14 July 2013

Book Review: Out Of Breath by Rebecca Donovan.


Out of Breath (Breathing, #3)Book: Out of Breath (#3 Breathing series)
Author: Rebecca Donovan
File Type: Ebook.
Release Date: July 2nd 2013
Publisher: Skyscape
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

summary:Emma leaves Weslyn and everyone in it behind to attend Stanford University, just as she always intended. A shell of her former self, she is not the same girl. She is broken, and the only way that she’ll be whole again is through forgiveness. Emma must find a way to forgive herself and recognize her own worth before she can receive the love she deserves. This final installment will have readers holding their breath until the very last page.
WARNING: This is the third book in the Breathing series and it has mini spoilers. So if you haven't read the series or if you haven't read the book and don't wish to spoil your book experience, then I suggest you avoid this review because there is a lot of ranting coming your way, if you continue. So it's all upto you. Proceed with caution, if you're proceeding.

I've made an observation about myself and I'm not sure whether it's healthy. I have never thought of myself as someone who's patient and tolerant. I'm one of those people who love easily and then get angry easily too. If you like me, I like you too. If you irritate me, I won't stop myself from being vocal about it. If you hate me, then of course, I'll hate you too. It's a very simple explanation. If you're someone who I think deserves my attention, then you have all of it. You have my appreciation. You have my support. You have everything of mine that counts. But if you disappoint me, I just won't relent from saying what needs to be said.

This series disappointed me more than any other book or series, this year.

FRUSTRATION. IRRITATION. EYE-ROLLING seemed to be the overall theme and feel of the book. This book was long. And when you write long books, you bloody well make sure that the length doesn't bore the crap out of the reader. To be honest, this book didn't really bore me all that much since I was too angry and irritated to be bored. Why Ms. Donovan? Why must you disappoint me THIS way?

Out of Breath picks up, two years after Barely Breathing and introduces us to a very closed off and quiet Emma. She is different and you can see it. And why won't she be different? After everything that she's been through, I think it's natural to see a person who's distant and not very open about anything related to her and her past. In Reason to Breathe and Barely Breathing, Emma was a person, I quite honestly didn't know what to think or say about. Her thoughts and ideas got to me and I liked how even after all the crap that she had been through in life, she was determined to go past it and live life to the fullest. While I didn't agree with most of the decisions that she made, I did go with it because none of it upset me that much. I wasn't even mad when she made the worst mistake of her life by deciding to leave Weslyn and Evan without saying goodbye to start a new life in Stanford, because I knew that this stupid mistake of hers would eventually set the storyline for the third book and I really do love Ms. Donovan's writing, so what do I care,huh? I'm getting what I want. I'm getting another book where I'll get to see Evan and Emma and Sara and Jared AGAIN. Yay.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

I get that Emma is psychologically damaged and that she is distant and weird and quiet. I get how everything that's happened, things can't be that simple. BUT THEN THERE IS ALWAYS A LIMIT and My missy, you ANNHILIATED that limit. While the obvious solution was to go to a psychologist, Ms. Emma here was finding reasons to make us feel sorry for her. Seriously, Emma? If people destroy you, you fight back. YOU DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES GO GALLIVANTING AROUND WITH A BOTTLE OF VODKA IN YOUR HAND AND BECOME A PAIN IN THE ASS. You want to forget your pain? Try finding solutions to cope up with it, bitch. YOU JUST DO NOT FORGET THINGS EASILY. Lots of people do it. Lots of people drink to let go. But after finding yourself in a random guy's bed and regretting your actions and finding yourself with a serious case of hangover after drinking AGAIN and then finding yourself hating alcohol and then going back to it AGAIN and then regretting it AGAIN and then promising yourself that you won't do it and doing it all over AGAIN, you do not get to hold on to the 'I just wanted to forget because I'm in SO MUCH PAIN' bullshit AGAIN. Because guess what, bitch? YOU DID IT TO YOURSELF. And then when you're bestfriend tells you that you HAVE TO STOP before you become your mother, you DO NOT have the right to yell at her and push her away! BECAUSE SHE WAS RIGHT and you need to realise what you're doing is wrong and how you're ruining not only your but the lives of others as well!

And dear 'other' characters of the book, YOU GUYS ARE FULL OF SHIT.
Sara, YOU ESPECIALLY ARE. You're her bestfriend. You care about her. I get how you need to baby her. BUT YOU CAN'T BABY HER ALL THE FUCKING TIME. People need to fail once to succeed. So what, she's going through a rough patch? SHE is the one who's going through it. SO she's the one who needs to see things clearly. NOT YOU. She needs your support, not your 'OMG. Don't say anything to her or she'll break nonsense'. So much emphasis on the fact that SHE WILL BREAK, is why Emma was what she was in the book. I mean, all this while you all were being Einsteins in the book by trying to get her her out more and taking her to parties so that she could live a little, but none of your smart asses came up with the idea to send her to a FREAKING THERAPIST before? Or Wait. Were you waiting for Evan to that? Because he did it but it was still after such a long time. And what sort of friends were the girls in the book? 'OH LET'S HATE EVAN BECAUSE HE HURT EMMA?'
WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?

