November 9 by Colleen Hoover Review!

Hey readers! How have you guys been, so apparently I haven't been reading a lot of books that I wanted to review, and also, I was in a reading slump in the past few months during my holidays in which I didn't read a lot. Maybe because I was procrastinating, but let me just blame it on the reading slump.

Alright, let me just get started with this review now, and less rambling about my reading for now.

PS. This post was supposed to be up in like a few months back when I finished reading the book, but I guess it's better late than never, right? SO LET'S GET STARTED!!

Rating: 5/5 stars

Thought on the book:

This book was EVERYTHING that I was looking for. It was just amazing, a really good sense of plot in the writing, and even the characters make you fall in love with the book. You can't help but want more of this book, which is exactly what happened to me. But no, seriously, if you guys haven't pick up this book, or never even tried reading Colleen Hoover's books, let's be real, what have you been doing! Just pick it up, read that first sentence, and I can promise you that you will be BLOWN AWAY by how mesmerising this book is.
It just captivates your heart, your mind and your soul, and it consumes you, tears your heart, but meld it all back with the cute and beautiful romance that you are waiting for your entire life.

 This by far, might be one of my favourite CoHo's book, and until now I can still remember the book so well.

This book has like the most interesting events and some of the quotes really stood in my head, even after reading this book, this book has already changed my life, with all the self-love, trying to show you that even though you might have a part of you that you want to hide from the society, as long as that confidence in you is still there, you can do whatever you want! Sure, our main character has a huge flaw shown on her body, and she wants to hide it from everyone, and she hates how her looks affected her everyday life, but when she slowly gains her confidence with the help of her new friend, she realised that "hey, as long as I think I am beautiful, I can rock this world!"

Okay, so in this book, there are some parts of the story that made me really angry, yet sympathize the characters, as the story slowly unfolds itself.
The cool thing about this book is the way it was written, it teases you with a bit of what might have been the reason that caused the accident, but then it just walks off like nobody's business, and it just leaves you hanging like "Wait, what?! GET BACK HERE!" and you starts to scream at the book, and you have the biggest urge to just throw this book at the wall, but then you pick it up and continue reading, and the cycle just repeats itself, and you willingly let your heart get hurt and shape it back and gets hurt again. (*cough* I never learn my lesson. Ever. *cough*)
This book does this teasing and taunting to get your attention every time, and you just want more, you want to know what exactly happens in the book, and you get it! Finally! But it will only be revealed...
At. The. End. Of. The. Book.

Although it sounds like a hardship and a really long journey to get to the end to know the real ending and the whole reason, it just felt so worth it because you have read everything all the way from the start, knowing nothing at all like Fallon, which by the way is our main character, and you just discover bits and pieces of the truth with her! What a journey, right? This might be why I fell in love with this book, mostly because of the style of writing.

So would I recommend you guys to go pick this book up?
YES! Although I do not encourage the actions done in this book by the characters, but it is all fictional, and it is meant to be a form of enjoyment, not to make you follow the actions, duh! But putting all the harm aside, and just reading it for the sake of reading and having fun, then yeah! Definitely pick this bad boy up! You might also find yourself a new book boyfriend after this!!! HAHA!

Alright, so if you haven't pick the book up, go read it! And stay away from the following paragraph because they are full of spoilers! Come back only when you are done reading!

BYE NON SPOILERS!

SHORT SPOILER HERE!
So first off, the ending, it was a whole thrill of experience and I had wanted nothing more than to just throw the book out that window and curl myself up into a ball and cry out loud, because this book has just ruined me, both inside and outside. I never knew that the truth could be so harsh and so hurting. I really could relate myself with Fallon, and I know how she feels, and I should hate Ben for all this, but after reading about why Ben was the whole cause of everything, it makes me even sadder, but I can understand why he did what he did, and I know it's wrong for him to do that, but still... I CAN FEEL FOR HIM!

Oh and also, when Ben did a tattoo on himself just to remind himself of what true love is, and how his mother had a tattoo on herself for the exact reason, was just the most perfect thing ever. It got me thinking that maybe I shouldn't get a tattoo on myself until I really truly experienced what is true love, to make me remember it my whole life, but who knows?

And I definitely love the part where Fallon tells Ben that her mom told her to not date until she was 23 years old, and since she was still 18, they both had to wait 5 more years before they can get together. It was just the best thing in this book ever, and most probably one of my favourite part in this entire book. I can just relate so much to this part of the book, because I'm from an asian family, and my parents are really not very okay with me dating so early in my life, and I have been following my parents wishes because as they say, "parents know the best for their children"!
End of spoiler!

Well I guess this is my spoiler (real short), but I don't know what else to say, like that short part feels super spoiler-y to me already, hahaha!

Alright, so I will just end this blog post here, I will definitely write more when I read more books, but lately, I haven't been reading all that much! Hmm, I wonder why? (*cough* games and drama and school *cough*)

I will see you guys next time, hopefully soon!

BYES!

What's Going On In My Life?

