Random Musings: Moving

Yes, I know that this button is slightly greener than it should be, but that's because I'm talking about moving to Wordpress. 

SO IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW, I'M MOVING TO WORDPRESS IN MID JUNE. AND THIS STUFF HAS BEEN STRESSING ME OUT SINCE JANUARY. Seriously, I'm writing this on Jan 16. *waves from the past* 

So anyways, I'm not just moving to Wordpress, I'm completely redesigning my blog into a sort of teal color instead of just blue and I'm so in love with what I have planned! I CAN NOT WAY TO OFFICIALLY GET STARTED WITH DESIGNING THE FINAL THING (which should be happening soon since my mom promised to let me do this once May started...it should be about now right? RIGHT?)

ANYWAYS (damn I get off topic so much) I'm actual really loving this whole process of creating a new design and making new banners and buttons and stuff and it's EXHILARATING. But damn is it stressful. 

I'm doing new memes, a set schedule, and instead of Week of a Fiction Freak I'm doing monthly recaps that will, most likely, be in video form. Guys it's so stressful deciding what memes I should do, what a good ratio is for memes: reviews and what days I shouldn't post anything at all. (Oh I think I'm going to post my new schedule down below, TELL ME IF IT'S OKAY? BECAUSE I'M DOUBTING IT ALL) 

 BUT BUT BUT. I'm so excited to finally have MY OWN FREAKING BLOG that I don't have to worry about and that Google can probably just shut down at any random time and worry about blogger glitching. I DON'T EVEN WANT TO CALL IT A BLOG. A WEBSITE. IT IS MY OWN WEBSITE. AHH. AT 13. That's just so freaking exciting and it makes me feel professional even though I'm far from it--if you can tell from my LOTS OF CAPS-ness. 

I honestly think moving to Wordpress (as in, buying your own domain and hosting) would be an AWESOME idea, especially if you plan on blogging long term--and if you do move to Wordpress, using Ashley @ Creative Whim's UBB (Ultimate Book Blogger) plug in or her Tweak Theme would be a GREAT investment. 

BACK TO THE SUBJECT, I'm planning on blogging throughout high school (my excuse--it's one of my extracurriculars so I kinda HAVE TO ya know? ;D ) and hopefully through college, so I definitely want my own site after two and a half years on Blogger. I love you and all, but Blogger, you're killing me. 

BUT YEAH that wasn't really a musing, more like a rant but eh. 

By the way here's the schedule I was thinking of 

Sunday: (at the end of the month, a wrap up) 

Monday: Book related

Tuesday: Book Related

Wednesday: Waiting on Wednesday

Thursday: Book related

Friday: Life of a Blogger

Saturday: Book Related

YES? NO? HAVE YOU MOVED TO WORDPRESS? ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT IT?

The Last Forever by Deb Caletti

Pages: 320

Genre: Contemporary

Series: Standalone

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: April 1, 2014

Endings and beginnings sit so close to each other that it’s sometimes impossible to tell which is which.Nothing lasts forever, and no one gets that more than Tessa. After her mother died, it’s all she can do to keep her friends, her boyfriend, her happiness from slipping away. And then there’s her dad. He’s stuck in his own daze, and it’s so hard to feel like a family when their house no longer seems like a home.Her father’s solution? An impromptu road trip that lands them in a small coastal town at Tessa’s grandmother’s. Despite all the warmth and beauty there, Tessa can’t help but feel even more lost.Enter Henry Lark. He understands the relationships that matter. And more importantly, he understands her. A secret stands between them, but Tessa’s willing to do anything to bring them together—because Henry may just be her one chance at forever.

This was my first Caletti book and I'd been hearing wonders about her writing, so I was eager to start! The gorgeous cover helped too, and going into it, I was in love with the gorgeous writing and how quick the beginning was. I'll admit, it was a bit too fast, but I still enjoyed it.

But once she met Henry, things just went down from there.

At first I thought it would just be a rushed romance--and I've dealt with that so many times, I didn't think it would bother me that much. But it did. She felt a connection with him, was obsessed with him, tried to, basically, stalk him, after their first "fated" meeting. And she straddled him and forced a kiss on him at...I think their third meeting. When he didn't really show that much interest (or at least, not as much as I'd expect for a kiss on the third meeting.) And sometimes the things they said were so utterly cheesy and cliche.

