Remember how SUPER EXCITED I was to read this book? Clearly, my extremely delayed review will make it seem like I loathed reading it. But fear not! Because that’s not the case. I just…y’know…failed at reviewing it. But I’m remedying that right now!

Cover Girl: Sooooo I love this cover. I mean, I LOVE THIS COVER. I saw it from a mile away practically, and the text just whacked me in the face and yelled, “HEY PLEASE PICK ME UP AND READ ME!” Aside from the screaming yellow title, the image is kind of a nice touch. However! A few tiny nagging points. Point the first – I have no idea what this girl has to do with the story. It’s just kind of a random girl with random gum. Point the second – the main character is meant to be fat. The girl on the cover does have a rounder face, but the text and the shadows almost seem designed to make you not notice that. Why hide the fat, guys? Other than that, Tracy Shaw gets thumbs up from me for this.

Character Witness: Our heroine, Bianca, has a couple of girlfriends named Jessica and Casey. For the most part, I felt her friends were well-written, well-rounded characters. They felt like real people and not awkward stand-ins meant to serve as a sounding board for the MC. I’ve had friends like these. I totally felt that their friendships were genuine, and that’s awesome. Then there’s Wesley, the romantic interest. Wesley is a dick. I’m not even sure what else there is to say. I suppose he has a few good points, but I just get so tired of jerky RIs that have a ~secret soft side~ that I couldn’t really get behind their relationship. I wanted to, really, but I just…Sigh. However, despite that fact, their dynamic definitely does feel realistic, and I know that this kind of love-hate thing happens a lot. It just gets so tiresome.

Bianca herself is a very good lead in that she isn’t super pure and she isn’t battling morality half the time. She’s a real kid with real kid problems and handles them in a way that I think most of us probably would. Her worries and insecurities ring all too true for someone that was, in fact, the designated ugly fat friend of her group. I could relate to her on levels that I’m not entirely comfortable with – except for the whole bagging a hot dude part. Lucky bitch.

Plot Plot Fizz Fizz: Girl meets boy. Boy insults the shit outta girl. Girl…winds up sleeping with boy. A lot. Alright, so that’s simplifying things to an absurd degree, but that’s kind of the gist of it. Obviously, there’s more to it, but let’s be perfectly honest – I can’t remember a lot of the nuances of the plot because I read this half a year ago. What I do recall is the main plot, and I recall it being rather annoying. Maybe it’s one part jealousy to two parts eye-rolling, but why why why must the Super Hot RI be a jerk all the time? And why must the MC consistently fall for his shenanigans?

[Sidebar - I totally realize how hypocritical this particular complaint is, given my track record with douchebags and having All The Feelings for said douchebags. Perhaps it's a sickness.]

Even though I don’t particularly care for this type of relationship dynamic 75% of the time, I did enjoy the book. The pacing of the plot never made me side-eye the book, and I never once had to pause and yell at the wall because a character did something too unbelievable.

Aesop It To Me: There’s premarital sex in this book. The book has no morals. None! Just kidding, this is a pretty good lesson in having confidence in yourself. So. Y’know. Confidence and all.

Say Something Nice: Do I really need to say something nice? I didn’t say anything mean! Okay, okay. I really like the cover. Yay? Instead of saying something nice, since I’ve already said enough nice things, have an excerpt!

I practically sprinted out to my car, and I tried very, very hard not to speed when I pulled onto the highway. I was not getting my first ticket because of Wesley Rush. The line had to be drawn somewhere.

Then again, I’d crossed several lines already.

But what exactly was I doing? I’d always mocked girls who screwed Wesley, and yet, here I was, becoming one of them. I told myself there was a difference. Those girls thought they had a shot with Wesley; they found him sexy and appealing–which, in a twisted way, I guess he was. They believed he was a good guy they could tame, but I knew he was a jackass. I only wanted his body. No strings. No feelings. I only wanted the high.

Did that make me a junkie and a slut?

Final Verdict: It’s an easy read with believable characters and well-written dialogue. There’s really not much more you can ask for from a book. Keplinger produced a rather solid piece with this, despite my complaints about the whole romance thing. 7/10

I feel bad that it’s April and I still haven’t even posted pictures from my New York aside from the awesome waving sloth. Now I feel like if I post them, it’ll be way too late. Let’s just all pretend like I shared pictures and it was lovely, yeah? Besides, I didn’t really take any super awesome pictures; those are all on Anna’s camera.

So yep. That’s been me lately. Bundle of anxiety, lots of bad feelings, and not writing as much as I should be. Fun! On the up side, I had one really good day where I looked pretty cute.