What pissed me off more is that the ones who were doing the right thing were the ones were being shouted at. Nate was such a badass when he went and asked Emma to try NOT to hurt Evan AGAIN. That's what a bestfriend is. Not you, Sara. You were being an obssessive Momma.
Anyway, what does Nate get after that? Emma's tears and Evan's anger? I mean nothing happened, but STILL. And when you tried to attempt suicide? GAAAAAH. Have you noticed how others have been tolerating YOU, Emma? Emma why won't you just sort your crap out and face it head on than being an ass who bottles everything within? Emma,why can't you see that you destroy people only when you destroy yourself?

And what about Cole? Poor Cole. I really loved his character.

And Emma, if a guy relentlessly tries to make you happy, stop telling him to hate you. How are stupid are you anyway? WHY WOULD A GUY RUN BEHIND YOU EVEN AFTER YOU LEFT HIM IF HE HATED YOU? He's been through shit. He's almost watched you die. And even after all that crap, he wants to be with you! The least you could do is say things nicely. And what the hell was the 'I'm not ready to be with you' crap, anyway? You say it once, makes sense. You say it twice, okay. You continue with your tirade, I still won't say anything. BUT AFTER THAT? OH EMMA. You're lucky you're just fictional.

Out Of breath shouldn't have been that long. This length stretched the matters more and it made me angry. And here's where I come full circle and tell you about my observation. I observed that I was very patient and very tolerant. But here's the thing is taking crap because you like the thing you're tolerating a better option or saying to hell with it? Because I certainly went along with the first option throughout the book and as I stated before, It wasn't really healthy. I'm giving this book two stars because there were too guys who I really liked and who I thought were probably the ONLY sane people in the book. Cole and Evan.

I still love you, Ms. Donovan. I just hope to see a dazzling next from you.

And Emma,
Grow a pair. Please.




13 July 2013

Stacking the Shelves


I finally got my April requests from MiraInk. Yay! Now I'm just If I Die and Before I Wake to have the whole Soul Screamers collection. I'll probably have a Soul Screamers read-along in the fall with a friend or two, if I convince someone to join me. I've read My Soul to Take in 2011 and I can't remember anything so I just might re-read it too.
Last year I discovered a genre called fantasy. I know it seems weird since I've obviously heard of it before (duh!) but I've never been a fan. Not until I read books like Shadow and Bone and Throne of Glass. A couple of months ago I read Snyder's Touch of Power and I liked her writing style very much. Everybody said Poison Study is her best work so when I saw that MiraInk also published it, I just had to have it.



  1. With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent 
  2. Poison Study by Maria V.Snyder 

I didn't get any new egalleys. Thank God for small miracles. I don't think I would have the time to read them anyway. I requested The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater but I highly doubt I'll get approved. 

09 July 2013

Book review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern


The Night CircusBook:The Night Circus
Author:Erin Morgenstern
File Type: Paperback
Release date: 2012
Publisher: Vintage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

synopsis:The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.




The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

WOW. THIS was magical.

I don't know about the others, but The Night Circus spooked the hell out of me, right from the very first page. It was mysterious, dream-like, captivating, confusing and frankly, very pretty. It was black and white fused with a tinge of scarlet and I honestly, can't think of any other adjectives since my mind is flying in a totally different direction and in an absolutely different world with no relevance to the present context. So let's just stick with the aforementioned words that I've used to describe this beautiful book and lets begin.

The writing is exceptional.
Morgenstern's writing style is a visual treat to the mind. We're easily transported to the world of the protagonists and we can easily visualise ourselves as one of the many characters in the book, because the detailing is so vivid and brilliant, that you feel like you're a part of the whole cycle. The Night Circus captures your attention and keeps you suspended into it's gooeyness of magic and awesomeness.

The book's one and only negative was the disappointing way things in the story played out. According to the storyline of the book, we were supposed to witness a fierce competition between extraordinary magicians and were supposed to see how this competition affected the lives of not only themselves but also of those around them. I don't exactly know where those 500 pages went but when it came to the competition it all fell flat because I saw absolutely nothing competitive about the competition. I saw the gruelling aspect of the competition because it was pointed out to me in the book, but how does any of it matter when the foundation element of the storyline itself was so weak. The end wasn't the one I was hoping for. I felt that it was too convenient considering the events that happened in the book.

But while the plot failed to deliver the essence of the book, it did include some defining moments of awesomeness that absolutely took my breath away. The characters redeemed the book to an extent. Each had a story of their own and each one of their story's played a pivotal role in the storyline. The romance, for a change, was something I absolutely loved. It was subtle, slow and believable. Whatever happened between the two protagonists, Celia and Marco made perfect sense and I loved every bit of it.

