Dorothy must die- Danielle Paige

Goodreads Rating: 3.86 stars

My Rating: 3 stars

The usual question Good or Wicked? This book was definitely Wicked. When I opened this book I stepped onto the yellow brick road to disappointment. I was expecting great things. Sure, I was hesitant at first- I love the original the Wizard of Oz but I was still expecting something marvellous. But my love for the original just would not die. I didn't like the way the Dorothy was twisted into this evil creature. I get the point of the story and it is an interesting concept, but its just not right. Dorothy is a darling, not some psychotic Princess. Some chapters I couldn't get enough, I was like the Lion with fear, I wanted more more more. But the majority of the time the story was dull and excessively drawn out. Amy Gumm. The worst main character ever. She literally made me want to bang my head against a wall. I have no clue how the Wicked characters thought she was capable of anything other than having pink hair. There was just nothing there. I thought maybe the influence of Gert, Mombi, Glamora and Nox might bring something out in her. But there was just this drawn out section of the book where she learns how to fight but seriously, like she could. The whole concept of this book was just so unbelievable, for me Paige really didn't bring it to life at all. I really didn't believe this simple girl from Kansas could become a warrior, she just didn't have it in her. She certainly didn't have the brain for it. She made so many stupid mistakes, especially while in the palace. They may have taught her magic and how to fight but they certainly didn't teach her how to jeopardize everything. The Wicked have been planning this whole escapade for a long time and when they send her to the palace she thinks they have deserted her. Like no Amy, not everything is about you now do your job and stop being dumb. Then we have Pete who is actually Osma who is actually Pete who is actually Osma who what? Was this part of the story really necessary? It just seemed so irrelevant. Every scene with Pete I was just like, seriously get on with it this makes no sense no one cares. But he just kept on coming back. I personally wasn't a fan of this book, it was just too frustrating. Not to mention it seemed to drag on forever. I doubt I'll continue with this series, I didn't enjoy this one enough to bother, let me know what you thought. Shania Rose x

Falling into place by Amy Zhang

Goodreads Rating: 3.9 stars

My Rating: 3 stars

This book has always been in my peripheral vision. I knew it was there but it never captured my attention long enough for me to pick it up and read it. Now that I have I can't decide if it was worth it or not. Part of me absolutely adored it, the characters, the concept, the plot, everything. But another part of me was put off by some of the content. The narrator though an interesting choice didn't really fit the story. I felt that Zhang dipped her little toe into the topic of mental illness but didn't really showcase it within the story. Lets talk Liz. The centre of this entire story, the glue holding it together, and yet, I don't even know who Liz is. Her character as a whole seemed slightly ridiculous. Zhang used Liz as a pathway into mental illness. But this limited how far she could take this because Liz was a weak character. I was sure there was more too her, but all we ever got were  the broken edges of a girl who hid herself under a personality that wasn't her at all. We see the Liz who is haunted by her mistakes. But I think there could have been so much more to her character that really would have added to the story. Then we go from Liz to Liam. This random boy who is in love with this charade of a girl who just ran her car off the edge of the road. I kind of liked Liam, he seemed like a nice kid and the contrast Zhang created between his character and Liz's was intriguing but I wanted more. I don't think the relationship between Liz and Liam was explored enough, the whole concept of it felt superficial and unreal. Zhang introduced all these characters and their secret little worlds with all these things that tear them apart. But it felt like too much. You couldn't engage in the relationship between Liz, Kennie and Julia because there wasn't enough of it. You couldn't believe Liam was really hopelessly in-love with Liz because you barely get to see that infatuation. You couldn't connect to the sadness within Liz because of the weakness of her character her emotions were hard to connect to. Any of these things alone could have made a brilliant story. But none of them really got a chance to shine in this book. I would have loved to read this story from Kennies point of view. I was drawn to her as a character, she had so much voice and passion just begging to be let out. The same issues could have been adressed but for me in a much more engaging way. The connection Liam and Kennie have could be played with, Kennie's inner pain could contrast with Liz and Julia. Kennie and Julia's hurt over what happens to Liz would be magnified. Much like the rest of the story the choice of narrator didn't make sense to me. I mean it's beautiful, a childhood imaginary friend being left behind as Liz grows up. But that in itself is a story. You never really get to engage with the narrator or appreciate that concept when its only in the outskirts of the story. With this story the narrator took away from the quality of the book. The book and the narrator are two separate things that were forced together in an unnatural way. AT some points the narrator made the story confusing and hard to follow. I was aching for more from this book but it just wasn't there. Oh the loss of so much potential. This book just went too many ways, there was far too much crammed into one short novel. Its not the best thing I've ever read, but its also not that bad. If I could go back I probably wouldn't bother with it, there are far too many books to read to waste time on mediocrity. Shania Rose x