Hey guys, this is like my first post for 2017! I haven't been reading a lot of books this year, and I have been into school work and events lately, and maybe because I have a lot of things that made me procrastinate and not read. But what are these "things"? Read on to find out!


First off, it's not like I haven't been reading at all, let me redeem myself first! I'm reading more of Chinese books instead of English YA books, so that's one problem. Another problem is that I don't think anyone would want me to post my review on Chinese books, which is what putting me off from writing anything. But if you are interested in what I have been reading, here's some of the titles. So I will write it this way, <Chinese title, (how to pronounce the chinese words), and the English title.>

- 微微一笑很倾城 (wei wei yi xiao hen qing cheng) Just One Smile Is Very Alluring
- 何以笙箫默 (he yi sheng xiao mo) Silent Separation
- 杉杉来吃 (shan shan lai chi) Come Eat, Shan Shan
So all these books are by this author 顾漫 Gu Man.

She is really a very talented writer and I love her books so much! It's now my life! The reason why I picked up these books was because I first watched this Chinese Drama called Love O2O featuring 杨洋 Yang Yang, 郑爽 Zheng Shuang as the main characters in the show. And let me tell you, this is the BEST show I have ever watched, and it even topped my rankings, which has Descendants of the Sun in it. I have already watched this drama 3 times, given my busy schedule, and you can just tell, how much I LOVE this show!
I then found out that Love O2O was actually adapted from a book that Gu Man wrote, and I obviously went to pick up the book to read it. So I went to Kinokuniya in my country and tried to find the book, but they only had traditional version of the book. But that's for a whole other story, that I will post in my blog soon!
(Fun fact, I don't read traditional chinese characters, because I never learn it in school. I mean I can read the words, but it takes me a much longer time to process everything. And yes, I am taught both English and Chinese, because it is compulsory to be bilingual in my country, where you have the international language, and your mother tongue language like Malay, Tamil, and Mandarin!)

Next, I was very into my other hobby which is gaming, either on my computer or on my PS4 and 3DS. I usually play Don't Starve Together with a bestie of mine on the computer during our school breaks, which as I'm writing this post is currently my school break! I recently got a New 3DS XL, and let me tell you, it is the best decision I have ever made in my life, hahaha! So I'm pretty addicted to my consoles as well, as you can see.

I am also very addicted to Mystic Messenger and if you've seen other people playing or have played it yourself, you will know that this game is very time consuming in a really good way, and it's based off of real time and you HAVE to play it as soon as the chatrooms are open, if not you will feel guilty and angry at yourself because you have to spend hourglass (the currency in the game, and which also runs out really fast) to unlock the missed chatrooms.
So you must be like "Kat, this game has been out for so long, and the hype has mostly died down, why are you still playing it?" (same questions to be asked to those Pokemon GO fans as well).
But for me, I just love this game SO MUCH, like the day I found out about this game, it has consumed my everything in life. I'm constantly checking my phone and I found happiness playing this game. No joke.
The characters just felt so real to me, maybe because the characters all have their own voice actors, and it makes you feel 10 times more connected to them. And to also redeem myself, they have a lot of DLC lately, like the Valentines Day, Christmas, and now they have the April Fool's Day. So even after playing the main game, these DLC just sucks you right back to the game. So, I have been playing MM even till this day...

Okay, next let's talk about school. So I just finished my 2nd semester in school, and I just finished a 3 weeks long project doing animation, and it was just so tiring because I powered through the whole thing in 2 weeks, because if not, I will have lost all motivation to even do anything in the last week. And also before my school project started, school was really tiring, with the constant drawing, and assignments, and more drawing, it really tires you out, and for someone like me with really high energy at the start and then burns down slowly at the end, it just makes me really tired at the end of the semester.

Also I have been participating in a lot of school events, as I am part of the ambassador for my school, I help out in the events that my school hosts and get CCA points. So far this year, I have done Open House (which was okay, just time consuming) and I am now preparing for a Freshmen Orientation which takes place next week. This whole month has been me going to school and have day camps to meet my peers and then having dry run for the whole event, trying out the games that will be taking place on the day of the orientation. I wanted to be a Game Master, but I don't think I will land on the position because I think they have already selected the people they want to be GMs even before I went for the day camps... Oh well!

Next I have just been practising my piano almost everyday, which is unheard of, since I don't practise during school terms since I get home at like 7pm everyday with half-dead mind and body and more assignments to be done. But because I have to take my Grade 8 exams this year in my next school break, and now I have the time, I have to practise! After all, practise makes perfect! And I can definitely see a huge improvement after 3 weeks of practising! YAY!

So I guess this is what have been happening in life. To sum it up, school, gaming, and exam! What a great life! But no seriously, just from having my 3DS to accompany me, I tell myself everyday that I am really glad to be alive at this day and age right now! WOO!

Alright, I will end this post now, and I hope you guys have a great year ahead! Have fun reading if you are still reading, and just have fun in life if you are not! See you guys soon in the next post!

BYES!