But I’m going to do more reviews soon if it kills me. You hear me? KILLS ME.

Temporarily.

When I decided to leave Memphis, I was suddenly faced with the realization that books are heavy. Books are heavy, and they take up a lot of space. Books are heavy, take up a lot of space, and I HAD NEARLY 200 OF THEM. Um. That was never, ever going to happen. I had to scale it back, and I had to scale back fast. I sold a lot on Craigslist, then gave away even more. I’ve still got some books in storage that I couldn’t part with (primarily my collection of psych textbooks because I’m still holding on to that flimsy dream that one day I’ll go back to school for the degree I’d set out to earn in the first place before switching to film). And I packed up and shipped a few books that I didn’t want to be without.

While getting rid of most of my preciouses, it occurred to me that if I’d just gotten that e-reader, and if I’d just switched to digital, this wouldn’t have been such a huge problem. I quickly silenced logic by watching some Food Network and pretending I know how to cook, so eventually that was forgotten. But then I was moving again, and again I was faced with the packing and the leaving things behind. Enough was enough!

Just kidding, I still didn’t learn my lesson until rather late last year, when the Amazon Kindle Fire came into being. I wanted a tablet much more than I wanted an e-reader, and knowing what the dev community pulled off with the Nook Color, I knew I could get the Fire, root it, and have the best damned $200 tablet around. So, on Black Friday, I got myself up early and set out into the wilderness of Best Buy to get an entirely different tablet. But lucky for me, that one was sold out, and I settled on the Fire.

Before rooting, I liked it, but not enough to use it regularly. Once I fought for several hours to get it rooted, I instantly fell in love. It feels like it’s mine now, and not just a toy I’m holding for a friend like contraband. And I’ve actually used it for reading! It surprised me how easily I adapted to reading from a machine instead of flipping real pages in a real book with my mostly real fingers. And so, I resolved to stick to digital just to save myself the trouble of moving a ton of books around.

There are other advantages, too, of course. The books are (usually) cheaper. I don’t have to carry three different books with me in my purse…However, letting go of physical books is still hard to do, and I’m having to actively restrain myself from getting up and going to Barnes and Noble. But I can do it! And I’m going to go through and read all the books I’ve got left, then give them away.

Except any YA books that I really like. Having those in paper form is comforting. Don’t you judge me.

On the surface, moving doesn’t seem THAT expensive. All you need is a bed-type surface, your toothbrush, maybe a fork, spoon and plate, and bam, you’re done. However, when you add up all the little things, moving is a pain in the ass, and in the wallet. Want to cook dinner? You need pots and pans. Carpet? Need a vacuum. Surfaces get dirty! Must get cleaning supplies. Let’s not even talk about dining tables, sofas, microwaves…

That all boils down to me essentially squatting in this apartment that I’m actually paying for, until I can afford to actually buy things. It’s been kind of a depressing couple of weeks, but I’m hoping to pick my chin up and fill this place up so that it feels a bit more like home. As it stands, I’m already loving being pants-free and bother-free. It can only go up from here, yeah?

I wandered away to do NaNoWriMo (I won) and then just got out of the habit of updating. In the meantime, I’ve:

• Gone to NYC for the holidays
• Met Anna and Mari in person for the first time (OH MY GOSH AMAZING aside from my stupid stomach being stupid)
• Harassed Massiel…again…but with no creepy Connecticut haunted roads this time!
• Managed to actually keep in touch with (part of) my family
• Moved into my very own apartment on my own!
• Bought a Kindle Fire, which is amazing and I love it
• Single-handedly pushed to bring back letter-writing (It hasn’t worked so well, sadly. Write me letters!)

And now, I’m back. I’ve got tons and tons and TONS of books to read and review. I’ve got a bunch of pictures from my trip to share. But for now, I just needed to say hi, and I’m still here.

PS – That image? Is a giant sloth. A SLOTH. Yeah. History is awesome.

So when stars align and I get a week of LOTS of mail, I get scarily excited. Because I’m terrible at saving money, I’d ordered several things last month. To be fair, 90% was necessity to not freeze to death in the coming winter. My two fun purchases were placing an order for tasty awesomeness via Jenna and Mark of Whimsy & Spice and buying a few books (the last batch until I read all these, I swear). And so, I waited for my winter stuff and my cookies.

