Mister Death's Blue-eyed Girls / Mary Downing Hahn

In 1955, two girls are shot to death.
*That's all I dare say because it's so good to read it without knowing much, haha*

In 2014, I thought I didn't like historical fiction, or was sure I wouldn't enjoy this genre. Did I really say that??? I remember reading a lot of this back in 2012, but I didn't know what it was called. Simply called them "books set in 1950s/1960s".

I've seen this book in many of the libraries I've been in, but never picked it up because I was always just looking for books that Booktube/Bookstagram have mentioned before. What a mistake. The 5th time or so I saw this title, I decided to just take it.

Books are really best enjoyed not knowing anything about. Jumped into this and immediately loved the setting of 1955. The writing was clear and I could easily imagine the clothes, the places, the characters and how they talked and acted. I loved every bit of it. The changing point of views apart from our main girl Nora really added to the story.

If you're looking for an actual murder mystery though, this isn't the one for you. It doesn't revolve around that, but it's more of a coming-of-age story about letting go, how small a town is and how everyone can know everyone and at the same time not... how being accused of something you didn't do could leave such a huge impact.

This was based on an actual murder in 1955, and reading the author's Afterword just made me wanna cry my heart out. Reading the book halfway I looked at her picture on the back cover flap and was like... Wow, she's old. But there is a reason for that *cries*

I Googled about this real life case, and reading about how every single detail in it matched the details in this book is just........ *cries again*

(spoilers) Burn For Burn trilogy / Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

I've been wanting to read these since 2014, but I didn't like not having matching books on my shelves, so I didn't buy them. I borrowed them from the library only because I was lucky enough to have found them in one single library.

This had a great premise, really: three girls who have been wronged by a bully, an ex-friend, a boy... And instead of waiting for karma to hit them back, they decide to take things into their own hands.

This is gonna be full of rants.

Alright, so I loved the first book, Burn For Burn. I enjoyed the girls' plotting and the way the executed it, despite how messy or flawed they were. After all, they're just high school girls. I loved Mary, really, she's so sweet and cute, while Kat is such a strong person and adorable in her own spiteful way. And I loved hating Rennie, however weird that sounds.

Well, I didn't like Lillia from the start. The Asian model's face on the covers really irks me and gets on my nerves, and it affected my view of Lillia, especially the fact that she was always described as pretty, hot, popular, blah blah blah.

By the time we got to book 2, Fire With Fire, I hated Lillia so much. I hated her as a character, and then the plot fell downhill as well, and by downhill, I meant leaning towards Lillia and just Lillia alone.

Trust Jenny Han to make the Asian character the sweet, innocent one who is popular and wanted by all the boys for no apparent reason. It's really annoying, mind you, even though I'm Asian too. She was really pushing it too much with this character. Everything just revolved around Lillia.

And then we got to book 3: Ashes To Ashes. Oh my god, I wanted to throw this book across my room. Mary was doing worse damage to Kat than Lillia, to the extent of destroying Kat's precious boat, while merely scaring Lillia off using her stupid horse. OH MY GOD. LILLIA WAS THE ONE WHO "FELL IN LOVE" WITH REEVE, WHO BETRAYED MARY. OH. MY. GOD.

And of course, Lillia is the one who gets everything. She is the one whose life is most unaffected. She is the one whose perfect family is all safe, who still gets what she wants, who didn't lose anyone, who still has 2 boys fighting for her even though she PLAYED WITH THEM LIKE HELL COUNTLESS TIMES. Kat lost her dog, didn't get into Oberlin, her relationship with Alex wasn't touched up on. EVERYTHING WAS LILLIA THIS LILLA THAT.

AND: am I the only one who sees a shadow of a To All The Boys I've Loved Before/PS I Still Love You character in everyone of Lillia's clique???

The Asian that is excessively described as "sweet and innocent": Lara Jean / Lillia
The sweet kind nice guy who is close friends with the family: Josh / Alex
The douchebag/player who is suddenly so in love with the Asian for no reason???: Peter / Reeve
The popular pretty girl who grew up with, and have a love triangle with the Asian and douchebag: Genevieve / Rennie

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Done ranting, goodbye.

Station Eleven / Emily St John Mandel

The night a famous Hollywood actor by the name of Arthur Leander died, a flu pandemic kick-started its own life and that was how civilization as we knew it came to an end within a few weeks.

