Debutathon Update Day 4 and Wrap Up!

The Debutathon is hosted by the wonderful Amber from Books of Amber. Check out my Day 1 Update here and Day's 2 and 3 here.

Day 4 Updates
What I Read: Altered by Jennifer Rush and The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Number of Pages Read: 331
Pages Read Total: 1293
Books Read Total: 4
Challenge: No
Reading Snack: No snack today! Not after a big Sunday Roast!
Non Reading Activity: Watching The White Queen - anybody else addicted to that show?
Thoughts: Today was the last day of the readathon and I was determind to meet my goal of 3 books so I picked up and finished Altered pretty early. I was still in the mood to read and since it was still the Debutathon I decided to pick up The Summer I Became a Nerd and it was such a quick fun read that I ended up finishing that too!

Wrap Up! 
What I Read: 
Pivot Point by Kasie West
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
Altered by Jennifer Rush
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Total Pages Read: 1293
Challenges I Participated In: Unscramble That Debut and Poemify That Debut
Favourite Book Read: This is hard because I enjoyed all of the books I read! But If You Find Me was an outstanding debut so probably that one!
Final Thoughts: I'm so happy that I not only met but surpassed my goal for the Debutathon! And I'm really glad I picked the books I did because I enjoyed every one of them and they were perfect readathon material. The challenges were awesome and I had so much fun! I'm really happy I managed to knock four debut's off my TBR pile but I still have some more to go so I'm hoping for a Debutathon Round 2 later on this year! ;)

How did you do for the Debutathon? What was your favourite Debut?

Debutathon Updates: Day 2 and 3

The Debutathon is hosted by the wonderful Amber from Books of Amber. Check out my Day 1 Update here.

Day 2 Updates
What I Read: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
Number of Pages Read: 296
Pages Read Total: 639
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: No
Reading Snack:

Today I tried the Graze healthy popcorn in slightly sweet. I tried their salted version a few weeks back and it was okay...it left me with a very dry mouth and tasted like cardboard after a while. But popcorn is my favourite go to snack especially for readathon's so I decided to try the sweet version and I'm so glad I did because it was perfection! I only really like cinema popcorn as other brands can be over sweet and sickly but this version by Graze was perfect, I think because it is only slightly sweet. I'll definitely be having this again!

Non Reading Activity: I watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory and another couple of Youtube video's but once again I was going pretty strong with my book so didn't want to dip out of it too often!

Thoughts: Another day, another book tackled, and it was another brilliant one! I'm going strong so my goal of reading 3 books should be reachable. I wasn't off to the best start today as I was having one of those days where nothing will go right and then my huge pile of books by my bed finally fell down (I saw it coming for a while) so I had to sort through them and make the hard decision of which books to get rid of and that took a couple of hours of my time up. But luckily I had another brilliant book on hand so that reading was a breeze and somehow I managed to finish it - hurray! BTW if any of you have If You Find Me on your TBR for this readathon you need to read it! It's one of the best debut's I have ever read! It's haunting, beautiful, heartbreaking...but if you pick it up be prepared to have your heart stomped all over! I'm still picking my feels up off the floor this morning.

Day 3 Updates 
What I Read: Altered by Jennifer Rush
Number of Pages Read: 250
Pages Read Total: 889
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: Yes

Poemify That Debut!

I loved this challenge something fierce! I think I might be too late to enter the giveaway for this one but I wanted to join in anyway because this is the kind of thing I love! 

Reading Snack: 

Today's snack was a little disappointing. I had the sweet goan curry crackers from Graze but honestly they just tasted like a sweet cereal to me! I'm a big lover of spices the spicier the better! I was expecting an underlining kick with this one but they just tasted sweet to me. They were okay but not a favourite from Graze!

Non Reading Activity: I watched one of my favourite movies We Bought a Zoo, wrote today's challenge, and hung out with my family.

Thoughts: Today wasn't as productive a reading day as the last two days mostly because everyone was home so I kept getting distracted! I'm still on track for finishing three books though so I'm still on target and I'm enjoying Altered. I really hope I get some answers at the end of this book because I have so many questions! In other news I won one of the Debutathon giveaway's and have £10 to spend at The Book Depository! Now I just need to decide what to choose so I can get back to Amber...

Debutathon: Goals, TBR and Day 1 Update

I’m a ball of nerdy excitement because when the clock hits midnight tonight I’ll be starting my first readathon of this summer the Debutathon hosted by the wonderful Amber from Books of Amber! Over the past few days I’ve been running around getting all of my jobs done for this week so I’m free to read, ordering some healthy snacks in (more on that later) and searching through my TBR pile for 2013 Debuts. If you’d like to find out more about the Debutathon and what it entails I’d recommend having a read of Amber’s post here.

Things are a little intense at home right now, as some of you may know I’ve recently lost my grandad so this readathon will be a welcome distraction but at the same time I don’t want to give myself too many goals in case I feel like spending a night with my family or get a bit upset or something. Basically I want to keep this fun which is why I’m aiming to read 3 books. On average I’d read about 2 books in 4 days so this is boosting that number up but at the same time it’s manageable. I might read more - I guess we’ll see how I’m doing and how I’m feeling as the readathon goes on.