The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout Book Review (NON-SPOILER)

Hey book lovers, so I am back with another book review NON-Spoiler, of course, and this time, it's the new book that the wonderful Ms Jennifer L. Armentrout wrote, (she just writes the best contemporary books), and although this book took me a really long time to read, long as in almost two months, but to be honest, this book is just AWESOME! Read it guys, if you haven't.

Rating : 4/5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads) :
For some people, silence is a weapon. For Mallory “Mouse” Dodge, it’s a shield. Growing up, she learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime.

Now, after years of homeschooling with loving adoptive parents, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at public high school. But of all the terrifying and exhilarating scenarios she’s imagined, there’s one she never dreamed of—that she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day.

It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet the deeper their bond grows, the more it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with the lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory faces a choice between staying silent and speaking out—for the people she loves, the life she wants, and the truths that need to be heard. 

What I Like:
The characters are definitely one of my favourite parts in the game. Not their personalities or anything, but just the small fact that they are so real and seemed to have feelings, voicing their opinions out like a real human being. They also really face problems in the book and they try to face it, which makes it so much more realistic instead of them being all perfect and wonderful without any problems at all.

I definitely love our two main characters, they are like the cutest OTP that I have ever read about, and man, I love them so much! Although, I don't really like Rider, for one reason, (you won't know unless you read the book, *smirks evilly*), but other than that, he is just so perfect! So cute, so hot, so wonderful that I can't even say the right things to describe him! AH! 

I also really like Rosa, she's Mouse's "mother", Mouse is adopted, if you guys are at like the first page of the book, and don't worry, they tell you this part in the very first few chapters in the book, so no worries, alright?

I also really like the way JLA write about the issue of Post Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD), and yes, that is a real thing if you didn't know about it. And she wrote it with a lot of knowledge on it to bring out the whole situation, making it so real and let you know more about the disorder and this just makes you understand and reach out to the character even more. I definitely feel that this PTSD were one of the main key things in the book, and I really like the that you get to know more about Mouse/Mallory as she reveals her reason of having PTSD (not a spoiler, they say that in the first few chapters, so relax, and just read on.) 

I also like that beautiful book cover of this book, haha this isn't considered as a book review, is it? Oh well, but I really DO like this cover, So artsy and I can't stop looking at the book! 

What I dislike:
The parenting in the book is just... too horrible to even say anything. Good or bad or who, I won't say anything, but they are definitely something I hate, and makes you realize that not all parents are perfect or bad, and they make you treasure your parents even more, well at least that's what happened for me, and I hope that's the way for you guys as well! 

I hated Paige, let's be real here, she's just so annoying and 'beachy' and I she gets on my nerve every time I read about her with Rider (you also know this at the 2nd or 3rd chapter),  
And to be real honest with you here, I have never hated a character so much besides her! She really breaks through all the record of my hated characters in all the books that I have ever read. (Although I can't be a judge since I don't read a lot of books, but you know the hatred is just so real.)

I also didn't really like the plot setting in the story, because it was so confusing! I couldn't really understand how the houses work and everything, I guess maybe it's because I'm a foreigner, and that's why I didn't understand how the housing system works, because it definitely is different from where I am and the States (this book takes place in the States right? Or... maybe not? I'm just confused with it), and this just makes me so confused whenever the description was talking about Mouse going to this place and all, and I couldn't even picture a single thing in my head! 

Things I hate but grew to like:
Rider, this baby boy is just too gorgeous. As said before, I didn't really like him because of some things at the beginning, but as I progress through the book, I really understand him, and damn, he is starting to grow on me! I'm liking him so much more!

Ending:
I really enjoy the ending, I like the way the whole book ended and it just left off with a really good feeling, and it was so awesome! I was pretty much satisfied with the ending, even though this book was really inconclusive, and you guys know how I dislike my books with inconclusive endings, but this book, it just ended off wonderfully. It just feels like the characters had more stories ahead that only they know, and we are just with them for this period of time until the book ended, which makes me feel good! I don't know if I'm making any sense, but that's how I feel, and it just make me love the book even more!

Alright, I guess I will end this blog post here, I hope you guys will want to read this book even more, and would want to pick it up! I will have another blog post up soon, so until then, happy reading!

=)

Coffee Book Tag!

Hey book lovers, so today I am here with a book tag on books and ... COFFEE! My love of coffee is so much that I have decided to do this tag!

So let me start off about some facts about myself first, about my love of coffee. So I found my love for latte since 2012, and I my love for Starbucks is so great, you will never understand my obsession over it! I will need my weekly dose of Starbucks, and I can't go over two months not having it, if not things will go really bad.

Okay, so without further ado, let's get started with the tag!!

1. Black: Name a series that's tough to get into but has hardcore fans.
I will have to say the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. A lot of people loved this trilogy, and it also has really great reviews on Goodreads, but the thing is, when I tried reading it a year ago, I couldn't get into it. I will try it again soon, fingers cross that I will like it this time!!

2. Peppermint mocha: Name a book that gets more popular during the winter or a festive time of year.
So the answer for this that I'm going to give is already very popular by itself, but a lot of readers will read it more often during the winter and festive time of year. I'm sure you guys already know what book this is, and that is the Harry Potter series!!!

