Waiting on Wednesday: I'm Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Title: I'm Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl 

Series: -

Author: Gretchen McNeil

Date Published: September 13th 2016 

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Beatrice Maria Estrella Giovannini has life all figured out. She's starting senior year at the top of her class, she’s a shoo-in for a scholarship to M.I.T., and she’s got a new boyfriend she’s crazy about. The only problem: All through high school Bea and her best friends Spencer and Gabe have been the targets of horrific bullying.

So Bea uses her math skills to come up with The Formula, a 100% mathematically-guaranteed path to social happiness in high school. Now Gabe is on his way to becoming Student Body President, and Spencer is finally getting his art noticed. But when her boyfriend dumps her for Toile, the quirky new girl at school, Bea realizes it's time to use The Formula for herself. She'll be reinvented as the eccentric and lovable Trixie—a quintessential manic pixie dream girl—in order to win her boyfriend back and beat new-girl Toile at her own game.

Unfortunately, being a manic pixie dream girl isn't all it's cracked up to be, and “Trixie” is causing unexpected consequences for her friends. As The Formula begins to break down, can Bea find a way to reclaim her true identity, and fix everything she's messed up? Or will the casualties of her manic pixie experiment go far deeper than she could possibly imagine?

Gretchen McNeil is one of my favorite mystery/suspense authors, I'm excited to see how she handles contemporary YA.

My Ten favorite tv shows of all time

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish.  Each week a new top ten list is posted, and to participate all you have to do is fill in YOUR top ten for the list.

This week's topic:

Top Ten Favorite TV Shows of All Time

1) Friends 

I remember watching this sometimes with my parents, I didn't understand a lot of the jokes until I watched the show when I was older. Now I love watching this for a little 90's nostalgia.

2) The Borgias

I love everything about this show, especially Cesare Borgia he kind of reminds me of a real life Darkling. I'm so sad that this got canceleld.

3) How I met your mother

Although I always though this was a copy of Friends and I hated the final seasons, I still love re watching this while I do homework.

4) Supernatural

I only discovered this series this year but I already binged watched the first 10 seasons. I'm pretty obsessed with Castiel.

5) Grey's Anatomy

I love all the drama and bizarre situations they come up with, still I wish Christina would come back for some reason.

6) Shadowhunters

I hated the movie so I was a bit skeptical of the series but I ended up loving it. I really hope that season 2 has a better special effects budget.

Monday Book Recommendations: Shiny Broken Pieces by Sona Charaipotra & Dhonelle Clayton

Monday is the day I choose what new books I’m going to start reading but I have so many books in my To Read Pile that sometimes it’s hard to choose so I have decided that on Monday mornings I’ll recommend some  of  my favorite books.

Title: Shiny Broken Pieces

Series: Tiny Pretty Things #2

Author: Sona Charaipotra & Dhonelle Clayton

Date Published: July 12th 2016

Publisher: Harper Teen

June, Bette, and Gigi have given their all to dance at Manhattan’s most elite ballet school. Now they are competing one final time for a spot at the prestigious American Ballet Company. With the stakes higher than ever, these girls have everything to lose…and no one is playing nice.

June is starting to finally see herself as a prima ballerina. However, getting what she wants might cost her everything—including the only boy she’s ever loved. Legacy dancer Bette is determined to clear her name after she was suspended and accused of hurting her rival, Gigi. Even if she returns, though, will she ever regain the spotlight she craves? And Gigi is not going to let Bette—or the other dancers who bullied her—go unpunished. But as revenge consumes her, Gigi may be the one who pays the price.

After years of grueling auditions, torn ribbons, and broken hearts, it all comes down to this last dance. Who will make the cut? And who will lose her dream forever? 

This is definitely my favorite read of the year so far, it was everything I wanted it to be.

Rooms by Lauren Oliver Mini Review

Title: Rooms

Series: -

Author: Lauren Oliver

Date Published: September 23rd 2014                              Publisher: Ecco

A tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways 

Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. 

But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb. 

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.

I was a bit worried on how to handle my expectations for this book, I absolutely loved Lauren Oliver's Delirium series but her book Panic not so much. I actually enjoyed reading this.

Things I liked

My favorite part of the book was definitely reading the ghostly points of view. It was very interesting to see how the perceived the family.

Things I didn't like

Minna definitely frustrated me, I get that she didn't have the world's greatest parents but there comes a point in life when you have to stop blaming them for your bad decisions.

Final Rating

Weekly Book Haul (August 15-August 20)

I've been gone from the blog for a while due to some blogger burn out but I' m trying to get back on track, so here is my haul of books from this past week.

Take the Fall by Emily Hainsworth Review

Title: Take the Fall

Series: - 

Author: Emily Hainsworth 

Date Published: February 16th 2016

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

WHO KILLED GRETCHEN MEYER?

Fear grips the residents of Hidden Falls the night Sonia Feldman and her best friend, Gretchen Meyer, are attacked in the woods. Sonia was lucky to escape with her life, but Gretchen’s body is discovered at the bottom of a waterfall. Beautiful, popular, and seemingly untouchable, Gretchen can’t be gone. Even as Sonia struggles with guilt and confusion over having survived, the whole town is looking to her for information…could she have seen something that will lead the police to the killer?

At the top of the list of suspects is Gretchen’s ex-boyfriend—and Sonia’s longtime enemy—Marcus Perez. So when Marcus comes to Sonia for help clearing his name, she agrees, hoping to find evidence the police need to prove he’s the killer. But as Gretchen’s many secrets emerge and the suspects add up, Sonia feels less sure of Marcus’s involvement, and more afraid for herself. Could Marcus, the artist, the screwup, the boy she might be falling for have attacked her? Killed her best friend? And if it wasn’t him in the woods that night…who could it have been?

-Even though I guessed who the killer was halfway through the book, the way the author handled the reveal which made it pretty cool and not what I expected.

-Gretchen turned out to be such a great victim because the more you found out about her I could only think that no wonder she got killed and why someone had not done it sooner.

Things I didn't like:

-Marcus and I never clicked, the story could have been fine without him.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Gilded Cage by Lucinda Gray

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Title: The Gilded Cage

Series: -

Author: Lucinda Gray

Date Published: August 2nd 2016

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.

After growing up on a farm in Virginia, Walthingham Hall in England seems like another world to sixteen-year-old Katherine Randolph. Her new life, filled with the splendor of upper-class England in the 1820s, is shattered when her brother mysteriously drowns. Katherine is expected to observe the mourning customs and get on with her life, but she can't accept that her brother's death was an accident. 

A bitter poacher prowls the estate, and strange visitors threaten the occupants of the house. There's a rumor, too, that a wild animal stalks the woods of Walthingham. Can Katherine retain her sanity long enough to find out the truth? Or will her brother's killer claim her life, too?

I like historical novels so this seems perfect for me.