The Breakfast Club TAG

It's tag time! As The Breakfast Club was one of my favourite movies last year, I thought I'd do a quick tag revolving around it! I found this on Joely's Reads Youtube channel so I'll link that here in case you want to check it out.

1. Don't You Forget About Me- a book you can't forget for the right or wrong reasons
Holes- Louis Sacher
This is such a nostalgic book for me. I remember my primary school teacher reading it to my class when I was about nine and it was the best story I'd ever heard. There was a major plot twist, I loved the characters and I was just captivated by the plot. I'll always remember this book for the very best of reasons as it's such a lovely part of my childhood.

2. Sincerely Yours, The Breakfast Club- a group of book characters you love
The Morganville Vampires series- Rachel Caine
This is a 15 books series... 15 books! And I've read each and every one multiple times. You don't do that if the characters are sloppy.
The Morganville Vampire series has some of the best characters ever- that's why everyone keeps reading! The plot lines can be a little sub-par sometimes but the characters make everything so worth it. They're all so bad-ass and loyal and sassy and it makes for one hilarious cast of characters.

Game of Thrones 6x02 'Home' TV TALK

This episode we switched back to a couple of characters that we haven't seen in a while.... characters I was perfectly happy I hadn't seen. This wasn't my favourite episode but it was still extremely entertaining and the beautiful show it always is.

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  |  4x06  |  4x07  |  4x08  |  4x09  |  4x10
Season 5:  5x01  |  5x02  |  5x03  |  5x04  |  5x05  |  5x06  |  5x07  |  5x08  |  5x09  |  5x10
Season 6:  6x01

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
Starting with Bran... he's back! Yay.... We haven't seen him in over a series but he's doing fine- just learning... everything. He may not be my favourite story line ever but I didn't mind seeing into the past- meeting a young Ned and Lyanna as well as a young Hodor- or should I say Wylis!!

Renegades- Marissa Meyer BOOK TALK

* * * * *
I had to give this book five stars because I was addicted from the very first page to the end. It's no secret that I love superheroes (Marvel is my life) and Marissa Meyer took on the challenge so well! There's such a flurry of cool and original powers and I fell into the world so easily.
Renegades reminded me a little of Vicious (V.E. Schwab) because it plays a lot on the idea of good vs evil and how it isn't always an easy binary to distinguish. Renegades really makes you question who's the hero and who's the villain by providing different perspectives and angles on everything which I loved! It was such a fascinating debate to explore and made everything so beautifully complex.
Another thing that Marissa Meyer aced was representation and diversity!!! Because there's such a large cast and selection of prodigies, there was so much for room for diverse characters; ethnicities, sexualities, physical disabilities, ages and appearances! This was just the icing on the cake for me because it was so refreshing to see such a diverse set of awesome and inspiring characters.

GOODREADS

AMAZON

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

With books like this, it's inevitable you're gonna think about what power you'd want and personally, I'd go straight for Nova or Adrian's... though, I'm kinda leaning towards Nova's. Sure, I'd love to be able to create something just by drawing it but I'm so addicted to being productive and getting things done and just imagine having an extra 12 hours of the day! I wouldn't need to feel guilty about binging TV shows and wasting time ever again!

Dear Evan Hansen- Val Emmich BOOK TALK

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It's hardly surprising that I loved this book. The musical is one of my favourites and I was super excited when they announced a book was going to be written around the story. This story is perfect for a book format and I was really excited to get even more detail out of the plot! Don't get me wrong, the musical is amazing and heart-felt and relatable but... it's a musical! Like with movies, there's not enough time to get a real in-depth backstory for every character and the book really expanded on certain characters that may have been in the background of the movie.
This story revolves a lot around social anxiety and different relationships which makes it so beautifully relatable. Honestly, this story, book and musical, is a warm hug saying 'it's alright. I understand. You'll be okay and here's why...'

GOODREADS

AMAZON

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
Warning: This review will contain many comparisons to the musical because, let's face it, it's kind of hard not to compare them.
What I loved most about this book was learning more about Connor. Yes, he has a big presence in the musical but you don't actually find out that much about him- I didn't even know why he'd committed suicide!! I desperately wanted the book to provide more insight into his character and it definitely did! I loved Connor's chapters. It was so interesting to learn about his life, what he really thought of everyone and, especially, his relationship with Miguel! Miguel isn't even mentioned in the musical but I loved his importance to this book. And, honestly, it broke my heart to find out that Miguel didn't reply to Connor's 'I miss you' text because he was at work!! I nearly cried at that point.