But lo! I was also rewarded with books! And a shirt! I won a contest that Britney hosted on her book blog Taking Friday. And on top of that, my amazing friend Canadian Sara (whose name is just Sara, but a decade ago, I had to make the distinction between School Sara and Canadian Sara to my mother, and now I have no idea how to just say Sara) sent me a package o’ books as well! Additionally, my beloved Mari sent me a sample shirt from her kpop shop, along with a hand mirror. THE BACK OF MY SHIRT SAYS KEY, YOU GUYS. I LOVE KEY. /fangirl

Anyway. For a brief stretch in October, I felt really special to have so much mail. So thanks for sending me things, guys!

P.S. Buy things from Whimsy & Spice. DO IT NOW. Hocrap, tasty. I am now cookie-free.

This is especially negligent, given that, as mentioned before, November is NaNoWriMo, meaning that in my spare time (usually), instead of making blog posts or doing absolutely nothing, I’ll be writing. Near the close of the first week of NaNo, I’m making good progress. I’ve gotten just over 11,000 words at the time of this post, and I’ve got all day today to further my lead.

I’ve also found myself playing Mabinogi more often again. In fact, I spent most of yesterday playing rather than writing. Also oops. It seems my brain is incapable of participating in hobbies only casually. My Mabi revival means that my (third or fourth) Sims 3 revival has gone by the wayside, which had replaced my enthusiasm to learn Korean, which had replaced some other interest that I’ve forgotten, so on and so forth. When I get into something, I go hard. And I guess that doesn’t leave room for anything else. Stupid wonky brain.

I don’t have any reviews lined up because I’m a horrible person and haven’t been reading as much lately. Maybe I’m just finding it really hard to get through Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. Perhaps I should switch books? In any case, I’ve no shortage of books to read, so eventually I’ll get back on the reviewing ball. Just don’t expect that to be within this month. I’ve got my own heaping pile of terrible hot mess awesome story to write!

P.S. Did y’all watch Once Upon a Time? Love! Maybe I’ll write a post about it.

Cover Girl: I like red. I don’t know if it’s because it’s so attention-grabbing or it’s somehow soothing to my crazy brain, but I like red a lot. So I spent a good while staring at this cover in the library and getting some odd looks from the librarian who was already concerned with my being the oldest person in the teen section. It’s a bright cover, and it’s pretty, so there’s that. The design of the cover harkens back to fancy olden days, which is precisely the feel of the book. Or at least, the parts of the book that are set to the past. The design of the cover is one of the better matches to a YA book that I’ve see in a while. Well played, April Ward.

Character Witness: Gwen is your average semi-outcast YA heroine. She’s not supposed to be the special one and yet, lo and behold, she is. Her personality feels rather natural in that she’s your typical rambling, kind of unsure of herself girl. Her cousin Charlotte is a spoiled brat that’s supposed to be the one with the magic blood but is not. The rest of Gwen’s family feels a bit like the author took a page from Cinderella and created wicked stepmothers, stepsisters and every other kind of step. They’re snobby and annoying almost to a comical fault. Gwen’s best friend Lesley seems a bit like an excuse for exposition, but I kind of like their dynamic:

And he was terribly good-looking. All the girls thought so, except Lesley. She thought Mr. Whitman looked like a cartoon squirrel.

“Whenever he looks at me with those big brown eyes, I feel like giving him a nut,” she said. She even started calling the squirrels running around in the park Mr. Whitmans. The silly thing is that somehow it was infectious, and now, whenever a squirrel scuttled past me, I always said, “Oh, look at that cute, fat little Mr. Whitman!”

And then there’s the love interest. Gideon is…Well. You could insert basically any YA love interest in this position and there wouldn’t be much of a difference. Take one awkward teen girl with no experience with boys and pair her with one teen boy who can’t stand her at first, and eventually love blossoms somehow. His characterization feels the weakest to me, and I can’t much say I care for him, or the romance subplot. Speaking of…

Plot Plot Fizz Fizz: Charlotte’s place as the special snowflake of the family is “stolen” by Gwen, who has not been prepared for time travel in the least. This first book (out of three) plays out the way many first sections of a trilogy do. Much of the novel isn’t so much plot-driven but rather a means to explain what’s going on to the reader. The seed of plot for the later installments is sowed, but it isn’t as well-developed as I’m sure it will be in the sequels. An actual plot starts to form toward the end of the book and then–WHAM! End.

Not cool.

Okay, kind of cool, but definitely aggravating that there weren’t an extra two or three pages. I’m assuming the plot moves along at a much faster pace in the sequel, but as far as expository pieces go, this book manages to do a good job of setting up the scene for me without making me feel bored or noticing too much that it’s just a lot of talking and not much action.

