P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

Title: P.S. I Still Loved You
Author: Jenny Han
Pages: 337 pages
Published: May 26th, 2015
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 

Lara Jean didn't expect to really fall for Peter.

She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren't. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever. When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean's feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that's part of what makes it amazing.

Buy it now! 

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

If you haven't read the first book, this review is just going to be a major spoiler for you. I hope this encourages you to read this duology because Jenny Han's contemporary writing has utterly blow me away. As a heavy fantasy reader, I find Han's writing comparable to any fantasy/thriller book: intriguing with an unexpected twist at every end.

P.S. I Still Love You  begins where To All the Boys I've Loved Before ends. It revives the readers who are hardcore fans of the first book with an enlightening refresher: Lara Jean's letters have been mailed out and she's now dating Peter Kavinsky, the oh-so-delicious popular guy she's had a crush on forever. It was really hard for me to get back into the story only because I had read the first one a while ago and I wasn't ready for this love story to end. Nevertheless, I forged through it in one sitting and am glad with the way things turned out in the end.

Nothing beats the plot of a great Jenny Han book. Nothing. Jenny Han literally wields worlds between her fingertips and hides most of the beautiful romances in her pocket. You can never really predict what's going to happen next for the two lovebirds but also what transformation the main character is going to undergo. 

I absolutely loved the concept of the second book where another boy from Lara Jean's past, who also received a letter, comes back and riles up some trouble between Peter and Lara. In the first book, I was quite confused with Lara and Peter's relationship since they were just faking their interest. Soon it grew into admiration and they eventually fell hard for each other. 

I always love the idea of authors writing about love and not realizing it, ya know what I mean? Like when a character is best friends with someone and they eventually fall in love with their best friend. I remember in the first book when it was all about her notes and Lara Jean trying to overcome her fear of the boys finding out that she wrote these letters. The second book has really taken that conflict and evolved it into an entirely brand new obstacle for Lara's life-- she's now faced with a real relationship and it's kind of like an animal that's grown up in a zoo all their life and is finally exposed to the real world. 

Am I the only one that thought Lara Jean was a tad bit condescending? She was clingy to Peter, and not to mention, a bit over dramatic when he was hanging out with Genevieve. Peter says he "loves you" and if you don't want to believe it, it's no one else's fault but your own. THERE I SAID IT! 

I was really this alongside my great friend Bella, and we kept fighting about whether Peter or the boy who came back from Lara's past was better. Jenny Han sure does know how to stir up the seas, if ya know what I mean *wink wink*. She creates this entirely new branch of conflict with the main characters from the first book by bringing in and introducing another boy that received Lara's letters. That was probably the best part of the book and made me snicker like crazy.

One of the best teenage romances, and I mean nothing serious. Today all YA books seem to revolve around the idea of sex and loss of innocence. I feel like this book just mocked that idea and played around with its meaning. Lara Jean wasn't in a relationship for the benefits of losing her virginity, she just wanted to be loved by someone who was willing to feel the same way about her. Even the events that occur in this book make it clear that Lara Jean is a hopeless romantic and not a hungry *excuse my British* slut. There is no slut-shaming in this book, no no. 

Jealous, oh the old friend returns from YA romances! A ton of jealousy from the guys in this book but also from the girls. And all in all, I think jealousy is such a fun thing to play around with and messes with the emotions of the readers. Pettteerrr was sooo jealous when Lara Jean's secret admirer came back into town *blushes*. 

I hope you all enjoy my review for Jenny Han's latest talked-about novel! She's an amazing writer and all contemporary lovers should give this duology a go! I'll see you guys on my next review, have a great day! 

Have you read this duology yet?

BOOKCON HAUL + GIVEAWAY

I had such an amazing time at Bookcon; one of the best. I met some amazing new friends, authors, and other bloggers/vloggers. I can't wait to go next year and for many more years to come... If you watched the video. I actually got my sister to come in line with me to get some extra copies so that I could do a giveaway for ya'll.

** US ONLY + CANADA. SO SORRY GUYS**

Watch video for details on giveaway... 

I'm giving away... ARC copy of Another Day by David Levithan ARC copy of Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

Winner also gets one of these handmade by me... 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck to all and I love you guys <3 nbsp="" p="">

What The Hell Is That? [BOOKISH GAME]

Have you ever just looked at a close-up picture of something and wondered: what the hell am I looking at? Great because today we're going to venture outside the lines of reviews and book talks to play a little game and have a little fun. Yeah, finals suck and I need some time away from studying all day. 

