April Summary!

So it's time for another summary! This time it's the April summary. Funnily enough. I mean... April is ending... so... yeah... April summary.
I had a great reading month, and I read more than I thought I would. Besides all the books listed below, I also started Les Misérable, which I don't really plan to finish till June, because of school, and also because it's so damn long.
All in all, I gave 33 smileys out of a possible 35! That's 94,28% of the possible smileys. Pretty good, if I should say so myself.
As always, reviews are spoiler free. All pictures are found on Google.

Escapism. Apocalypse. Mutants. 

The first book I read in April was Plague by Michael Grant, which I already mentioned in my March Summary. As I said before, I LOVE the Gone series, and tbh Plague was no exception. I loved that the plague wasn't just some normal decease, but a horrifying thing I never hope happens IRL. If it did, I would be so scared. Like I would die of fright if this kinda plague came to Earth. However, as in every series, there are also exciting things happening. Sam and a couple others leave Perdido Beach to go exploring and we get to see the northern part of the FAYZ in more detail, which I think is very interesting.

But the thing I liked best about Plague was the fact that we get to see into Little Pete's head! I'm not even kidding! I was so hyped when I opened the book and saw the first chapter was Pete's POV. I was with a friend and I literally gasped xD And not just one chapter, guys. We get FIVE chapters from Pete's POV!

Honestly, I just love this entire series so much, and even though Plague wasn't as good as Lies, both were deffi 5 star books.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the countdown. This one was sorta hard to guess, and when it arrived, I wasn't even sure it was it. Slightly disappointing, but what can you do? 

OTP: Diana and Caine (Caiana?) I don't care how sick they are, they're like the only cute-ish ship atm

As I just said:

☻☻☻☻☻

5 of 5 smileys.

Paranormal. War. Romance.

The second book I read in April was City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare, and when I read it, I thought it was the best of the TMI series, but after having read City of Lost Souls, I gotta change my mind, cuz City of Lost Souls blew my mind. More about that later.

I picked up City of Fallen Angels because I knew City of Heavenly Fire was coming out soona nd I wanted to read the TMI series, so that I wouldn't be behind. I hate being behind. If you read last month's review, you will know that I loved the third book, City of Glass. It kinda gave me high expectations for this novel, but no worries, cuz City of Fallen Angels totally lived up to all of them!

I don't know how many of you know this, but this book is so much shorter than all the other books in the series. Therefore I was glad when it jumped straight into the story, and Simon looked like he was in some deep shit. I do love Simon, but usually, characters who get in trouble are featured more in a book, than the ones who just have perfect lives. So yay, more Simon!

We also get Magnus' POV for what I think is the first time, and I really like that, cuz who doesn't love Magnus Bane?!

All in all, I loved this book, and if you didn't care that much for the first three books, lemme give you some advice: READ THE OTHER TWO BOOKS THEY ARE SO FABULOUS I CAN'T EVEN

OTP: Simon and Isabelle (Simonbelle? Isamon?)

☻☻☻☻☻

5 of 5 smileys.

Comedy. Love. LGBT.

After two paranormal books, I wanted something kinda down to earth, or at least more realistic, but I'm not quite sure I got that from Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. I thought I was just gonna read a normal contemporary, but I jumped into what has deffi been the most surprising reading experience of 2014. For some reason, no one had told me that WG,WG was a lgbt book, and so I was surprised when like half the characters turned out to be gay. I don't mind it, it just came as a surprise.

Along with his, came all the hilariousness that is Tiny Cooper. Dayum, I have never met any character like Tiny. He is gay, and he is fabulous, and to just summarize him, he falls in love 3 times a day, and doesn't give a shit, what anyone thinks. Also he can sing.

This might have been the funniest book I ever read. It was so light hearted, and even though it wasn't what I had been expecting, I greatly enjoyed it.

However, if you know me, you will know that I am not a contemporary-lover, and this is very contemporary, so I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it.

OTP: David's Will Grayson and Isaac

☻☻☻☻☺

4 of 5 smileys

Reaslism. NYC. Characters.

The next book I have is a Danish translation. One of my 2014 reading goals is to read at least 3 Danish books, and that is why I picked up Lad Kun Verden Tumle Sig, the Danish translation of Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. This is an adult book, and I don't read a whole lot of those, so I was really happy that I happened to pick up a good quality one.

The very first thing I can say about Great World is that it is a very character-focused story. You get 11 POVs, only one of them appears more than once though. This means you get really long chapters with the same character, and that is really nice. You see the same day over and over again from different people's views, and as these people know each other, they make cameos in each other's chapters, which is so cool.

