much as I thought I would which has got to be Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne.

2) Best book ever written?

This is a really hard question as every book that I just finished is the best book in my opinion (unless I really didn’t get into it.) At the moment, Me Before You and A Court Of Thorns And Roses are tied as they are both so different yet amazing books. My review for both of these books will be up during the week sometime which will be exciting.

3) I’ve recently discovered the longest book ever written is 13,000 pages long and in French – do you think you’ll ever read it?

I don’t think that I could ever read that book. I don’t know any French and I have troubles getting through a long Stephen King book. Seeing as I can’t get through such a big book, I don’t know how I could ever read such a long book. However, if there was a translated version, I wouldn’t mind challenging myself a bit. I don’t think that I would ever read it though.

4) What’s your average reading speed? (Pages per minute.)

I don’t actually know. For me, it depends on how good the book is. If it’s slow and nice, then I would take a while trying to absorb whats on the page. If it’s faced paced and is action packed, I would breeze through the pages and before I know it, it’s already the evening and I’m halfway through the book. It all depends on how the book is.

5) In 100 words or less, do you think speed reading should be an Olympic sport? Why/ why not?

I do think that speed reading should be an Olympic sport. How cool would that be, to be obsessed with books and take part in something that doesn’t involve a lot of exercise and competing while doing something you love. To be honest, though, if I ever did that, I would fail as I can’t speed read and enjoy what I’m reading. I’ve got to take my time while reading.

6) What sports do you follow (if any?)

I follow:

Tennis and horse racing. I also watch the Olympics when they come around, and then, I like to watch the tennis, dressage, gymnastics, shooting and archery and the running. I do enjoy taking part in some of these sports when I have the chance which makes following the sports so much better to me.

7) What’s the best place you’ve ever been on holiday?

I’ve never actually been anywhere outside of the UK and Germany, however I did one time go on a residential trip to North Wales a couple of years ago. It was beautiful there and the views were amazing. It was so green and scenic. I can still picture it so clearly. The hills were so steep (which I know as I had to hike up the hills for two and a half hours), the waterfalls that we had to jump down during gorge walking were freezing cold during the rain and everyone was so friendly in the countryside there. It was Snowdonia where I went and I really want to go back one time.

8) Not including Earth – what’s your favourite planet and why?

My favourite planet would have to be Jupiter. Jupiter is, after all, the planet that brings luck when it comes into alignment with your star sign. I’m sorry. For some reason I have been more interested in astrology than I ever have been. What can I say; it’s really interesting stuff.

9) I’m obviously running out of questions – I dare you to attempt a handstand *right now.*

I would do a handstand if I could. I have a massive fear of going upside down so I have never managed to do a handstand.

10)Write a limerick about your favourite/ least favourite dictator.

He destroyed a million lives,

Cut them down like knives.

With all of that hate,

On his shoulders was a heavy weight,

And Hitler later died and we all hoped that he never survives.

 

That was harder to come up with a limerick than I thought it would be. I only really know about Hitler so I tried to write one on him. I hope that this was good enough though.

11) If your house was burning down and you could save one item, what one item would you save?

This is a difficult question. I think that I would have to save my notebook. I would have said my phone as it would be very helpful in the scenario, but I always make sure I have it on me at all times so I would probably already have my phone in my pocket. The reason why I would save my notebook is so that I can write down everything that happened to help me calm down and then I can also write some stories as I love to write and have always wanted to write a book. I mean, I even studied creative writing last year just so that I could have a chance at being a writer. Without anything to write with, I would feel like something major was taken away from me which is why I would save my notebook.

My questions:

1. Imagine that you are the protagonist and your life is a book. Which book that you’ve read would be written about you?
2. Imagine your favourite book is being turned into a book to movie adaptation. See if you can create a soundtrack to this book. Which book would it be?
3. Continuing from question 2, who would be your dream cast?
4. If you could travel in time, where would you want to travel and what would you do?
5. If real life was a fantasy book, what kind of character would you be? (Rebel, assassin, warrior, adventurer etc…)
6. What is your favourite beginning to a new book or book series?
7. If you were to write a book or book series, what would it be about?
8. Clay/ air gun shooting, running, climbing, horse riding, hiking. How would you order these from best to worst?
9. Would you rather be a bookseller, but you are never able to read another book again or an author, but you can only read the stories you’ve written?
10. Would you rather be: a demi-god, shadowhunter or peculiar? Why?
11. If you were a demi-god, who would your godly parent be and if you were peculiar, what would be your peculiarity?

