Another Giveaway! Link Down Below!

I know you guys are going to love this. There's another giveaway happening~ So go! Go and click the link! You will not regret it. It's to win Matched by Ally Condie and with it comes a set of earrings. I think it's a cute set so I wanted to share with you guys. Go on and check it out! ^_^

Win Matched with Earrings!

Giveaway Hosted by Book Rat

That's right! You heard correctly! Book Rat Misty is hosting a giveaway for the book Hades by Alexandra Adornetto. I think it's pretty freaking awesome she decided to do this so I figured I should enter and spread the word anyway I can. (However, I hate Twitter so I'm going to blog about it instead.) Anyway, if you would like a chance to win this book then, by all means, enter this giveaway! Link is provided for you below~

Book Rat: QUICKIE GIVEAWAY!! Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

Also, check out the rest of her blog because she does pretty awesome reviews on various genres of books. She also had a YouTube channel where you can see videos of her book hauls and more. All links are on her blog. Go ahead and check it out! ^_^

This is Rain, signing out!

Till next entry! See ya!

Cold as ICE! Plus, UPDATE!

Hello again, readers! You might think that I have been gone a little longer than normal. Well, I have an explanation for that. You see, I have been reading. A LOT! I am in such a reading high you will not BELIEVE how many books I have read. (Not that I have a choice. I sprained my ankle so I really don't have anything else to do... *Sighs*) Then why have I not updated this blog? Well, I've been reading a lot of children's books. I felt like being generous so I was reading for We Give Books for the past few days. It's a lovely little website where you read books and for every book you read, one gets donated to a campaign you are signed up for. There's more to it but I'll dedicate a future blog post just for that. For now, just know that I got quite a few books read on that site and it was amazing! Why didn't I post something about each of the books that I read here? Well, this blog is mostly dedicated to novels. I want to learn children's books separated from here. I did, however, write up a review for each book on my GoodReads. If you are curious about what I read then I suggest you look there. If not then... whatever! Anyway, on with what I am currently reading!!!

I went to the library not too long ago and I picked up Ice by Sarah Beth Durst. Now, I have picked up this book from the library twice before but I never got around to reading it. (I'm just slow that way.) Anyway, since my friend picked it up and read and said how much she loved it, I finally decided to pick it up and read it. And let me tell you, I am so glad I did. It is based on the fairy tale East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon and it's very close to the original fairy tale. Granted, Durst took some liberties, such as the story with the munaqsri, but all of the elements with the original fairy tale is still there. And it is just as charming. I read the fairy tale before reading Ice and I found myself really liking it. When I started reading this book, I was in awe with how accurate Durst kept it and even adding little elements herself made it that much more breathtaking! The story! I am really taken with the story. Durst did a beautiful job writing it and her writing style is so amazing! There's some to it... I don't know how to describe it well but it's lovely! It makes me want to squee out in delight. ^_^ I'm so glad to be reading this book!

At first, I was really annoyed with the main character, Cassie. I felt she was so narrow-minded and shallow. (Much like the heroine from the original fairy tale.) She had this annoying habit of questioning everything that was happening. Things that couldn't be proven with science, she doubted. It was annoying at how she tried to make sense of everything that was happening to her despite the fact she was seeing it with her own eyes! DX Another thing that got on my nerves about her was how she couldn't tell whether Bear, her love interest, was really in love with her or using her. If you read the book, you would know that he did absolutely everything in order to please her. He wanted to make her happy no matter what the consequences were to himself. Her immaturity was just so stupid, I wanted to slap her upside the head. Okay... so Bear does something (can't say... it's a spoiler) that was really rotten. I get that. Even I was a bit upset with him after he did that. Hell, if someone did that to me, I'd be pissed for a long time before I got over it. And yes, I do believe Cassie was in the right to be upset with him. However, I don't think it was right of her to say rotten things about him. Even though he did that, he never meant to hurt her and it's very apparent how truly sorry he was. He never meant to wrong her at all. But she acted so immature about the whole ordeal... it was irritating.

