Review: The Wrath and the Dawn (SPOILERS)

Yesterday, I finished (in my opinion) the best YA fantasy book of 2015. There was action, love, and just wonderful poetic writing that I could not get enough of! The book I am talking about is The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh and if you haven't heard of it, YOU'RE WELCOME. Now let's discuss! And yes this review contains spoilers but you can find my spoiler free review here! 



So this book is based loosely on the story A Thousand and One Nights, which you notice from the very start. The heroine is a young girl named Shahrzad who volunteers herself to marry the Caliph of Khorsan, Khalid. However, she volunteers herself so that she can enact her revenge by killing the caliph because he had killed her best friend and previous wife, Shiva. But for the caliph this is normal because for every girl he marries, he must kill her by the next morning. Soon Khlalid realizes that Shahrzad isn't like the other girls and Shahrzad realizes that Khalid isn't the monster everyone portrays him as, including himself. 

"I will see tomorrow's sunset. This I swear to you."

To delay her death, Shahrzad comes up with a plan. She distracts the caliph by telling him a story and stops as soon as dawn comes without finishing it. Khalid allows Shahrzad to see the next day and this is the first time he has ever allowed this. The next night, Shahrzad does the same thing and Khalid still allows her to live. It's not until some nights later that the caliph never comes to see Shahrzad and in the morning she is taken away to be executed. BUT THEN IN ALL HIS GREATNESS, Khalid shows up and stops the execution because he had changed his mind. I kind of want to know why he decided to kill Shahrzad and then decided against it. It's at this moment where we see the feelings develop between Khalid and Shahrzad. 

"What are you going to do to me, you plague of a girl?" he whispered. "If I'm a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan one being destroyed.""No. Destroy me.'"

Although Khalid and Shahrzad are starting to love on another, Shahrzad still can't forget that Khalid is a monster. He has killed countless young girls like herself including her best friend. But soon Shahrzad finds out there is more to this than Khlaid and Jalal and others are letting on. Khalid doesn't want to to Shahrzad the truth because he doesn't want her to carry the burden of helping the city. 

"I'm sorry joonam. For the secrets. For the locked doors. For everything. I promise to tell you one day. But not yet. Trust that some secrets are safer behind lock and key."

However, Khalid eventually tells Shazi the reason why he must kill his wives and that is because of AVA. Ava was Khalid's first wife and was married to her for a short time until she killed herself. She was depressed and a bit neglected by Khalid and soon killed herself thereafter. Because of this, Ava's father put a curse on Khalid. This curse made it so that in order for there to be rain and a prospering city, Khalid must kill 100 of his wives. If he doesn't do this his city and country will suffer. Khalid's hands are tied and this destroys him until he encounters Shahrzad. This is the one wife who he cannot kill, the one wife that will change everything. 

"One hundred lives for the one you took."

While we have the story of Shahrzad and Khlaid, we also follow the story of Tariq. Tariq, Tariq, Tariq. I AM NOT A FAN. In most YA fantasy there's that one character (usually male) that ruins everything because he believes a girl is his. Tariq is just completely possessive of Shahrzad, but he claims to be in love with her and wants her away from the "evil monster" aka Khalid. Just no. Tariq's just mad that the girl that he was supposed to marry was taken from him. Even when he realizes that Shahrzad has feelings for Khalid, he still thinks that she belongs with him! He's just so ridiculous. Even when Omar tries to tell him it's best for him to stay away from Shahrzad and let her be with Khalid, he ignores this! 

"A shared history does not entitle you to a future, my friend."

Although Omar didn't show up a lot in the book I really liked his presence. He was like the voice of reason for Tariq even though Tariq completely ignored him. Eventually, Tariq gets together with Shahrzad's father, Jahandar, to help get Shahrzad back. However, Tariq is completely unaware of the power that Jahandar has and the magic he is able to use to capture his daughter. That ending was so crazy and ended with that major cliffhanger that made me so angry. And I knew it was going to end with Khalid thinking that Shahrzad left because she wasn't in love with him. BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE AT ALL. I hope I'm wrong about this. He has to know that she loves him....HE HAS TO. 

