Dreamology by Lucy Keating
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: April 12th 2016

Song I Played While Reading: Afterthought by Disclosure
Rating: 4.5 stars

For as long as Alice can remember, she has dreamed of Max. Together they have traveled the world and fallen deliriously, hopelessly in love. Max is the boy of her dreams—and only her dreams. Because he doesn’t exist.

But when Alice walks into class on her first day at a new school, there he is. It turns out, though, that Real Max is nothing like Dream Max, and getting to know each other in reality isn’t as perfect as Alice always hoped.

When their dreams start to bleed dangerously into their waking hours, the pair realize that they might have to put an end to a lifetime of dreaming about each other. But when you fall in love in your dreams, can reality ever be enough?


So. Much. Fluffy. CUTENESS. That's all I can think right now. I seriously feel like this book should've come with it's own pillow of some sort, just so you can feel the fluffiness and also, obviously, use it as a pillow, since you'll most likely read this in one sitting. Dreamology was heartwarming, sweet, funny, and a super duper fast read.
Alice was an absolute riot, oh my god. We were super similar in the way we thought and acted, so reading from her perspective was easy and natural. Everything flowed in this story; the relationships, the dialogue, the chemistry, even the wacky story line. There were two things that bothered me, both kind of spoilery so I can't specify, but there was one part where Alice said something and reacted in a way I didn't understand and thought was kind of childish, and then the other time... honestly it's really hard to write without ruining anything, so I'm just gonna say it's something to do with them seeing a certain person to help them with their problem and the way that person handled their problem. She didn't explain what she did or how she did it, and I wish Keating had added that. I would've been really interested in it. Besides that small part, I could tell she did her homework. I found this whole dream subject to be super fascinating, and the dreams Max and Alice had were so freaking adorable.  Everything about this was just so light-hearted that I felt like a ray of sunshine was beaming down on me.
Max was a LEGITIMATE cinnamon roll and I adored him. He was such a clean-cut gentleman that I was swooning whenever Alice noticed his adorable outfits or the fact that he was studying really hard for a certain class. He was just pure goodness, and I loved their relationship. They balanced each other perfectly. Her dad was equally as sweet, and I loved seeing the arc with those two. Oliver KILLED ME. He was so random and funny and adventurous and GAH, I want an Oliver. And a Sophie. Those two were a hoot.
Overall, this was a fantastic debut, and I definitely plan on buying Keating's future work!

Quotes

"Do you think I'm going to like it here?" I ask finally. "I mean, eventually?"

"Where? Boston?" my father answers, clearly fixated on something in the Science section.

I tilt my head to the side. "No, Cuba. Wait." I throw my hands up to my face in mock horror. "Where are we?"

"In the most basic terms, we define our dreams as a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. In more specific analysis, Freud asserted that dreams were where we revealed our deepest fears and desires."

I look over at Max with an expression that says, See? I am your deepest desire."

"I can't lose you, Alice," he says again. And then before I can help myself I have leaped across the bed to kiss him and fall into his arms, my legs circling his waist. And he accepts me, his arms coming up around to support my back while his hands grip the base of my head, under my hair. 

"I can't lose you," he says for a third time, in a whisper. And I take his face in my hands and push his hair behind his ears as I stroke his jaw with my fingers.

"You will never lose me," I say. "I'm right here." and I kiss him again.

"It means having the child of the chair of the Neuroscience Department as a student makes Bennett look good," my dad explained. "And in return you get a top-notch high school education for free."

"Are you sure?" I said, tilting my head to the side and twirling some angel hair pasta on my fork. "Because I'm pretty sure I got the scholarship for my athletic prowess."

"Ah, yes." My dad nodded, playing along. "It's probably that trophy you won in the fourth grade. What was it for again?"

"Longest hula-hooper," I remind him, taking a big bite of the pasta. "The highlight of my sports career."

Follow the Dreamology by Lucy Keating Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Lucy lives in Los Angeles, California. She grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, attended Williams College in the Berkshires, and still misses the East Coast very much. 

When she's not writing, Lucy can usually be found obsessing over the latest music, inventing new flavors of ice cream, or having what she feels are perfectly acceptable conversations with her dog, Ernie.