3. Hot chocolate: What is your favorite children's book?
So my childhood didn't start with Harry Potter, surprisingly, I actually didn't enjoy reading Harry Potter because I started with the third book "Prisoner of Azkaban" instead. I guess my favourite children's book will be the Geronimo Stilton's books. My love for those books are just overwhelming that I even took them out of my bookshelves just to re-read them nowadays!

4. Double shot of espresso: Name a book that kept you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
I'm pretty sure the book is Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This book is a thriller-suspense and everything in the book was just so intense! I remembered being surprised by all the little twists that were brought to my attention in the book! 

5. Starbucks: Name a book you see everywhere.
A book that I see everywhere is Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. The book recently just became a movie, and there are a lot of hype going on around this book, so everywhere in the bookshop on the shelves is this book!

6. That hipster coffee shop: Give a book by an indie author a shoutout
I'm not very familiar with the category of Indie authors, I'm not sure who are self-published or traditionally published, but the only author that I know of is Jennifer L.Armentrout who self-published her book, Half-Blood (Hopefully I'm not wrong about it...)

7. Oops! I accidentally got decaf: Name a book you were expecting more from.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson which I have a review on about this book, so check it out if you haven't! I definitely expected something more from the book, it was just so short! I really wanted to read more!

8. The perfect blend: Name a book or series that was both bitter and sweet but ultimately satisfying.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, let's be honest here, this book, is just a KILLER! You get all the feels, ALL THE DAMN FEELS. They just hit you right in the face when you least expected it, it was just so bittersweet! But the story throughout was just SO GOOD! It's like I'm on drugs, where I want to read more and more about this book (not like I've been on drugs, but it's just so addicting to read about!) I really contemplated on reading the book once again after I finished it, because #feysand. Don't deny their love!!!! I ship them so hard! ><

All right, I shall end this post here, I hope you guys enjoyed this sort of tag, and I hope you guys do it, it was so much fun! Hopefully you find some books through this tag that you want to read about even more now! I will have another post up soon, so stay tuned for that! 

Until then, happy reading! =)

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson Review (NON-SPOILER)

Hey book lovers, so I am back with another book review for you guys, and this time it is a graphic novel! This is my first ever graphic novel, and I happened to see it in my neighbourhood library one day, just sitting there, waiting for someone to pick it up. I heard a lot of great reviews so I thought why not just pick it up and try it! Turns out, it was a great experience reading this, and it just felt like reading manga, maybe even better. Now I can't wait to read more graphic novels to widen my horizons!

Okay, cutting the chat, let's go on to the review!

 Rating : 4.5/5 Stars!

Synopsis (from Goodreads) :
The graphic novel debut from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize, calling it "a deadpan epic."

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

What I like:
The genuine feeling the characters give in this book, it felt like they are real characters and that they are just so true and really have emotions which you can also feel together with them in the book. Whenever the characters have any problems, you really feel the struggles that they are feeling at that moment.

I also enjoyed how the author actually ventured into the other side of the hero world, where you get to see how the heroes and villains came about, and they took a really different turn from how you will be expecting when reading the book, which really took me by surprise, and I really enjoyed this element in the book. 

And lastly, I also enjoyed seeing how the characters were actually all flawed, like they had their bad times and nightmares that they had to overcome. Usually, all heroes are perfect, and all enemies are bad and wicked, but what if they are different from the usual? What if they are not what you expect them to be? 
I went into this book unknown about all this things, and to be honest, they took me by surprise and it was one of the best things about this book, and I would definitely want to read more about such flawed characters. 

What I dislike:
I didn't like the ending of the book as it was really vague, and I didn't like how I have to guess what is happening afterwards, like there was no definite ending to the ending, you know what I mean? It's confusing, but it's just sort of a ending that has no conclusion to it, which sort of bothers me. 
And there are two characters in the book that sort of came together at the end, but I have no idea whether they are together because they felt like they need to, or because they want to. Which, again, bothers me a lot, even after I finished reading it.

Another thing which I didn't like about this book was the font that was used in the story, I was so bothered with it throughout the whole book, and sometimes the author used capital letters and underlining of the words in the dialogue, which I don't know if it is for emphasis or to represent the characters were shouting.

To be really honest with you guys, I really didn't like Nimona, even though she is our main character, and it's just bothering me so much as I was reading the book, She wasn't a character that are annoying or mean, but more like she is so mysterious and thinks highly of herself, not letting others know about her, always wanting to do things her way but ending up hurting herself instead. These things made me not like her personality and her character also. I really want to like her, but even until the end of the story, my hatred for her just kept rising, and she didn't leave a great impression of me even when I finished reading the book, although she did play a big part in the book.

Thing I hate but grew to like:
So I have to bring this out, when I first started reading this book, I wanted to just put it aside and not even give it a chance because of this aspect of the book, and that is the art style. I didn't enjoy the art style of it at all when I first started reading this book, and I nearly didn't give this book a chance because of that. However, I pushed through it, and I grew to like the art style as I read past a-third or close to half of the book. And to be honest, the art style really grew on me as I keep reading on.