Also, these characters grow with you, and ofc you have your favourites, but you kinda love all of them.

The thing about this book is, it fills you with a great feeling. It tells you that you are not the only person in the world with problems, because most of these characters' lives have taken unexpected turns for the worse. Also, if you look at the cover of the copy that I own, you see New York City at the bottom. Clean and still and happy, but if you turn it upside down, you see New York City all crooked, and tumbled up. I think it was made this was to show that even though someone might look perfect from the outside, a lot of things are going on the inside, and no one is ever 100% OK.

OTP: John Corrigan and his girlfriend-whose-name-I-can't-remember

☻☻☻☻☻

5 of 5 smileys.

Investigation. Paranormal. Characters.

Yes, I also read City of Lost Souls. Totally haven't mentioned that already. Like I said, it blew my mind, and so far it was my fave of Clare's books. First of all, I thought it was very fast paced compared to the previous four books, and who doesn't love fast paced books? Also there was loads of character development, which I felt I had kinda been missing.

I especially loved all the cute Malec scenes, because Malec is one of my fave OTPs ever. That is also the reason for my heart breaking during the epilogue D: Not gonna spoil, I'm just gonna say, that Magnus didn't seem like himself to me. He seemed so unemotional.

But as all Cassandra Clare's books, even though there are loads of ships and  cute scenes, it is not only about love. Mostly it is about Jace and Sebastian going missing together which drives all the others to go look for them, even if the Clave won't. Clary goes sorta undercover to help find out Sebastian's plan, but that can be very dangerous when he can't be harmed, without Jace also getting harmed.

Basically, if you have liked the other TMI books, you will really enjoy City of Lost Souls.

OTP: MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC MALEC

☻☻☻☻☻

5 of 5 smileys

.

Teenagers. Competition. Drama.

Wanna play a game? Then let's play Panic! Panic is a game played by senior high-school students in the town of Carp, NY. This game is very dangerous, and you may face your worse fears buuuuuuut.... YOU CAN WIN $67.000.

Sound like something for you? then you should go right ahead and become a citizen of Lauren Oliver's fictional town, because only then will you be able to play. Honestly, I don't think I would join. I like my life. I don't need to risk it just to win money. But Heather and Dodge kinda do. Heather wishes to leave Carp as soon as possible, so she and her younger sister don't need to live in a trailer park with their junkie mother. Dodge needs the money because his older sister was in an "accident" and now she can't use her legs. Basically he needs money for therapists and doctors and whatnot.
So both of them enter Panic but only one of them can win. That is, if one of the other kids doesn't win.
It doesn't help either that Dodge has a crush on Heather's friend Nat, or that Nat is realising she might want to be more than friends with  Bishop, her friend since childhood.
As the game escalates and get more and more dangerous, more and more players get eliminated. At the same time, the police has put out an arrest order for everyone who is caught playing Panic.
I enjoyed Panic and I definitely recommend it if you like the Delirium trilogy also by Lauren Oliver.
While reading this book, I liked to listen to The Night Starts Here, a song by the band Stars. As it is sung from both a boy and a girl's POV, I feel like it fits Panic better than any other song. If there was a passage I couldn't get through, I put on my head phones and turned up the music.
OTP: Heather and Bishop

☻☻☻☻☺

4 of 5 smileys

Mystery. Action. Post apocalyptic.
So you know how in lots of books you kinda get a little heads-up on where you are and what's going on before the story really starts? Yeah well, don't expect that from The Maze Runner by James Dashner. You will get plunged straight into the plot on basically the first 3 pages.
The story starts with a boy who wakes up in an elevator, that brings him to a mysterious place, apparently known as The Glade. The Glade is an enclosure in the middle of a maze, and no one there can remember anything but their names and random facts about Earth. For example, Thomas can remember that his name is Thomas, and that the Sun is out in the day time and gone in the night time. He can remember the difference between boys and girls, and he knows what a maze is. But he can't remember who he is, where he came from, or anything from before the moment he woke up in the elevator.
I don't wanna tell you guys anymore about this book, because it is best to go into it blindly. If you have no idea what is going on, you will be on the same level as the main character, and that is always fun.
I buddy-read this with my good friend Signe (@allgreatbooks on Instagram) and we had so much fun! We both found clues the other had overlooked, and together we were incredibly confused at the ending. It's always better to have to someone to be confused with. Being confused alone is no fun at all.
I also listened to music while reading The Maze Runner and the song I listened to this time was Home by American Authors. I feel like the point of the song is something Thomas would feel, but I'm no judge, so if you don't agree with me, that's ok.
OTP: Thomas and Teresa (They're literally the only couple. Unless you ship Newt and Alby, I guess xD)

☻☻☻☻☻

5 of 5 smileys

Fanfiction Sample

Hello again, everyone. 