You can follow Lucy on Instagram @lucy.keating, and Ernie The Dog @ernsboberns

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Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McEldery Books
Publication Date: March 8th, 2016
Pages: 668
Song I Played While Reading: You & Me (Flume Remix) by Disclosure
Rating: 3.5 stars

In a kingdom by the sea...

In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.
A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your bets friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other- but they can never fall in love. 
Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder wit her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries- the most powerful of the supernatural creatures- teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma's parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma's chance to revenge- and Julian's chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks... and before the murderer targets them. 
Their search takes Emma from seas caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery were death is dispense. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents- and can she bear to the know the truth?

My life lately has been nothing but Shadowhunters. All in the month of March, I listened to the audiobook of Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, read The Shadowhunters Codex, drooled over A History of Notable Shadowhunters, watched the tv show, and started Lady Midnight. I almost even started rereading City of Bones, because I was getting some hard core TMI feels from Shadowhunter Academy, but knew that would be ridiculous and a sort of waste of time. I had too much to do and too many books I had to review, so that was out of the question. I guarantee it'll happen at some point this year, though.
I remember reading about the Blackthorn family and Emma in City of Heavenly Fire and thinking to myself, "How the FRICK am I going to remember all these kids?" Dru and Ty and Livvy and Tavvy and Julian and Emma and WAIT, let's occasionally call them by their full names too! Drusilla and Octavian and Tiberius and Livia AND CANT FORGET MARK AND HELEN, TOO! I kept getting Ty/Tiberius and Tavvy/Octavian confused and would mix up their full names, and then couldn't remember if Dru was a girl or not, so the first 50 pages were a hot mess. Thank god for A History of Notable Shadowhunters or else I would've been so confused.
The biggest thing for me in this book was the family and relationship dynamics. I adored everyone, so I loved seeing how they all interacted with each other. I loved it, but my soul was also constantly being crushed by the responsibility Julian had on his shoulders. It utterly confounded me that NO ONE thought to hire some sort of nanny, or that Julian might be taking on too much. I was pissed off at Diana a lot, since she obviously saw and knew what Julian had been through, yet never thought to ask if he needed help or to even offer her own services to watch the kids occasionally. I wanted to beat her up. But besides the occasional annoyance at her, every scene with the kids and Mark just had me beaming. Or crying, if Julian was reminiscing on how he thought of the kids as his own and all the things he had to learn to take care of them. He's my kryptonite, I swear.
I wasn't overly thrilled with Emma. She was kind of... bland to me. She definitely was not as funny as she thought she was, because she would occasionally make some quip about how she was "so witty" and I would stop and think, "Actually, you really aren't." There were maybe 2 or 3 scenes where she said something funny, but most of the time she was all talk. Julian was just a god damn cinnamon roll, though he could be slightly scary (ex: the scene after the big show down when he twists the whole story into the pizza thing and gets the one guy in trouble, hello HOW DID YOU THINK ON YOUR FEET THAT FAST AND ACT SO SERIOUS????). Mark was another cinnamon roll, but he was a spicy one (ex: "Why lie?" *SWOONS*). Cristina, Diego, and the rest of the Blackthorn kiddies were all fantastic too, especially my quirky cinnamon roll, Ty.
I wasn't a huge fan of the plot line, this murder mystery. Until we got to the the Lady Midnight children's rhyme, I was extremely bored. Like, reeeeeeeeeeeally bored. Sad bored, because I wanted to love this as much as everyone else did, but I couldn't, which is why it took me a week to finish this. I've learned that no matter how long the book is, I'll finish it relatively quickly if I'm enjoying it. But if I don't, then it'll take me longer, no matter how much I think I'm enjoying it.
I also spoiled myself because I'm a damn idiot and read something on the Shadowhunters Wiki about a certain character in Lady Midnight, so that definitely took away from the surprise of finding out who was killing all these people. I lurved the way Cassie twisted this plot with a poem, a poem I won't name because I don't want to spoil people, but it's one of my all time favorite poems ever and I was getting MAJOR feels from it. And speaking of feels... KIT *SCREAMS AND RUNS AROUND AND CRIES AND JUMPS FOR JOY AND HUGS LADY MIDNIGHT TO MY CHEST* WAY TO FUCK ME UP, CASSIE. DAMN.
So overall, this was a middle book for me: it had it's boring parts, but it definitely had it's AMAZING parts, so 3.5 will have to do. And I only bumped it up half a star because of the ending and my sudden love for two people who I was not expecting to love.

