BEFORE READING

Oh, hello there! This review contains spoilers about one of my favorite romance-and-grief books, The Loose Ends List, by Carrie Firestone. I read this book a few days ago, and I absolutely loved it! This book is definitely for Teens, but it is also YA, too. It’s about when you start becoming an adult and experience your first love. Your first everything, in general—anyway, on with the review!

SUMMARY

“It’s a summer for first love, last wishes, and letting go.

Maddie has big plans to spend the last months before college tying up high school “loose ends” alongside her best friends. Then her beloved grandmother drops two bombshells: (1) Gram is dying. (2) She’s taking her entire family on a round-the-world cruise of dreams come true—but at the end, Gram won’t be returning home.


With a promise to live in the now without regrets, Maddie boards the Wishwell determined to make every moment count. She finds new friends in her fellow Wishwellians, takes advantage of the trip’s many luxuries, gets even closer to her quirky family, and falls for painfully gorgeous Enzo. But despite the copious laughter, headiness of first love, and wonder of the glamorous destinations, Maddie knows she is on the brink of losing Gram, and she struggles to find the strength to let go in a whirlwind summer shaped by love, grief, and laughter.” – Goodreads.

BOOK REVIEW

I really love this book—not love love, but I have a strong affection towards it. It’s so relatable—from falling in love overseas, to have a loved one leave the earth… it just made me remember my very own snow globe moments (you’ll see later in the book) and laugh along Maddie. It’s just… too relatable.

This amazing book starts when Madelaine (called Maddie) receives a text from her grandmother, who tells her to come to her apartment. Maddie’s immediately alarmed, as she never gets a text message from Gram—but usually phone calls.

It is revealed later, that Gram decided to reunite the whole family to tell them the news: she has pancreatic cancer, and she doesn’t want any treatment. She decides to bring them all to a cruise (yes, a cruise) around the world, and according to her, it will make them closer.

Maddie’s lunatic aunt doesn’t want to be on the cruise, and neither her other daughter, Brit. So, her lunatic aunt, called Aunt Mary, leaves and doesn’t even say goodbye. What she doesn’t know, however, is that Gram is not coming back from the trip.

So, Aunt Mary’s other daughter, Janie, comes to the trip, because she’s not at all like her mother and wants to spend time with her grandmother.

So, the day when they have to go to the cruise comes, and everyone is excited, yet nervous. After all, Gram isn’t going to come back—she’s going to die overseas whenever she feels like it.

When they get to the cruise, an attendant tells them to hand their phones. If I were there, I would just call the rest of my family and tell them I won’t be having a phone for six weeks… but the characters here were honestly overreacting—they didn’t want to let go of their phones.

So, when the attendant gives them what’s similar to a phone, they’re all tranquilized. They’re called “bees,” because they’re yellow and they buzz.

At this point of the book, I just love it. From the way Maddie’s family socializes with one another, makes me have a warm feeling in my stomach. I just want to curl up in some blankets and drink hot chocolate, because this book is just perfect for every single teenage girl.

So, when each one of them are assigned cabins, Maddie is delighted to know that she and Janie will be sharing one, full of Vogue stacks, and items that identified them.

I don’t want to spoil a lot of the book, so I’m going to make this review short and sweet. It’s just wonderful and I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I have.

Anyways, in summary, Maddie meets gorgeous Italian doctor named Enzo, who happens to be the ship owner’s son. He has a tragic backstory—his father died, and he was swallowed by grief.

I was totally there for #madenzo (yes, I made that ship name up, haha), and not just because it is an overseas love, but because it’s a totally healthy relationship. They both say their “I love yous,” while sober, and they demonstrate their infinite love for each other again and again.

Now, on for the book review…

I give this book an 8.5/10, but let’s get to the analytical parts first!

(a) The imagery was just outstanding! Everything, from the scenery in the pink beaches of Bermuda, to the wonderful Sneffels volcano in Iceland!
(b) The character development wasn’t truly there, but we can see that some characters matured while some didn’t.
(c)  The transitions were OK, though mostly I didn’t get to see them. They were mostly hidden by a transition “graphic,” or design, such as printed flowers. I would’ve loved to see the author challenge herself and use transitional words and phrases.
(d) The message of this book was important: we should all cherish life and our loved ones with all our might. This is a big spoiler, but since Enzo had to left because he was a doctor and is a Wishwell worker, made Maddie realize how much she loved him. How much she loved Gram. How much she loved everyone—the message this book implies is just great.