Mean Girls the Musical SOUNDTRACK REVIEW

Here we are again, getting obsessed with yet another musical.
How to describe Mean Girls? Well, seeing as though I describe Heathers as "Mean Girls with a lot more death", I'll describe Mean Girls as "Heathers with a lot less death." The 2004 movie Mean Girls is actually based off the 1988 movie Heathers so... it sparks the debate of which is better (spoiler alert: it's Heathers).
Despite my overwhelming loyalty to Heathers, I thought I'd give Mean Girls a try and I'll be brutally honest and say that, at first, I didn't like it at all. Sure, there were a couple of songs that were okay but I wasn't all that fussed. Then I saw a Youtube clip of the entire musical and everything changed! Seeing Broadway songs performed is always better and I grew to actually like most of the songs (though I do still skip quite a few)! And since then, I've listened to the soundtrack non-stop and wanted to write a review!!
My favourite songs of the soundtrack are Apex Predator, Someone Gets Hurts and World Burn (mainly because Taylor Louderman who plays Regina George has the most stunning voice). Other than Regina, my favourite characters is also Janis because I can relate to her on a personal level ad she's also played by Barrett Wilbert Weed who is phenomenal (and incidentally played Veronica in Heathers).

A Cautionary Tale
I didn't really like this song at first but, after seeing a Youtube clip of it, it's grown on me! Janis and Damien are easily my favourite characters and this is a nice little introduction to the musical. This song can get super catchy and caught in my head for days on end so be careful!!

It Roars
I do like this song but sometimes it gets a little tedious. This song is nice to listen to but it gets boring after a while and goes on a bit too long for my taste. Cady isn't one of my favourite characters, so I also tend to prefer the songs she doesn't solo.

Forever Fictional is Three Years Old!!!

It's that time of year again when Forever Fictional is officially a year older!!! We've sped through the terrible twos and now we're three years old!! My baby's growing up so fast *wipes away stray tear*
So, like always, I wanted to look back over the year and check out my highlights and favourite posts!

As always, thank you so much to every person who follows, likes and comments on my blog! I love you all so much!!!

Strings- Original Poetry
I didn't post as much poetry as I wanted to last year but I'm really happy with the pieces that I did. Yes, there are many other poems that I wrote last year but... maybe a little too personal to post. Sorry, not sorry.

World Book Day Baking w/ Kailtin
Like always, World Book Day is a great highlight of every year and last year was super fun as me and Kailtin (Liber Amoris) made bookish cupcakes!! Honestly, we're running out of fun bookish activities to do every year so, if you have any suggestions, we're all ears! But this ended up being super fun and the cupcakes looked amazing by the end (maybe a baking career will be a fallback if I don't become a writer... but let's hope not).

Game of Thrones 6x01 'The Red Woman' TV TALK

After the huge events of season five, it's hard to fathom how this show would improve.... and yet it always does! From the title of this episode, I was hoping for a certain thing to happen... but alas, it is not the time just yet. I have been spoiled for a major plot point so I know what's coming but it doesn't make the show any less entertaining.

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  |  4x06  |  4x07  |  4x08  |  4x09  |  4x10
Season 5:  5x01  |  5x02  |  5x03  |  5x04  |  5x05  |  5x06  |  5x07  |  5x08  |  5x09  |  5x10

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

Let's start in the North with the aftermath of Jon's demise. Davos, Ghost and a few other members of the Night's Watch stay by Jon's side to defend and protect him from the other mutineers (basically the whole of the Night's Watch). I'm beginning to really love Davos- he's a loyal and righteous guy in a world dull of psychos. We need to appreciate men like Davos more often.

Most Anticipated Releases 2019

2019 is looking to be an amazing year and there are so many books, movies and TV shows that I'm super excited for! So, I thought I'd list out the things I'm looking forward to most!

Books
Storm and Fury (The Dark Elements #4)- Jennifer L. Armentrout
I've been excited about this ever since I heard it was a thing. The Dark Elements series was originally a trilogy but this a spin-off series starting, following a new protagonist amongst old characters and it sounds so good! The protagonist apparently has the same eye disease Jennifer L. Armentrout has so I'm super interested to learn more about that and any type of awareness creates an instant A+ in my book.

The Burning Shadow (Origin #2)- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Let's face it, Jennifer L. Armentrout could release a dictionary and it would be on this list. This is the second book of the Origin series which is the spin-off series to the Lux books. I love this world, I love these characters and I'm going to love reading every single word. I received a digital arc of the first book last year so I'm gonna cross my fingers and pray for an arc of this one as well.