Aesop It To Me: If you’re going to travel back in time, make sure you take the necessary precautions.

Say Something Nice: The original story, written by Kerstin Geir, has been translated into English by Anthea Bell. Part of me wonders exactly how much was lost in translation, but I imagine not very much. The translation is such that I actually forgot that this wasn’t originally written in English until I started writing this post. Points for a natural translation!

Final Verdict: Essentially, the book reads like it already knew there would be multiple parts. On the one hand, I hate when books – and movies, looking at you, filler installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series – do that. On the other, it’s a rather effective way to get people to keep reading your work if they’re intrigued enough. And I’m definitely intrigued enough to read the two sequels. Just not likely anytime this year, considering the big backlog o’ books I’ve built up.

Badger.

Now that I’m done with alliteration, I’ve got to say, while I enjoyed the book, I’m mad at the cliffhanger ending. 7/10 – The sequels are out already (I think? Pretty sure I saw them at the library) so you could likely get through them all in an afternoon and be less annoyed than I am. Go forth, buy/check out this book!

I’ve participated in NaNo to varying degrees of success since 2005, minus 2007 when I was taking care of mi madre, and 2008 when I just couldn’t do it. Last year was the first year that I actually won, and I credit that rather fully to Scrivener. Prior to Scrivener, I was cobbling research together via an odd combination of web links, saved images and Microsoft Word documents. Scrivener, on the other hand, allows for easy research compilation and a more comprehensive, writer-intensive format. It’s great. And no, I’m not being paid to say this. (Although if someone wants to slip some cash my way…)

People approach NaNo in different ways. Some make meticulous plans, usually throughout October, although some far too zealous souls start planning next year’s NaNo project immediately upon completing the current year’s. These are the planners. For the normal people like myself, there’s pantsing. Pantsers don’t have a concrete plan. It’s winging it. It’s risky, but it’s fun. I did minimal planning last year to the extent that I had a basic plot and characters in mind, and this year I’ve done the same. I feel like planning too much boxes me in, and then I start to resent my plans, the story, and everything in existence. Not a good way to write.

This year’s NaNo will be a little different for me, as I’m working more hours and therefore will have less time to screw around and just write. I’m hoping that I can do it, and I’m hoping people prod me into not giving up (hint, hint!). The lack of writing projects I’ve had lately has been both annoying and discouraging. Hopefully, participating in NaNo will get my wheels turning again and I can get back to writing more frequently. Maybe I’ll even get published! If Stephenie Meyer can do it, so can I.

In October, the best place for ghost stories has to be Travel Channel. For as long as I can remember, whenever October rolled around, Travel Channel transformed from a station talking about old-ass restaurants in Spain to a one-stop horror shop filled with haunted tales of Scottish castles and antebellum plantations. I’ve maintained a mental list of all the haunted places I’m dying to go to (no pun intended) one day when I win the lottery and/or marry a multimillionaire.

My favorite–and apparently Travel Channel’s favorite, too, given the number of specials including this tale–has to be the story of Robert the doll. Formerly owned by a Key West painter named Robert Otto, Robert the doll currently lives in the Fort East Martello Museum. The doll’s evil, is the basic story. Allegedly, Otto received the doll from an African servant that couldn’t stand his family, so she cursed the doll. The doll supposedly talked to Otto and caused all sorts of mischief around the house.

Individuals who desire to visit Robert in the Fort East Martello Museum and wish to take a picture of him, according to legend, the person must ask the doll politely, and if he does not agree (by tipping his head to one side) and the individual takes a picture anyway, then the doll will curse the person and their family.

Fun fact: Child’s Play is loosely based on Robert!

Another of my faves has to be the story of the Myrtles Plantation. The land is, of course, an ancient Indian burial ground, so the grounds were already cursed. One of the servants named Chloe was caught eavesdropping on a conversation that her owner was having, and her ear was chopped off. To get back at the family, Chloe decided to poison the birthday cake of the children. She soft of accidentally killed them, however, and was killed herself.

The plantation’s open for visitation now, and it’s reportedly haunted by the dead family and Chloe.

And finally, there’s the Overlook Hotel Stanley Hotel. This is the famed inspiration for the Stephen King classic The Shining, and the future site of my honeymoon once I find someone I feel like marrying. The Stanley is filled with ghosts, from haunted ballrooms to phantoms that have sticky fingers. If a hotel’s enough to rattle Stephen King’s nerves, then it’s definitely a place that I’d like to be.

Travel Channel details so many haunted places that I’d love to go that it’s impossible to list all my favorites. Just tune in and you’ll see!