Book Review: Windfall (Weather Warden, #4) by Rachel Caine

 

Read from January 12 to 22, 2015

You think you’re having a bad day? Joanne Baldwin has lost her job as a Weather Warden and saving the world doesn’t usually come with a decent pension plan. It also doesn’t come with any guarantees of landing a day job that won’t suck or finding a mystical cure for her critically ill Djinn lover. Burdened with a difficult sister in need of rescue, accused of weather-related murder, and finding herself in the middle of a Djinn civil war … well, Joanne’s bad times are just getting worse.With enemies approaching from all sides, not to mention mounting credit card bills (Manolos don’t come cheap, you know) Joanne is praying for a windfall. But the mother of all hurricanes approaching the Florida coast isn’t quite what she had in mind.

This was so so so so much darker than I ever thought this series would go! Ending this book was a lot like going through a terrible life experience and then being unable to grasp what the hell happened!

I just love the characters; that simple fact never changed! I loved the old and the new characters. Caine's characters have so much personality that it's hard to think of them as fictional! That's one amazing thing about her writing!

Also, I feel as if the series matured into something bigger with this book. New variables were thrown in, new dangers, new allies, and a whole new plot! Honestly, this book was a "storm". There was so much going on and everything matters.

I loved the interludes! You don't realise who is talking in the interludes until you approach the end. And that had quite a big impact; when you do realise who's voicing the interludes, you wish you had read them more keenly. That was really sad! And since I don't wanna expose major spoilers, I sound like a lunatic! Lol! But really though, I'm more upset than I thought I'd be by the tragedy towards the end of the book.

I'm excited to see what the rest of the series will be like, since Caine ended Windfall with quite a huuuuuuuuuge cliffhanger ;)

my Goodreads review

Book Review: Blubber by Judy Blume

Read from January 16 to 18, 2015

It's easy to bully someone, especially when they're weak and different, and everyone else joins in the game. That's why they all call Linda 'Blubber', including Jill. Jill can't stop joining in, even though she can see how much Linda is hurting.

When I started this book, I was pretty upset with how narrow-minded Jill was.  It frustrated me to no end and I really didn't like her character.

But it wasn't until Jill became victimised that I understood what Blume was trying to point out.

They're kids and their focus doesn't extend much past their own problems. It's the popular kid that's the focus point of all the bullying. And everyone takes part in bullying as long as they're not the victim. It's pretty sad to see how it just unroll from there, especially when I've never experienced anything that cruel at that age.

I especially loved the author's note at the end where Blume honestly explained the situation in real life, which really got to me.

The ending was pretty significant too. There was no significant conclusion there; to me, that implies that regardless of the cruelty of bullying, life goes on as normal.

Overall, this book may be a book for younger kids, but reading it is important for all age groups. It gets a very important message through to the reader. That in itself makes this book a very deep one.

my Goodreads review

Book Review: Looking For Alaska by John Green

Read from January 08 to 14, 2015

Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.After. Nothing is ever the same.

I was definitely not prepared for this level of awesomeness! John Green is just so amazing and I think I joined his fan club! :P

For starters, the Before section of the book was all fun and games and all the rest of adolescent life moments. I tabbed so many pages in this section because I just loved his writing! His analogies were genius and just so beautiful! His writing just carried me through the book, and the only word that comes to my mind to describe how I felt is 'spellbound'.

I felt the mood shift once I reached the After section of the book. It got more serious, darker and more philosophical (sort of, I think?) I've tagged markedly less in this section. The beginning of this section was truly, painfully sad. It just broke my heart; my vision blurred a bit with tears even (I hate getting emotional when reading). But the mood lightened towards the ending, and even though it wasn't as light-hearted as it was in the beginning, it was less tragic. I couldn't help realizing that Green pretty much mimicked the natural process of grieving here: you don't forget but it gets easier with time.

Subverting the Patriarchal Paradigm made me laugh so hard! And it was so beautiful though! I just love how they carried it out to move on from the tragedy. This was a huge turning-point, and I'm just glad that Green made the reader her(or him)self feel that.