All right, I guess that is all I have to say about this book, I really enjoyed reading it, and I would want a sequel to it, but I guess that won't be happening. This book really took an unexpected turn which I really liked, and this really make me want to read more graphic novels!

I hope this book review will make you guys want to read it even more, and I will end this blog post here. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this, and have fun reading the book! With this, happy reading guys!

=)

The Infernal Devices Discussion!

Hello book lovers, it's been awhile since I last posted something here, especially a book review! However, today shall be the day that I continue to do some blogging on book reviews!

For this review, the first part is SPOILER-FREE, so you can read on with peace, when it comes to the details of the books, I will warn those of you that hasn't read the book yet to STAY AWAY. Unless, you want to get yourself spoilt for the trilogy, but I recommend you don't!

Alright, with the disclaimer stated, let's get started!

So, I recently just read The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare, and I have so much to talk to you guys about!

First off, what is The Infernal Devices? 
          This trilogy is set in the Shadowhunter world and there are demons, vampires, werewolves, and even faeries! This trilogy takes place before The Mortal Instruments series, in 1878.
          The books are Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess.
       
          So, in this trilogy, we follow our three main characters, Tessa Gray, Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs, who had to fight for their own lives, trying to figure out who they are, and to just get on with their lives, and there is also a really huge love triangle in the story.

Here's a synopsis of Clockwork Angel :
In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Timesbestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...

Rating :
Clockwork Angel : 5/5 stars
Clockwork Prince : 5/5 stars
Clockwork Princess : 5/5 stars

Now, doesn't the rating says a lot for how good the trilogy is? Well, at least I enjoyed reading them, and the time that I spent with all the characters in the book. However, you might have opinions that differ from mine, so read on to see if this trilogy might interest you.

Characters :
As mentioned above, we start off the trilogy with our main characters, Will Herondale, Jem Carstairs, and Tessa Gray. 

• Tessa Gray is just the perfect female character you would want to read about who isn't all whiny and useless, trying to depend on every character there is in the book, but instead she is someone who is headstrong, determined and controls her own life, by facing every obstacles there is that stood in front of her. 

• Will Herondale is a character that is very mysterious, and makes you wonder who he really is behind all the walls that he has put up for himself, to keep everyone away from him. He is someone you wished you have as a partner in real life, to comfort when he is heartbroken, to laugh at when he is really goofy, to swoon at when he makes all the quotes from the classics that he has read. 

• Jem Carstairs is a really delicate character, one who you can't help but fall in love with, be it his looks or his personality. He is really calm, and forgives people easily, never holding a grudge on someone, especially to those that he loves. He plays beautiful music on his violin, like it's his life that he's holding on to, playing with such gentle hands, expressing himself in a way that he can't with words. You will find yourself falling in love with him, whether you want it or not, he will capture your heart, and play it on the strings of his violin.

Then we have characters who aren't the leads, but they play HUGE roles in the books. We have Charlotte Branwell the head of the London Institute, Henry Branwell; Jessamine Lovelace; Magnus Bane; the two Lightwood brother, Gideon and Gabriel.

• Charlotte Branwell is a great leader, despite being a female. She faces a lot of obstacles set by people who dislike her for being a leader just because of her gender, trying to bring her down from her position. However, she treats everyone with care, welcome whoever that needs her help to the Institute, and she never resort to violence and betrayal even to the people who backstabbed her, instead she always try to solve things diplomatically instead of violence. She is a character that you will look up to, and will enjoy reading about her in the books.

• Henry Branwell isn't the character that you will expect yourself to read about. Although he is a man, he doesn't lead the Institute, instead he lets his wife to do the job, while he supports her on the sideline. He puts his time on inventing things, although most of his inventions always brought danger to the shadowhunters in the Institute. Even though he doesn't seem like the guy who is very dependable, he actually is. He supports his wife silently, helping her along the way when things are going all the wrong ways possible in the Institute, giving suggestions to his wife on how to solve things, and he loves his wife a lot, showering his affection on her.

• Jessamine Lovelace is one of those characters that you can't help but hate. She is really whiny, and does the things opposite to what others want her to do. She hates her life and is always trying to do something in order to change it. She isn't the most favourable character in the books, but you will grow to like her, and understand her, in ways you didn't at the beginning.

• Magnus Bane is a warlock, and he is the one of the most powerful and also the oldest. Warlocks are half demon and half human, and they are able to perform magic. He is a really interesting character that you will meet, and you will enjoy reading about him in the books. He is someone who is also very mysterious but at the same time has a lot of sass, and isn't afraid to show who he really is to everyone.

• Gideon Lightwood is a character that only start to play a huge role in the second book, and he is just really calm, and super chill with whatever he do, but when things come to his brother, he seems to have a 'brother complex' and he has NO chill at all. 

Okay so basically that is all for the characters. I have to say, they all just grow onto me after the third book, and I couldn't even bear to finish the story. *deep breathes*

TMI or TID first?
So a lot of you will be wondering, should I read The Mortal Instruments (TMI) or The Infernal Devices (TID) first.
For me, I read City of Bones first, then reading Clockwork Angel, proceeding with City of Ashes when I was in the middle of Clockwork Prince (oops haha!) and then Clockwork Princess. However, there are definitely a lot of different ways of reading the Shadowhunters Saga (is this what you call the whole thing...?)