Now, let’s get to the emotional part…

I think I cried when Gram died… not only because she was wacky, funny, and weird (in a good kind of way), but because she had personality and loved everyone she invited to come with her during this trip.

I cried when Enzo had to leave Maddie, because they were just true love. They were made for each other, but after all, our first loves don’t always last forever.

I think I have shed so much tears in here than while reading the Harry Potter books, which is surprising, but after all, understandable. Does not crying when Dumbledore die make me a heartless person? I was just in shock, I was paralyzed. OK, fine, I’ll stop with the HP rambling…

I just didn’t make this a 9 because it’s sad. But you know, it’s okay to read sad books. It’s okay to relate with sad stories. It’s okay to do all of these things—because sometimes books are like real life. Most of the time they are… you know what I mean, dear reader!

I hope that you absolutely love this book and cry and remember that Pink Smoothie will always be there for you. Have a nice day!

Congratulations The Loose Ends List; you passed the Pink Smoothie-Confirmed Book Process. This means you are Pink Smoothie-Approved! You won a Pink Smoothie Sticker.

©2019
​
Pink Smoothie!

BEFORE READING

Oh, hello there! This review contains spoilers about one of my favorite broken-romance books, King's Cage, by Victoria Aveyard. I read this book a month ago, and loved it with all my heart. It's extensive, it has romance, it has broken boys... and my favorite: an unlikely ship. Let's get on with the review!

SUMMARY

“In this breathless third installment to Victoria Aveyard’s bestselling Red Queen series, allegiances are tested on every side. And when the Lightning Girl's spark is gone, who will light the way for the rebellion?

Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother's web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.

As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare's heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.

When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down.” – Goodreads.

BOOK REVIEW

I absolutely love this book. It’s wonderful, it’s magical, it’s everything I could ever ask for—and there’s romance buried beneath it all, wow!

I’m reading this particular series in disorder… because I had no idea if this was the first book or not… guess what, I loved it!

I want to know exactly what happened with Maven’s childhood, though—I would love it if we also got a background story with Evangeline!

Honestly, we all get stuff that happened with the Reds. It’s like, “Reds, Reds, Reds, Reds,” and what about Silvers? I want to know more about them. I want background stories, spin-offs, family issues, and SO MUCH DRAMA PLEASE!

I’m a drama eater, like people are cake-eaters. I eat drama, they eat cake—I eat fights and love triangles and much more, they eat cake with soft sprinkles and frosting and artificially flavored loafs full of baked cocoa or vanilla beans.

Did I just make you hungry? Yep.

King’s Cage was a great, great book. It starts off with Mare’s POV, and I must say that this girl was ruthless. She was like a living razor, and omg, while people say she was selfish in the other two books, she didn’t seem selfish to me at all. Only at the end, but we’re not exactly there yet.

Maven is a broken boy—a boy that did not experience love throughout his life, because his own mom took that ability away from him. I mean, who would do that?? Why, Elara?! WHY?!

So, to take the pain he has suffered, he captures the girl he “loved” (he didn’t exactly love her, I mean, he’s obsessed with her and all… but I’m such a strong #mavenandmare shipper because I feel like they deserve each other… because I think that Cal is kind of selfish?

Anyway, Maven keeps Mare as his prisoner, with Silent Stone as her cage, and his lethal abuse of not talking to her made me go cray-cray (and I never go cray-cray, I’m telling ya).

But Evangeline (Maven’s cruel, cruel fiancée), just makes everything even worse by bringing her to one of Maven’s lavish parties.

And Maven is angry when he sees Mare… because, um, she’s trapped, away from the real world and all of that stuff… and Evangeline, who hates Mare, brings her to one of his parties?! I would be mad if that happened to me, so I relate to Maven.

The real reason why Evangeline brought Mare is revealed in the next few paragraphs, and that is that she wants Mare to be interrogated. And Maven’s cousin, Samson, grants the wish. He’s a whisperer, like Elara, Maven’s cruel mother, who was nothing more than a bad mother and an unloving wife to the deceased king of Norta.

I just, at this moment, feel like Evangeline is an entire sweetheart and certainly deserves better. She deserves a prince who cares and loves about her—but the thing, her family wants her to be with a prince, an heir or someone that will be king in near future. I just feel that, during this moment, it is revealed how much of a cruel soul Maven really is. He might be handsome, yes, but uh—he literally tortured the girl he “loved” a few months ago. I think he’s in fact obsessed with Mare, and just keeps her there because of her lighting abilities.