Again But Better- Christine Riccio 
Christine Riccio may be better known as the Youtube channel PolandbananasBOOKS and, as soon as she said she was writing a book a couple of years ago, I was ready for this. Yes, there's a major controversy around Youtube books but I think Booktubers are naturally and genuinely going to write books because we all love reading and the dream for many readers is to become a writer one day. Nevertheless, I'm so pumped for this book and am expecting that classic and infectious Xtinemay humour from this book.

December and Christmas Haul 2018!!!

Pre-Christmas
G'morning G'night- Lin Manuel Miranda
I got this early in the month as a gift from my mum which was the sweetest thing ever! It was a celebratory gift for me passing my driving test and it's a book I've been needing for a while! Lin Manuel Miranda is the writer of the musical Hamilton and this book is a compilation of his inspirational tweets. I've been reading it exactly how it should be read- one tweet in the morning and one in the evening. Sure, it means I'm only getting through two pages a day and it'll probably take me months to finish, but I'm enjoying it so far.

Queen of Air and Darkness- Cassandra Clare
This book was an extremely anticipated release for a lot of people and, honestly, I think I just bought it for the sake of it. I have the giant and beautiful editions of the first two books in this trilogy so I had to get the same version before they switched it to a smaller edition simply so they would match. But, I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I may not get any of Cassandra Clare's books in the future. I feel like the Shadowhunter world has stretched on too long now and getting myself to read each book seems like a chore. I've got so little time to read and so little bookshelf space that all these spin-off book planned for the Shadowhunter world just isn't worth it to me anymore.
(I'm sorry to rub it in your face that I have this, Shayna. I'm sure yours will come in the post soon ;D)

December Wrap Up 2018

And 2018 is over!!! I managed to read a total of 101 books this year (a whopping pass over my target of 50 books) which I'm super pleased with! But I also realised how much I re-read books because, out of that entire 101, only 32 books were ones that I hadn't read before. So, my target for next year is definitely to read more new books and to cut back on re-reading.

BOOKS
A Bad Boy Stole My Bra- Lauren Price (Re-read)
* * * *
For some reason, I was in the mood for a cute contemporary which practically never happens to me when it's winter. But, after reading the entirety of the masterpiece that is the Throne of Glass series, I can understand my need for a simple and easy book that isn't likely to tear my heart into pieces. I only read this for the first time earlier this year but it was so much fun and I had the urge to give it a re-read. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the first time but it was definitely still enjoyable and entertaining.

November 9- Colleen Hoover (Re-read)
* * * * *
Yes, I missed a trick by not re-reading this in November but I made up for it now. I always feel the need to re-read this book every winter and, boy, was I happy I did because this book never fails to pull me through every single human emotion in the best way possible.
November 9 Review

A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2)- Sarah J. Maas (Re-read)
* * * * * 
By this point, I'd read a couple of books and, already, I was missing Sarah J. Maas (I think I have a serious problem). As always, ACOMAF was a delight to re-read because it's my favourite book of all time and it makes me so inexplicably happy. This book is the most character-based book of the trilogy and I love that because these characters are so amazing and it's so much fun to learn about them all and watch their relationships develop.
A Court of Mist and Fury Review

The Festive Christmas BOOK TAG

As it's Christmas, I figured you can't go wrong with a good Christmas themed book tag! I found this tag over at Briony Marshall's author blog so I'll link that in case you wanna go and check it out.
On with the tag!

1. A fictional family you would like to spend Christmas dinner with?
Covey Family- To All the Boys I've Loved Before (Jenny Han)
Can you imagine the Christmas dinner they'd make?!?! The Coveys have such a lovely passion for cooking and baking and this Christmas dinner would be heaven to me. The company would be good too, obviously. The Covey family are so close, very much like mine, so I think a Christmas dinner would feel very homely and comfortable with them.
But mainly, the food.


2. A bookish item you would like to receive as a gift?
Ravenclaw scarf
I've been a Ravenclaw for many years and have desperately been dreaming for a scarf for so damn long. But they're hella expensive and I haven't yet convinced anyone to get me one as a gift. Just you wait, one day I'll buy myself one as a present. Treat yourself, eh?

Top 5 Books of 2018

This year, I read a total of 101 books which is miles better than the 50 book challenge I made myself. Having said that, only 33 of those books were new books... I've realised just how much I re-read stuff. So, actually, there wasn't a large number of books to pick my favourites from but there were some definite highlights. I've actually been a little harsh this year and could only think up five books/series but there are a few honorary mentions too...
Like always, this is list is compiled of my favourite books I read this year- they don't need to have been released in 2018, just read by me for the first time.
On with the favourites!

Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7)- Sarah J. Maas
It was no question this book was making it at the top of my list. Kingdom of Ash was the epic conclusion to the Throne of Glass series and by conclusion, I mean epic-battle-soul-crushing-gripping-addictive-and-sob-inducing finale. If you've ever struggled to get through the previous books in the series, I can say, without a doubt, that this book is completely worth it. I was laughing, I was crying, I was hysterical and I wouldn't change a single word in this masterpiece. I'm absolutely gutted that this series is over because I'm going to miss these characters so much! Watching them all grow and seeing how much they've all changed has been so amazing and it was extremely difficult to say goodbye (I may have been uncontrollably sobbing for the last 100 or so pages of this book).
Kingdom of Ash Reviews Part 1
Kingdom of Ash Review Part 2

Top 5 TV Shows of 2018

Time for TV Shows!!! This year has been pretty epic in terms of TV shows (even with the glaring absence of Game of Thrones). Like always, this list is comprised of my favourite shows that I watched for the first time this year- they don't need to be released in 2018, just watched by me for the first time.


Killing Eve Season 1
I had to start with Killing Eve because it's become my new obsession. This series follows a female assassin and an MI5 reject tracking her. They both become sort of fascinated and obsessed with each other and it turns into a cat and mouse game of who can find who first who, who can toy with the other more. This series was so much fun. It was sexy, gripping and hilarious. You wouldn't expect an action-thriller-who-dunnit to also be a comedy, but it works so damn well. The female assassin, Villanelle, is maybe my favourite character in existence at the moment and the acting is on point! I would strongly suggest you watch this show pronto!
Killing Eve Review


Riverdale Season 1 and 2 
This year, me and my brother marathoned both the first and second series of Riverdale. I sort of have a love/hate relationship with Riverdale because it's so easy to mock! I think if I took this show too seriously, I would absolutely hate it. But, instead, me and my brother like to make fun of all the predictable plots and useless characters and we end up in stitches by the end of every episode! So, while the show doesn't create the impression it probably intends to, I absolutely love it all the same. A guilty pleasure, if you will.
Reviews:
1x01  |  1x02  |  1x03  |  1x04  |  1x05

Top 10 Movies of 2018

The time is upon us to start picking the favourites of 2018!!! I've decided to split my favourites into movies, TV and books. Like always with these sorts of posts, these favourites are going to include movies that I watched for the first time this year- they don't have to have been released in 2018, just watched by me for the first time during 2018.
I feel like there's going to be two section of this set of favourites: Marvel and non-Marvel. But, without further adieu, let's get into it!

Avengers: Infinity War
This was no question. It was most people's favourite movie of the year. If it isn't obvious, I got really obsessed with the MCU at the end of 2017, so a lot of this year was catching up with all the movies and growing my love for it even more. And, when Infinity War came around, I was awe-struck with every single second. Infinity War is pure genius- there are so many characters and plot lines and dynamics but it's all perfectly balanced (see what I did there?) to create one of the most epic movies of all time.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 and 2
I'm gonna count this as one, even though I'm fully aware that's cheating.
Guardians of the Galaxy is so much fun. It's a little crazy, a little weird, but I'm constantly laughing through it. The whole crew is amazing and Groot is everything that is good and happy.

Kingdom of Ash- Sarah J. Maas MONSTER BOOK TALK (Part 2)

*  *  *  *  *
Again, I'm going to keep this non-spoiler section nice and short because this review is giant! 
Kingdom of Ash is the seventh book in the series and is the best finale in existence! If you've ever struggled to get through the previous books in the series, I can say, without a doubt, that this book is completely worth it. I was laughing, I was crying, I was hysterical and I wouldn't change a single word in this masterpiece!
This is part two of my entire Kingdom of Ash review so I'll have the first half linked below if you missed it!
Book Talks:
Throne of Glass  |  Crown of Midnight  |  Heir of Fire |  Queen of Shadows  |  Empire of Storms |  Tower of Dawn  |  Kingdom of Ash (Part 1)

GOODREADS

AMAZON

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

Pages 530-600

Lysaedion

Rolfe and the Mycenian fleet came soaring in to save Aedion and the Bane's ass and it briefly looked like we could regain control again... until everything goes to shit again. They all headed to Orynth in the hopes that that could escape Morath's clutches just a little longer but... everyone had completely lost hope! They were all so drained and desperate and I was just waiting for Morath to attack them and Aelin to swoop in and save everyone...