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Goodreads Rating: 3.95 stars

My rating: 4.5 stars

Okay Marie Lu, tell me your secrets cause this book was totally Elite. Like can you make an elitist book society and let me join?
First things first, lets take a minute to appreciate Adelina's name. So sophisticated, methinks. Much like her name Adelina was a character I adored. She had so much strength. I really related to her and the fight that burns within her.
To me this story was just so original. I was hesitant at first, we've all read plenty of stories about heroes and superpowers. I wasn't sure if this would really be all that interesting. But my God. I could not put this down. I devoured it in about 3 hours. I regret nothing. I particularly loved Adelina's power as a malfetto. It was so intriguing. I have always been intrigued by tricks of deception and I adored this new twist.
The contrast between Teren a Malfetto and the Young Elites was brilliant. Very crafty of Lu to not just show the Daggers as these perfect heroes doing right with their powers but also including another side in what Teren does with his powers.
Raffaele. I didn't get Raffaele. He was so emotionally detached which drew me in and made me want to know more but I don't feel like we ever really got to see the true Raffaele. He was depicted as so poised and perfect but there was clearly more to him. His feelings towards Adelina made my head spin. One minute he's kind, attentive and adoring and the next he's not exactly her biggest fan. I just couldn't figure out which side of that was fake which was incredibly frustrating.
Adelina's relationship with Enzo was also headspinning. From the minute they met I was pretty sure there would be some romantic connection and I wasn't disappointed. But the storyline of Adelina reminding Enzo of an old flame seemed lame, unnecessary and forced. I don't feel it added anything worthwhile to the overall story.
I was pleasantly surprised by Adelina's sister Violetta's involvement in the story. At first though she was relevant in the story I just found her contribution a bit of a let down. But the way Lu weaved her in at the end was surprisingly beautiful. There was something about Violetta that made me want to know more so I'm glad we got to see more of her.
I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in this series. I want more. Give me more.

Was anyone else intrigued by Violetta?

Shania Rose x

Drowned by Nichola Reilly

Goodreads Rating: 3.6 stars

My Rating: 2 stars

This book actually disturbed me. Like I feel violated. I didn't get the story, I didn't get the concept, I didn't believe it. I held out hope it might turn around and surprise me but I honestly just wanted it to end. 

There was waaaaayyyyy too many concepts in this book. Like the flooding thing, the formation, The king, the tower and its hidden secrets, the whole other world. My brain hurts. I didn't find myslef engaging in the story, it didn't seem real. The only thing this book made me feel was annoyance. It just didn't make sense. Tiam, Coe is in love with Tiam, Finn seems  to be slightly obsessed with Coe, the king likes Tiam, the Princess likes Coe, nobody else likes Coe or Tiam. Um wot. I certainly didn't like Tiam and Coe, or Finn, or the King, or the Princess or anyone. 

I honestly don't even know what to say about this book. The story as a whole was filled with holes. Like the author wrote the story and then the book got flooded and that washed away half of it. So much was missing. Characters didn't seem whole. The plot was disjointed and confusing. All the twists were entirely irrelevant and unbelievable. Arrrgh this book. How about no.
I have nothing else to say. I'm going to look at pictures of cute puppies to recover from this horror.

Tell me what you thought, I'd love to hear from people who enjoyed this book.

Shania Rose x

Resist by Sarah Crossan (Breathe #2

Goodreads rating: 3.72 stars

My Rating- 3 stars

Disclaimer- There are some small spoilers in this. Proceed at your own risk...