"I love you a thousand times over. And I will never apologize for it."

Overall, I just really loved this book. The writing is beautiful and the characters are wonderful. The relationship Despina and Shahrzad  was awesome. They both are such headstrong and powerful young women that they can't help but collide at times. But with those collisions comes a really strong friendship that was really great to read about. They didn't tear each other down, rather they built each other up. The same can be said with Jalal and Khalid. Although Khalid never really wanted a relationship with his cousin in the past we can see something starting to form. Character development is becoming prominent in the story and I think we'll see even more in the next book. 

This book is just amazing and I want everyone to read it! It's so different from other YA fantasy out right now! It's beautiful and poetic and I just want to read it over and over. Five out of five stars! READ IT! 

Classics Book Tag

An overhyped classic you didn’t really like.

1984 by George Orwell. I absolutely despise this book, which surprises most people when I tell them. I read this in my senior of high school and I just did not enjoy it. It was just depressing and it really just didn't have an impact on me like it did with most people. Whenever I think about 1984 I think of the RATS. That's all I can picture because we watched some of the movie in my class as well. And there's a scene where the rats are eating a person and I just could not handle that. ANYWAY, I just really didn't like this book but maybe I just need to give it a reread...


Favorite time period to read about

I LOVE THE VICTORIANS. If I had to pick my favorite time period to read about other than modern day it would have to be the Victorian Age. I just took an english class focusing on it and the literature that we read was just wonderful.


Favorite fairy tale

Surprisingly, my favorite fairy tale would have to be Rapunzel. I had to write a paper about it once and that caused me to really dig deeper into the story and find some meaning to it that I had never really noticed.


What is the most embarrassing classic you haven’t read?

To Kill A Mockingbird. Everyone tells me I need to read this because they know I'll love it. We didn't read this in high school so I've just never gotten around to it. I think I definitely try to give it a read this summer.

Top 5 classics you would like to read soon

To Kill A Mockingbird, The Bell Jar, Villette, East of Eden, and Fahrenheit 451.


Favorite modern book/series based on a classic

Not sure about this one....


Favorite movie version/tv-series based on a classic

JANE EYRE. The newest film adaptation they made. It was wonderful, I can watch that film over and over again.


Worst classic to movie adaption

Probably The Scarlet Letter (the one with Demi Moore). Honestly, it was like the director didn't even read the book.


An underhyped classic you’d recommend to everyone

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates? That seems under hyped, no one really talks about it. If that's not too under hyped then another one could be F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Babylon Revisited." I read that a couple of years ago and I always find myself thinking about it from time to time. 

Review: Falling into Place (SPOILERS)

Let's discuss Amy Zhang's novel, Falling into Place. You can find my non-spoiler review here. Let's begin!

Liz Emerson has it all, right? WRONG. She may seem like the typical popular mean girl but there's something more to her that nobody else sees until the very end.

Liz Emerson hates being alone.

Liz Emerson hates the things she has done.

Liz Emerson does not want to live anymore.

This book hits some heavy stuff. It may be quick to read but the author hits hard at certain points throughout the story. Liz is that type of character that you want to hate but you can't. Not because you like her but because you can relate to the things she's feeling. I think everyone can relate to the feeling of being totally and completely alone. It's a horrible feeling that most of us only have to experience in little quantities. But for Liz that's basically her whole life. Her father passed away when she was a child and her mother travels all the time for work. When Liz is alone she thinks of the things she has done and the pain she has caused other people. It's not until she's with her friends and is partying that she feels less alone. However, these coping mechanisms soon fail Liz as well. Her feelings start to consume her and that is when she decides she wants to die.

"We wonder what lies beyond.