That marks the start of time being labelled Day One; up til Year Twenty, with Kirsten Raymonde, the 8-year-old girl who witnessed Arthur's death on stage, joining a group of travelers called the Traveling Symphony, who have dedicated what remained of their lives to maintaining the arts.

So this book. I went into it without expecting much, in fact I thought it was gonna turned out meh. But we all know books that we always thought was gonna be meh always turned out amazing...

That flu pandemic is crazy. People were catching it just by talking to the infected, who got sick just a few minutes ago by talking to another infected person.

We follow a few "main" characters, and we watch how they survived in the after-civilization, not just from the flu but from their own insanity. The chapters weren't chronological, but I loved how the stories from then and now intertwined.

The characters were real, and their stories of making the roads home, of making an airport a museum; it was all so interesting to read and think about. It did scare me; a world where the kids had never seen a lit up computer screen before; a world where it was impossible to think that such huge machines called airplanes could once fly into the sky.

I gave this a solid 5 stars, I love it so so so much. A little bit thanks to my low expectations of it initially, a little bit thanks to the way it scared me; whatever it is, this was amazing.

Made You Up / Francesca Zappia

What's it about: Alex has a daily struggle of being unable to tell what's real and what's not, thanks to her schizophrenia. After a long time of being labelled "crazy", she isn't prepared for normal, but I guess that is exactly what shall be thrown at her in her new school...

Hmmm. This was tough to rate. I didn't love it, but didn't exactly hate it either. Some parts I do not understand what was going on, and I'm not sure if that was what the author was going for. In the end, I gave it just 2 stars out of 5 /:

These are the parts I like:
-the initial relationship between Alex and Miles, when they couldn't stand each other.
-the setting of high school.
-the epilogue.

What I don't like:
-the premise of an "unreliable narrator". I didn't feel it; Alex was just like a normal girl to me.
-Alex's illness wasn't really touched on much in my opinion. At some parts I almost forgot she is schizophrenic. Again, I'm not sure if this is what the author was going for.
-the rush of the romance between Alex and Miles.

I'm not sure why there's so many 5 star ratings on Goodreads, because I didn't entirely see the factors that made this book worthy as such. It was fast-paced because of the setting of high school (which I do enjoy) but at the same time some parts just kinda bored me a little.

I guess I'd recommend this one to those who wanna read about being able to fit in society with their flaws/mental illnesses.

Gone Girl / Gillian Flynn

Okay. So about half a year ago someone spoiled the movie for me, which made me not wanna pick up the book. Also, I read Sharp Objects and hadn't really enjoyed it, that's why it took me a while before I decided Hey, let's go to the Adult Fiction section for once and pick up Gone Girl.

I am gonna cut to the chase.

THIS. WAS. PERFECT.

Okay, okay, before I start gushing I need to talk about the synopsis of this book. Gone Girl is a psychological thriller that revolves around Nick Dunne and his wife, Amy Dunne, the inspiration for these popular kids books, Amazing Amy. On their 5th wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing and all the signs point to her husband.

Like all great books, this was best enjoyed not knowing much about. I hadn't watched the movie, of course, not even its trailers or anything. Unless you included the spoiler that I mentioned, I didn't know much about it.

I was so attached to the characters in different ways, so much love for Amy, I loved her voice during the entire book (despite her flaws if you know what I mean); and so much hatred for Nick because yeah he was honestly a douche. (kinda hated Go too just because she was supporting him so much)

This disturbed me so much that it made me not wanna get married.

Also, during the period I was reading this, I was very angry with my other half because of a fight we had, and it actually made me hate him more, just because of the way Nick was. THIS IS VERY DISTURBING, NO?

Overall this book was cleverly written, gripping, and really creepy sometimes. From beginning to end, I was hooked and enjoying the ride. Maybe an Adult thriller once in a while would be a great habit to start this year =D

By the way, Glory & Gore by Lorde just perfectly describes Gone Girl. 

Don't Look Back / Jennifer L. Armentrout

Don't Look Back / Jennifer L. Armentrout

What it's about in one sentence: When Sam comes back after her and her best friend Cassie's disappearance, she doesn't remember a thing; not the things she liked, not what she was like, and definitely not what happened that night.