But that really wasn't the bad point for me. While I got that it made it more realistic, I hated how Tessa acted so desperately to make friends with these three people, trying to force her way into the group. And when they didn't let her in, she just settled on insulting them behind their backs to their friend and her obsession, Henry and her grandmother.
Basically when things didn't go her way, she judged them on that one reason. She acted spoiled and I thought her to be assumptive and just a little bit deluded, thinking she knew someone after only a few meetings. And every time she would act self conscious or insecure, the writing made it feel more like she was just fishing for compliments instead.

 I was so very close to DNFing this, but I continued on for the plant. The mystery of what the plant was and the history behind it. But we learn what it is a little over half way into the story and after that...I didn't have much motivation to read it.

So I sort of skimmed the rest. (Before you all yell at me, I did read 75% of it and only skipped a bit to 80% then read from there.) The giant twist did surprise me, though! I was shocked, and while the way Tessa reacted was normal, I felt a little irritated by how drastic her reaction was. Then again, I've never felt that kind of betrayal.

I'll admit, I was sort of in a book slump (or, at least, it was the second book I'd almost DNF'd that week.) but unless you've read and loved several of Caletti's works, I can't really say I'd recommend it, though I do think you should give it a try if it sounds like something you'd love!

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Nightmare Dilemma by Mindee Arnett

Pages: 384

Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy

Series: Arkwell Academy #2 

Publisher: Tor Teen

Release Date: Mar 4, 2014

Dusty Everhart might be able to predict the future through the dreams of her crush, Eli Booker, but that doesn’t make her life even remotely easy. When one of her mermaid friends is viciously assaulted and left for dead, and the school’s jokester, Lance Rathbone, is accused of the crime, Dusty’s as shocked as everybody else. Lance needs Dusty to prove his innocence by finding the real attacker, but that’s easier asked than done. Eli’s dreams are no help, more nightmares than prophecies. 
To make matters worse, Dusty’s ex-boyfriend has just been acquitted of conspiracy and is now back at school, reminding Dusty of why she fell for him in the first place. The Magi Senate needs Dusty to get close to him, to discover his real motives. But this order infuriates Eli, who has started his own campaign for Dusty’s heart.
As Dusty takes on both cases, she begins to suspect they’re connected to something bigger. And there’s something very wrong with Eli’s dreams, signs that point to a darker plot than they could have ever imagined.

I have to admit, I loved The Nightmare Dilemma a lot more than The Nightmare Affair and I was absolutely thrilled to get an early copy!
Writing a review of this is actually going to be pretty hard, so expect this review to be short guys! All you really need to know, though, is that I absolutely loved it.

Dusty is a fun character and there was absolutely no limit to her snark and she's just as smart alack-y as in The Nightmare Affair. She's a lovable character who brings some comic relief to the story and I absolutely adored her loyalty to her friends and how determined she was to protect the people she loved.
All the side characters were just as amazing and all their personalities were developed more. Selene, while I felt like she didn't get much face time, still had her awesome siren rebellion going on and Lance, while he was still a bit of a jerk, was a bit less hostile and I liked him a lot more. (Also? Him with Selene would be absolutely adorable.)

The romance again took a back seat to the plot and I really loved it this time, though there were romantic moments that made me absolutely squeal. Paul is back and while I was a bit worried about a love triangle, it's clear that's not really a problem. The surprise complication between Eli and Dusty, however, was a bit shocking, though I felt like it was a bit cliche, though it definitely made for some intriguing romantic tension!

And speaking of intrigue, that's what this book was filled with. The mystery had me on my toes and, unlike in book one, I was at a complete loss as to what was going to happen. There were twists I didn't expect and everything from powerful, corrupt people, to betrayals, to sinister cults were mixed in with the mystery and I was completely hooked in.

The Arkwell Academy series is a cute paranormal series with dark twists and The Nightmare Dilemma, thankfully, doesn't suffer from Sequel Syndrome at all! It was a magnificent read that grabbed my attention and made me fall in love with the characters all over!

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Blog Tour: Gilded by Christina Farley

HEY GUYS! I'm part of the GILDED by Christina Farley blog tour and I'm thrilled to present to you a book that sounds absolutely amazing! BUT FIRST, an interview with Christina Farley!