One day, she will grow up and imagine death as an angel that will lend her wings, so she can find out."

Liz is a really interesting and complex character. She has so many layers that you want to pull back and see who she really is. Underneath all of the bad stuff she's done she really is a good person. We can see this when she protects a girl being harassed by a group of boys because she is a lesbian. Liz defends the girl and tells the boys to stay away from her. She also cares about her friends, Julia and Kennie. Julia has a drug problem and by the end of the novel Liz tries to talk her into getting help. And Liz helps Kennie when she finds out she is pregnant. Liz loves her friends but can't help but blame herself for their bad situations and the bad situations that Liz has helped other people have as well.

"Liz Emerson held so much darkness within her that closing her eyes didn't make much of a difference at all."

The thing that kind of ruined this book for me was the narrator. Throughout the book there is someone narrating the book that knows Liz and everything about her life. And the way the narrator talks is so interesting and leaves you guessing who he or she actually is. At first I was thinking that it was death (yes like in The Book Thief) but then I thought about if it could be like a sibling of Liz's that had died or even her father. But then when we found out it was just Liz's imaginary friend that was narrating I kind of was upset. In a sense Liz herself is narrating, which I suppose is kind of interesting. But honestly it was just a let down for me. The author created such a build up to that one moment where we find out who the narrator is and then when that moment finally came and we found out it was just Liz everything kind of deflated for me.

"She remembered the little girl she once was, the one who believed in magic and love and heroes, the one who held funerals for worms she found dried out on the driveway. She remembered a time when she was happy and the world was bright, and she remembered the imaginary friend she once had."

The only characters I really liked were Liz and maybe Liam Oliver. Liam wasn't that huge of character and I didn't understand how his connection to Liz was so big but I did like him. He's with Liz at the hospital the entire time she's there. Partly, because he's the one who found her after she crashed her car and partly because he's always loved her. This seemed a bit cliche to me but he was an enjoyable character. Rather than let Liz and her friends bully him and let them get to him, he rose above it and became better than all of them in the end. I really enjoyed the moment when he sees her for the first time in the hospital. I thought it was a really important moment in the book.

"'Please,' he whispers. 'Remember the sky.'"

By the end of the book we find out that Liz lives. Do we know if she will change? No. Do we know if her mother will change? No. Do we know if her friends, Julia and Kennie will change? No. We really don't know anything at all. But we do know that Liz is alive and that in end she chose to live. Honestly, I really did enjoy this book. I loved the writing and the thoughts it caused me to have, it really made me think. It was a quick and short read but it did pack a lot of emotions and feelings in its pages.

So would I recommend it? Yes. Now go read! ;)

Review: Crimson Bound (SPOILERS)

You can read my non-spoiler here on goodreads! But this review does contain spoilers so stop reading if you haven't read this book! Or continue reading, your choice! LET'S DISCUSS!

This is the second book by Rosamund Hodge that I've read! Her first book, Cruel Beauty, is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast while this book is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. However, I must mention it is very light on the retelling of LRRH, I found that Hodge used a few pieces from the fairy tale and the rest was very much original and I loved it.

I really just loved everything about it, especially the characters. Rachelle was a great heroine and her constant struggle of accepting herself was interesting to watch. While most humans who become bloodbound welcome the change and want to kill and eventually become fully forestborn, Rachelle does not want this. She rather kill herself before she turns forestborn than continue living. Unlike Erec who fully embraces the Forest and the evilness that surrounds them, Rachelle refuses to do this. Because of this she is weaker than Erec and can never defeat him.

"Erec could use the power of the forest to make himself perfect and she never could."