First, you can read it according to the timeline of the book, TID then TMI.
Second, by the way Cassie Clare suggests:

1. City of Bones
2. City of Ashes
3. City of Glass
4. Clockwork Angel
5. Clockwork Prince
6. Clockwork Princess
7. City of Fallen Angels
8. Clity of Lost Souls
9. City of Heavenly Fire

Third, if you are worried that you cannot get into TMI, then go for TID first, since it helped a lot of people to get into the series, and they loved TID better!

Okay with that, I will end the non-spoiler part of this post, and hopefully you will feel excited to read this trilogy now! Do not read on if you haven't finish this trilogy! Okay, BYE!

So here on, it will be spoilery... So, stay away if you don't want to be spoiled on the third book : Clockwork Princess! 

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!!
CLOCKWORK PRINCESS SPOILER!
PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

I definitely enjoyed Clockwork Princess a lot, more than Clockwork Prince, but maybe slightly lower than Clockwork Angel. 

Clockwork Princess started off with a bang, and it was just fantastic! Seeing Tessa in her wedding dress was really fun, and the way she has to fight the worm in that dress was even more hilarious! I have to say, the part where Jem was trying to stop Tessa from going into the battlefield was just so sweet! And I loved the comeback of Will when Jem said how Will wouldn't be able to fight in the wedding dress. He just said "Perhaps not," said Will, who had ears like a bat's. "But I would make a radiant bride.” This part was just #sassyherondale. 

What I like about this book:
A LOT OF THINGS, haha! But I guess one of my favourite part was all the interaction between the ships, especially Gideon and Sophie, as well as Gabriel and Cecily. The way they had to overcome the obstacles they were facing in order to be together, was just so heartwarming and so cute.

I also liked the part where we got to see the power of the Parabatai rune coming into action. Although it was a really sad scene, it was just so amazing seeing how the rune really bonded them together and you can see how Will and Jem really loved each other, the way Will was so angry and hurt for not being able to be by Jem's side. 
Okay, this is definitely not a very happy scene, but I was just so captivated by the whole thing. (My breath was just getting shallower as I was reading it, like I was hiking up to the submit of Mount Everest. I couldn't handle this scene, at all.)

Oh and I definitely enjoyed that small conversation between Charlotte and Henry about the baby's name. It was just such a cutesy scene, and oh so wonderful to see them immerse themselves in the world of just the three of them, not thinking about the horror of the reality and Mortmain.

What I hated about this book:
MORTMAIN. That guy is just so annoying and disgusting, I can't even. I never knew someone can have a rotting brain and heart in them, not using it to think. I hated how he treated Tessa's mother, making her make out with a demon whom she thought was her husband in order to create Tessa was just so messed up. 
Regardless of whatever reasons he had to do all these things, and how bad his childhood was, he still don't have the right to mess someone else's life in order to fulfill what he wants. (The typical plot where the antagonist has a bad childhood which leads to him being all messed up in the head)

Confusing scenes:
Let's be real here, I got really confused at the part where Tessa decides to lay herself out there in that cave for Will when she heard that Jem was already gone. I mean, seriously? If you really loved Jem, you wouldn't be like "Ok, let's get this on with it Will." (Okay, I know I'm being mean or not true to the later part of the scenes, but when I just read about what she was doing, that was my thought. I couldn't understand why she could just give herself to Will really easily and not even think about Jem. 
I know she did that because she loved Will, and time was running out, so in order to confess their love for each other, they decided to do that. But I really did not expect that, I thought she will be guilty and try to not want to do it with Will because of her engagement with Jem... 
Maybe I am reading too much into this part, and I'm sure a lot of people will be hating me after they read this small review.

Interesting facts:
I loved how the part where Tessa's clockwork angel actually burned a small star onto Will's shoulder, and it will be forever in the Herondale's blood, which was just so awesome and interesting. 

I was really shocked that Jem didn't die and turned out to be Brother Zachariah, major shock! I was actually assuming him to be Brother Jeremiah, since their names bother started with 'J' but I'm glad he wasn't. (You will know what I mean if you've read City of Ashes) Now I can't wait to see Brother Zach again in the TMI!

You guys know how we all will cry in this book right, and some people told me I will cry around this part, and I was nearing the ending and I still didn't cry, trying to figure out what's the sad part of this book... I didn't get why people cried so much about this book. It wasn't until I reached the epilogue of the book, did I know the pain that people suffered when reading this book! 
The epilogue really killed me. (Although it wasn't like a full-crying-nose-with-snot cry, it was still really sad. 
The way Will called Brother Zach over to him when he was on his deathbed, and the part when he played the violin for him the last, and said "Ave Atque Vale", my heart just literally tore into two parts, and into million pieces, and tried to fix itself back but it will never be whole again.

