RIDICULOUS APRIL BOOK HAUL

This insane stack of 13 books came from my first order off of Book Outlet. In my defence, these were ordered in March but didn't come until April! From top to bottom we have:

Love Story - Jennifer Echols

Hopeless - Colleen Hoover

On Dublin Street - Samantha Young
Kissing Shakespeare - Pamela Mingle

Every Day - David Levithan 

Burning Blye - Paul Griffin

Beautiful Disaster - Jamie McGuire

Breakable - Tammara Webber

Easy - Tammara Webber

Meant To Be - Lauren Morrill

Love and Other Perishable Items - Laura Buzo

Tempest - Julie Cross

The Marriage Plot- Jeffrey Eugenides

You'll notice that these are all contemporary books with a focus on the New Adult genre. I was on a bit of a contemporary kick and have already read some of these! I am planning on doing a review/overview in the next couple of weeks on the New Adult genre which will feature some of these books so                        keep your eyes out for that!

This small pile came from a second order from Book Outlet as well as a trip to Chapters! From top to bottom we have:

Maybe Someday - Colleen Hoover

The Winner's Curse - Marie Rutkoski

The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon

Outlander - Diana Gabaldon (the only book I bought on my trip to Chapters)

I enjoyed Hopeless by Colleen Hoover a lot so I decided to pick up another one of her books which will also be included in my New Adult post. The three books on the top were all purchased from Book Outlet very recently so they most likely will still have them in stock. I was so excited to see The Bone Season because I've been dying to read it and they had a hardcover for only $3.59! 

This last pile came from the Book Depository. From top to bottom we have:

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

A Room with a View - E.M. Forster

The Time Machine - H.G. Wells

North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (Penguin Drop Cap)

The Princess Bride - William Goldman/Michael Manomivibul (an illustrated edition)

I've decided to start collecting the Penguin Drop Cap editions because I think they are just so beautiful! I started with Jane Eyre because even though I have already read it, I've been wanting to reread it for a while. I am also currently reading Sense and Sensibility and loving it! I'm really looking forward to The Princess Bride because it's an illustrated edition and I've actually never read the book or seen the movie!  I'm planning on reading this and then watching the movie right after so I can compare the two. With a whopping total of 24 books it's safe to say I may have gone a little overboard. I think these three photos really show my eclectic taste in books as well as my book buying addiction! Needless to say I am on a ban until I can knock down my TBR (lets see how long I can last without cracking)!

REVIEW: THE NIGHT CIRCUS

The circus arrives without warning....

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is such a unique story that follows a rather unusual circus and a challenge between two magicians who have been bound since birth. 

The story follows multiple characters along multiple timelines which makes for a very interesting story when all the characters are weaved together. 

I loved the concept of this book and the elements of the circus are so creative! Morgenstern is also very descriptive in her writing which leads to a very ethereal atmosphere. Some of my favourite bits are when Morgenstern switches to a second person point of view and it feels like you are really at the circus!

My only complaint (and it is a small one) is that I wish there was more romance. The back of this particular edition makes it seem like the romance between Celia and Marco is a key feature of this book, when it really isn't. The romance almost takes a back seat to the circus and the "challenge," which is not a bad thing but perhaps the synopsis can seem a bit misleading. It also felt that the romance was a bit rushed as they don't seem to have any feelings for each other during the first half of this book and then BAM they're in love. 

A lot of people also seem to find the idea of the "challenge" to be very vague and not well-explained, which is true but I think it adds to the overall atmosphere of the book. We do find out the story behind how the challenge began at the very end of the book, but during it we are as clueless as Celia and Marco. I think this makes it more interesting because it's like we're finding out this mystery together which is quite exciting. 

I'm giving this 4.5/5 and recommending it to anyone who wants a very unique read that is a good transition from YA to adult fiction!

BOOKS vs. TV SHOW - THE 100

A couple months ago, I was perusing Netflix and they recommended this show The 100 for me and after hearing so many great things about it from some friends I started to watch it. I caught up with both seasons right before the season 2 finale so needless to say I am obsessed. When I found out that the show was based on these books I got so excited and binge-read all three of these. 

If you don't know, the premise is that on Earth there was the great nuclear blast making it inhabitable to these people have been living on a space station. You can get imprisoned very easily when you're a miner and if you're over 18 you can be "floated" (basically pushed into space without a suit). The government decides to send 100 delinquents to Earth 99 years after the explosion to see if Earth is now habitable. The 100 find they are not alone on Earth.

The show and the books are very different from each other, so much so that you can compare them as two completely different things. Doing my research on the show, I found out that the show was based upon just the premise of the first book in this series and it was not completed at the time the show was developing their story so this can explain the major differences. 

Normally, I am a stickler of the rule that the book is always, always, always better than the show/movie. This, however, is not the case with The 100. The books are just not very good. There is no sense of time in these books which is very confusing for the reader. In the first book one of the characters mentions how they have been there "a few weeks" and this occurs during the middle of the book. The second book takes place 21 days (3 weeks) after they landed in the beginning of Book 1. So how could a few weeks have passed by the middle of Book 1 when the whole things takes place in a span of 3 weeks?

The characters are also not very developed. I found them to be very flat and one-dimensional. To be honest, the main reason I bought these books is because Bellarke (Bellamy/Clarke) is canon but the relationship is so underdeveloped. It's not that slow-burn type of relationship that I love, but everything happens all at once. Not only that, but in the books there are two characters named Glass and Luke who are not in the TV show, for good reason, because they are absolutely useless. I found myself getting so annoyed with their characters, especially by the third book. Octavia is also not nearly as much of a BAMF as she is in the show which is quite disappointing. There is also a plot twist in the second book that doesn't add anything to the story and could have been left out completely. 

Also, why are only TV tie-in covers available for the last two books? Such a pet peeve of mine that they don't match!

I did a detailed review of the third book Homecoming on my Goodreads here, so if you would like to check that out feel free but be warned it is spoiler-y!

Overall, I'm giving this series 1.5/5 - just go watch the TV show (and then come back here so we can fangirl about Bellarke). 

ABOUT

About Me

My name is Erin and I'm a twenty-year-old English major currently residing in Toronto, Canada! Books have always been my passion and as unemployable as a degree in English seems, I am immensely enjoying my degree.

I love all genres and am open to anything but my favourite genres to read are fantasy, historical fiction (especially WWII!), contemporary, dystopian, and sci-fi. I also have a strong love for the classics, so there will be reviews of them from time to time!

Contact

I am currently accepting reviews for any genre except for:

• non-fiction
• westerns
• gory horror 
• children's books

Adult fiction and YA fiction are both acceptable. I will accept ARCs, galleys, finished copies, ebooks (PDFs preferred), and self-published authors. If a sequel in a series is sent and I have not read the preceding book(s), I would greatly appreciate being sent a copy of the first book(s). My reviews will include a rating, a release date, the publisher's blurb about the book. and my own honest review. If a book is accepted for review, it is not guaranteed a good rating!

To contact, please email me at:

littlelibrarylounge@gmail.com