So... does she get better? Yes. She does. Right now, I am reading a part where she is very grown up and not acting foolish. I am so glad, too, because she was really starting to get to me. XP She is showing this determination to get things done and she's not complaining one bit! Also, she stopped bitching about Bear, which is a plus. Bear is such a charming character. He shows this undying devotion to Cassie that makes me swoon~ I love him so much. Even though he did that "thing," I still find myself liking him a whole lot because of the true love he shows Cassie. I will say this about the book... I hate that Durst skipped over all those weeks that Cassie and Bear spent together. Those were crucial moments to their relationship and if the reader wanted to see how Cassie warmed up to Bear, they can't because Durst skipped over it. It was annoying. She took the lazy way out to say how much they love each other. Bah!I really wanted to know. *Sighs* Oh well... the book is still good regardless.

There's still more to say about the book but I will leave that for my full review that I will post up on GoodReads. Please, if this intrigues you, go check it out! I should finish the book tonight so the review should be up momentarily. I really think this book is worth the read. It does have some minor flaws, like the skipping over the foundations of their relationship, but it is still worth reading. Borrow it from the library and see for yourself! ^_^ Anyway, I'm off to have me a donut and some milk so that I can get back to reading! Stay tuned for some more reading I will be doing. I got some stupid books and good books to come. (I'll let you know now that a stupid is heading your way. DX) I hope you enjoy the updates! X3

Till next entry! See ya!

The Bloody Scorch "Burnt to a Crisp" Trials!!!

Judging from the title, you can already guess what book I am going to talk to you about this time. That's right! I'm going to talk to you about the awesomeness that is James Dashner's The Scorch Trials. Shall we begin? Yes, we shall~

Dashner is a bloody genius! I LOVE this trilogy! As soon as I saw this book at the library, I had to put aside my book limit (I have a limit because I usually take out twenty books at a time and, trying to finally get to the ones I have home, I decided to go with only five books... thanks to this book... yeah... totally got six. XP) and check this book out right away! As soon as I got home, I began to read it and I am loving it to pieces! The plot is just as engaging as The Maze Runner, the characters are still epic (minus one which I will tell you more in a bit), and the writing is just as intense! Dude, Dashner really knows how to write suspense into his stories! Do you know how many times I was at the edge of my seat, yelling at the book to tell me what's to happen next? I lost count.

I'm loving this plot. Want to know why? Because I cannot predict a single things that's going to happen next! Everything is just so out there that I feel like my head's going to explode! AND IT'S SO GOOD!!! I can't tell you how good it is. However, it's confusing as hell. I'm about 93% done with the book... and I still have no clue as to what's going on! I'm guessing I will find out at the end of the book but still! I want to know! I hate being in the dark! Wah! Dashner! Quit holding out on me! DX There is one thing I was able to predict in the book which regarded the relationship between two characters but that's nothing too big. Dashner kept leaving bread crumbs for the reader so you kinda expected it. Still, considering I'm not too fond of one of the characters, it's just making me want to smack someone. -_-"

Let me talk about the characters a bit. Thomas, still our main protagonist, is awesome as ever. Seriously, he is such a good main character... and not stupid at all! Most of the time, main characters are stupid as hell, but not Thomas! He actually takes the time out to think things through. He doesn't waste time on trivial matters, ever though he goes through quite a bit of them in this book. I mean, he thinks about them but only when he has down time and not when he's about to get his head chopped off. Minho is here, too, and I love him! You should see how badass he is. There are times when he's about to get his head chopped off (and a few other things) but I'm glad to say he's a fighter through and through. God, I love him. He's a character that showed tremendous growth since the first book. (I actually hated him at first but now? LOVE!) Newt! Oh my love, Newt! He is my favorite character and I must say I am SOOOOOOOOOOO happy he hasn't changed a bit. My only disappointment is that he is not in this book nearly enough as he was in the last book. T_T

There are a few new characters, as well. There's Jorge, a Crank (I'm not even going to bother with the explanation... it'll take too long. XP), and he's a bit... annoying. He's not too bad but there are times when he just... I don't know. I suck at explaining things. He's okay. I guess the way he speaks annoys me. *Shrugs* Brenda is another "love interest." As if we needed another one of those. Although, I do like her a lot. She's kickass but has a sort of elegance about her. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to take it. She kind of goes through a change in the novel but only because she's a Crank and the Flare is taking over her brain. (Curious to know what I'm talking about? Read the book!) She comes through for Thomas a few times and has really taken a liking to him~ *Smirks* Speaking of "love interests," Teresa. *Sighs* I really liked her in the first book... but that's probably because she was hardly in it. In fact, she doesn't show up in this book until about 100 pages in. However, the way she was acting in this book really pissed me off. She's selfish, manipulative, and even bitchy. I don't know... I'm just not liking her character now that she's appearing more often. I'm hoping that now, since things are getting to a certain climax, she'll get better again and she's not as annoying in the last book.