All right, I hope you readers out there aren't like me, controlling the tears as I typed my small review out. I hope you guys enjoyed this TID Discussion and it will spark your love for all the characters once again! 
With this, I will end this post here. Happy Reading! =)

Me Before You Review

Hello book lovers, it's been a REALLY long time since I last updated this blog. I didn't really have any books I would like to review, so thus the semi-hiatus on this blog.

However, there is a book that I recently read in April, and I LOVED it, the movie is also coming out in June 2nd, so I thought why not just do a review on this book, to get you guys pumped up for the release of the movie?

NOTE: This review is non-spoiler in the first part, and the remaining will be spoiler, BUT I will let you guys know beforehand that the spoiler is coming in red, so just stay clear from it, if you haven't read the book and would not like to be spoiled (which I recommend you to do so).

So the title suggests everything, so let's get started with the review!

Synopsis (from Goodreads) :
Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. 

There are a lot of things that I love about this book, and things that makes this book unforgettable for me, even after I finished reading it, I will still be thinking about it. Although there are some slight issues that I didn't like, I still love the book so much!

Thus the rating: 5/5 stars

What I love about this book:
I really enjoy reading about the characters, they were really the main event of the book, where you try to get to know them more as you dive deeper into the book, flipping the pages filled with curiosity trying to find out more about them. My favourite character definitely has to be Lou and Will, we will get to why soon.

I also love the whole plot of the book, where everything is planned out in a way you will not be able to predict anything, and the story is really unique and interesting, something that I have not read about before.
Just the introduction itself blew my mind away, with all the actions and coming at you all of a sudden.

I like how the author actually did her research before writing this novel, giving as much details as she could about the issue at hand with our main character, trying to stick true to things, and trying not to gloss over anything.

Characters:
As mentioned previously, I really love our main characters, Lou and Will.

Lou:  As a main character, she really shines and makes you really feel like you are her. Although she is very different from people in real life, just looking at her being so genuine with everything, you can feel like she is really someone you know, and not just some fictional character. Always being cheerful and optimistic, handling things clumsily, but always never give up and trying her best to do her things makes you feel like looking up to her as a role model.

Will: Our next main character you will be reading about frequently is Will Traynor. He is those typical guys who think they look good and have the money, thus they can do anything they want, (which is kind of true in a way). He is very hyper and loves the thrill to life by doing the most dangerous yet exciting things in life before something happened to him. Even after what happened, he still really tried his hardest to deal with life even though there are many obstacles he has to deal with. He is a character that you will definitely grow attached to by the end of the book, and is someone whom you will never forget about.

Nathan: This character is our caretaker in the book, and he appears not as often but still holds a really important role in the book. I didn't really like him at the start of the book, and my opinion of him only really changed when it is nearing the end of the story. He has this arrogance aura around him, which makes him less appealing to me, which started to change after I get to know more about him in the book. (Which I have to say is a huge change).

Katrina: Now this character here is Louisa's sister, and I have to be honest and tell you guys that I despise her a lot, not just a little, but even nearing the end of the book, there is still this rage in me whenever I see her name in the book. Don't get me wrong though, she is a really cool and smart character, but then, her personality is just really bad.

Camillia: This character is Will's mother, and I have to admit, I hated her in the first half of the book. I really hated her presence, the way she treats Lou, and how the world just revolves around her and everybody has to bow down to her. However, as the story goes, and you understand what she really thinks and feels, it really changes your opinion of her!

This are just some of the characters that are more unforgettable than the others, but there are still some characters that I don't really like but they mostly appear for a few scenes, so I feel like you should get to know more about them yourself!

What I dislike about this book:
There is actually nothing about this book that I hate, besides the characters, and some parts of the book (which I will not talk about).
So for the characters, some of them are just really a pain to read, and they are just so annoying. Sometimes, when I read and they come into the scene, I feel like just dragging them out of the room and throw them down to hell. Some of them I am just so glad that they got out of Will's life, because my baby doesn't need this kind of people, they can just rot in hell.

Let's move on to something happier about this book.

My thoughts on this book:
Although the synopsis of this book is very simple and doesn't let you know too much, to be very honest with you, when I read that synopsis, I wasn't a huge fan of it, and it doesn't strike me as a book that will be so unique and interesting. I was almost put off by that synopsis, thinking that this book isn't as good as it will be, and that it might even be boring. But nonetheless, the reason I picked this book up is because of the movie trailer.  (FUN FACT: If you haven't read the book yet, please don't watch the trailer, it's full of spoilers here and there. The editor edits the video in such a way you don't even know that it's a spoiler from the book)

Mostly the reason why I enjoyed this book was how genuine the characters are, Jojo Moyes makes the characters come alive, and you can really feel them being in this world, and that they could even be around you. The characters were all so unique and interesting, and their thoughts are most definitely different from how normal people thinks, and that might sometimes even surprise me, since I wasn't expecting it from them.

This book felt like you are hiking towards the top of the mountain, the first parts were a little slow as it builds up the introduction and the scene and dropping small little details here and there in the book, and as you slowly get to the middle of the book, that's where things starts to pick up their pace and you know, that things are finally exciting and worth to continue reading.

