July Wrap Up 2018

I may not have read as much as I wanted to this month but most of them were new books so I'm pleased with that. I definitely watched a lot of movies which I'm happy with as it's the summer holidays and I've had a lot of time on my hands.

Books
Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe #2)- Neal Shusterman 
* * * * *
My first priority this month was Thunderhead because I read Scythe last month and loved loved loved it. I know these books have a lot of hype but I think they deserve every single piece of praise. Scythe has the most interesting and compelling premise and it's executed perfectly. It has action, philosophy, romance and heart-stopping twists that make it such a memorable read. I will say I prefer Scythe to Thunderhead but they're both amazing books and I can't wait for the next.
Scythe Book Talk

It Only Happens in the Movies- Holly Bourne 
* * *
I'm a massive fan of Holly Bourne but was a little disappointed with this one. It wasn't as gripping and fun and easy as her other books. I wasn't a massive fan of the protagonist or the love interest which really made it difficult for me to care about what happened to the characters. Holly Bourne is definitely still one of my favourite contemporary authors but I wouldn't suggest jumping into this one first.

July Book Haul 2018

I got four books this month which I'm really happy about. They're all books that I've desperately been meaning to read so they make a great addition to my ever-growing, shelf-collapsing collection.


Save the Date- Morgan Matson
I've been anticipating this book for so long and, as soon as I saw it sitting beautifully on a shelf, I knew I had to get it. Morgan Matson writes some of the best contemporary books and I've no doubt that I'll love this one too.

A Thousand Perfect Notes- C. G. Drews 
I've been wanting to read this book for a while and it was actually last month's Book of the Month but I couldn't find it anywhere so couldn't read it in time! Now that I've found it, I can catch up with reading it.

Heathers the Musical BOOK TAG!!

I've recently become super obsessed with Heathers the musical and so, with a new addiction on the horizon, I have to do a book tag about it. I've mashed two different tags together, picking the questions that I liked best but I'll link both of them below if you want to check them out.

Dani Does Books 

The Moonlight Library
I've also done a soundtrack review for each act of Heathers the musical so I'll link that below as well in case that interests you!
Heathers the Musical Act 1 Soundtrack Review
Heathers the Musical Act 2 Soundtrack Review

On with the tag!

Candy Store- a book you were pressured into reading
Percy Jackson series- Rick Riordan 
I'm not saying I regret reading these books, but many many many people pushed me to read them. I'd seen the (crappy) movie before reading the series so I knew roughly what it was about and they were extremely popular. Because I didn't want to miss any of the hype, especially with new Heroes of Olympus books coming out, I sped through the Percy Jackson series. But I did end up liking them anyway so, it's all good. I appreciate the pressure.

Game of Thrones 4x06 'The Laws of Gods and Men' TV TALK

This has to be my favourite episode of the series so far- it was epic! The main chunk if the episode was centred around a trial in Kings Landing (which was hecka intense and emotional) and it was very focused on Tyrion which is one of my favourite characters. It had an iconic speech from Tyrion that Peter Dinklage nailed!! It was awesome.

TV TALKS:

Season 1:  1x01  |  1x02  |  1x03  |  1x04  |  1x05  |  1x06  |  1x07  |  1x08  |  1x09  |  1x10

Season 2:  2x01  |  2x02  |  2x03  |  2x04  |  2x05  |  2x06  |  2x07  |  2x08  |  2x09  |  2x10

Season 3:  3x01  |  3x02  |  3x03  |  3x04  |  3x05  |  3x06  |  3x07  |  3x08  |  3x09  |  3x10

Season 4:  4x01  |  4x02  |  4x03  |  4x04  |  4x05

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
Let's save the trial for last as it was easily the best and most exciting part of the episode.
But first, Theon! Or.... Reek, I suppose. Now, I don't like the guy but I feel so sorry for what's he's been reduced to.

Heathers Musical: Act 2 SOUNDTRACK REVIEW

I've become super obsessed with this musical and (while I literally listen to this soundtrack on repeat), I decided I'd review the soundtrack!
Act 2 has to be my favourite of the two because all the tension has been built up and the songs are just so damn catchy! Heathers has the feel of a psychological thriller which is brilliant when made into a musical with rocky songs and amazing lyrics.
I'll link my Act 1 review here in case you missed!

YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

AMAZON

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD

My Dead Gay Son
I tend to skip this song quite a lot because it's a bit too chirpy and gospel for my taste- I'm much more a fan of the dark and sinister songs. It's a great concept and it is really great to watch a performance of it but I don't tend to listen to it all that much.