I’m still not entirely sure what I want to read but I have a list of all the debuts I own up on Goodreads here. I’m a mood reader and I have a mix of different books to read so I guess I’ll be choosing what seems most appealing at the time but if you have any recommendations from this list feel free to leave them in the comments!

During readathons I like to snack and share pictures with you guys. I signed up to Graze a few weeks ago as I’m trying to eat better and I am loving their snack boxes! They are healthy but so delicious as well with a lot of variety and different foods to try. I’m at that stage where I’m still going through different foods and trying them out so you guys will get to explore that with me. I also have a free code for anyone who wants to claim a free one off box to try them out which is pretty great. You’ll get a free box full of yummy snacks delivered to your door and there is no commitment if it’s not something you’d want to subscribe to regularly. If you’ve never heard of Graze before my friend Ellie has a wonderful post explaining what it is and how it works here. You can claim your free box with the code Y5N9T9N.

I already did a sign up post here so I’ll be using this post for Day 1’s updates so if you’re reading this before the readathon be sure to pop back to see how my first day went! I’ll probably stick to what I usually do and do a separate post each day so they don’t get too long.

Now there’s nothing left to do but get some dinner and pass the time until I can start reading!

Day 1 Updates 
What I Read: Pivot Point by Kasie West
Number of Pages Read: 343
Pages Read Total: 343
Books Read Total: 1
Challenge: Yes

Unscramble that Debut! 

Titles: 

1. IIDFEOFYUNM (4 words) 

2. TAREDEL (1 word) 

3. TPNPOOITIV (2 words) 

4. HCITAGRL (1 word) 

5. NPOSIO (1 word) 

6. TSIPDENLER (1 word) 

7. ITSEHTELE (2 words) 

My Answers 

Scroll over to highlight my answers! This is to avoid spoiling anybody who hasn't done today's challenge yet!

 1. If You Find Me 

2. Altered 

3. Pivot Point  

4. Arclight 

5. Poison 

6. Splintered 

7. The Elites  

 I had to search some debut lists on goodreads to help find 4 and 7! The rest were on my radar and I figured  them out after a lot of staring! This was a really fun challenge. 

Reading Snack:

Today's Graze snack was their Cookies and Cream mix which includes mini chocolate cookies, roasted hazelnuts, white chocolate buttons and sunflower seeds washed down with an ice cold coke. Ellie was telling me how good this was down in the comments and seems as I had one to try in this weeks box I thought I'd make it today's snack! They got the name spot on with this mixture - it was so yummy! What I love about Graze is it mixes a bit of a treat in with good for you foods so you still get the taste and it feels like a treat but at the same time you're eating a healthy snack. Every packet is portion controlled as well so scoffing a whole pack of cookies in one go is now a thing of the past!

Non Reading Activity: You know what? I enjoyed reading Pivot Point so much that I read pretty solidly! Other than doing today's challenge, chatting on Twitter and reading everyone else's updates I was too engrossed in my book to part with it!

Thoughts: I finished my first book of the Debutathon! I decided to make Pivot Point my first read mainly because - shamefully - I picked this as one of my most anticipated books of 2013, pre-ordered it, received it early from The Book Depository and then promptly...never read it. So yeah, this was a book I was determined to get to and I'm so glad that I did because it was amazing! The ending broke my heart a little bit and has left me desperate for the sequel! Overall today was a very successful first day (mainly because Pivot Point totally gripped me!) and now I'm going to see how everybody else is getting on and decide what I want to pick up next!

How was your first day of the Debutathon? What have you been reading?

Review for Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Warning 
This is a review for the second book in The Grisha Trilogy. Although there will be no spoilers about Siege and Storm there may be spoilers about the first book in the series.

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo 
Publisher: Indigo
Release: 6th June 2013
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure
Source: Received from the publishers in exchange for an honest review




Goodreads Summary:

"Darkness never dies. Alina and Mal are on the run. Hunted and haunted, but together at last, they can't outrun Alina's past or her destiny forever. The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and he needs Alina to realise his dangerous plan. There are others who would like to use Alina's gift too. And as her power grows, somehow, she must choose between her country, her power, and her love - or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm."

Review 
Shadow and Bone was hands down my favourite book of last year and so needless to say Siege and Storm was one of my most anticipated sequels of 2013. The Grisha trilogy reads like a classic fantasy adventure and in Siege and Storm we are thrown straight back into the action with a sea voyage, mythical creatures, secret Grisha, and an eccentric Captain to name a few! There isn’t really a re-cap so I’m going to put it out there that if you read Shadow and Bone a while ago and what happened is a bit foggy in your mind I’d recommend a re-read as Leigh Bardugo throws us straight back into the story with mere weeks having passed since Shadow and Bone.

The storyline in Siege and Storm follows Ravka preparing for war against The Darkling. The Darkling has emerged from the Fold stronger than ever with his new power the nichevo’ya – an army of shadow soldiers. Fans of The Darkling will be saddened to hear that there is less of him in this sequel but like the best villains his threat still lingers and is very much felt and present throughout the book.