This book got me laughing (like really laugh out loud) and even giggled, and obviously I swooned over that hot guy in the book (Will) and yes, I eventually cried at the end. (From a happy cry or a sad cry? Who knows. You will just have to read the book to know what I mean)

Okay, so with this, I will end the NON-SPOILER review here. You can read on, ONLY if you have finished reading the book, because the next part that I am getting to is the spoiler details.

So thank you for reading this non-spoiler part of the review, and hopefully it makes you feel like reading the book! With that, I will end off the first part of the review!

(SPOILER AHEAD!)
(SPOILER AHEAD!)
PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!

Characters:
I'm pretty sure you guys already know that this book is focused heavily on the characters, so of course there will be some characters that I just can't stop myself from hating. Let's see if we have the same opinions!

Rupert: My hate for this character is just so strong, that it's not even funny. I hated him so much, because let's be honest here, if it wasn't for him, calling Will and rushing him, he wouldn't have jay-walk, and he wouldn't have had that accident, which was partly this guy's fault. However, you can argue to defend him about how he didn't know that he would have jay-walk. And I was okay with him at first, until he suddenly came to visit Will with his girlfriend, Alicia, which I should remind you was Will's ex. Really, Rupert? Are you seriously that desperate? And he came to visit him, making himself look good, trying to show that the whole accident wasn't him who caused it, and acted very innocent.

Alicia: This girl have my anger rising to the brim. I detest her as much as I love Will, and that says a lot. I never hated on a character this much, and this is a first. She acted so innocent, and made it sound like the whole "let's-abandon-Will" thing look like it wasn't her fault for leaving Will's side (which I am very glad that she left him, he don't deserve this person). The way she cried to Lou saying how she tried really hard to get him back to living life, but he won't look at her like how he did before the accident, and all this made her "disappointed" and had no choice but to leave? This is just excuses, and I cannot deal with it.

Katrina: So just now in the first part I mentioned that this person is Lou's sister, and let's be real here, I hated her from the beginning, and maybe my opinion of her changed slightly at the ending, but not much really. She was just so over-dependent on Lou, expecting Lou to sacrifice everything for her, as if Lou didn't have a life to live. She always act as if she needed help, and that her life is the most important, and nothing else should be mattered, which kind of got really irritating after awhile. She got to have everything that is good in life, while Lou has to suffer and yet, the sister is always the right one.

Patrick: Okay, this guy is not even a human, he is just heartless, and someone I would like to bash when I see him, if only he was a real person. He is just not understanding, expects Lou to listen to him, constraining her from doing what she loves, and keeps forcing her to become a personal trainer, or to start training, something along those lines. And it was just so irritating after reading about him. He is so petty about everything, and wants to dominate over every single little thing, which was really tiring to read about after some time. In the scene at the dinner party for Lou, he was just so annoying, and he kept being so sarcastic to Will about his problems. 

Favourite scenes:
So let's talk about some of the scenes in the book, that happen to left me with a very vivid memory.

• When Lou first met Will, and he starting acting crazy, crying and shouting, and it turns out to be an act to scare Lou off was just hilarious. I loved that scene and it was just a really wonderful scene, which in my opinion, I feel like Will did that to see if she is the right person to take care of him.

• At the wedding of Rupert and Alicia, where Will brought Lou along to congratulate them, and she found more things about Will, and even got to dance with him was just the best scene ever. Although after the wedding when things went downhill wasn't what I expected, but still, that scene was just glorious.

• This scene was my favourite out of all the other scenes, when Lou was feeding Will to eat, and she actually hide the vegetable from him behind the other food, to "trick" him to eat it, and he ended up finding out about it was just the funniest and perfect scene. It was all a habit after having to feed Thomas for years and he didn't like to eat his vegetables, which suddenly came out when trying to feed Will. I will never be able to forget about this scene.

Ending:

I am very speechless about this ending, although I already expected it to happen, I still didn't want it to be this way. Everything they did together, everything they went through together just went out to the drain after he left this world. Maybe everything wasn't for nothing as it left Lou with all the wonderful memories she would never have if she never met him, but still... I didn't want it to be this way. And the way she actually left him before he even had the chance to say goodbye and left for Switzerland was even sadder. 

The last part where he was on the bed and she laid down beside her, and she knew that nothing she say will ever change his mind, and she just stayed quiet, suffering on the inside as she listened to Will talk, which makes the whole scene even sadder and I just want to cry. (writing this review seriously makes me want to cry once more)

Fun fact:

I cried after reading this book, and then went to watch the trailer of the movie and the feels was so strong that I cried again because I couldn't accept the fact about Will, and then I went back to the book and read the ending once more, and it just left me hanging and I can't even handle it, and as expected, I cried the third time.

Alright, with this, I will end this blog post here. Thank you for taking your time to read this, I know I haven't been posting much, but this book, I can't just read it without posting my thoughts on it. Now after writing this review just made me so excited for the movie, but at the same time, I don't want the sad feelings to hit me again in the cinemas. 

Until the next post is up, happy reading! =)