Quotes
"When you love someone, they become a part of who you are. They're in everything you do. They're in the air you breathe and the water you drink and the blood in your veins. Their touch stays on your skin and their voice stays in your ears and their thoughts stay in your mind. You know their dreams because their nightmares pierce your heart and their good dreams are your dreams too. And you don't think they're perfect, but you know their flaws, the deep-down truth of them, and the shadows of all their secrets, and they don't frighten you away; in fact you love them more for it, because you don't want perfect. You want them."

"But he hurt Jules, so when we track him down, I'm going to chop him up and feed him to my fish."
"You don't have fish," Julian said.
"Well, I'm going to buy some," said Emma. "I'm going to buy goldfish and feed them blood until they acquire a taste for human flesh."

"These pictures are my heart. And if my heart was a canvas, every square inch of it would be painted over with you.

"Diego looked at Emma with serious brown eyes. "If I had known what was to happen, I would have stayed and volunteered to be whipped myself. I am more muscular and larger than you, and I probably could have taken it better."
"I took it fine," said Emma, annoyed. "But thanks for the reminder that you're an enormous hulk. I might have forgotten otherwise."

"Julian looked at her for a moment. He had lived by ironclad rules for so long. Protect Tavvy, protect Livvy and Ty, protect Dru. Protect Emma. Recently that had widened out slightly- he would protect Mark, because Mark had come back, and he would protect Cristina, because Emma loved her.
It was a sort of love few other people could understand. It was total and it was overwhelming and it could be cruel. He would destroy a whole city if he thought that city posed some threat to his family."

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Waiting on Wednesday: This Savage Song

This is hosted by Breaking the Spine :)

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: July 5th, 2016
Pages: 464
Link to Goodreads

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from acclaimed author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. 








Nothing makes me squeal more than deliberately vague summaries. Like, YES, THROW ALL THE TWISTS AND SUDDEN ROMANCES AND GREAT CHARACTERS AND RANDOM PLOT LINES AT ME MY BODY IS READY. Though I was disappointed to read that there is no romance in this. Oh well, Schwab's writing is satisfying enough, plus monsters?! Yes, please!

What book are you eagerly anticipating? Link your post down in the comments! :)

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Mini review: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Water for Elehants by Sara Gruen
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Publication Date: May 1st, 2007
Pages: 335
Rating: 4 stars

Orphaned, penniless, Jacob Jankowski jumps a freight train in the dark, and in that instant, transforms his future.

By morning, he's landed a job with the Flying Squadron of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. By nightfall, he's in love.

In an America made colourless by prohibition and the Depression, the circus is a refuge of sequins and sensuality. But behind the glamour lies a darker world, where both animals and men are dispensable. Where falling in love is the most dangerous act of all...

I (re)read this for my English class and I absolutely loved being back in this world. It was also interesting to read it older, since I first read this when I was 13, and being able to discuss it with my class made me realize even more things about this that I hadn't noticed before. Water for Elephants was a hauntingly beautiful story from start to finish. Though past Jacob was a bit naive for my taste, I still really enjoyed reading from his POV, and thought present day Jacob was an absolute riot. If that doesn't make any sense, no worries: this book is told through two different storylines, present day Jacob in his nursing home, and then his past self as he navigates the circus. I loved how Gruen weaved them together, and was able to clearly tell who was who in each chapter. 
The ending was unbelievably satisfying and delightful, and I highly suggest anyone interested in reading an Adult tale about a Depression-era circus to read this! 

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March 2016 wrap-up!

Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan - 4 stars

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum - 5 stars

The Shadowhunters Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis - 4 stars

A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz - 5 stars

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard - 4 stars

My favorite is a tie between Tell Me Three Things and A History of Glitter and Blood. They're both 5 glorious stars, but are so different (one's a contemporary while the other is fantasy), so I CANT BARE TO CHOOSE. DON'T MAKE ME.

Happy readings :)

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Waiting on Wednesday: The Unexpected Everything

This meme is hosted by Breaking the Spine :)

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: May 3rd, 2016
Pages: 500 (HOLY CRAP)
Link to Goodreads

Andie had it all planned out. 
When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future.

Important internship? Check.

Amazing friends? Check.

Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks)

But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life.
Because here’s the thing - if everything's planned out, you can never find the unexpected. 
And where’s the fun in that?