If you follow my Twitter or IG, you will know that these past days I have been reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. A thing that reoccurs often throughout this story is the main character's popular fanfic. I've always wanted to be internet famous (well ever since I discovered the delights of social media), and even though I'm not expecting to be famous, I got inspired to write my own fanfic. Before I post it on Fanfiction.net, I would love to know what you guys think of it. It is a Doctor Who fanfic, and it kinda contains spoilers from the Matt-era, so unless you've watched all seven seasons, I don't reccomend you reading it.

I'm doing this to get feedback and perhaps even writing tips, so please, PLEASE leave a comment below or on one my my social media accs. As always they are:

Instagram: @Potterlocknerd

Twitter:@Potterlocknerd

Goodreads:@Potterlocknerd

This excerpt is about 2500 words long

Chapter one

My name is Amelia Song. My sister Jenny and I are looking for our father. You may have heard of him, you may even have met him. In that case, I envy you. I have never met my father face to face (At least not as far as I remember). I have only heard the many fantastic tales my mother has told me of him. For years, I believed no greater man walked the Earth. Now I don’t believe, now I know. You might know of whom I am talking. Actually, I’m pretty sure you do, or you wouldn’t be here. He has many names, some of those are praising, others defiling. In my world, he is a hero, but to be somebody’s hero, you must also be someone’s opponent, and that opponent will never give you a praising name. My mother called him The Travelling Man in the stories she has told me, but she also mentioned, that some call him The Oncoming Storm or The Destroyer of Worlds. An old friend of his knew him as John Smith, my grandmother called him Raggedy Man. However, none of these names is the one he chose for himself. None of them are the words for an unspoken promise to always do good. The name he chose for himself is the name most people know him by, and that name… is The Doctor.

I was officially born in the year 1998 in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark. Like a completely normal child, to two completely normal parents. But that is only the official story. My mother, River Song, gave birth to me while she was still in prison, and had to give me away to a pair of foster parents. She didn’t think that a prison full of intergalactic criminals was a good place to raise a child, and to be honest, I don’t even want to think about how I would have turned out, had my father raised me.

For more than fifteen years, I didn’t know who I really was. I fully believed I was an ordinary Danish girl, until one December afternoon, Jenny, my until-that-point-unknown-to-me half-sister came knocking on my door. I will tell you the story as I experienced it.

I was home alone, reading books and doing homework. I loved being home alone, because I adored solitude. I still do, actually. Anyway, there was a knock on the door, and without any ado, I opened it. Outside stood a blonde girl. She looked like she could be 18 years of age and I had absolutely no idea who she was, or what she was doing on my porch, but I was curious, so I asked her who she was.

Her name was Jenny, she said. She had been looking for me, for a while. “Why? I don’t even know who you are,” I asked. Only then did I realise she had been speaking English, not Danish. I was so used to both languages, that my mind didn’t even bother trying to tell the two apart. Most of the books that I read are, and always have been, English, because I prefer reading stories in whatever language they were originally written, but maybe we’ll come back to that later. All that was on my mind right now was what on Earth was this English girl doing in my apartment? Yes, that’s right, in my apartment. In response to my question, she had simply said “Oh, but Amelia, you haven’t opened you fop-watch yet!” and walked straight past me. She started looking through the drawers and cupboards, obviously looking for something. “My name isn’t Amelia and I don’t even know what a fop-watch is. I don’t think I own one, either.”

”Don’t be silly, of course your name is Amelia, you just don’t know it yet. Your adoptive parents must have given you another name. Tell me, what do you think your name is?”

“Well until just a few seconds ago, I thought my name was Lis, but you seem to think otherwise.”

“That’s right, I do. I know who you are. I recognise your eyes from when I saw you as a baby. Oh, and a fop-watch is an old watch that people used to keep in their pockets. All Time Lords and Ladies have one, in case of emergency.”

Time whats and whats?! I thought. The thought that this girl might be slightly mental passed through my mind, but I dismissed it. I don’t judge people before I actually feel like I know them.