Time flashes, the Royal houses that are supposedly “loyal” to their new king rebel against him, and decide to leave. Most of them are currently dead, but some are alive. The ones that still remain, though, are kept for an interrogation. It doesn’t go well.

At this moment, I then noticed that Maven has a brother, Cal. I investigated about his brother and says that Mare loved him before she was captured and thrown carelessly into the prison like she was trash. And in a few chapters, it is revealed Cal loves more and wants to get her out of the cage Maven has built (aka his castle walls).

So, Cal rescues Mare, proclaims his love for her, they passionately kiss, leave, then the Samos house literally dissolves and escapes after Maven marries and creates an ally with their enemy kingdom, and Cal’s grandmother is so possessive, Cal’s granny wants him to be king—and leave Mare. So, being really selfish, Cal decides he’ll be king and leave poor Mare in tears. Yes, that’s exactly what happens but I left a few major scenes for y’all to find out!

I really liked the length of this book—and yes, I love big books and I cannot lie. I just love being immersed into a giant, complex story and enjoy all of the character development and stuff. It’s just magnificent, don’t you think?

I feel that, since Victoria Aveyard told us that one of the most beloved characters in the Red Queen series is going to die, I think Maven will probably die. And no, I haven’t read any spoilers regarding War Storm—so please don’t leave any in the comments. Thank you!

Don’t judge me, but I absolutely adore love triangles. Like…. omg the drama, it’s just so wonderful and unbelievable. For once, I don’t ship the protagonist with the good guy. I ship Mare with Maven… because I feel like if they were in a different world, they would be meant for each other. #mareven

You can comment who you ship in the comments and remember that this is a hate-free zone. We are all bookworms that read my reviews once a month… because we’re all awesome and eat drama like cake, right?

The thing is, I give this book 8/10 stars because, uh, the character development was amazing, I got to see a side of Evangeline I didn’t even believe that existed, and even if I got a horrible #mavenandmare kiss, I got it. Thank you, Victoria Aveyard. You made my day.

There were so many things I would’ve added, such as Silver background, like, when Evangeline’s mom and Maven’s dad were teens, stuff like that. That would’ve been so interesting I would’ve eaten it right away like when the sun melts ice cream. Yep. That fast.

I love Victoria Aveyard’s writing. It’s like… she can transport us readers to a magical place I now which that exists. I wouldn’t be a Red—I would love to be a Silver and be Maven’s sister and be a whisperer because… I don’t know. Yes, I would like that to happen.

Ms. Aveyard’s writing is so wonderful I have no idea what I’m gonna do if she doesn’t bring Silver spin-offs after War Storm, or I will cry a river and watch Netflix all day long or write blog posts.

FAVORITES QUOTES

“Those who know what it's like in the dark will do anything to stay in the light.”

“To stand in front of a person who is your whole world and be told you are not enough. You are not the choice. You are a shadow to the person who is your sun.” 

“You are only a shadow, and who looks at shadows when they have flame?”

“In what life can I trust anything out of your mouth ever again?” 

I hope that you guys enjoy King’s Cage as much as I did! It’s too awesome and shiny for my reader eyes and drama-eater tasting buds. This book is just wonderful (though I recommend you read it in order, but if you read it like I do then it’s perfectly OK) and I want to congratulate Victoria Aveyard for breaking my small shipper heart by marrying Mare to the Lakelander princess. I can still ship #mareven from the outside, anyway. I can always go to the old books and submerge myself into the first one, when there were… so many scenes! I was so happy!

Anyway, dear reader—enjoy this book!

Don’t forget to comment what you think about it if you have read it… and if you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for? Victoria Aveyard is such a splendid author I cannot imagine how my reader heart will be if she stops writing fantasy and fiction. Never stop, please, Ms. Aveyard.

​Thank you for reading, dear readers! Until next month! 😊

Congratulations King's Cage you passed the Pink Smoothie-Confirmed Book Process. This means you are Pink Smoothie-Approved! You won a Pink Smoothie Sticker.

©2019
​
Pink Smoothie!

BEFORE READING

Oh, hello! This post contains spoilers about one of my favorite mystery books, Pretty Little Liars, by Sara Shepard.  I read this book about a month and a half ago with my kindle and loved it!  It is supposedly YA, but I feel it is more for teen since it’s about girls in high school sorting out relationships and how they feel with everything going on in their lives. I love how this book transforms into a mix of drama and mystery and yet again, makes you wonder if you locked the front door of your house. Enjoy the review!