Game of Thrones 5x10 'Mother's Mercy' TV TALK

The finale! The finale! The finale!
This was arguably the best episode of the series- beating the epic ninth episode! I loved this episode because we saw basically every character (all except Bran which is a positive thing to me) so it felt like so much happened! So much did happen!

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  |  4x06  |  4x07  |  4x08  |  4x09  |  4x10
Season 5:  5x01  |  5x02  |  5x03  |  5x04  |  5x05  |  5x06  |  5x07  |  5x08  |  5x09

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
Starting with Daenerys, she is now stranded who knows where with an injured Drogon, unable to get back to Meereen. But, she is found by a horde of Dothraki and the amusing thing is.... we're right back where we started! Khaleesi has spent five seasons progressing and getting nowhere near Westeros, and now we've been sent back to the start...

Winter Wonderland BOOK TAG

Since it's getting close to Christmas and winter is fully upon us, I thought I'd do a wintery tag to get myself in the festive mood. I found this tag over at The Perks of Being a Book Freak and I'll link that post here if you want to check it out.
On with the tag!

1. What book is so happy and so sweet that it just warms your heart?
To All the Boys I've Loved Before- Jenny Han
I think we can all safely say that this book can be summed up in one word: adorable. For me, it probably isn't a winter read because it's so summery and happy and sweet, but it'll definitely warm you up with how lovely it is.


2. What's your favourite book with a white cover?
Lovely, Dark and Deep- Amy Mcnamara 
If this isn't the ultimate wintery cover, I don't know what is. I read this book so long ago that I can't remember a single thing of what actually happened but I can still admire a stunning book cover.

Writing Diary #18- A Successful Babywrimo?

So, last month, I tried to do my own little version of Nanowrimo to get myself into writing consistently again. It was an easier version of the writing challenge- a baby challenge, shall we say- and, mostly, I'll say I was successful.
My goal was essentially to write every single day of the month no matter what just to get writing into my daily routine once more and, on the whole, I achieved that. I've written more in last month than I had in the previous three before that so I'm very happy with the progress I made.
Unfortunately, I didn't end up writing every single day in November but I only missed a day or two due to unforeseeable events that just meant writing was impossible to manage in those days. But that happens! And I'm not going to take it too much to heart because I'm otherwise super happy with how much I've done.
From here, I'm hoping to keep up the momentum and just keep writing!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment your thought. Stay amazing!
Chloe

Kingdom of Ash- Sarah J. Maas MONSTER BOOK TALK (Part 1)

*  *  *  *  *
Here we are. I'm going to keep this non-spoiler section nice and short because this review is giant! 
Kingdom of Ash is the seventh book in the series and is the best finale in existence! If you've ever struggled to get through the previous books in the series, I can say, without a doubt, that this book is completely worth it. I was laughing, I was crying, I was hysterical and I wouldn't change a single word in this masterpiece!
Book Talks:
Throne of Glass  |  Crown of Midnight  |  Heir of Fire |  Queen of Shadows  |  Empire of Storms |  Tower of Dawn

GOODREADS

AMAZON

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
I'm overwhelmed as to how I'm even going to structure this book review so I'm going to try and go through it both chronologically and character-wise. Chronologically, I'll go through the book with every 100 or so pages and break those 100 page sections into the different characters. There's just so much going on in this book, so many characters crossing paths at so many different times, I think this will be the best way to break it all down. Hopefully, this review won't just be a jumbled mess.
So, without further adieu...

December Releases and TBR 2018

RELEASES
Books
Queen of Air and Darkness (the Dark Artifices #3)- Casandra Clare
My Favorite Half-Night Stand- Christina Lauren 
Evermore (Everless #2)- Sara Holland
Verity- Colleen Hoover
Fire and Heist- Sarah Beth Durst
29 Dates- Melissa de la Cruz

Movies
Aquaman
Bumblebee
Mary Poppins Returns 


TBR
December is always a re-readery month for me (you know... because I never re-read book during the rest of the year). There are a few books that I want to re-read but I'll try to read one or two new books as well. But, honestly, after finishing Kingdom of Ash last month, re-reads may be all I can manage in my delicate state of book-hangover.

the witch doesn't burn in this one- Amanda Lovelace (Book of the Month)
I've decided I want a poetry book as December's book of the month because they're quick and easy and lovely to read. Amanda Lovelace is one of my favourite poets so I can't wait to jump into this book.