May 2015 Wrap-Up

Heyyyyy guys. three things I'll be covering today - the books I read in May, my May book haul, and my TeenCon2015 recap!

If you remember that far back (aka 1 month, I barely remember what I did yesterday), I only read 3 books in April. Shocker. This month I've managed to read 9 books - YEYEY. I am so pleased with myself. May was actually themed 'Mystical May' where I basically read all books that had elements of magic/fantasy to them. Mission = SUCCESS. Although, this meant that I only read 1 review book at the end of the month haha.

Books Read

• Rebel Belle (Rebel Belle #1) by Rachel Hawkins I really loved the MC's voice and actions throughout this. I can't wait to read the sequel
• Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White  Pleasantly surprised by Illusions of Fate. I quite adored the romance and the progression. I thought there could be more though!
• End of Days (Penryn & the End of Days #3) by Susan Ee *HEAVY BREATHING* SWEET BABY JESUS. AMAZING. Honestly, if you guys haven't started the Penryn and the End of Days trilogy I swear you need to stop reading this post stat and just go buy the trilogy. While book 2, World After, sort of faltered in places, I thought EoD went back to the action-packed, angsty style of Angelfall. This was FABULOUS. Constant movement, SO MUCH FEMALE POWER - honestly the Young women (Penryn herself, her lovely and strong sister Paige, and her mum) are so independent, resilient and determined. They also never stop loving and embrace the meaning of family. I was extremely touched by Paige. When you read this you'll understand. And Raffe. AHHHH.
• The Young Elites (The Young Elites) by Marie Lu I think I had set too high expectations for this. While it was good, I didn't think it was good as it could have been. Just something about Adelina that didn't sit right with me. I still prefer Lu's Legend trilogy which blew me away. That's not to say TYE isn't worth reading, it definitely is and heaps of people love this.
• A Darker Shade of Magic (A Darker Shade of Magic #1) by VE Schwab *Sucks in deep breath* Wow Schwab just doesn't disappoint. I've read 3 of her books now and they're all amazing. While I liked the characters of Vicious overall, I adored the world-building and magical element of ADSOM. It was mind-blowing and I can't wait for the sequel!
• Unhinged (Splintered #2) by AG Howard This was also really enjoyable and I just love the macabre imagery Howard uses. It's a really good well thought out retelling of Alice in Wonderland and progressing nicely so far. Will read the last one soon!
• Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1) by Morgan Rhodes  Nice world setup overall but I think this was too black and white for my liking. There was such a naive quality to the characters' ways of thinking. The way kings thought that by asking another kingdom to simply surrender, they would - WHAT THE? I also wasn't a massive fan of some of the main characters but I'm told it gets better so that's a relief considering I have the next 2 books!
• The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh This is one of my 2015 anticipated debut releases so I had extremely high hopes for this. And oh boy I wasn't disappointed. This met ALL my expectations. It was so full of angst, so smart and I'm guessing a pretty good retelling though I haven't read the original. The characters were all so complex, layered and multidimensional. You just couldn't tell with anybody and goddam I loved it. The writing and imagery is like poetry. Definitely a 2015 fav.
• Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout  This was super cute for 70% of the book and then this thing happens and I felt like I got hit by a firetruck and the waterworks started. The Korean element to this was definitely my favourite. Stout makes me want to visit Korea so badly now. As an avid lover of KPOP I guess I wanted more of the KPOP but the swoony KPOP star was enough for me without all the music (; More to come in my review.

Book Haul

Bought

• An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
• The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling #1) by Erika Johansen - I've actually had the ARC of this for a million years and now the 2nd book is coming out so I figured I'd just buy the physical copy to motivate me to read it
• P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #2) by Jenny Han
• Miss Mayhem (Rebel Belle #2) by Rachel Hawkins
• Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge - I absolutely loved Cruel Beauty so high expectations for this
• The Heir (The Selection #4) by Kiera Cass - cover lust too real, couldn't resist
• The Letter for the King (De brief voor de Koning #1) by Tonke Dragt - This is the English translation for the much loved Dutch children's classic
• The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh - 4.5/5 <3
• End of Days (Penryn & the End of Days #3) by Susan Ee - 5/5 <333333

Review Copies

• Bad Romeo (Starcrossed #1) by Leisa Rayven - requested from PanMacmillan Australia, thank you
• Love May Fail by Matthew Quick - thank you PanMacmillan Australia
• Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella - thank you Random House Australia
• Weightless by Sarah Bannan - requested from Bloomsbury Australia, thank you
• Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen - thank you Penguin Australia
• Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas - thank you Bloomsbury Australia
• Cherry Blossom Dreams by Gwyneth Rees - thank you Bloomsbury Australia
• The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith - requested from Hardie Grant Egmont Australia, thank you
• Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout - as part of blog tour hosted by St. Martin's Press US, thank you

Freebies from TeenCon2015

• The Astrologer's Daughter by Rebecca Lim
• Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
• All Fall Down (Embassy Row #1) by Ally Carter
• Spark (Spark #1) by Rachael Craw

TeenCon2015 Recap

Started the day by meeting up with Joy and Alana from Thoughts by J at Circular Quay and then we headed up to Walsh Bay (where a lot of the events of the SWF were held). We met up with Kat and her friend, then had lunch at this cute cafe Alana recommended to us. Momentarily met up with Jess from My Reading Dress and her cousin, and Pavan from Keep it Fictional. Joy, Alana and I then went to get a drink and line up for the first ever TeenCon! Holy crap, the chai lattes Joy and I got were so sweet it was like drinking diabetes. While lining up I found Kristy (aqueenofbabble), Courtney (literatureloveaffair) and Bec (thebookhangover) at the front of the line! Then Shaheen from Speculating on Specfic showed up, followed by Laura (Laura Plus Books), Viv (This Book Saved My Life) and a few other bloggers (my memory is so terrible I'm sorry). But basically it was awesome and Gabrielle Tozer, author of The Intern, lined up with us too!