I had no idea what this girl was on about, but I let her look through every drawer and secret place in the house, because somewhere, in the very back of my memory, I felt something stirring. I don’t know what it was, or where it came from, but it told me to trust this English girl. And, I told myself, I had always been dreaming of adventures. Perhaps this could turn out to be the adventure I always wanted to go on. Going places, travelling, and making a difference was something I had wanted to do since I was just a child. I’m pretty sure that’s why I love books so much. They take me into different worlds of wonder and magic where anything is possible and even the simplest person can be a hero.

“I think I found it!” I heard Jenny calling from my mother’s bedroom. Somehow, it felt weird to call the woman who raised me my mother. That little thing in the back of my mind was stirring again and it was telling me something wasn’t right. There was something I needed to fix, and Jenny could help me. Trusting the thing, I let Jenny bring the fop-watch into the living room. It was a pretty, old thing. I hadn’t seen it before, but if it was what Jenny said, then there was probably a good reasons for my parents to hide it from me. Again, calling them my parents felt wrong. The thing in my mind became more and more irresistible.

Jenny lowered the watch into my outstretched hand. I lifted it up so I could have a close look at it. The watch was decorated with lots of circles, dots and lines carved into the old metal. I had a feeling the decorations weren’t just decorations. They meant something, like words in a language I didn’t understand. Words from another world. “Can you read this?” I asked Jenny. “No, I can’t. No yet. Someday, when I find our father, I we can ask him to-“

“Wait, hold up! Our father?! What are you even talking about?”

“Open the watch, Amelia. It will tell you everything.”

“How can a watch tell me anything but the time? Also, this watch looks ancient. I’m not even sure it works.”

“Oh, Amelia, This watch is everything you ever was and everything you ever will be. Now open it.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I thought about how frustrating it was reading a book, where the main character refuses to do something you just know would change their life. In that moment, I decided I was not going to be that passive, boring and annoying character. I was going to be the character that took a chance. Even though I might regret it later, I would never know the secret of the watch, or who this girl was, or what she was talking about, if I didn’t pull myself together. My life is my book. I decide what the main character does and right now, I wanted her to make the best decision in her life, so I did. I, Amelia Song, made the best decision of my life, and opened the fop-watch.

***

A little twist, and a little click and the fop-watch was open. I didn’t know what I had been expecting, but what happened seemed so natural, I don’t know how I couldn’t have foreseen it.

I turned twisted the two sides of the lid. One clockwise, the other counter-clockwise. As I heard a small click, I looked up at Jenny for reassurance. Her eyes fastened on mine and she nodded, as if telling me to go on, and I did. Since then, there has never been a single second where I distrusted that wonderful older sister of mine. I lifted the top part of the watch, and as I did so, orange light started coming from the watch. To me it seemed that all other light in the universe had gone out, and the only source of illumination left was the bright light shining out of this simple little watch. Then something else happened. Orange light didn’t just shine from the watch, the watch itself became one big ball of light. Now nothing existed in the world but this brilliant light and me. 

Somehow, I felt a sort of attachment to it, as if it was an old friend that I hadn’t seen in years.

The ball of light lifted up from my hand and was now floating directly in front of my face. I smiled at it, and suddenly I couldn’t see anything because the whole world was nothing but light. At first, I had no idea where the light was coming from, but then I realised, I am the light. The light came from within me and now it was shooting out of my body. I felt strong and beautiful, but at the same time, I felt pain. A physical pain all over my body, and I wondered if something had gone wrong. Before I could finish that thought though, my body stopped glowing, and all the brilliant orange light disappeared. I was myself again, but a slightly different self than I had been a few minutes ago. I still had the same body, same face and I was still standing in the living room, in the apartment where I had lived since I was eight years old, but my head was filled with so much more knowledge now, so many years of forgotten stories, and, most important of all, the faces of people from my early life. Clearest of all were my mother’s and Jenny’s faces.

I realised I was just staring out into thin air, my mouth wide open, so I quickly blinked, looked around at Jenny and closed my mouth again. Now I knew what she had been talking about all that time. I knew why she had come for me and I knew the most important thing of all: I knew what to do.

“Ok, Jenny, I’ll just pack a bag and we can go. Do you drive?”

“Well I hadn’t expected you to recover that quickly… Are you sure you don’t just want to sit down and think about things for a sec?”

