Long time gone

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Hey guys! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve last posted a review, almost 2 months to be exact! I wanted to write a little ‘Where have I been?’ blog to let you all know what’s been going on in my life and why L&L has been so quiet over the last 8 weeks.

My life has been pretty hectic recently, between schools final projects and final papers and exams, followed by some travel and then topped off with looking for a new place to live before May 1st my blog has unfortunately had to take a back seat. My school life is pretty crazy, thankfully I can now officially say that I’ve completed my 3rd year of university but getting to that point was pretty intense. I had so many final things all come up at once that I’ve been buried underneath, I wasn’t even finding the time to read (the worst). I finished this past Monday and I’ve finally had a week to myself which has been spent travelling back and forth from the city my parents live, where I’m currently residing, down to Toronto viewing new potential places to live.

For anyone that has ever moved or tried finding a place of your own to move to, you know how stressful it can be! With my new roommate moving out of her current place this coming Tuesday, her and I have been pounding the pavement with our realtor viewing places in the downtown core of the city. I was previously living on my own in Toronto for my first two years at uni and a year ago, decided to take a reprieve from the cost of living there and move back in with my parents. Now that I’m finally ready to get back down there again I’ve spent the last two weeks travelling back and forth, seeing place after place and either not loving them, or loving them but not having any luck for various different reasons. Today I submitted an offer on a place and I’m hoping for good news tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed for me!

In between all of that, I did some travelling (how I found the time, I don’t know) down to Tennessee to visit a good friend of mine, Jess!


Jess and I in Nashville! Aren’t we cute?

I spent four days roaming between Atlanta, GA and Nashville, TN and loving every minute of it! It was by far NOT enough time and I would loved to have stayed longer but school unfortunately didn’t allow for that. While I was there I did make time to add to my collection of tattoos which was so exciting! Of course I was elated to finally be getting my book-inspired ink done and I have to say that I’m over the moon with how they both turned out (yes, I got two!). Here is the first, a friendship tattoo that Jess and I both got – it’s a little open book on our ribs with a heart on the page. Just a little something that represents both of us and our shared love of books:


Mine is on the left with the red heart, Jess has the pink heart!

Next up was the one I was most excited for! I’ve known for a while that I wanted a quote from a book, it was just a matter of deciding on one that I felt fit me best. I wanted it to come from an author I loved and not just from a book and an author I’ve never read simply because it’s classic or nice. After careful consideration I realized that there wasn’t anything more perfect than “I go to seek a great perhaps” from John Green’s ‘Looking for Alaska’. It just sums up the way I feel about my life so perfectly and I knew it was something I would always feel the same way about.

I love it and I love looking in the mirror and seeing it or looking over my shoulder and catching a glimpse of the birds. Aside from hanging out with Jess, it was definitely the highlight of my trip!

So now that most of the craziness is over I can finally get back to blogging! I’ve read a few (disappointing) books and will hopefully be able to start posting reviews again beginning next week. With any luck I’ll also be packing this weekend, moving into a new place on Wednesday, road tripping to Detroit on Saturday (the 4th) to see Taylor Swift in concert (SO EXCITED FOR THIS!) all before Monday, May 6th, rolls around and I start my spring class at school! *lets out a breath* I know – a lot to do in very little time. So here’s hoping it all goes according to plan. I wish I could say I was gearing up to start enjoying my summer break but I don’t have that luxury until the start of June when everything is over until September.

If you made it to the bottom of this post, you deserve a cookie or some ice cream or maybe both.

Review: Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver

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Title: Requiem (Delirium #3) 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Released: March 5th, 2013
Buy It From: Amazon, Chapters Indigo or The Book Depository
Raiting: starstaremptyemptyempty

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

I really don’t enjoy not having good things to say about a book, especially when that book is the final instalment in a trilogy that had been, up until now, so auspicious. I went into Requiem feeling nervous but excited to find out how Lena’s story would conclude and what would happen to her and the boys she loved. To say that this book fell short of all my expectations would be an understatement. I’m going to note what I didn’t like in the least spoilery way possible and then follow it up with the one thing I did enjoy.

