Liebster Awards

Many thanks to Jillian, Raven, and Primrose for nominating me for the Liebster Award. This was the first tag I have ever been tagged in and I am so excited to become more involved in the book community.  Here we go!

1) If you could visit any fictional place, where would it be?

Obviously any book nerd would want to visit Hogwarts, but I would also love to visit Camp Half Blood.

2) If you could ask an author any question and be given an honest answer, what would you ask?

I would ask John Green how he still manages to connect so well with teenagers despite his middle agedness and fatherness. (I apologize for those made up words)

3) If you could ask an author about the life or a character(s) after the end of a book, who would you ask about?

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE.

4) Where is your favorite place to read?

In my bed surrounded by pillows.

5) What book will always make you laugh, no matter how many times you read it?

When I was little I used to read the Gallagher Girls books by Ally Carter. Whenever I read my old highlighted quotes on my kindle, quotes from these books continue to crack me up.

6) What is a book that you love, but other people just don’t ‘get’?

I don’t think I have an answer to this question. I usually choose what I read based off of other people’s recommendations, so there are usually others who also love the books I love.

7) What is your most recent read?

The last book I finished was Where She Went by Gayle Forman (review coming soon)! I am currently reading The Young Elites by Marie Lu.

8) If you were given the power to be able to cast a single wizarding spell from Harry Potter, what would you want it to be?

Accio. I would never have to leave my bedroom for food again.

9) What makes or breaks a book for you?

I cannot stand it when I book places so much emphasis on sex. Like please please please please please do not make it seem like sex is the end goal in every relationship. And please please please please please please never end a book with the main characters having sex. Please.

10) Is there a book that you have ever physically thrown across the room or had to put down? If so, what was it?

Yes. Obviously The Fault in Our Stars, but also Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

11) Why do you blog about books?

I blog about books because none of my friends or family read a lot and whenever I want to talk about a book, I completely get shut down. On my blog, I can share my opinion and actually discuss books with other book people.

Now the eleven people I am tagging are…

1. Alexandra
2. Hadjar
3. Danielle
4. Kacey
5. River & Sam
6. Danielle
7. Ashleigh
8. Kaitlyn
9. Ayestria
10. Erika
11. https://myescapebookscoffeetea.wordpress.com

P.S. What is with the number 11 in this tag? Does it have significance? Let me know.

P.P.S. TOMORROW IS BOOKCON AHH

Prodigy – Marie Lu

After the shocking end to Legend, I could not wait to continue this trilogy. After June and Day narrowly escaped, they are hiding from one government and trying to find another. June, a former military leaders, now a wanted traitor of the Republic, left her successful and comfortable life because of her love for Day. Day only cares about June and finding his brother, Eden, who had been taken away by the Republic due to the plague. For lack of knowing who else to trust, Day and June turn to the Patriots for support. With the Patriots, Day and June are trying to overthrow the despicable Republic, until June has a change of heart. Using secret underground tunnels and stolen weapons, along with their top intelligence, June and Day work towards altering the government to benefit the citizens of the Republic.

No matter how similar they may be, I always enjoy young adult dystopian novels. I think I have been enjoying the Legend trilogy more than I enjoyed Matched and Delirium because this trilogy has not  incorporated the government trying to control love, but it still had romantic aspects.

Whenever I read dystopian novels, I usually begin to think about how government influences our lives. I have never been super interested in politics, but my extensive reading always makes me realize no government is perfect, but wonder what type of government benefits society as a whole the most. When Day and June flee to the Colonies, the land that they believed had a perfect government, they were extremely disappointed to find that every government has corruption, and that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

This trilogy has also made me think more about standardized testing than I had before. As time progresses, not passing standardized tests has resulted in growing repercussions. Not passing Trials ultimately results in death in the Republic, which seems strangely similar to not being able to pass tests in high school and having your future ruined because of a number.

This ending of this book literally broke my heart, but I cannot wait to read the last book in the trilogy, Champion. I am also planning on reading Marie Lu’s newer trilogy, The Young Elites. I definitely recommend reading this trilogy if you enjoy dystopian, young adult novels.

P.S. BookCon is in one week and I am SOOOOOO excited!!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I went into this book not knowing much about the plot, but oh my goodness I was not disappointed. Aristotle (Ari) is a teenage boy who has a brother in prison, a mother that wants to talk too much, and a father who does not talk enough. One hot summer day in 1989 New Meixco, Ari went to the pool not knowing how to swim, and met Dante, who not only taught him how to swim, but so many other lessons as well. Being someone who did not make friends easily, Ari was surprised by how comfortable Dante immediately made him feel. The reader gets to experience the next year of Ari and Dante’s lives and everything that goes along with transitioning from boyhood to manhood.

This book was amazing. This book was amazing. This book was amazing. I was not expecting to be able to relate to Ari and Dante in great depth because they are teenage boys and I am a fifteen year old girl, but I was pleasantly surprised by how relatable Ari was. There were so many times in the book when Ari put how I felt about life into words. In my head I was saying “Yes! That is how to describe that emotion!” Ari is also an incredibly wise teenager. Many things he said, I could hear coming from a 75 year old man.  For example, Ari describes love as feeling like a burden. I completely agree with him because of all the responsibilities that come along with someone loving you. Another big thing Ari dealt with was his father’s change in personality after fighting in Vietnam and how it affected his entire family. I could completely relate to this because of the struggles my family members had after fighting in Afghanistan.

While Ari struggled with major things, he also joked about the small problems in life. For example, tennis shoes. Yes, tennis shoes. Dante cannot stand wearing shoes and always found a new way to destroy them. Ari and Dante also have to deal with the feeling of having parents constantly nagging and bothering them, which is always relatable.

As I have already said, I LOVED THIS BOOK. It was very different from most of the books I read and I enjoyed the change. I am looking forward to reading other books by this author and cannot wait to see what else I can learn from him.