Anyway show time! I GOT FRONT ROW SEATS :D

Floss from PenguinTeen Australia opened up with the panel featuring Tilly (tilly-and-her-books) and Ali (readaroundtherosie) who represented Booklr (the book community on tumblr), Kat (Cuddlebuggery) representing bloggers, and Caz (LittleBookOwl) from Booktube. 

These girls were absolutely fabulous and shined so brightly <3 they answered all the questions with humour, grace and thought. 

I loved how Kat commented on insta-love with "You don't fall in love like you fall in a ditch." So. Much. Truth. Preach.

It was so fun and heart-warming hearing all these lovely young women talk about how they got into their respective book communities, found their place, and found long-lasting friendships.

The 4 panelists + Floss

Next up, the 11 Aussie publishers (yes ELEVEN!) attending all got up and stood on stage. They were given 30 seconds to sell to us a book they published that we should all be reading now.

Read Now Books (Out Now)

• Allen & Unwin - The Guy, the Girl, the Artist and His Ex by Gabrielle Williams
• Bloomsbury - A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorn and Roses #1) by Sarah J. Maas
• Hachette - Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard
• Hardie Grant Egmont - Lifespan of Starlight by Thalia Kalkipsakis
• HarperCollins Australia - A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1) by Claudia Grey
• Penguin Teen Australia - Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• Random House Australia - Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
• Scholastic Australia - The Sin Eater's Daughter (The Sin Eater's Daughter #1) by Melinda Salisbury
• Simon & Schuster Australia - We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
• Text Publishing - Shadows (The Rephaim #1) by Paula Weston
• Walker Books Australia - Spark (Spark #1) by Rachel Craw

Got to hand it to the publicists who all speed talked to get their 30 second marketing spiels to us. Perks to Steph from Text Publishing who finished with extra time!

Read Later Books (Upcoming)

• Allen & Unwin - Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti
• Bloomsbury - Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas
• Hachette - Asking For It by Louise O'Neill
• Hardie Grant Egmont - Bro by Helen Chebatte (no links available?)
• HarperCollins Australia - The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
• Penguin Teen Australia - Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer
• Random House Ausralia - Risk by Fleur Ferris
• Scholastic Australia - George by Alex Gino
• Simon & Schuster Australia - Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick
• Text Publishing - Adrift by Paul Griffin
• Walker Books Australia - The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Absolutely love the sound of The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness and I'm so excited for Winter. When Kim from Hachette talked about Asking For It and how it's about rape culture, the whole audience literally went "oooh".

Publicists telling us about their books

Book Boyfriend Battle

My favourite part!!! Each publisher got 2 book boyfriends and the rules were that they couldn't be in the same book or by the same author.

Allen & Unwin

1. Tarver from These Broken Stars (Starbound trilogy #1) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

2. Chris from Storm (Elementals series #1) by Brigid Kemmerer

Bloomsbury

1. Chaol from Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas

2. Aron from The Winner's trilogy by Marie Rutkoski

Hachette

1. Park from Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

2. Edward Cullen from the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

HarperCollins Australia

1. Four from Divergent series by Veronica Roth

2. Josh from Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Penguin Teen Australia

1. Dimitri Belikov from Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

2. Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Random House Ausralia

1, Cam from the Fallen series by Lauren Kate

2, Adam Wilde from If I Stay/Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Scholastic Australia

1. Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2. Sam Roth from The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater

Text Publishing 

1. Rafa from The Rephaim series by Paula Weston

2. Tiny Cooper from Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green

Walker Books Australia

1. Jamie from Spark series by Rachael Craw

2. Jace Herondale from The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Publicists during Book Boyfriend Battle (Floss in her TFIOS t-shirt)

Oh it was so fun omg. Lots of screaming and cheering. The publishers had a minute each to tell us why we should vote for their book boyfriend. I had to hand it to Scholastic who attempted to go through the alphabet for Peeta, and made it to 'R' LOL. I think PTA aka Floss had a lot of practice because Dimitri and Augustus sounded so practiced :D Again props to Steph from Text and also Kim from Hachette who both finished under the minute!

I wanted to really vote for Adam because I loved Where She Went but Chaol will forever have my heart :3

In the end it came down to these top 3:

Chaol 

Four

Dimitri

This was where the sledging started. Basically, the publishers in the previous rounds could only talk about the good things about their own book bfs. But here, Sonia (Bloomsbury), Manda (HarperCollins Australia) and Floss (PTA) could talk shit about the other publishers' book boyfriends.

Sonia did a FABULOUS job. She was so on point, and precise. She said that Four was a moody, tempermental wuss in Allegiant who wouldn't let Tris make decisions (TRUTH) and that Dimitri was a paedophile who shouldn't be preying on high school girls (also truth). Chaol on the other hand, is loyal, honest and a constant for Celaena. SOOOOO TRUE. She sledged like a pro. Note that I do love Four and Dimiti - especially Dimitri haha but Sonia sold me here, and of course Chaol #1 <3

AND THEN

CHAOL AND DIMITRI. CHAOL AND DIMITRI YOU GUYS.  CHAOL WAS IN THE FINAL.

Can I just make a point to say that Dimitri has been around since 2007, Four since 2011 and Chaol we only met in 2012? So the fact that Chaol, who we've only had 3 years to familiarise ourselves with, was up against Dimka who's had 8 years to build a fanbase, is freaking fantastic?

Oh it was on, the cheers were intense. But Dimitri won!

BUT I AM SO PROUD OF MY CAPTAIN WESTFALL *sobs*.

And that is all for May :)