Game of Thrones 4x05 'First of His Name' TV TALK

So much happened in this episode and I loved seeing every characters involvement.... okay; maybe some more than others.

TV TALKS:

Season 1:  1x01  |  1x02  |  1x03  |  1x04  |  1x05  |  1x06  |  1x07  |  1x08  |  1x09  |  1x10

Season 2:  2x01  |  2x02  |  2x03  |  2x04  |  2x05  |  2x06  |  2x07  |  2x08  |  2x09  |  2x10

Season 3:  3x01  |  3x02  |  3x03  |  3x04  |  3x05  |  3x06  |  3x07  |  3x08  |  3x09  |  3x10

Season 4:  4x01  |  4x02  |  4x03  |  4x04

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
Starting up North, Jon Snow and his band of Night Watch men take back Craster's Keep- killing Karl, the leader, and even Ghost joins in by killing Rast and reuniting with Jon.
But that was the only reunion we got. And I'm not bitter about it at all.
Bran was right there!!! Bran was freed and then captured once more by Locke- the guy that cut off Jaime's hand- but Bran manages to escape by warging into Hodor and killing the dude- finally! That guy had to die.

Heathers Musical: Act 1 SOUNDTRACK REVIEW

Recently, I've listened to the soundtrack of Heathers in its entirety and... I've become obsessed. Just like Hamilton, just like Dear Evan Hansen, I haven't been able to stop listening to the soundtrack on repeat.

Heathers is based off the movie made in 1989, and I'd describe it as an old-fashioned Mean Girls but... with a lot more murder. It's a much (much much much) darker musical than I was expecting but I loved it! The whole plot was really shocking and sinister and it had me listen to the entire soundtrack in one go. 

I thought I'd give it a little review. I wasn't a huge fan of the songs during the first listen (I was more interested in the actual plot) but, having heard the songs over and over again, I now love them.
I will say that I prefer Act 2 to Act 1 but, nevertheless, I'll go into Act 1 first!

YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

AMAZON

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD

Beautiful

This is one hell of a long song to start off a musical but I did like it immediately. It was a nice way to introduce all the characters and it instantly made me like Veronica. It was relatable (who else doesn't want to blow up their school every once in a while?) and very funny at points. I usually skip this song just because it's so long but I do like it.

Summer Lovin' BOOK TAG

Instead of simply doing Summer Book Recommendations, I decided to do a quick and easy book tag around the subject of Summer. I got this tag from the blog Super Bookworm and I'll link the original post here for you to check out.

Get ready for contemporaries galore...

1. Start of Summer: Pick a book with an attention-grabbing first line.
It Ends With Us- Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover's books are just so deep and fantastic and she has such a way with words. Her first sentences grip you instantly and every other one that follows gets better and better.
"As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can't help but think about suicide. 
Not my own. I like my life enough to see it through."
It Ends With Us Book Talk

Game of Thrones 4x04 'Oathkeeper' TV TALK

I can't believe I'm nearly half way through this series! Things are starting to pick up at this point (like they always do) and we're starting to build up for a good second half of the season. Honestly, these series are way too short...

TV TALKS:

Season 1:  1x01  |  1x02  |  1x03  |  1x04  |  1x05  |  1x06  |  1x07  |  1x08  |  1x09  |  1x10

Season 2:  2x01  |  2x02  |  2x03  |  2x04  |  2x05  |  2x06  |  2x07  |  2x08  |  2x09  |  2x10

Season 3:  3x01  |  3x02  |  3x03  |  3x04  |  3x05  |  3x06  |  3x07  |  3x08  |  3x09  |  3x10

Season 4:  4x01  |  4x02  |  4x03

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
We start the episode with Missendei and Grey Worm talking about their past as Missendei tries to teach him how to speak Westerosi. It was such a different beginning to an episode but I loved it and.... is it okay for me to ship them? Or is way too soon for something like that? Come on, it's never too soon.

Scythe- Neal Shusterman BOOK TALK

* * * * *
Scythe had always intrigued me from the second I heard the premise. And it did not disappoint.
I've been meaning to get to this book for so long and I'm so glad I finally read it! This book is genius. It's gripping, jaw-dropping and breath-taking. It has this nice undertone of philosophical ideas which fascinates me and I flew threw it.
Scythe takes place in a dystopian world where everything is perfect. Humans have completely conquered death- no more disease, deaths can be revived and old age can be turned back, making us immortal. But, to keep population numbers down, Scythes are appointed to go around and glean people at random. Scythe follows Citra and Rowan who become apprentice Scythes who have to learn the art of killing.
This book was a beautiful blend of action, corruption, intrigue and philosophical ideas. The characters were amazing and their character development was beautiful and smooth. Every single word of this novel was gripping and breath-taking and I'd recommend everyone to pick it up immediately.