Fiction Freak: What made you focus on Korean folklore out of all the legends of the world?

Christina Farley: I was teaching at an international school in Korea and I wanted to write a story that my students could identify with. We were doing a comparative study of Greek myths with other myths, but I couldn’t find a book to tie in with Korean mythology. So I wrote one!

      FF: What is your favorite Korean myth that you've stumbled upon?

CF: Definitely Haemosu’s and Princess Yuhwa’s story. But I also find Princess Bari’s story intriguing, too, so I couldn’t resist bringing her into Silvern, book 2.

FF: I have to ask, do you watch KDramas or listen to Kpop?

CF:I'm a sucker for Korean dramas set in the Joyseon Dynasty like Mandate of Heaven and The Goddess of Fire. Oh, and the Jumong series! As far as K-pop, I don't listen to much of it, but one of my students is now pretty famous. His name is Eddie Shin. His brother, Alex Shin, also one of my student’s, created GILDED’s book trailer. (Here is the link to Eddie: http://www.soompi.com/2011/03/25/asianamerican-group-aziatix-to-enter-us-market/#.Uwar3cuPKP8)

Here is a video I made that explains what inspired GILDED: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL2Sn26fqrU&feature=share&list=PLN5-S2dSFXkzEmCD6KtacReYw4iDiYntY&index=1

As far as the whole stealing the oldest daughter part, that’s something I made up. J It really stemmed from the ‘what happens next’ question when I read Haemosu’s and Princess Yuhwa’s story. I love imagining the possibilities of after the happily ever after because there is always more to the story.  

FF: If you were told that you had suddenly become Jae, you would...

CF:Be very, very worried. Things only get worse for Jae, especially in Silvern, book 2! I’d definitely keep my bow with me at all times and start hitting the dojong more often!

FF: If Jae was only allowed to say one word throughout the entire book, it would be...

CF:Crap.

FF: What would be Jae's guilty pleasure?

CF:Food! (If you read the book it’s a big part of Jae’s story)

She loves the Korean sweet pancakes called hoddeok: http://mykoreankitchen.com/2007/01/29/korean-sweet-pancakes-hoddeok-fully-home-made-version/

FF: What has been the best part of writing GILDED? The mythology? The characters? The plot?

CF:I really love Jae’s world. I was itching to get back into it and write the sequel so even before I got the edits for GILDED, I was busy writing SILVERN. It’s so fun researching the mythology and pulling that into our modern world and then seeing the chaos it creates. And over Christmas break, I secretly wrote book 3 (shhh… because even my agent hasn’t seen it and it hasn’t been bought yet by my publisher). But by that point, I knew the characters so well and they had become real and alive to me. I could literally hear them speaking to me (Um, that sounds weird!). I cried so many times writing book 3 because of the things that happened to them.

FF: Imagine you had a time machine--what part of your life would you have loved to skip, and which would you have loved to relive?

CF:Oh! Good question. I would say elementary school. I was a late bloomer so in elementary school I was always the smallest and youngest. I learned to read late and struggled academically. I figured everything out eventually, but I remember how tough it was. My favorite years so far have been when we were living in Korea. I loved eating the food and traveling around the county. And my coworkers and students are still like family to me even though we are now all in the four corners of the earth.

Gilded Synopsis

A Korean god. An ancient curse. Can she escape becoming GILDED?

A girl with a black belt and a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows discovers an ancient Korean god has been kidnapping the first-born daughters of her family for generations. And she’s next.

Sixteen-year-old Jae Hwa Lee is a Korean-American girl with a black belt, a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows, and a chip on her shoulder the size of Korea itself. When her widowed dad uproots her to Seoul from her home in L.A., Jae thinks her biggest challenges will be fitting in to a new school and dealing with her dismissive Korean grandfather. Then she discovers that a Korean demi-god has been stealing the soul of the oldest daughter of each generation in her family for centuries. And she's next.

But that’s not Jae’s only problem.

There's also Marc. Irresistible and charming, Marc threatens to break the barriers around Jae's heart. As the two grow closer, Jae must decide if she can trust him. But Marc has a secret of his own -- one that could help Jae overturn the curse on her family for good. It turns out that Jae's been wrong about a lot of things: her grandfather is her greatest ally, even the tough girl can fall in love, and Korea might just be the home she's always been looking for.

