Month in Review: November

November absolutely flew by and now I am officially in Christmas mode. I am happy the semester is almost over, but it will still be not exactly a holiday for me as I still have to work. *sigh.* Anyways, here's what happened in November!

What I Read: 

Shatter Me by: Tahereh Mafi: 4/5 stars
Lies You Never Told Me by: Jennifer Donaldson: 3/5 stars

Look who got up to a lot of reading in November!!! *sobs.* Hopefully with Christmas rolling around, I will get to buy a lot more books and reading will be more a priority.

Favourite Book: I re-read Shatter Me because I first read it about two years ago and wanted to give it a second shot. It was really good, although I don't think it will be a series that I will obsess over.

What I Blogged: 

My favourite blog post of the month was my Rant About my Creative Writing Course. It felt GREAT to get some things off my chest.

Favourite Blog Posts of the Month:

Cee asks that we Remember Them, Too 

Veronika and Clare try to Beat the Backlist 

Life Stuff: 

Nothing major, just work and school. I have a lot of end of term essays to do, and it is evident that I am not doing as well as I did in first year. But alas, we will persevere and hopefully get through the term with semi-ok marks!

That was my November! How was yours?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

The Girls by: Emma Cline

Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: June 14, 2016 by: Random House
Pages: 355
Rating: 2/5 stars

In late 1960's California, lonely teenager Evie Boyd is looking to belong somewhere. When she sees a group of girls in the park, she is automatically enthralled by their carefree sense of self, and becomes especially fascinated with Suzanne, a charismatic older girl who takes Evie under her wing. But Evie doesn't know that Suzanne and her crew are apart of a soon to be infamous cult, and when she eventually meets their leader, she is thrown into a world of unspeakable violence, that will haunt her into her adult years.

I needed a cold shower after reading this book. It is about the Manson cult, and was equally disturbing as it was absolutely frustrating. I hate to sound insensitive when writing this review, because at the end of the day, Evie is not to blame for everything that happened to her given the fact that she was just a child, but some of the decisions she made throughout the novel were so unbelievably stupid and I feel like she never really realized how messed up of a situation she was in! For these reasons, I found it hard to root for her.

I think this novel romanticized the cult aspect just a little bit. The way that the author writes is very dream-like and descriptive, and because of this, a lot of serious things seemed glossed over. There is also a lot of sexualization of teenagers in this novel, so I would not go into this if you're looking for a light read.

I do think that looking at this novel from a sociological perspective was its only saving grace. I have learnt about cults in a few sociology classes, and I do think this book could be interesting to those studying that element of belonging, especially in teenagers. There was something interesting in this book, but it didn't make me forget all of the disturbing content.

I don't think a chapter goes by that doesn't include something triggering, so trigger warnings wise, beware of sexual assault of minors, drug use, violence and murder. So in conclusion, it was a delightful novel!!! (sarcasm)

Like I said, if you're a sociology student, this could actually be interesting, but the characters were extremely unlikable and I couldn't get past all the content.

Have you read The Girls? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

A Map for Wrecked Girls by: Jessica Taylor

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Published: August 15, 2017 by: Dial Books
Pages: 368
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Emma has always idolized her older sister Henri, but their relationship will never be tested more than when they become castaways. When the girls graduation trip goes wrong, they find themselves stranded on a deserted island with only their boating companion with them, a mysterious boy named Alex who houses a lot of secrets. While trying to survive, Henri falls apart, while Emma begins to take on the role of older sister and tries to keep them afloat. As Henri grows less hopeful that they will be rescued, Emma begins to grow closer to Alex, which begins severing the sister bond that the two always had.

I did not think I would enjoy this book as much as I did. I thought it would be cheesy and predictable, but instead the plot kept me entertained from beginning to end. This was a very thrilling novel, and really had me flying through to try and see if the girls really would make it off the island.

I loved the themes explored in this novel. Of course the main is the bond between the two sisters, and how that can fall apart when all hope is lost. I can't even begin to imagine what would happen if my sister and I were trapped on a deserted island, we would probably tear each others hair out! This book really did well at not glossing over their relationship and really showing the detrimental affects that survival can do to a person.

There was one issue I had with this book, and that is Henri. This girl was so.damn.annoying. I totally understand that this is the point of her character. She is stubborn and rebellious, but the choices she made and the way she spoke to her sister just made me want to smack her straight across the face. There were times where I literally cringed at the stuff she was saying. This didn't completely affect how I thought about the book, but just be warned, this character is so damn easy to hate.

Overall, the relationship themes, shadowed by the element of survival on a deserted island, really made me quite interested in this novel. It was easy to get through, but please be aware of how annoying Henri is.

Have you read A Map for Wrecked Girls? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Month in Review: October

I am so excited that Halloween is over so that the Christmas commercials can officially begin! (Yes, I am a Halloween hater, we do exist). But in all seriousness, some really great things did happen in October!

What I Read:

All the Crooked Saints by: Maggie Stiefvater: 2/5 stars
House of Names by: Colm Toibin: 4/5 stars
Exercises in Style by: Raymond Queneau: 4/5 stars

Favourite Book: So as you can see, I didn't get up to a ton of reading in October, mainly because I had a lot on my plate. But I did complete my Goodreads goal three months early, so that takes some of the pressure off! My favourite book of the month was House of Names by: Colm Toibin. It was great to pick up a Greek mythology book after a while.

What I Blogged:

Blogging was kinda few and far between this month, but my favourite post was my review of Maus by: Art Spiegelman. I loved this graphic novel so much and will never stop talking about it to be honest.

Favourite Blog Posts:

Veronika talks Badass Female Heroines

Cee discusses Why Labelling Emotions is Healthy

Anna talks about Representation in Harry Potter

Life Stuff:

Like I said before, I had a lot on my plate this month, mainly the fact that I was retaking my road test on the 24th. I practiced for hours every single day and barely thought about anything else. And guess what? I finally passed! It was a huge relief and I definitely celebrated a bit more than the average person probably does lol. I still have one more road test to complete (Ontario's driving system is very brutal) but this was a huge hurdle to cross.

So that was my month! Very busy, but definitely paid off in the end :) How was your October? Are you as excited for Christmas as I am?

Emily @ Paperback Princess