GOODREADS

AMAZON

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
I have to start by saying that my favourite aspect of this entire book was the philosophical questions and ideas it brought up. I'm a massive fan of philosophy and this book was really fascinating to consider the morals around life and death. It raised questions of a perfect world and what the consequences of that would be: if there was nothing left to improve, what would we dedicate our lives to doing? If our lives were immortal, what would do with all that time? What kind of ethics surround being able to end someone's life? I found all these deep undertones so fascinating to explore and it made me really enjoy the journal extracts we got throughout the book- especially Curie and Faraday's. They were so wise and inquisitive and the beauty of their words sunk into my skin and made me think which I absolutely loved.

Author Interview with Shannon Greenland!!

I've been lucky enough to interview Shannon Greenland, author of Shadow of a Girl among many amazing books and I'm very excited (I'm struggling very hard to keep all of my fangirl in right now but I'll apologise for the excessive number of exclamation marks I'll likely use).
I received an ARC of Shannon's newest release Watching You (and loved it!!) while also getting the amazing opportunity to ask her a few questions about it and writing in general. This was such a great experience because I've been a massive fan of Shannon's work ever since reading Shadow of a Girl back in 2016, so I'm super happy to be posting this!!
Without further adieu, enjoy...

Shadow of a Girl Book Talk

Watching You Book Talk

Interview with Shannon Greenland

Many authors put aspects of their own personalities into their characters. How much of yourself do you think you've put into your own books?

I think every character I write has a little something of me in them. This holds true for main characters and secondary, too.

Game of Thrones 4x03 'Breaker of Chains' TV TALK

A lot happened in this episode- we were flitting between so many characters and it kept the plot pace fast and exciting. I loved seeing so many characters and getting ideas of what everyone's up to... everyone has a motive and scheme in this show and it's the best thing to watch.

TV TALKS:

Season 1:  1x01  |  1x02  |  1x03  |  1x04  |  1x05  |  1x06  |  1x07  |  1x08  |  1x09  |  1x10

Season 2:  2x01  |  2x02  |  2x03  |  2x04  |  2x05  |  2x06  |  2x07  |  2x08  |  2x09  |  2x10

Season 3:  3x01  |  3x02  |  3x03  |  3x04  |  3x05  |  3x06  |  3x07  |  3x08  |  3x09  |  3x10

Season 4:  4x01  |  4x02

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
Daenerys was sure successful in this episode but... when isn't she? (Or am I tempting fate by saying that?) Khaleesi and her army have made it to Meereen and Daario wins a fight with their Champion for her. I quite liked this fight- Daario barely moved and won the whole thing!

Watching You- Shannon Greenland BOOK TALK

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. 
* * * *
This book was just as amazing as I was expecting it to be. Shannon Greenland is also the author of Shadow of a Girl which I read in 2016 and loved- I gave it 5 stars and it ended up being one of my favourite books of the year.
Watching You is a YA thriller with a little bit of romance and it is addictive! This book follows Viola, a girl desperate to escape her past and start the new life she's always dreamt of. But soon enough, weird things begin to happen. Misplaced personal items. Frightening messages. The unmistakable feeling of being watched. Viola no longer fights for her new life but to simply stay alive.
Watching You was entertaining from the very first page. The characters are really lovable, as are the relationships, the plot and... everything! I was gripped from the very first chapter and the ending was so brilliantly satisfying and exceeded all expectations. I'd definitely recommend it for any lovers of YA, thriller or romance- this book has it all!
Shadow of a Girl Book Talk

GOODREADS

AMAZON

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD

When I read that very first chapter in the perspective of the stalker, a stereotypical image of a middle aged man immediately came to mind and I hated myself for it. So, from the very first page, I was hoping- praying- Shannon Greenland would defy gender norms and expectations. Of course, that didn't stop me from suspecting every single male character that walked onto the page because my head has just been conditioned that way (and I hate it). I was so inexplicably happy that Abbie was the stalker. It was exactly the stereotype break that I wanted to see in thriller fiction and I love the idea of an unhinged, crazy rich bitch being the stalker. It made for one hell of a story.