Reading this was like going to a fair for the first time as a child, oooh colours, look a clown, a horse, balloons. So many things but no time to make any sense of them.
There was sooooooo much going on. Half the time I couldn't even tell who were bad guys and who were the good guys. Evil people come out come out wherever you are.
This is the second book in the Breathe series and it completely lost the engaging quality of the first book. It was almost as if reading an entirely new book. It was as though the author wasn't sure where the story was going so took it in five different directions. Like standing at a fork in a road but somehow we end ou on all the paths like what how did I get here. In Breathe the  the plot centred on Breathe and the pod vs the resistance. It made sense, the characters had a goal. They had an enemy. There was a fight to each character, a determination. Which gave a connection point for the readers. This was lacking in Resist. I wanted to engage with the characters, to hope for them, to fight with them. But most of the time I didn't even know what they were fighting for.
Having four different narrators made the story difficult to follow. Though it allows the reader to see four different aspects of the story , it meant there was very little depth. Each scene felt limited and somewhat forced.
Each of the main characters, Bea, Quinn, Ronan and Alina seemed to change throughout the entirety of the novel. It was not as if they developed as characters but rather in each chapter they seemed a different character all together. This was the same with the character relationships. Quinn and Bea are supposedly in love, but their connection felt forced. I didn't fall for them as a couple. When a relationship between characters is well developed, it flows, its natural, you believe it. You can see these two people together, you ache for their happiness. You pine for their relationship. But with Quinn and Bea the relationship made no sense. They didn't seem in love. I felt the connection more strongly between Ronan and Bea, though their relationship wasn't really explored. From their very first encounter, I was pleading to my fairy godmother that they would get together, I felt them as a couple, I mean come on if they were together they would totally be #couplegoals, like I would squeal.
There was just too much packed into this one short story. Too many good guys, too many bad guys, too many changes, too many characters. So everything lacked depth. It didn't make sense to me that Crossan completely abandoned the resistance storyline. Though the resistance suffered a great loss at the end of the first novel, there was still potential. I didn't see the need to completely write out Petra, the resistance leader. Though the cause of the resistance did somewhat carry on with Alina and Silias it didn't hold power over me the way it had in the first novel.
It baffled me that Crossan ditched the conflict between the Pod and the resistance and instead brought in the Resistance base in Sequoia. This created a whole other conflict for the characters. They already had an enemy, with those aligned with breathe and the Pod minister. The Sequoia plot completely changed the direction of the novel. It seemed unnecessary. There was already enough between the Pod and the Resistance to create an engaging action packed story. I felt the book was packed with too many things. So though it was somewhat enjoyable to read there were just too many things happening, there was nothing to connect to.
I rated Resist 3 stars because apparently I was feeling extra nice. Thinking back on it this is really probably only a 2. I did kind of enjoy reading this for some odd reason considering how much I actually hated it. That literally makes no sense.... good one Shania, all the logic.
I probably won't continue with this series, I don't really care enough about any of the characters or relationships to want to see what happens. I advise you Resist reading this, ha ha ha (terrible pun Shania get out)

Let me know your thoughts,
Shania Rose x

Zac and Mia A.J Betts

The love child of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in our stars.

Goodreads rating: 3.74 stars

My rating: 3 stars
Disclaimer: this review is entirely honest, it is not meant to be offensive in anyway to the sensitive nature of this book.

This was the Kardashians in book form. Massively hyped for no discernible reason.
I was expecting fireworks, adorableness, heartbreak some seriously gripping emotions. I got.... nothing.
This wasn't bad, just kind of dull. Like when you meet someone  you admire and realise they can barely hold a conversation. There was no originality. I've read this story five times by different titles. The basics of it were kind of cute, Zac and Mia's relationship and all that but there was nothing new in this book. I didn't get anything out of this book, the only thing it made me feel was annoyance towards 90% of the book. I wanted to feel something. Especially considering the sensitive nature, I wanted it to break my heart and make it whole. I wanted to connect to the characters. But I just didn't. Major disappointment.
I've met these characters before, in Eleanor and Park, Looking for Alaska, The fault in our stars. Almost as many times as I change my outfit in the morning. And yet again I didn't get them. There was no depth. Mia was angry, Zac was trying to cope, Zac's mum was scared. The basics. But nothing else. I king of enjoyed the whole tapping on the wall thing between Zac and Mia but for me the rest of it didn't make sense. And my god. Mia. I wanted to slap her. I get she was going through a rough time but seriously did she have to be that ridiculous. Her personality made the relationship between her and Zac entirely forced. How do you fall in love with a bitchy girl through a wall. Was he that lonely?
Cam... dear Cam. I liked him. He was a lad. But what on earth was his purpose in the book? Why was he there. It seemed entirely unnecessary to me.
For sure there were some things in this book I liked, like the baby Alpacas on Zacs farm. But for the most part it seemed forced and unnecessary. Considering how hyped this book is, I really was expecting a lot more