Gave this 4 stars on Goodreads! The moment I started reading, I could not put it down. It was fast-paced, a page-turner.

Honestly it gave me a mix vibe of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas because of certain reasons, but I tried my best to close my eyes on those comparisons and that is how I enjoyed this one =)

I liked how Sam was shocked to know how she was like before she lost her memories, and how she slowly but surely got over "evil Sammy".  Before she disappeared, she was a real bitch to everyone at school. You could see how the kids feared her or hated her, through the little interactions she had with them.

Honestly I thought it was kind of cute how her bitch clique was saying Look at that kid there you used to call her a fat bitch and you once took her food and offered her a salad to eat instead and she was just like No! I wouldn't do that!

I was supporting her the whole way, and just as badly wanted to know the truth as she did, even though she herself was questioning her own sanity.

Her brother's support for her was unbelievable, I mean, maybe because I have an elder brother who practically treats me like a stranger and that is why I didn't find it realistic for a brother to be so caring and supportive. I was a bit envious, but it works for me. I loved him as well as Julie, they make great side characters.

One thing I didn't 100% appreciate though is the romance between Sam & Carson. Okay, I liked their childhood past and whatnot, but I feel their relationship after her accident was a bit rushed. I don't really like rushed romances /:

Overall a really great mystery YA, would in my opinion make an amazing, suspenseful film!

We All Looked Up / Tommy Wallach

When I first got this book, I already had an emotional attachment to it. My best friend from secondary school got me this as a birthday gift, even though we hadn't been talking much, and I'd been hanging out with my friends from work a lot more.

We All Looked Up centres around 4 kids with labels in high school; the Athlete, the Slut, the Overachiever, the Slacker. When it is made news that an asteroid is about to hit, they are left with 2 months to leave these labels behind, to get to know one another, to really live.

This made me think: if an asteroid was about to hit, would I rather spend my remaining time with those friends I spent 4 years in secondary school with, but haven't been meeting or even talking with; or the friends I've been spending everyday of the last almost-year with?

Just these thoughts alone made me think I was gonna get my heart broken by this book.

Unfortunately... that didn't happen. (only a booknerd would feel disappointed about not having her heart broken hah!)

I didn't love the characters, not a single one from the 4 different point-of-views the chapters were in. Peter, dating a girl for 3 years and finding her annoying as time went by; what kind of guy is that? I felt disgusted, and could not understand why he did what he did in the darkroom.

Even as the chapters went on, I couldn't see the characters as real people. There wasn't much character development for any of them, and I couldn't fathom why they were the way they were. For me it was a failed attempt at making the characters have some side story or whatever.

I think the characters alone was a huge factor in making me really not enjoy this book, sorry to say.... I wasn't really focused and whatever was happening didn't keep me on the edge.

One good thing I liked about this book was the ending, which I shall not elaborate because spoilers. All in all, it was a great premise, but not so great characters and execution for me.

Why We Broke Up / Daniel Handler

Gave this 2 out of 5 stars guys. 

So where do I start.

In Why We Broke Up, Min writes a long letter to her ex, Ed, along with items from their relationship, telling the story of why they'd broken up.

When I started reading, I actually flew through the first 70 pages or so. And then it got a bit difficult...

I liked Min's voice, aka I appreciated it being in first-person, but the running sentences didn't do it for me. I didn't get half of it whenever she talked like that hah.

I didn't understand how Joan felt about her to be honest. Joan to me had this sort of split personality and I couldn't figure out if she liked Min as a person or not.

Let's not talk about Ed, I never liked him from the beginning. He was obviously gonna be that kind of guy who played around, who had an ex girlfriend here and another ex girlfriend there. Kinda cookie cutter in my opinion.

And I was a bit annoyed at how every character Min met was calling her "different". It was too much, kinda exaggerated. Maybe it was to build up to that "he called me different, but in reality I was just the same as other girls" situation, I don't know.

I would have given this book just 1 star if it hadn't been for the fact that I liked Min's voice, and because I was able to relate as I personally went through a similar story 2 years ago. Would recommend it to secondary school girls who like to read about love and relationships and blah blah blah.

The Land Of Stories #1: The Wishing Spell / Chris Colfer

The Land Of Stories #1: The Wishing Spell

/ Chris Colfer

I know my photos aren't quality. I'm just not as good a photographer as a reader :p 

So I picked this up randomly at work many months ago, because I was just scouring around the "Intermediate Readers" section. Never got around to reading it properly, and then it got popular and many kids were actually looking for it til all the books 1 to 4 were sold out.