I LOVED Erec, ok. And I'm sorry about this but he's just one those characters that you want to hate but you loved instead (hello Aaron Warner anyone? AND WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT). When we find out he's actually been Rachelle's forestborn who turned her into a bloodhound I WAS SHOCKED. And I really shouldn't have been because there was a hint that he was only a hundred pages before when Armand and Rachelle followed her crimson thread to get back to the castle. I don't know why I didn't think of it then, probably because Hodge just brushed it off and I really didn't think about it too much. But that was a great reveal! I was really upset when Erec chose to stay with the Devourer. Erec was evil, obviously, but if he had chosen to go back to world with Rachelle, he could have redeemed himself. However, he chose a fate worse than death and that was really upsetting for me. And even though Rachelle says she didn't love Erec, I KNOW SHE DID! She wouldn't have cried for him at the end if she didn't! Say what you want but I loved Erec and there was room for him to change!

"Erec, you fool. There was a whole world waiting for us."

Then there's Armand....I didn't like him as much I could have. I just thought he was boring and I really couldn't connect with him. I felt bad about his hands and the fact that his father was just using him as a vessel for the Devourer and as a saint to keep the people happy. And then when we find out that it was EREC that cut off his hands, I got really upset. But the relationship between Rachelle and Armand just didn't connect with me, it didn't seem like they were compatible to me. And Rachelle's love for Armand seemed to come about way to quick. I probably just have hard feelings that Rachelle chose Armand over Erec but despite that I still don't like him all that much.

Amelie was also an interesting character because she was a perfect contrast to Rachelle. Amelie is everything Rachelle was supposed to be, the picture of innocence and purity. Their friendship is important to this book because it shows that Rachelle isn't the evil murderer that she believes herself to be. Even after she becomes a forestborn she still able to love because she remembers Amelie and Armand. I also really liked Amelie as a character because of her influence over Rachelle and her unwillingness to give up on her as well.

The forest was so interesting to me. That's one thing that I wish Hodge went deeper into. The descriptions of it and the forestborn who lived there was so interesting and I would love to have read more about it. This is why I can't handle stand-alone fantasy books because I always want MORE! No matter what I always want another book.

Rosamund Hodge is a just a really talented writer. So far I've LOVED everything she's written. What were your thoughts on this book? Did you like it, not like it? Hope you enjoyed my little discussion here!

Library Book Haul!

So I went to the library this weekend because a bunch of books came in that I had requested! I've been waiting quite awhile for some of these! If you click on the title and author of each book it will take you to its goodreads page! Enjoy!

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

I've been meaning to read this book for quite some time now. I read the free sample on my kindle but never got around to purchasing the whole thing. I'm really glad that the library had it! Judging from the blurb I'd say it could classified as science fiction, I won't be sure if it falls into the dystopian category until I read it! Also there seems to be some romance involved, a forbidden love perhaps? From the sample I read on my kindle I know that the book is told in dual point of views in the third person. I have a hard time connecting to characters when a book is told in the third person but I'm hopeful that this book will be different.

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

I'm actually reading this now! I read her first book Cruel Beauty last year and really loved it. I'm enjoying this book as well. It was a bit confusing in the beginning but I found to be confused in Cruel Beauty as well. But you always have a moment 50 pages in or so where you finally go "Ahhh now I understand." Anyway, this book is about a girl, Rachelle, who three years ago was a normal human that was studying to be a healer and charms maker. However, one day she is persuaded by a man to stray from her path and this leads to her life being drastically changed. She is now what people called "bloodhound" and no longer human. She considers herself to be evil and her only hope in atoning for her wickedness is to save the kingdom from the forestborn that are gathering more and more power. It sounds a bit confusing but it's very well written and different from other YA fantasy out at the moment. 

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

I actually finished this book yesterday! You can read my full review here! I thought it was good. Some parts were pretty powerful to read and I had to put the book down to absorb everything that was going on. The basic premise of the book is that the narrator, Lex, is dealing with the sudden death of her brother, Ty. He died by suicide and throughout the book Lex is trying to piece together the reasons why her brother did this and trying to battle her own guilt over the situation. I loved Hand's writing, she told the story in a way that left me very emotional and also just very sad. Definitely would recommend.