I have chosen to nominate:

A Frolic Through Fiction,

By Hook Or By Book,

My Opinion Site,

Rakioddbooks,

The Girl Who Read Too Much,

Zeezee With Books,

Becca And Books,

Big City Bookworm,

Embuhleeliest,

The Book Prophet

Heir Of Glitter.

I had a lot of fun taking part in this award and it really got me thinking about a lot of these questions. I hope that you enjoyed this post and I also hope that you will like answering the questions I wrote out. It took me ages to think of them 🙂

I will write up some reviews over the next couple of days so be prepared to see them. See you soon.

A Universe For Books.

 

 

 

 

 

The Makeup Book Tag:

I want to thank mamandapanda from My Opinion Site for tagging me to do this tag. This is the first book tag that I have ever done so I hope you will enjoy it. Here are my answers for The Makeup Book Tag:

1) Primer:

Pick a book that left a lasting impression on you.

I have chosen The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting by Holly Bourne. This is because it is a really clever book that left me thinking after reading it. It deals with a lot of issues and a lot of the stuff in this book is relatable. Its been a while since I read this book and I am still thinking about it.

2) Foundation:

Favourite first book in a series.

I have chosen Gone by Michael Grant. This book is really gripping and is a great way to start of a series. This book is a dystopian and is based around the idea of what would happen if there was a dome and everyone over the age of fifteen disappears. I found it rather scary how realistic parts of it were, especially at the beginning. This is a great read and you should check it out if you haven’t.

3) Concealer:

Pick some characters you wish didn’t exist.

I have chosen every character in Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne. I liked the plot and the story in general of the book, but the characters annoyed me. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t get myself to like any of the characters which is why I couldn’t finish the series.

4) Powder:

Pick your favourite last book in a series.

Seeing as I put the first book in the series as my favourite first book, I just had to choose Light by Michael Grant, the last book in the Gone series. I think that this is the perfect ending to the whole series and I don’t think it could’ve ended a different way. All.of the story lines were wrapped up in an amazing way and I just really enjoyed this book. This is definitely a book that everyone should read. I should warn you though, these books contain a lot of violence.

5) Eyebrows:

Pick a book you think everyone should read.

For this, I wanted to pick a very underhyped book that not a lot of people have read. Therefore, I just had to pick The Secret Fire by C.J Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld. This book is really imaginative and unique and quickly became one of my favourite books of the year. So far, there is only one book in the series but the second one is supposed to come out in September which am so excited for. I can’t say a lot about this book without spoiling it. I wrote a review on it here if you want to check it out.

6) Eye shadow:

Pick a book with your favourite colours on the cover.

For this, I picked Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. This cover is so simple and beautiful and it also has my favourite colour on the cover which is red.

7) Eyeliner:

Pick a dark and mysterious book.

For this, I chose 1st To Die by James Patterson. This book series isn’t my favourite series and I couldn’t get through this book. However, it is dark and mysterious which is why I chose it. This book is about a woman who tries to solve the murders of newly wed couples. For me, this book was a little too violent and graphic for me so I couldn’t finish it.

8) Mascara:

Pick a long book.

The longest book that I own will have to be IT by Stephen King. This book is 1376 pages long and is a very heavy book. I still have to read it and I hope to read it soon. I’ve been meaning to read it for a while but the length is so intimidating but I plan to read it as soon as I finish reading the other books that I need to read first.
9) Blush:

Pick a book with a cringe worthy romance.

For this one, I don’treally know any books with a cringe worthy romance. Maybe the romance in Monument 14? I haven’t read it in a long time but I do remember not liking the couple in the story.

10) Highlighter:

Pick a book that brightens your day.

This book may not be the best book on earth, but it is a really cute read that can always put a smile on my face.

11) Lipstick:

Your favourite book kiss.