Land of Stories revolves around a pair of twins, Alex & Conner Bailey who grew up loving fairytales, thanks to the stories their grandmother and father were always telling them, be it before bedtime or when they're upset and need some advice.

On their twelfth birthday, which was really miserable for them due to circumstances, their grandmother gifted them her favourite fairytale book called The Land Of Stories. Of course magical things happen, right?

This book didn't have many amazing reviews, and in fact there were a number of negative ones, but honestly, I really enjoyed it! I'm really surprised myself, because I hadn't thought I would love it soooo much. I practically flew through it.

 I loved the way everything was woven around together, how everyone and everything were connected. I enjoyed seeing the way some known characters from stories that I know appeared. I loved the fairytale world and all the characters, how they were made and played around with by the author.

I loved Alex to be honest, even though to others she would have seemed annoying. I loved the way she was fangirling over all the fairytale characters whom she was meeting in the flesh. Wouldn't we all know how she felt? ;)

Sure there were quite a few flaws here and there, but this is a middle grade book, and I as a child would not have noticed these tiny holes so I just closed an eye. And that is how I loved this book so much.

Unfortunately for me most Popular bookstores didn't have books 2 & 3 anymore so I had to go Kinokuniya instead. That's just how much I really wanted to continue on with this series :-)

The Disreputable History Of Frankie Landau-Banks / E. Lockhart

featuring my very ripped jeans. 

First of all, books in boarding school are always my cup of tea. They're always really adorable, funny, and light without too much feels which is what I may need once in a while :p

In my opinion, this was really cute. I loved following our main character, Frankie, around. This was perfect as a second-person point of view for me, because I get the feeling that if it had been Frankie's thoughts (aka first person) she may have been an annoying character haha.

I loved all the characters and not just Frankie; the boys, known as the dogs, were actually really funny in their annoying ways. I loved the secret that they were in on, and how Frankie tried so hard to know what it was, as if her life depended on it.

Maybe other readers would think it annoying that she was so nosy, but in fact I loved her for it because if I were in her shoes I would have felt so curious too!

Overall a fantastic book with great writing, but I knocked off 1 star out of 5 stars only because it was just a fun read, but not one that would exactly stay with me for a long time :) Would recommend this one to secondary school girls though, for some reason!

4/12: Biggest surprise

4th December: Biggest Surprise

I literally just finished this last night, and I have 4 words: OH. MY F*CKING. GOD.

Dangerous Girls, by Abigail Haas.

I randomly got this book from Times about 3 months back, without even reading its summary. Sometimes leaping into a book is the best way to go through it :p Okay, maybe not sometimes but always. It always works for me.

We start off with a 911 call, girls screaming over the phone.
(This made me search for disturbing 911 calls on Youtube and I regret it so much)

Our protagonist, Anna; her best friend, Elise; and a few other close friends were on vacation on an island Aruba, when it all goes horribly wrong with the discovery of Elise's brutally murdered body.

That's all I wanna say, because really! It's best to read it without knowing a single thing! Trust me. I flew through it, reading 80 pages in an hour the night I picked it up.

BUT. At the end of it, I was genuinely freaked out, and I kept feeling someone was gonna come for me. It was that creepy for me ;_;

I can't say much without ruining the experience for you if you are planning to read it.
If you are not planning to, please do so, you will have no regrets. It's mysterious, gripping, and will leave you hangover.

I am hangover now, because I've been desperately reading spoilery reviews and discussion blog posts because I need to know more!

That is all for now.

Night Film / Marisha Pessl

This is the story of horror film director Stanislas Cordova, who hasn't been seen in public for forty years or so. 

He is the mastermind behind 15 incredible horror films, which had been filmed in his very own estate, whose actors and actresses disappear to the remotest corners of the world after filming. Shown only in creepy secret underground screenings, the films are so disturbing that while some people lose their minds after watching them, the rest dedicate all their lives into the theories of these films.

When his daughter Ashley Cordova is found dead in a warehouse, it is speculated to be suicide, but journalist Scott McGrath doesn't think so and for some reason needs to know the truth as if his life depends on it. 