Alina has amazing growth as a character in Siege and Storm as she steps up to the challenge of becoming the leader Ravka needs to take down The Darkling. But with great power comes great responsibility and Alina has to fight her thirst for power so as not to become power drunk like The Darkling. It was interesting to read her conflicting thoughts and feelings and at times you catch glimpses of the strong, yet fair, leader she is becoming.

Needless to say the huge changes in Alina’s life has a knock on effect with her relationship with Mal. Alina is in high demand and with her growing power Mal struggles to accept this new side to her and misses the girl he grew up with. One of the reasons I love Mal is because he doesn’t see the powerful sun summoner, or a saint, or Ravka’s saviour. He just see’s Alina – who she is behind all that. It made my heart ache to read about these new struggles in their relationship.

What I loved most about Siege and Storm was the wonderful new characters introduced Tolya, Tamar and Sturmhond. Sturmhond has quickly become my favourite character in this entire series – he’s the Grisha equivalent to Magnus Bane of The Mortal Instruments or the Weasley twins from Harry Potter. His witty anecdotes and comments never failed to make me laugh out loud! He’s everything you want in a strong secondary character. I’m completely enamoured with him!

I have to say that unlike Shadow and Bone I did find Siege and Storm a slower read at times especially in the middle. It was lacking some of the epic intensity of its predecessor and didn’t hold me quite as spellbound. The fantastic cast of characters pulled me through the slower parts of the book and the ending more than made up for it! Once again the ending was truly epic and has left me desperate for the third and final instalment. Overall Siege and Storm was a strong and satisfying sequel solidifying my belief that The Grisha Trilogy will go down as one of my favourite series of all time.

Review for Crash by Nicole Williams

Crash by Nicole Williams
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release: 6th June 2013
Genre: Mature YA, New Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Source: Received from the publishers in exchange for an honest review





Goodreads Summary: 

"Southpointe High is the last place Lucy wanted to wind up her senior year of school. Right up until she stumbles into Jude Ryder, a guy whose name has become its own verb, and synonymous with trouble. He's got a rap sheet that runs longer than a senior thesis, has had his name sighed, shouted, and cursed by more women than Lucy dares to ask, and lives at the local boys home where disturbed seems to be the status quo for the residents. Lucy had a stable at best, quirky at worst, upbringing. She lives for wearing the satin down on her ballet shoes, has her sights set on Juilliard, and has been careful to keep trouble out of her life. Up until now…

Jude's everything she knows she needs to stay away from if she wants to separate her past from her future. But she's about to find out that staying away is the only thing she's incapable of.

For Lucy Larson and Jude Ryder, love's about to become the thing that tears them apart."

Review
Crash was a book that I fell in love with straight away. The book begins with our couple Lucy and Jude’s first meeting during the summer. I loved that there was no beating about the bush and that we were thrown into the romance and story right away. After only a few short pages I knew this would be a book I’d love and it’s become one of my favourite New Adult reads.

Lucy was a fantastic heroine and I’d go as far as to say she’s now up there with my favourite book ladies! Lucy is a truly nice girl – she works hard at school, is ambitious, kind and caring, and she isn’t afraid to go after what she wants and stand up for herself. She was such a well-rounded character and I loved her so much! Reading this book from her point of view was like chatting to a good friend.

I have to be honest and say my first impression of Jude was not a good one. In fact I thought he was a total ass! But as Lucy got to know and fall in love with the real Jude I did too. He’s a guy who does all the wrong things for all the right reasons. There are good intentions and a good heart behind his bad decisions. His temper did put me off at times though and although I get that he was only protecting Luce it did stop him from being a truly swoony book guy in my opinion.

The romance between Luce and Jude was brilliant but it’s not without its struggles through misunderstandings. Despite whatever problems this couple faced you could tell that they truly love one another. It was clear they each wanted the other to be happy and have the best in life even if that meant being apart.

I did have a few niggles with this book that stopped it from being a perfect read. I guess I thought this book would be something it’s not. It wasn’t different in a bad way just…different. I thought that a lot of this book would be about dancing and whilst Lucy does love to dance there’s not really a whole lot of it like I was lead to believe. Secondly the book felt more YA than NA with Lucy and Jude being in high school, it’s also not as steamy as other New Adult reads and is more on par with mature YA like Simone Elkeles and Katie McGarry’s books. Lucy was also very mature for a seventeen year old - when reading there were times when her voice struck me as much older. Basically I felt like this story would have been better suited to a college setting with slightly older characters and I’m looking forward to getting that with the sequel Clash.

I loved the surprising twist at the end of this book and didn’t see it coming at all! I loved that it wasn’t overly dramatic or cheesy – it fitted in well with the story. I loved this book so much that I picked up the sequel straight away as I had to know what happened next! Overall Crash isn’t a book without its faults but I loved the characters and love story so much that I found it easy to overlook the few small niggles I had that made it less than perfect. I’d definitely recommend this to fans of New Adult and Mature YA.