To sum up, READ THIS TRILOGY!!! Okay, I know the third is not out yet but considering how awesome the first two are, I can say honestly that the last one will also be great! I am really looking forward to reading it! Well, that's it for this "What I'm Currently Reading" rendition. I'm not sure what I'll be reading next but I'll let you know once I do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to finish this book and post the full review on GoodReads. I am excited to see what's going to happen in the end! *Flails* It's so exciting!!!

New SHUT OUT Trailer!

Hey, guys! Here I am again with something different. I just finished watching the new trailer for the book SHUT OUT by Kody Keplinger and it was amazing! I am here today to show you that trailer! Please enjoy! ^_^

Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society

Again, this post is coming to you late. But this time I have a good excuse! I DID, in fact, remember I had to write this whilst I was reading the book... however, I was running out of time. I only had a few hours left with the book before I had to return it to the library so all I had time for was to read it and then leave. See? I didn't forget this time! It's all the library's fault!!! ... *Coughs* Okay, so it was a pathetic excuse... DON'T JUDGE ME! *Ahem* Anyway, without further ado, on to the review-ish thing.

So this next book I am coming to you today with is called Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society by Adeline Yen Mah. Let's see... I enjoyed the book. I thought it was a unique mixture of the tale of Cinderella with events that happened in WWII. Mah's writing style is a bit simple but considering the massive amounts of historical facts displayed throughout the entire book, I don't fault her. I love this book for showing me the Chinese side to the war. When I was in school, I only used to learn what happened on the American side or the Japanese but never the Chinese. It was a very educational to see how they suffered during that time period. In short, as an educational tool, this book was phenomenal. However, when it came to the fantasy-based storyline and the characters, the story fell a little flat. I suppose the main purpose of this book was to talk about WWII and the Chinese's involvement in it but if that was all it was supposed to do, I don't see why Mah had to try to weave in some fantasy elements which was only two scenes to be perfectly honest with you.


The characters all felt the same. There was no personality distinctions besides one being a great martial artist, one being really smart, and another being brave. The main character, Ye Xian (or CC), was really nothing special. All she did was cry or run away from home and ask stupid questions. Yeah... she annoyed me a little. The other characters all spoke in the same "voice" so there was no way to tell them apart unless the book stated so. I did like Marat because he knew a lot of languages and we all know how much I love that! Anyway, besides Marat (and that's because I'm jealous of his abilities), all the characters were bland, dull, and just plain... boring. Nothing made me connect with them. In fact, whenever the novel didn't inform the reader about what happened during WWII, I was really bored with the story.

Like I said, it was a good book. However, halfway through, you just wish it was over already. I'm not saying it was a bad book or anything, I just expected a little more. And since this was supposed to have some fantasy elements, I was really hoping for some intense magic. All I got was a book scene that shows the past... yay. All-in-all, if you want to learn more about WWII and the involvement of the Chinese then check this book out. If not then... well, that's up to you.


Once again, want to see a more detailed review? Go to my GoodReads account. The link should be somewhere in the sidebar. The next book I talk about is going to be a good one. Want to know how I know that already? Because it's going to be a sequel to a book I already read and let me tell you, the first book was AMAZING!!! I cannot wait to get started on that one! So look forward to it!


Till next entry! See ya!

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Yup! More dystopian novels being read by yours truly~ I can't help it. It's one of my favorite genres and I've been meaning to read more of them as of late. So when I heard about The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness and how amazing the premise was, I just had to go to my library and read it for myself. However, I am a little disappointed with what's happening within the novel. It's not as epic as I thought it was going to be. The story, dude, is great. I am really into the history of New World and its inhabitants. The plot is not the problem. Neither is the writing, although I do have my complaints about that (more on that later). My main problem are the characters.