“What’s to think about? I’m a Time Lady, my mother is badass River Song and my father is the legendary Time Lord called The Doctor who travels around in a blue phone booth and saves the Universe. We don’t have a mutual mother, just a mutual father. You don’t know where he is, because he left you a long time ago, but you’re not angry at him, because he thought you were dead. Both you and I can regenerate though, because we are Time Ladies. I know you were the one who found my foster family for me, because my mother is in prison for killing my father. Which she did, but then it turned out she didn’t, and my father thought it would be too dangerous for me to travel with him, because I wasn’t even a year old when my mother had to give me away. The stories my mother told me of my father, she implanted in my mind, using some spacey-wacey technology, so I couldn’t forget them. Some of the same technology was used to put all my memories inside that fop-watch. You made a deal with my mum, that when I became fifteen, you would come pick me up and we’d go find my father, so we could travel with him. Now, you didn’t answer my question. Do you drive?”

Within a few minutes, we had left the house and were driving away from my home in a small blue car that had the license plate TARDIS JR. I had a backpack with my computer, a couple books, some essentials like make-up and lots clothes in it. It had been a hard decision, but I had left my phone at home, so no one would be able to trace my movements. We had taken some food from the kitchen, so we would have something to eat. I brought some of the money I had been saving up for whatever. I figured I wouldn’t need them if I wasn’t coming back soon. I felt kinda bad for leaving my friends, but when we found my father, he could take me back in time so I could explain, or maybe I could get their emails and we could chat or something. I’d figure it out somehow. Or maybe I would end up like Sam Winchester from Supernatural… Suddenly I realised the resemblance between us. Both of us had been dragged on a road trip by our older sibling, looking for our father.

As I got in the car, I knew I was doing the right thing. I was going on the adventure I had always wanted. I was born for adventure and I had known it all my life. There was just one thing I had been missing. Someone to give me kick-start and guide me in the right direction, to the right adventure. Jenny put me on the right track, the track towards our father, wherever he may be. Right now, I’m sitting in the passenger seat of Jenny’s car, typing out all this, in fear that I will forget it later. Thankfully, I don’t get motion sick anymore, that was just a false thing implanted in my mind to make me seem more human. I will update this with the adventures Jenny and I have together, while looking for our father. I hope all goes well, and that nothing goes wrong, but I am an experienced reader, and therefore I am not naïve enough to believe our trip will be easy. I don’t know what I expect, but I know it won’t all be good.

Top 7 books of 2013

Ok so I wanted to do a list of my fave books that I read in 2013, and I read  A LOT, and loved almost every single one of them. If you are looking for book recommendations, stay. As usual, I won't spoil. These books might not have come out in 2013, but I read them in 2013, and that's kinda the point of this list.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here is:

My top 7 books of 2013

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
First time I read anything by her, and I gotta say, what a first! Sometimes you need to read a few novels to really be able to say that you love the author, but with Life After Life, you just can't help but love Kate Atkinson.

Sylvie and Bruno Concluded by Lewis Carroll
A Lewis Carroll book. I read all of his works back in like February 2013, so that's more than a year ago now, but it was so much better than the preceding novel Sylvie and Bruno. Also, I will probsb always say that the Sylvie and Bruno duo is better than the Alice duo.

The Fault in Our Stars by We-All-Know-So-Why-Bother-Writing-His-Fucking-Name
Yes, like everyone else I love this book, and no, reading it doesn't make you hiptser. Just fucking read it, OK?

The One-Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Say what for a long title, guyses. This was written by a Swede (person from Sweden. duh), and initially takes place in Sweden. The only other books I've read by a Swede are Astrid Lindgren's books. Idek if non-scandinavians know who she is, but she's pretty cool. Also, even if it might not have been the most intriguing book ever, reading it is def worth the experience.

One Day by David Nicholls
It's so cute and fluffy and even if you don't like contemporary, it doesn't matter, it's good anyway. It's about British Emma and Dexter, and we get to read about one day in their lives each year (I think it's July 25th, but don't blame me if I'm wrong) and it's just so genuienly GOOD and FOR BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS. btw it ends in tears, sorry

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
This book is made of mystery and horror. Don't read it at night, cuz it'll scare you shitless. BUT IT IS SO FANTASTIC AND I CAN'T WAIT TO GET A HOLD OF THE SEQUEL. If you like weird timey wimey stuff along with kids who possess superpowers, then you've founf the right book. Basically any Whovian would love this to death (JK all whovians died last Christmas)

Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne
Yes, I know it's old, but it's gold. To me anyway. I just love th old fashioned scifi genre. Is that weird? well idgaf. Idek what was even so great about this book, I just enjoyed it so much I wanna read it again. Jules Verne has some pretty good stuff, and some pretty crappy stuff...


So yeah... There y'all have it, Guyses. My fave books of 2013. Weird collection, but who gives a shit? If you want to tell me about YOUR fave books of 2013,  just write a comment, and I'll see if I can get a hold of the books you recommend.