SUMMARY

“Three years ago, Alison disappeared after a slumber party, not to be seen since. Her friends at the elite Pennsylvania school mourned her, but they also breathed secret sighs of relief. Each of them guarded a secret that only Alison had known. Now they have other dirty little secrets, secrets that could sink them in their gossip-hungry world. When each of them begins receiving anonymous emails and text messages, panic sets in. Are they being betrayed by someone in their circle? Worse yet: Is Alison back? A strong launch for a suspenseful series.” – Goodreads.

BOOK REVIEW

At first, I was reluctant of reading this book—mainly because it’s mystery, and I’m accustomed to reading Fantasy/Fiction.  But, I’m really glad I decided to, because I feel like I’m absolutely obsessed.

The chapters just make you feel so absorbed into the story, because it’s so intense and beautifully written at the same time.

The story starts with an introduction—it was the last day of 7th grade, the first day of summer, and Alison DiLaurentis was having a sleepover with her best friends, Hanna, Spencer, Aria, and Emily. However, a tragedy happens.

Ali disappears that night, when she tries to “hypnotize” her best friends. One of them, Spencer Hastings, tries to stop her from closing all the curtains, because Ali wanted it to be dark.

Spencer argued with Ali, and Alison left that night—silence came into the room, and their best friend disappeared.

Alison’s disappearance played a huge part on the girls. Each of them matured and were in High School.  Hanna, who was really chubby back in 7th grade, is now a copy of Regina George. Spencer is still an overachiever, her classes being all AP ones. Aria moved to Iceland and became more confident.  Emily is still a swimmer and now has a boyfriend.

However, someone knows that these girls are hiding—and this someone is called “-A”. -A knows every single secret the four former friends are hiding and isn’t afraid to spill them all.

The liars start receiving emails, messages, and notes coming from their stalker, and the four are afraid that -A is Alison, which disappeared as mentioned.

The notes keep coming, the IMs, the threats—and the girls are certain that Ali is their stalker, since she was the only one that knew the secrets they are hiding.

At the end, we find out that Ali was buried alive back in 7th grade and that -A still is active, and knows all their secrets…
Now, let’s continue!

I felt like I couldn’t stop reading this book! It was just filled with twists and turns (especially plot twists, there were many things I didn’t expect), making the reader want to continue reading and wanting to know what happens next.

The Pretty Little Liars (PLL) book series is mainly for teenagers. I was reading a few reviews on Goodreads, and the vast majority of them were adults, and the rest were teens.

Come on, this book says, “Grades 9 and up”, so it’s obvious it’s for teens! Why do Adults read and don’t like this book? Je ne sais pas (I don’t know).

I give this book an 8/10, because;

(a) It’s incredibly well-written and every mystery reader will like this.
(b) It makes you wonder who in Merlin’s Beard is -A.
(c) It has SO MANY plot twists you want to know what happens next.
(d) Come on!! Just read the book already!!
(e) Even if I feel like this book is good, its plot could be more refined?? I don’t know??
(f)  I’m just a book blogger that has her own opinions, okay?
(g) And yes, the book is great. A masterpiece, and it’s kind of a thriller!

I have heard so much about the series, so when I downloaded this book I, like any fellow bookworm, said, “I guess I’ll read the entire book series in two or three months and then start binge-watching the series even though it ended in 2017.”

Yup. Typical bookworm law. “Never watch the movie or TV series before finishing reading the book series or stand-alone book.”

Anyway, In totally recommend this book. It’s just… a dark, beautiful, soul-stealing masterpiece!

And if you’ve seen the TV series, it’s different from the series. Just… too weird.

Before you ask… yes. I broke the Bookworm Law. I watched a clip of the last season of PLL. And yes, I’m ashamed of what I did.

To summarize everything, I’ve just wrote:

This book is great, a thriller, and a good mystery book. It’s perfect for people who just try to read fantasy but then stumble into mystery, or just for people that are accustomed to reading fantasy but want to read a thriller or mystery book.

Phew.

That was a lot.

I forgot something too:

-A IS NOT ALISON DILAURENITS! (spoiler)

Congratulations Pretty Little Liars; you passed the Pink Smoothie-Confirmed Book Process. This means you are Pink Smoothie-Approved! You won a Pink Smoothie Sticker.