Thanks for reading babes, let me know what you thought.
Shania Rose xx

The Newsoul Trilogy

The Newsoul trilogy by Jodi Meadows (Incarnate, Asunder, Infinite)
Average Goodreads rating 4 stars
My rating 4.5 stars

It has taken days for me to emotionally prepare myself to write this. After this series I am not okay. Like sure Jodi why don’t you just blow my mind, break my heart, make me fall in love, make me dream all in one. I can totally cope with that. If I curl up in a ball and do not do the adulting for a very, very long time.|
This series easily makes it into my top five favourite trilogies. The way Jodi Meadows used the concept of reincarnation within this series is incredible. She wove a tale that forces you to think and wonder and dream. I loved that a main theme of this book was love. Love between souls. The idea that two souls can be made for each other and body, gender and lifestyle are irrelevant. We all know how the debate about gay marriage, should it be allowed. I think this series whether intentionally or unintentionally gives a completely fresh perspective on that.
Ana and Sam. The lovers that made me feel exceptionally lonely. The way meadows developed two beautiful characters and wove them together to create one was simply stunning. I admired Ana and her wild strength. I adored Sam and his sensitive endearing nature. The contrast between the two characters and the love that created was extremely skilful. The relationship between Ana and Sam wasn't immediate, the connection was obvious but they didn't jump straight in. Throughout the series until the very last word the relationship between Ana and Sam was developing and I loved that. It was natural, it flowed, it was relatable.
The final book in the series, Infinite, was by far my favourite. For me each book was better than the last. Everything came to a head in the final novel, questions were answered, characters completed. While this was great I found the first two books to be lacking. The storylines weren’t entirely developed and sometimes didn’t completely make sense, especially in incarnate I was seriously like.... um wot. This did improve as the book went on but I really feel some things could have been deepened earlier in the story.
The same went for characters. Though I adored some of them, seriously, Armande made me think of my own Grandfather I just wanted to put him in my pocket! Some didn't make sense, or I felt their character was constantly changing throughout the novel.
Ana’s parents at once seemed to play a big part in the story and be entirely irrelevant. One minute they were there, the next they weren’t. I feel as though this left some things incomplete.

I cannot express how much I just adored these books, like where can I buy a Sam? I need one in my life. I encourage everyone to go read these right now, though you might not be able to function after...

Have a sparkling day lovely’s.

Shania Rose 

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New post up soon- Full series review on the Newsoul series by Jodi Meadows

Byyyeee xx

Cinder, Marissa Meyer Full Book Review

Love love love this book, arrrrgh. 
I only picked it up because of all the hype surrounding the series, I was not sold on the whole cyborg thing in fact the entire premise freaked me out. But five pages in and completely and irrevocably hooked.
We've all heard the tale of Cinderella with its painful beginning and fairytale ending fit for childhood dreams. What Meyer did with this story is absolutely incredible. 
A dashing prince, an unwanted girl, evil stepmonsters and the delight of infatuation meant, Meyer kept enough of the original tale to satisfy long lasting love for the original. 
But the tragedy facing New Beijing at the hands of the virus claiming the lives of earthens across the globe and the impending menace of the Lunar queen made this a story at once heartbreaking and uplifting.
Such a ferociously intriguing book.
I adored the way Meyer contrasted the hatred of Adri and Pearl with the sweet and delicate nature of both Pearl and Iko. This really added something to Cinder, giving readers something to relate to amidst such a foreign concept.
As did the romanticism of Kai and Cinders relationship. Don’t we all know the dream of big white weddings and the prince of our dreams sweeping us off our feet. I couldn’t help but relate to Cinder and the way she fell for Kai. Especially the hopeful butterflies he ignited within her.