Morgan Matson can do no wrong. I shouldn't say that, since I've only read Since You've Been Gone, but I do have Second Chance Summer and Amy and Roger's Epic Detour on my TBR, plus I've heard fantastic things about those two novels. So, SHE CAN DO NO WRONG. This sounds amazing, and I'm always a sucker for novels about a politicians child because I find that stuff endlessly fascinating. If anyone is looking for a good YA contemporary involving politics and all that wacky stuff, The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne is incredible!

What are you eagerly anticipating? Link your post down in the comments! :)

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Ten of my most recent 5 star reads! (TTT)

This meme is hosted by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish :)

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
This is my most recent read, and I rated it 5 glorious stars for being AMAZING. From the characters to it's storyline, Tell Me Three Things absolutely destroyed me in the best way possible. I was lucky enough to win a copy on Goodreads (my first time winning on there!) and now I want to throw it at every person I see. This comes out on April 5th!

A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz

This is one of those eccentric books that you either love or hate, and when I saw this in the book store, and read the summary, I had the weirdest feeling that I would love it. I tend to love strange stories, so I finally read it and, SPOILER, I loved this with my entire being and could write pages and pages on why I do. But I manage to hold back in my review since I want you all to be as surprised by it's contents as I was. I only spill one thing, but I think it'll help you understand the book more. It definitely confused the hell out of me at first, so I'm saving you the trouble.  

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

This is a bind up of short stories based in The Lunar Chronicles world, and, since I absolutely adored those books, MY HEART EXPLODED WHILE READING THIS. I'm confused on why some people are giving this such low ratings on Goodreads and saying "this doesn't add anything"? I almost feel like thats betraying the characters because why should it need to add anything? Shouldn't reading about them doing mundane things be enough? I could read this fluff all day. Hell, Cinder or Scarlett could be going to the damn bathroom and I would be enthralled. WHO DOESNT WANT FLUFFY MOMENTS WITH THEIR FAVORITE CHARACTERS? Much confusion. 

The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

For the first half of this book, I was seriously considering putting it down. It all just seemed horridly familiar: orphaned princess wants to take back her rightful place on the throne and disguises herself as someone else to spy on the family that took her crown. And then something magical happened and I literally died. Just boom: there went my heart and my brain. I can't even remember what scene it was, I just remember falling into the story and being absolutely enamored by everything. It turned into something completely different and new and exciting AND I JUST LOVED IT SO MUCH. It went from 0 to 100 real quick. 

(Did I seriously just say that about a book, oh my god.)

The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows

Epic Reads sent me an ARC of this, which is what pushed me to read The Orphan Queen in the first place. Not only did Meadows accomplish writing a fantasy duology, which I honestly can't fathom doing because even successfully writing a trilogy is difficult, but she killed it. Literally and figuratively. She also wrote probably my favorite scene in a book ever. Okay no, that's a lie, everything Chaolaena in Crown of Midnight is my favorite scene ever, but this comes in second! It's so sudden and shocking and horrifically funny that I still giggle just thinking about it. Meadows wrote a scene that every authors imagines doing but can't justify. SHE'S A GENIUS. This also comes out on April 5th!

Winter by Marissa Meyer

This was such an epic conclusion to The Lunar Chronicles, it was the easiest 5 stars of my life. Everything was wrapped up perfectly and my god, I was drowning in the OTP feels. Specifically Wolf and Scarlett. They were such an undramatic couple that I could have wept. YES TO COUPLES THAT HAVE HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS AND DONT FIGHT OVER STUPID, UNIMPORTANT SHIT

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

So much sass. So much love. So much creepy-yet-odly-beautiul machinery. SO MUCH OF EVERYTHING THAT IS GREAT AND WONDERFUL AND STUNNING. *throws confetti in the air*

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

I love how CoHo manages to incorporate so much heartbreak without the reader being aware of it. There's always something more to her work that isn't written in the summary, and it's both exciting and scary trying to think of what it could be. Hopeless ripped my heart to absolute shreds and I barely managed to make it through alive. Bless CoHo for writing these realistic stories, BLESS.

Those are my most recent 5 star reads! I definitely had less than I thought I did. It seems I don't just throw around my 5 star honor badge to just any book. What books have you bestowed this honor upon? Link your post down in the comments! :)

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