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

This book came out this past March and after seeing many of my goodreads friends add it to their TBR I was intrigued. The book is YA and seems to be a mixture of the contemporary and science fiction genres. It tells the story of 4 teenagers who come together after an asteroid hits the Earth. To me it sounds like a modern day "Breakfast Club" remake but instead of being stuck in a classroom these teenagers are stuck in the end of the world. I'm really excited to read this!

Mosquitoland by David Arnold

The past few times I've been to Barnes and Noble I've seen this book and really wanted to buy it. But I knew the library would have it and decided to wait! This is a YA contemporary that tells the story of a girl named Mim who moves to from her home in Ohio with her mother to Mississippi to live with her father. However, once Mim arrives in Mississippi she realizes that she hates it there and wants to go back home to her mother. The book chronicles her journey back to her home and what she learns on the way. This sounds like the perfect summer read! I love reading books that have to do with a road trip and self-discovery in the summer. I'll probably be reading this very soon! 

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Fact: I have never read a book by Holly Black. But I am very hopeful that this will change! Everyone on goodreads LOVES her books so I'm sure I'll soon understand everyone's love for her books as well. This is her newest book, which came out in the beginning of this year. It sounds like a classic fantasy with fairy tale elements as well. It's about a girl named Hazel and her brother Ben and their role in their town where they live side by side with the Fae. I'm really excited to read this because I love ALL stories that have to do with faeries. This is a stand-alone not a series so that will be interesting as well. Can't wait to give this a try! 

Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

This is ANOTHER book that I kept wanting to buy at Barnes and Noble! It sounds so good and I absolutely love the cover. The blurb of this book really grabs you, at least it did for me. The book centers around a girl named Liz Emerson who everyone thinks is perfect but is not. However, the book is told in another person's perspective about Liz. Mental illness is a big part of this book and I'm really looking forward to starting it soon.

The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick

This book also came out in the beginning of the year and I've really been looking forward to reading it! There are four linked stories told within this book and they each happen over different periods of time. History seems to play a big role in this book and I am super excited because of this! Different time periods are so interesting especially when they can be connected to one another. I'm really hoping this lives up to my expectations! 

Well there's my library bookaul! Hope you enjoyed it! 

-Whitney :)

I'm back! (I hope)

Since it's the summer and I have a couple months before I head back to the grind of college and work, I really want to get back to running this blog. I've been lazy, I know! I am really going to start posting more and not let this blog go to waste. I really enjoyed posting in the beginning but once school got more and more stressful it was put on the back burner. :(

What I really need to do is catch up on my reading challenge! I am 11 books behind. I'm slacking! I just started reading Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge today and so far I'm enjoying it. I just finished Cynthia Hand's novel The Last Time We Say Goodbye and I needed a YA fantasy to pick me up after that. It was a great book but whenever I read a book that deals with suicide or some tough issues I always like to read a fantasy to improve my state of mind. I find it really helpful.

In other news, I might be investing in a video camera to take my book blogging to the next level. I'm really thinking about fully joining BookTube and starting to make videos and such. It's going to take a lot of time and commitment but I think I'm finally ready to put myself out there. All I have to do is save up some money and buy a camera! My goal is to have a camera by July and start making videos then! So exciting!

But for now I'll be sticking to my reviews on my goodreads and my reviews on my blog here! I also will posting my book hauls and any other related bookish things as well. OH! And I've actually started to write. So if it  ever seems like I'm all of a sudden not updating as much it's because a case of writing fever has come over me. They usually only occur at 11o'clock at night and continue into the wee hours of the morning. But once I start I can't stop until I'm completely drained. I might share some of the stuff I write on here...who knows?

ANYWAY, I think that's it for now. I PROMISE I will try to keep my blog updated! If not you can all yell at me because I'll deserve it!

Have a lovely day my friends!

-Whitney :)