However, some aspects of this book left me disappointed. I felt a lot of the story elements and characters were unfinished. Dr. Erlery played such a significant role in the plot but the his character was underdeveloped. Throughout the story the basics of his personality seemed to change. Though perhaps that was an attempt to emphasize his skittish brain. Also- where an earth did his assistants from the beginning of the book go? In the scenes they were involved in the author developed them and gave them strong personalities even developing their relationship with Dr. Ellery. Then suddenly boom we never see them again.
The cyborg concept itself was also weak. The story was based around the eccentricities of Cinder. Though this was intriguing it meant readers were never given the story surrounding the original concept of cyborgs and androids. How did the world end up in this state? How do androids work? Wh are they both companions to humans and also workers for the community? How did they manage to combine androids and humans creating cyborgs? None of these questions were answered which I felt kind of weakened the foundations of the story.
I felt similarly towards the concept of Lunar and the Lunar queen. The way Lunar was introduced into the story and I found it difficult to make sense of throughout the book.
Though with three more books left in the series I hold out hope that some of these things may be clarified, magnifying the magical quality of this story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a new YA series to get hooked on. 

8 Legs. 9 Lives

I gotta talk about something. Gotta get it off my chest. Because it has been eating me up inside for months.

I HAVE BEEN TOUCHED.
By a spider.
Gut wrenching I know. But for real, the amount of spider experiences I have suffered through in the last month? It's not okay! I could have died!

*WARNING* Brace yourselves. This is disturbing stuff.
I have had a black, fury, mentally deranged spider crawl across my back.
Let me set the scene. My cousin and I where on my driveway in the middle of an intense workout. Two yoga mats laid out in front of us. I lay  down on my yoga mat about to perform some glute bridges. When my little devil of a cousin screams at the top of her lungs and starts running away from me. The look on her face told me there was an axe murderer about to stab me so I too screamed and began running.
Little did I know, there was no axe murderer. But rather, a spider crawling along my back.
What occurred next was probably something slightly resembling Irish dancing as I attempted to swat the spider THAT I COULD NOT SEE from my back.
My cousin was so helpful. She screamed and cried and wouldn't go near me. She was scared. Of the spider. ON MY BACK.
At some point I managed to fling the devil spawn spider onto the ground. But I still have not recovered. I cant still feel the spider making its way up my spine.

Is this enough spider experiences for a lifetime? I thought so. But apparently not.
About a week later I met with another spider (probably seeking revenge for his friends death). This message I sent to my mother at the time of this meeting about sums it up.

Mother your sons have commited a great injustice. This morning I came head to head with a great big mother fucking fury phsycopathic spider. My attempts at taking his life lead hime to take up residence in my shoe (I love that shoe! How am I to ever where it again???) So I requested Noahs assistance in terminating the spider. He told me to get Cooper. I did but Cooper would not leave his bed. so I had to kill the phsycho spider that was plotting my murder all by myself. What sort of brothers are they? The spider had nine lives... IT REFUSED TO DIE. and my lovelly younger brothers just laughed while I screamed... You have devils for children. And evil spiders inhabiting your house.

Seriously. Spiders are the worst. I need counselling. Is there like a support group for spider victims?

So I leave you with that. Feel free to share your own lovely spider experience.

Shania Rose xx

Just do it.

I've been trying to start this blog for a while now, but something has always been stopping me. Which has gotten me thinking about how much we limit ourselves, we allow ourselves to be held down by what others may think of us or what is most logical. But in doing this, we forget to follow our hearts. For me I allow myself to be held down by whether or not anyone will read this blog if I start it, or am I a good enough writer. When really that doesn't matter, I like to write- so I should write.

I'm sure many remember that absolutely gut wrenching scene in the second High School Musical When Gabriella leaves Troy with the words I've got to move on and be who I am, I just don’t belong here I hope you understand. (Excuse me while I go and ugly cry over that scene)So take a lesson from high school musical- be reckless, be crazy, don’t follow rules, instead follow the steadily increasing beat of your heart.

I have a younger brother who has a tendency in the middle of the night to belt out an ear splitting rendition of ‘I will always love you’. Now at three AM I really don’t appreciate being roused from my slumber by a 14 year old's off pitch voice. But I know that for whatever insane reason his late night jam sessions make him weirdly happy. So stupidly, I encourage him to continue. Because his late night singing isn't about me and the way my ears bleed. It’s about him and how it makes him feel.

Some things in life are going to make your heart sing (hopefully not ‘I will always love you’ at midnight). These are the things you should be doing. Even if it means taking a risk, even if it means people might judge you, even if it means you might lose people. Because nothing else matters, so do what makes you happy.  So like Gabriella, walk away. Or like my brother sing at the top of your lungs in the middle of the night. Whatever it may be- Just do it. 

- Shania Rose