If you loved this book than this review may not be for you, however, if you didn’t, read on and let me know in the comments if you agree with my observations.

To being, I want to draw attention to the duel perspective in Requiem. The chapters alternate between Lena in the Wilds and Hana back in Portland. I think this was the books biggest flaw because I didn’t feel at any point in the trilogy, that Hana was worthy of any more than her role as a minor character in Delirium. Why she was given an entire arc in Requiem is beyond me. If you’ve read Hana: A Delirium Story then you know what secrets she holds regarding Lena and her own personal foray into the summer nights spent amongst uncureds. To give Hana half the novel was completely unnecessary and I found her story to be rather boring, just like her.

My second beef with this book comes in the form of Julian. I LOVED JULIAN- let me make that clear. He was fantastic in Pandemonium and was really what kept me wanting to read the final book. I wanted to find out how his character would continue to grow and acclimatize to life in the Wilds which is why I felt completely and totally ripped off when I finished Requiem. It left me wondering what the point of Pandemonium even was! Why read it? Why make me fall in love with this wonderful character only to have him basically forgotten about in the third book? It was as though he became nothing more than an afterthought in Lena’s mind and in the story itself. That alone was truly, truly disappointing.

Third place goes to Grace, Lena’s little cousin. Why was she so important all of a sudden? Here we are again with a minor character (even more minor than Hana) popping up with no real importance. Completely unnecessary.

Even the end of this book lacked impact. I understand that in this kind of series it’s not so easy to just be like: “and then they all lived happily ever after” because that isn’t realistic but at the same time I don’t think it would have hurt to have included an epilogue placed a few years in the future. Take Mockingjay, the final Hunger Games instalment, for example. It wasn’t realistic to wrap that story up with a big red bow but Suzanne Collins gave us a glimpse into the future to find out how things evolved post revolution and I think something like that could have really helped make Requiem feel more complete.

The one aspect I did like, oddly enough, was Lena’s jealousy. I won’t go into it for those who haven’t read or finished this book yet, but I don’t think we see lead female characters feeling true feelings of jealousy very often in teen novels. And let’s be honest, if there’s one ugly emotion girls excel at it’s that one. I found myself chuckling over Lena’s occasional thoughts, especially in one short scene in particular that involves a riffle.

Overall, I feel if you’ve invested the time thus far into Delirium, Pandemonium and the multiple short story novellas then of course take the time to read the conclusion. I just caution you not to expect much. This is not the epic finale I hoped it would be. Am I glad I read it? Sure. Would I read it again? No. I might even reconsider recommending the series as a whole to new readers because I just don’t think Requiem lived up to its predecessors.

Here’s hoping the TV series can restore my love for this series in a new and refreshing way.

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I’d Like To Start But Haven’t Yet

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish in which book bloggers are given a topic and asked to make a corresponding list of their top ten books.


Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling • The Chemical Garden Series by Lauren DeStefano

The Goddess Test Series by Aimee Carter • Angelfire Series by Courtney Allison Moulton

Dust Lands Series by Moira Young • The Vincent Boys Series by Abbi Glines

Covenant Series by Jennifer L Armentrout • For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl • Fallen Series by Lauren Kate

Have you read any of these series? Did you love them? Tell me what ones you think should be moved up in my TBR pile and leave a comment below with your Top Ten Tuesday picks or a link to your blog with your list, I’d love to read them!

Cover Reveal: Wait For You by J. Lynn

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What do early readers have to say about WAIT FOR YOU?

“J. Lynn creates a wonderful cast of characters that will make you laugh, swoon, and cry. Cam stole my heart.” – Cora Carmack, NYTimes and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of LOSING IT

“For the love of all that is Cameron without a shirt on! Wait for You will have you laughing out loud, fanning yourself and anxiously waiting to know what will happen next.” – Molly McAdams, NYTimes and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of FROM ASHES and TAKING CHANCES

“I don’t think I have ever read a NA Contemporary novel with as much depth as this one. It really moved me and by the end I was just speechless over how inspirational and uplifting it was as well as being sexy and cute and funny and emotional.” – K Books

“Wait For You is uniquely different from anything else J. Lynn’s written but it might possibly be her best work yet.” – Jenuine Cupcakes

“For all of you in love with Aiden and Daemon, PREPARE YOURSELVES! Your heart will have to expand a little more for Cam.” – Total Bookaholic

“For the love of all things CAM, this book deserves more than 5 stars.” – Mundie Moms

“I cannot even begin to explain how much I adored this perfectly crafted contemporary.” – Shortie Says

Excited? Ready to see the cover for WAIT FOR YOU?

Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…

WAIT FOR YOU is available now!
Get it from Amazon or Barnes and Noble


J. Lynn, also known as Jennifer L. Armentrout, is the USA TODAY Bestselling author of the adult romance Gamble Brothers’ series, the young adult Lux Series and award winning Covenant Series. She pretty much writes everything—contemporary, paranormal, and fantasy. All of her books have one thing in common no matter the name or genre: kissing… and stuff. When she’s not busy writing, which is never, she’s usually hanging out with dog Loki, watching reruns of The Walking Dead, or procrastinating on the Internet. You can find out more about Jennifer by visiting: Twitter, Facebook or her website

Review: Destroy Me (Shatter Me #1.5) by Tahereh Mafi

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Destroy MeTitle: Destroy Me (Shatter Me #1.5) 
Publisher: Harper
Released: October 2nd, 2012
Buy It For: Kindle, Kobo or Nook
Raiting: starstarstarstarstar

In Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner-and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of. . .

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

I seem to be reading a lot of novellas this year.

Normally I don’t find myself reading series that are accompanied by short stories but for whatever reason 2013 is turning out to be the year that changes and Destroy Me is everything I want from a novella. If I’m going to invest time furthering my knowledge of a particular character I want it to always be like this one.

If you read my review of Shatter Me you know I’m a Warner fangirl. I’m sorry Adam but every girl loves a bad boy and Warner is exactly that! So the fact that Destroy Me served him up on a golden platter made me happier than a fly on… well, you know.

What I relished most about Destroy Me was that it picked up almost exactly where Warner dropped out of Shatter Me and continued his story, interweaving into where he resurfaces again in Unravel Me. I loved that this was his chance to talk and that as a reader I was able to understand more about his psyche than I ever could have if I was only learning about him from the POV of Juliette.

To put it lightly, Warner makes my toes curl.

He says all the right things and he knows exactly what he wants. He’s both passionate and self-indulgent, poetic and monstrous, gentle and lethal– yet you can’t help but be drawn in by him. Destroy Me is the cake to Unravel Me‘s icing; you just don’t realize it until after you’ve finished both.

Destroy Me successfully nudges you towards thinking of Warner in a different light as you see his interactions with his father and begin to sympathize with him. You hear the murmurs of hate and disgust from his soldiers and you begin to realize that behind this shell of a ruthless leader is a 19 year old kid with some Daddy issues who’s in love with a girl who recoils at his touch and wishes him dead.

Like Juliette, Warner tells his story in a refreshing voice. Once again I have to praise Mafi for her poetic prose and beautiful words. She’s made made me fall for a killer and I’m not even sorry about it. If you loved Shatter Me and have even the slightest interest in hearing Warner’s story then I URGE YOU to read this. Even if you don’t think you like Warner, read it anyways, you might just be surprised at the boy you find between the pages.


“Because I want her.
Now.
Here.
Everywhere.
I want nothing between us.
I want her clothes off and the lights on and I want to study her. I want to unzip her out of this dress and take my time with every inch of her.”

“I almost forget that she still hates me, despite how hard I’ve fallen for her.
And I’ve fallen.
So hard.
I’ve hit the ground. Gone right through it. Never in my life have I felt this. Nothing like this. I’ve felt shame and cowardice, weakness and strength. I’ve known terror and indifference, self-hate and general disgust. I’ve seen things that cannot be unseen.

And yet I’ve known nothing like this terrible, horrible, paralyzing feeling. I feel crippled. Desperate and out of control. And it keeps getting worse. Every day I feel sick. Empty and somehow aching.

Love is a heartless bastard.”

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