Author Info

CHRISTINA FARLEY, author of Gilded was born and raised in upstate New York. As a child, she loved to explore, which later inspired her to jump on a plane and travel the world. She taught at international schools in Asia for ten years, eight of which were in the mysterious and beautiful city of Seoul, Korea that became the setting of Gilded. Currently she lives in Clermont, FL with her husband and two sons—that is until the travel itch whisks her off to a new unknown. Gilded is her first novel. For more details, check out her website at www.christinafarley.com. Christina holds a master’s degree in education and has taught for eighteen years. She is represented by Jeff Ourvan of Jennifer Lyons Literary.

Find her: Website |  Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

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Waiting on Wednesday

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters…

YOU GUYS IT'S JENNY FREAKIN' HAN. FIRST CONTEMPORARIES I READ--THE SUMMER SERIES. WHICH I LOVED SO FREAKING MUCH. And then Burn for Burn which I loved. Obviously I'm going to need this as much as air is necessary for survival and obviously I will FREAKIN' FALL IN LOVE WITH IT. OH MY GOD. NOW. GIMMEE.

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BIRTHDAY: Letter to Myself

WRITTEN TO MY NEW 14 YEAR OLD SELF BY MY 13 YEAR OLD SELF AS OF NOVEMBER BECAUSE a) I am an insanely early poster and b) I thought it'd be fun to see this post and realize how quirky I was (still am?)

Hey Nikki! SO YEAR NUMBER 14 OF YOUR LIFE HAS FLOWN BY (Technically 14, but most people would say 13 since you were 13 years old, but as of today it's been year 14 right? Right.) So most of it has been quirky, but here's what's been going down:

You met and made friends with some SUPER SWEET 2014 debuters! Seriously, they're so sweet and they're called YA Valentines (Yes, Nikki, I am pimping them on your birthday letter. I'M SORRY.)

You had a crush for a few weeks, but it disappeared because you realized you hadn't talked to the guy in a couple of years, so who knows how he changed. And you refused to be that cliche YA girl with a crush on some guy she doesn't know so yeah. Hey high school starts this year! Maybe you'll find a new crush? 

*Update as of 2/10 so you may still sorta like em. Eh.

In the meantime you can totally cheer your friends on since you totally know who they like and who likes them because you managed to pry the secrets from their fingers because you can be annoying (Don't worry, some people actually find it endearing. Some.)

On the downside, you realized you had depression and that put a damper on things. But you're dealing, so it's all good! 

ON THE UPSIDE YOU TURNED GIRLY. Like seriously girly. First you turned from jeans and tshirts to suddenly semi-fashionable in the summer (Like, you wore skinny jeans which you never did. And wore decorative belts. And flowy tshirts. And jewelry. REALLY CUTE JEWELRY. YOU HAVE ADORABLE NECKLACES.) And right now you're actually considering skirts which you always said you'd never wear. Oh all the lies Nikki! Tsk tsk. OH. YOU EVEN WEAR MAKEUP DAILY. Okay not really, just some mascara and once in a while lip gloss. But still. It's a big change. 

You've grown apart with some of  your blogger friends, you've made new ones, but you still miss the old ones. They're busy with all their lives though, but hopefully they come back soon. <3 Some have even stopped blogging, but fingers crossed they come back, eh? In the meantime there's always texting and social media! Hope you stay in touch with the old blogger friends though. After all, they were your first friends in this strange place. 

Chocolate will forever be the best (or will it. WILL IT NIKKI. WILL IT REALLY.) Yes, Nikki. Yes it will be. 

Hmm, let's see what else is new. Uh. OH. You're currently writing, but I dunno if that'll continue after a few months. You think it's a cool idea though, all creepy and a retelling of beauty and the beast! (Honestly, Anita Howard totally influenced you on the creepy and retelling part.)

*Update instead it is now a thriller and you're also working on a contemporary

You worry too much about things only adults should worry about, but you can't help it. 

But it's okay, because you're pretty happy. And you know 2014 will rock (after all you start high school this fall. CRAP. YOU START HIGH SCHOOL. NIKKKKKIIIIIIIIIII.)

-Nikki, the 13 and a half year old version.

PS, you're strange.