Goal

You'll be given a close-up picture of a book cover and your goal to win the game is to tell me what book it is. It's as simple as that (or is it?)! I created the came to be slightly challenging as it get's closer to the end but hopefully you'll be able to know a lot of these! Hint, hint. I will also be leaving dashed lines for the title of the book because these can get a little tricky! 

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 5 (New Adult)

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*Sorry if some of the pictures are blurry. That just let's you know that I had to zoom in closer for that shot* 

I apologize for the short post! I have finals atm and this was all I planned for the rest of the week! ENJOY AND HAVE FUN! 

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Steifvater

Title: The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2) 

Author: Maggie Stiefvater 

Pages: 439 pages 

Published: September 17th, 2013 

Genre: Urban Fantasy series, YA

Rating: 

If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?

Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself. 

One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams. 

And sometimes he's not the only one who wants those things. 

Ronan is one of the raven boys- a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan's secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface- changing everything in its wake. 

Of The Raven Boys, Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Maggie Steifvater's can't-put-it-down paranormal adventure will leave you clamoring for book two." Now the second book is here, with the same wild imagination, dark romance, and heart-stopping twists that only Maggie Steifvater can conjure. 

Buy it now! 

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

I haven't been a good girl in keeping up with this series considering I read the first book a good few months. It comes a surprise to me that I didn't automatically jump into the second book after reading the first one, since I absolutely loved the first one! My review can be found here. Lately these past few weeks, I've been in a reading slump because of ACOTAR, but I'm ready to get back into the game with a book I knew would leave me wanting more.

For non-spoiler purposes, I will not reveal anything that happened in book 1, but the events of this book follow where book 1 left off. The plot entails our main raven boy, Ronan, who can pull things our of his dreams. Ronan, being my least favorite out of the group of boys, was like the main focus of the book. His power was everything to the key to finding Glendower.

Nothing more can be revealed other than saying that Maggie Steifvater knows how to weave an exciting and spine-chilling story. Her writing style is a mix of creepy, haunting, and beautiful. It's sometimes very ominous but can be romantic when the time comes. 

The pacing of this series is super fast, as I would have expected from reading the first book. I wasn't a fan of the first book, and I think that's mainly because I spent 70% reading it and was confused. The world building and characterization was very mehhh in the first book. Finally the second book, which didn't include as many info dumps and world-building, was already nicely set up and told a great story.

Okay, so there were like mini-cliffhangers after every chapter and I was like what the hell! I HAVE A LIFE YA KNOW. I had to do chores and stop reading and eat dinner and go to the bathroom.... ughhh it was killing me when I couldn't find out immediately what happened next. 

The Raven Boys are one of my favorite group of characters in any novel. They have an unwavering bond that aids them throughout the story and proves to be a force to be reckoned with. Each boy in the group has their own personality that greatly differs from each other. I found it particularly interesting how Maggie Steifvater was able to come up with 4 different sets of character traits for our Raven Boys and make them contrast in such ways that made the story interesting. 

You know an author is truly special when they can create a character that annoys you, scares you, makes you anxious, and one that lures you in with his charms. When she gives her characters supernatural abilities, her choices are sensible and she gives power to the right hands. As the book progresses, so does everyone's abilities and their strong characterization. 

I like when YA books tend to stray away from the lovey dovey romances. The Raven Boys series is more about the mystery and intrigue of the twists, not much about teenagers falling in love. Yes, that are pros and cons to this kind of romance, but I believe the pros outweigh the cons. One pro is that you can never go wrong with something different. This book didn't need any romance because of all the hectic events happening in the book.

I would describe the romance to be slow-burning. Throughout the series, I've been questioning the book, asking about who Blue is going to end up with! Well guys, this isn't revealed until a longgggg time after, which was something that itched at me.

[SPOILERS SECTION]

I whole-heartedly ship Blue and Gansey. They are the power couple of the book. In the Raven Boys, Adam and Blue were dating, and I knew something wasn't right with this relationship. I'm glad my hunch wasn't wrong, and she was actually meant to be with someone else. 

Can we just talk about The Gray Man and Maura for a second? I did not see that coming and at first I thought he was bad, but I guess love always prevails in the end and she was able to sway him to the good side. I absolutely loved TGM. He was all mysterious and evil in the beginning, but in the end he realized that there were more important things!

That's the end of this review and sorry that it's so short. I'm actually writing this as I'm reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the third book in the series so I'm getting confused between what happens in each book! Nonetheless, read this series if you've been yearning for a dark, urban fantasy that will leave you on a cliff after every chapter.