Looking For Alaska was absolutely beautiful, in my opinion. It showed life for what it is, and it didn't hesitate to show the reality. This book taught me so much, and I feel so lucky for having come across this book. I don't think I've learned this much about life from a fiction book! Haha! I'm so excited to see what the rest of John Green's amazing books are gonna be like!

my Goodreads review

Book Review: My True Love Gave To Me by Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan & Kelly Link

Read from January 03 to 12, 2015

"If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: TWELVE HOLIDAY STORIES by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa, there’s something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons to stay indoors and fall in love."

I buddy-read this with @bookswithchai on Instagram! 

MIDNIGHTS by RAINBOW ROWELL = This story was really cute and it's sort of something I wish would happen to me. LOL! I really loved Noel! ;)

THE LADY AND THE FOX by KELLY LINK = This story was a bit disjointed, in my opinion. I was pretty confused thought out the story but was a bit less confused at the end :P

ANGELS IN THE SNOW by MATT DE LA PENA = I loved this story! It had so much sentimentality in it and that was beautiful!

POLARIS IS WHERE YOU'LL FIND ME by JENNY HAN = Aw! This broke my heart!!! It was really beautiful and I loved Natalie! Han's writing is awesome!!!

IT'S A YULETIDE MIRACLE, CHARLIE BROWN by STEPHANIE PERKINS = OMG I loved this story!!! Marigold and North were so cute and I just loved the two of them together! This story absolutely warmed my heart! :)

YOUR TEMPORARY SANTA by DAVID LEVITHAN = Wow, this story went so deep! I really enjoyed it though! :)

KRAMPUSLAUF by HOLLY BLACK = I really liked this story too! That ending was so meaningful and I loved the party! XD

WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE, SOPHIE ROTH? by GAYLE FORMAN = I loved this too! It was all so beautiful and I just wish something like this would happen to me! As always, Gayle Forman's writing is amazing!!!

BEER BUCKETS AND BABY JESUS by MYRA MCENTIRE = I loved this story too!!! It was so cute and I loved Vaughn! A very nice Xmas story!!! :)

WELCOME TO CHRISTMAS, CA by KIERSTEN WHITE = OMG this story was so sweet!!! It was brimming with Christmas warmth and I just loved it so much!!! :)

STAR OF BETHLEHEM by ALLY CARTER = This story was really beautiful! I loved everything that happened and it was such a wonderful story! :)

THE GIRL WHO WOKE THE DREAMER by LAINI TAYLOR = This was an okay story but I expected better!

my Goodreads review 

Book Review: Chill Factor (Weather Warden, #3) by Rachel Caine

Read from December 29, 2014 to January 03, 2015

Weather Warden extraordinaire Joanne Baldwin, who protects the human race from monster storms, was killed, reborn as a Djinn, and then restored to her original form. She's been through a lot – and stuck her neck out many times – to save innocent lives. Now she is rolling the dice to stop an infinitely powerful, deeply disturbed kid from destroying the world...A teenager has holed up in style at a Las Vegas hotel with the most powerful Djinn in the world, planning who knows what kind of mischief. The Wardens' senior leadership is dead, Djinn are disappearing, and a secret society wants to help Joanne destroy the teenager, even if doing so kills her again. But everyone in Vegas has a game going, and Joanne has to learn the rules fast because the stakes have never been higher – and all hell is about to break loose..."

This book was darker than the two books before it! New elements were introduced, tragedies happened, miracles happened and Jo stayed the sassiest heroine ever! :P

I'm in love with Jo's character! She's so strong and so sassy and so awesome! I'm gonna keep rooting for her no matter what! Also, I just keep loving more and more of her and David! This book had so little of them together but I loved the few moments they shared, and that ending killed me! :'( Buuuuuut, I'm still giggling over the (spoiler) that happened! ;)

I'm pretty torn about Lewis! But I still love his character! Also, I love the team-up that happened at the ending 'cause that was a whole overload of awesomeness! :P

Once again, I'm pretty happy with how the story turned out but am still so unhappy that I don't have the paperback with me! Sniff, sniff! But I loved the plot twists that made me swear my head off and the characters that made go head over heels for them!

my Goodreads review