The Night Circus was a book, I thoroughly enjoyed. Its beauty lay in it's writing style and the author's imagination. While I did have my issues with the plot, the pros outweighed the cons and in the end, I was surprisingly satisfied.



07 July 2013

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon (Daily Updates & Wrap-up)


It's time for the fourth annual Once Upon a Read-a-Thon hosted by hosted by Angela & Loretta at Reading Angels, Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and Lori at Pure Imagination. This is the first time I'm participating in this readathon and the second time participating in any type of readathons. 

You can follow Once Upon a Read-a-Thon on twitter and use the hashtag #OUReadathon while tweeting to connect with other bloggers. There will also be a giveaway. $100 Amazon gift card or $100 worth of books from The Book Depository. Sound great, right?

Candace wrote a Suggestion Reads post and I'll use this one to do the same thing. I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to read as much as I did this past week (even though I didn't review any of those titles) so I'll set my goal pretty low. One or two books read because I don't think I can read more than 2 books in 2 days under pressure of the challenge. I'm well aware it's a fun thing to do but I always push myself to do better and I end up failing so no more of that. I'll try and stay away from ebooks and egalleys and read one of the books that's been sitting on my shelf for ages. But then again, I might change my mind and read on my ereader instead of picking one of those long forgotten hardcopies which are judging me from the high shelves in my room. 

I think I'm going to listen to Candace and my dear friend Tanja at Ja čitam, a ti? and  read one of Lisa Schroeder's books. I've got my eye on The Day Before since it came out but there was always something keeping me from reading it. 

Here are some contemporary novels I've been meaning to read but never did. Some are highly recommended and I KNOW they will be my cup of tea. The biggest problem I've had so far is choosing which one of them to read first. If only there was such thing as scooping them up and implanting them in my brain all at the same time. 



Click on the images to learn more about them.

Challenge Schedule

Monday 

1. Which book you are most excited to read in the coming year? It can be already released or coming soon.

I think I'm most excited about Thief by Tarryn Fisher. I'm not sure if it's going to be released this year, or the next. 

2. Which book would you re-read if you had the time and weren't so busy reading ALL of the other good thing?

I would like to re-read Nevermore by Kelly Creagh. It's one of those huge books where a lot of things happen. The sequel is sitting on my shelf and I would very much like to re-read some parts again, to refresh my memory.  

3. If you could meet any fictional character who would it be and why?

I can't decide between Rose from Vampire Academy and Warner from Shatter Me. I've been a fan of VA since I read the first book in 2009. There will never be a kick-ass character like her. As for Warner, ahem, I would like to meet him because I'm a little bit crazy about his green eyes. 


Participated in this challenge as well. Comment name Zemira Djedović. 

Books read/ing: Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
Pages read: 594

Tuesday 

Which two books and 3 items would you bring with you if the apocalypse hit? 

What kind of question is this? How can I bring only two books?*cries* Assuming something like this could happen I would bring Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi and Vampire Academy by Queen Richelle Mead, or I would cheat and bring my ereader. I would also bring the Invisibility Cloak, my wand, to protect myself, of course and a backpack full of food. 
Make your dream guy using characteristics, personalities, looks, and anything else you can think of from your favorite book boyfriends.

I would pick Warner from Unravel Me. I know, *sigh* he seems to be in my every mini challenge. I just like him just as he is. He would be my perfect book boyfriend since I have a soft spot for blond, green-eyed men. 
If I had to make a whole new book boyfriend, without using Warner I would pick Adrian's hair, Caleb as the model, Tucker's devotion, Cassel's coolness factor, Barrons' sexy voice, Paul's understanding of life and Adam's music talent. 
Guys used:
Adrian - Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead
Caleb - The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher
Tucker - Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Cassel - White Cat by Holly Black
Barrons - Fever series by Karen Marie Moning
Paul - How To Kill a Rock Star by Tiffanie DeBartolo
Adam - Where She Went by Gayle Forman


Books read/ing: The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
Pages read: 307

Wednesday 

Dizneeee's World of Books
What's your favorite genrefavorite book within that genre, and your favorite character from the same genre?
favorite genre: YA contemporary
favorite YA contemporary book: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
favorite YA contemporary character: hmmm... I would have to say Cricket Bell from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. *sigh* I will love him forever. Whenever I think of Cricket I get these sweet, magical feelings even though it's a contemporary novel. Seriously, if you haven't met this guy, you're missing out. 

Books read/ing: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Pages read: 320

Wrap-up

Books read: 3 Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning, The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder and The Distance Between Us by Kasie West. 
Pages read: 1221 ( Yay!  \O/)
Challenges completed: 5 out of 6. 
Favorite book read: This is easy. Shadowfever, hands down. Mac, Barrons, Dani, Christian and The Unseelie King were wonderful.