Whenever I read a book,  I must have my characters being amazing otherwise, I won't enjoy the story no matter how good the plot is. Todd, the male lead, started off as really immature and just plain stupid. A lot of the problems that he encounters happen because of the foolish decisions he makes. There are times when he overreacted to a situation. Like that battle between him and a Spackle, an alien species that are natives in New World, which he had no reason to go apeshit on the poor creature. I'll admit, I'm towards the end of the book right now and he has shown improvement. He's grown, but he did so many stupid things throughout the book that I can't seem to bring myself to like him at all. He's the blame for something really bad that happens... I won't say for spoiler's sake... but know that I am pretty pissed off at him for it. *Twitch*

Another character that got on my nerves: Viola. She starts off not saying a word to anyone. I thought she was a mute which I found to be intriguing. She was mysterious and cool, I thought. Then we got to know her... and my God, did I want to slap her! She was pathetic. Okay, I know she's in a new place and she's scared out of her mind. But when your life is in danger and there are people chasing after you to kill you, you don't just sit around, rocking back and forth, waiting for them to come chop your head off! A lot of the time both Todd, Manchee (more on him in a bit), and Viola nearly died because of how stupid she was acting. However, unlike Todd, she really shows character development. I really hated her at the beginning but now, that I'm almost done reading the book, I can actually say I like her. She made the decision to buckle down, keep her head held high, and try to survive this hell she was tossed in. She's surprising me with how brave she truly is. She's the perfect example of a character that, even if they are scared out of their mind, if they try hard enough, they can face any danger. Plus, she's was awesome when it came to Manchee.

Manchee is my favorite character in the entire book. He's Todd's loyal dog, a dog that comes through for him time and time again. My God! I cannot even begin to tell you how many times he's saved Todd's ass. He is such a good dog. I love him to bits. Words cannot express how truly wonderful he is. Plus, he's an endless amount of entertain throughout the entire book. His simple vocabulary and his honest feelings being expressed throughout the novel shows his genuine love for Todd. I'm really taken with him and it was for him that I was able to continue reading the book. Because, even though I love the story and the mystery hiding behind the villagers of Prentisstown, I couldn't really stand the main characters. It's a good thing they are getting slightly more bearable, though!

Patrick Ness's writing style is... unique. He purposefully write grammatically incorrect to show Todd's lack of education. Now, I'll admit... it's a bit hard to get used to at first. I'm still not quite used to it yet but... I'm able to handle it. What I don't like about his writing style is the need to keep going without pause. He's a genius when it comes to run-on sentences. I know this is what he was aiming for but... I'm not a fan of it. I'm just not. I can handle not using proper grammar and his need to repeat things three times to shown emphasis but when it comes to going on and on and on about something without the use of periods... it irritates me... quite a bit. Just my opinion, of course. Even though I'm not too big on his writing style, I love his ability to tell a story. Such a fantastic story as well! It's well-thought out and it keeps you in suspense. I will say this though... the story seems to drag out slightly. Most of what the characters do in the later half of the book is running away from the army. It is exciting but at the same time... you feel like, "Uh... didn't I read this already?" I love the story but it could have been cut shorter to save from being redundant.

All-in-all, it's a good book. A decent read. I wouldn't say it was the greatest but it's doable. I was expecting a lot more so I am disappointed... especially since it's such an amazing story! *Shrugs* I don't know. You should pick it up and judge for yourselves. It's definitely not a horrible book but I've seen better. Anyway, that's all for now. For a more detailed review, don't forget to read my GoodReads! I will talk more about the problems I've had with the book once it is finished.

Just a quick reminder that the main purpose of this blog is to mark what I am currently reading and what I think about it so far. All proper reviews are done in GoodReads so if you really want to see what I thought about the whole book after I finish reading it, then go there! As for the rest of this series... still not sure if I'm going to read it. It's good... but... considering what happens in the book and how the content hits home for me... I'm thinking I might just skip the rest of the series.

Till next entry! See ya!