Update| Writing a book

Hey beautiful booklovers!
Update:
So I've been gone for a long time.... a year to be exact... and I apologize! I took a break from writing reviews and posting on this blog but I am back and better than ever! I've read many great books while I was gone, I am not sure if I will be writing full reviews of ALL the books I've read over the year but I will try my best to post some of them up.

Announcement:
I just finished taking a creative writing course this passed Spring semester at my university and it has motivated me to finally start outlining and writing the book that has been taking over all of my dreams lately. I am super excited to start this process. I want to share a weekly/bi-weekly progress of my writing adventures on this blog and I would love for you all to join me. Also I plan to join NaNoWriMo 2016 this November for the first time and I am anxious to see how that goes as well.

If you have any advice on writing, outlining, plotting, character development, anything that has to do with writing a novel I would very much appreciate the advice and comments.

Thank you for reading!

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Goodreads summary:
"If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper."

4.5 stars☆☆☆☆
Young Adult
Contemporary 

I mainly picked up this book because I was very intrigued by Josh's story  and how his life can intertwine with Skylars. I've never read a book that deals with PTSD (Post- Tramadic- Stress Disorder) and I do realize it is a series issue and even though this story is fiction I felt like it would still speak on some level of the issue.

Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon

Goodreads summary:

"Veronica doesn't think she's going crazy. But why can't anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months. 

But the Scottish countryside holds other plans. 

Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna's great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation. Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed for...or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare."

3.5/4 stars ☆☆☆☆

Young Adult

Fantasy

I highly anticipated this read because 

1.  It was very highly rated on goodreads

And

2. This was my first experienced with some Scotland theme

Did it reach my expectations? ...not as much as I hoped.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Goodreads summary:

"After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. 

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. 

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. 

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined."

4.5 stars ☆☆☆☆

Young Adult 

Fantasy

Damn this book was pretty good. This is on the list of my top favorite assassins book for sure. This book had humor,  adventure, a bit of romance, and some mystery in it. I am not a big fantasy fan but I've became drawn into anything that has to do with assassins and royal family.

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Goodreads summary:
"When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something... unexpected happens. 

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. 

If I don't kill him first, that is."

4 stars ☆☆☆☆
Paranormal
Young Adult

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Goodreads summary:

"Why be a sheep when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?"

4 stars ☆☆☆☆

Historical Fiction/Fantasy

Young Adult

I went into this book not really expecting to like it. The book was set in the 1480s France about Royal family and war. I personality never read a book like Grave Mercy and never really thought I would enjoy it much but I absolutely loved it! It took me some time to get comfortable with the norms of society back then and took me some time to keep up with the way they talked and thought and who was who but I had the hang of it once I kept reading. This book is really strong with finding oneself in the world,feminist main character, and romance to just swoon over.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Goodreads summary: 

"In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?"

4 stars ☆☆☆☆

Young Adult

Contemporary

Fangirl is a very special book to me and others. I personality have my likes and dislike of this book and it supports why I only gave it 4 stars while other rave and rave and rave about this book.

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

Goodreads summary:
"A gifted illusionist, Anna assists her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums, and mentalists in 1920’s New York. As the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini—or so Marguerite claims—sleight of hand illusions have never been a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her own gifts secret from her opportunistic mother. Because while Marguerite’s own powers may be a sham, Anna possesses a true ability to sense people’s feelings and foretell the future.But as Anna’s powers intensify, she begins to experience frightening visions of her mother in peril, which leads her to explore the powers she’s tried so long to hide. And when a mysterious young man named Cole moves into the flat downstairs, introducing Anna to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, she is forced to confront her past and rethink everything she’s ever known. Is her mother truly in danger, or are Anna’s visions merely illusion? And could the great Houdini really be her father, or is it just another of Marguerite’s tricks?"

4 stars ☆☆☆☆
Young Adult
 Fiction