That's it for plot... because some books are better enjoyed if you jump into them without knowing much.

Night Film is a psychological thriller with photographs and articles, and there's also an app with extra content, though you don't miss out on the actual story even if you don't download it. (I didn't.)

First of all, this book is about 600 pages long. Thrillers aren't really my thing, they stopped being interesting after my excessive adult thriller phase about five years ago. Yet, I flew through this book, because it was just impossible to put down.

The plot wasn't rushed, but it wasn't draggy either. I enjoyed the bits where the characters would tell their own tales, because I thought they were interesting, and the articles in it helped me to understand the plot better too.

I wasn't exaggerating when I said this book really creeped me out. The writing was so good that I kept feeling afraid to even turn the page, even when I was reading in broad daylight. It would make a really good movie; I could just imagine the jumpscares and me closing my eyes the entire time!

To make a long story short, this is the kind of book where you would enjoy the journey more than the destination. The things that Scott unearths will mess with your mind like it did mine, make you go WTF???

As for the characters, the three musketeers who journey together aren't the most loveable or relatable, but I didn't exactly hate them. In fact I loved Nora for how passionate she seemed during the whole investigation, and she was so cute, believing everything she was told.

I didn't really like the ending but at the same time I think it's perfect, because it left me confused as to what was real, and that actually fits the plot of this book... You'll get it if you read it.

Now I am wishing Cordova's films are real, just to see how it would affect the people in this real world, how grotesque it could get and whether lives would change after viewing them. Even if they are real, I would not dare watch them at all.

Ps am I the only one who thinks Ashley Cordova looks like Cara Delevigne somehow???

Sovereign. Deadly. Perfect. 

Love Fortunes & Other Disasters /Kimberly Karalius

"Love stopped at the town of Grimbaud, weary and limping upon a twisted ankle." 

That is the first sentence of this book, which was what compelled me into buying it.

Love Fortunes and Other Disasters is about a town that is literally obsessed with love. 

We have Zita's famous Love Charms Shop that produces 100% accurate love fortunes which the people of Grimbaud have followed every year. It was a tradition, and just mentioning the possibility that these fortunes might be wrong was absurd.

Fallon Dupree comes from a family where generations have successfully married their high school sweethearts thanks to their fortunes. However the year Fallon goes into high school, she is stunned to receive a fortune telling her that she will never find love.

Fortunately for her she isn't the only one with a bad fortune, and she soon realises a rebellion is stirring. She wants to take control of her own fate, which may or may not be impossible in this town almost possessed by the mysterious Zita and her fortunes.

If I had to describe this book with one word, it'll be cute. It was just really cute how everyone believed in love so much, how the town seemed to run on and get its energy from love.

At first thought, this book may seem like a contemporary novel but it actually leans towards magical realism, considering the magical aspects of it. They have these things called charms, weather charms and confidence charms, little 'spells' to help you with your daily life.

I rarely stumble onto magical realism books but I really enjoyed this one. It was fast-paced, the characters were likeable, and the storyline was neither too depressing nor too cheesy. It was also realistic, the thing with the bachelor and spinster villas, how they were seen by the other happy couples; it's just like in society today where being alone or single is looked down upon.

I really enjoyed the characters' relationships with one another. How Fallon and her best friends were constantly supporting each other; Anais with her insecurity in showing her boyfriend Bear the real side of her, and Nico with his trying to get his crush Martin's attention. They were all so willing to go through great lengths for another.

Fallon and Sebastian had great character and relationship developments. I liked how Fallon had grown up with parents  and an elder brother who were obsessed with clean environments and high quality clothing, and how that changed because of Sebastian. Likewise, I liked seeing Sebastian changing his womaniser ways after the interactions with Fallon.

If you know me, you know I dislike books that have random romance. For me, the romance between these two weren't sudden. You could see how Fallon really detested Bastion at the beginning, but over the course of the book she slowly develops a crush on him and it's just the cutest.

This book deserves 4 stars from me because while I really enjoyed it and liked the characters, it was not completely mind-blowing and I do not exactly relate to Fallon and her friends. There were also some parts that did not make sense especially towards the end but I guess that's just how magical realism is.

Overall if you are looking for a light, cute and unique book, this is one for you to try :)

This is an honest review.
Love Fortunes and Other Disasters is available at Popular bookstores, go get it :)