I just have to pick the first kiss between Feyre and Tamlin in A Court Of Thorns And Roses. Throughout a lot of the book, if you were in the same room as me, all you would’ve heard me say was, “Come on. That was the perfect opportunity to kiss. When are they going to kiss.” There were a lot of parts where they were so close, then nothing happened which made the scene where they finally kiss so much more exciting. When I read this part, I was literally jumping for joy. I hope I’m not the only one with this reaction.
So, that was my first tag. I had a lot of fun doing this tag and it was a great new blogging experience. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please let me know in the comments some of your thoughts on the questions so we can talk about these amazing books.

I will now tag:

A Frolic Through Fiction,

Rakioddbooks, 

The Orangutan Librarian.

This will probably be the last post that I post on this site, however I will continue on with my blog on my new website which is http://www.auniverseforbooks.com 

Please check it out as I have already done a knew post on there. See you on the other site.

1. A Universe For Books.

New Website

Hello everyone. I just wanted to say that I now have my domain website called http://www.auniverseforbooks.com  

I just posted a quick post on there explaining my absence and it is where I will be posting from now on. Please check it out. Thanks. 

I’ll Give You The Sun Book Review

This book was okay. It was neither good nor bad. For me, it was just okay. I think that I probably read this book when I wasn’t in the mood for a book like that so I’m thinking of trying to read this book again in the future to see if I like it more then. The writing style was really clever and I liked how the author used colours and animals to describe people and what Noah sees in his everyday life. I thought it was also really clever how the perspective change had a title throughout the whole story and how that interlinked into the story. Another good thing about how it was written is that each chapter is in the perspective of a different twin, Noah telling the story at the age of thirteen to fourteen and Jude telling the story at the age of sixteen. However, I didn’t like the way it was written with everything being in the present tense.

I liked the relationship between Noah and Jude as they have such a nice bond. Even through the hard times, they still manage to get along which I really enjoyed reading about. I also really liked Brian as he was so nice and enjoyed introducing other people to his hobbies which made me like his character. He was there for Noah when he needed him which was really sweet. Oscar was really cool and I liked his relationship with Jude as they get along so easily.

I enjoyed how each of these people are linked in a lot of different ways. The way that they were linked I didn’t see coming and it made the story more interesting as well.

Therefore, I liked this book but I think that the writing of it could’ve been better. I also think that the way the story was written could’ve been better. For me, when I read this book, I started reading but then got a bit bored, but a day later I felt like I needed to know what was going to happen next to the characters. Due to this, I gave the book 3/5 stars. I will read this book again in the future and give it another chance as I think I just picked it up at the wrong time.

What did you think of this book? Did you enjoy it more than I did? Do you think I should give it another chance? Please let me know in the comments as I’m interested to read your opinions on the book.

Small update.

I have just joined netgalley so I will be reviewing more books soon. I just wanted to quickly let you all know as this is exciting. I’ll see you in my next post where I will review I’ll give you the sun.

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children Book Review

I started this book 2 days ago and I couldn’t put it down. So much happened within this book and each chapter got better and better. I enjoyed how the pictures were written into the story. The pacing was really good and worked well with the story. The beginning I found slow, but gradually the book started picking up the pace which I really enjoyed.  It all seemed to be building up to that final fight scene.

The world building I found really good. I thought it was really clever how the author used a bit of time travel to put a certain day in the past on a repeated loop. The writing style was brilliant. The descriptions of things, places and experiences was so well done that I could see whatever Jacob could see and experience everything that he experienced which I really like when it comes to reading these type of books.

Jacob was such an interesting character to read about. I liked how he started off being a normal boy and developed into a peculiar child who will do anything to look after his friends and keep them safe.

The peculiar children were also really interesting to read about due to their peculiarities and how they came together as a group to fight off the evil. Their friendships was really nice to read about and I also liked reading about how they always stick together and help each other out.

Miss Peregrine was so nice and looked after Jacob while he was at the home. I hope to read more about her in the next book.

I didn’t really like Jacob’s dad. Yes, he wanted what was best for his son, but I think that he should’ve given him more freedom. He kept on asking so many questions whenever Jacob wanted to do something and I kept on thinking that he should be able to spend some time on his own as well.

I loved this book so much and I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to read something new and different and a bit spooky. I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Have you read this book? If not, are you thinking of reading it? What were your thoughts?