©2018
​
Pink Smoothie

BEFORE READING

Oh, hello! This post contains spoilers about one of my newest all-time favorites, The Glass Town Game by Catherynne M. Valente.  I bought this book a month ago and was immediately surprised to see that the quantity of the pages the book possesses.  It is supposedly Tween/Teen, but it seemed more Teen than Tween because the metaphors and references plus the description were really intense and children will not, under any circumstances, understand it.  Unless you’re a child that loves to read 500+ page books that contains imaginary worlds and wars, then this book is for you.

SUMMARY

“Charlotte and Emily must enter a fantasy world that they invented in order to rescue their siblings in this adventurous and fiercely intelligent novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

Inside a small Yorkshire parsonage, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne Brontë have invented a game called Glass Town, where their toy soldiers fight Napoleon, and no one dies. This make-believe land helps the four escape from a harsh reality: Charlotte and Emily are being sent away to a dangerous boarding school, a school they might not return from. But on this Beastliest Day, the day Anne and Branwell walk their sisters to the train station, something incredible happens: the train whisks them all away to a real Glass Town, and the children trade the moors for a wonderland all their own.

This is their Glass Town, exactly like they envisioned it…almost. They certainly never gave Napoleon a fire-breathing porcelain rooster instead of a horse. And their soldiers can die; wars are fought over the potion that raises the dead, a potion Anne would very much like to bring back to England. But when Anne and Branwell are kidnapped, Charlotte and Emily must find a way to save their siblings. Can two English girls stand against Napoleon’s armies, especially now that he has a new weapon from the real world? And if he escapes Glass Town, will England ever be safe again?

Together the Brontë siblings must battle with a world of their own creation if they are to make it back to England alive in this magical celebration of authorship, creativity, and classic literature from award-winning author Catherynne M. Valente.” – Goodreads.

REVIEW

I love how Valente creates magical worlds and draws people in, and for being a first-time reader of her work, this book was absolutely fantastic.

This novel tells the story of four siblings, Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and Branwell Brontë, the authors, poets, and painter whom are well-known in the British literature. 

But instead of being in their early teen years, we see them as their child forms.  They recently lost their two older sisters, Maria and Lizzie, to a horrible illness. 

The only escape they had was playing a game where they created a whimsical place, called Glass Town.  There’s a war going on—with Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington.

But that war already ended back on England and in the normal world. 

The Brontë siblings used their wild imagination to create a wonderful world full of magical people—Duchesses and Ladies with rather unimaginable names. For example, take Lady Zenobia Elrington of Verdopolis, betrothed to one of the wooden soldiers the siblings received for Christmas.

They imagined things that nobody would ever create, imagine, or believe in.  The youngest sister, Anne, created a story—where she and her little doll made of rags who was part of the English Royal Family, were best friends.

However, Anne didn’t share her story with any of her siblings.  She wanted her little Princess Victoria story just for herself—because she didn’t want Branwell to kill Victoria or spoil her game by doing stupid things.

One day, the Brontë siblings get the bad news that Charlotte and Emily have to go to a boarding school—the same school their own sisters died a while ago.

Charlotte and Emily are highly terrified of that school.  Why couldn’t they be homeschooled like Branwell?  Did they do something wrong to cause such a dreadful thing?

On their way to the train station, where the two girls had to take the train and go to that school, the train station transforms into somewhere unbelievable.

There’s suddenly a magical train that whisks them away to their own creation, Glass Town, that contains an entire army full of wooden soldiers.  Their wooden soldiers—the ones they received for Christmas.

There was a battle where they found out Napoleon had strange arms and fire-breathing porcelain rooster.

And then, something fantastic happens.

One of their wooden soldiers died dramatically, but then came back to life by a potion called Grog.

All the fallen wooden soldiers (plus Branwell) come back to life, much to the girls’ relief.

Then, the story develops more and more—the four siblings are separated by a Magazine Man called Brunty, Charlotte and Emily have to go to a ball, Emily has a crush on a young Lord Byron, and Charlotte dances with the young version of the Duke of Wellington.

Now, since I don’t want to spoil the entire book, I’m going to move towards my opinion of it…

This book, as I mentioned before, is totally magnificent.  Younger readers will absolutely not understand that the Brontë siblings were the creators of the greatest works of art the classic English literature holds.

On the ball scene, we can clearly see that Valente uses Currer and Ellis Bell (Charlotte and Emily) as their fake names while passing as aristocracy.  Those are the small references she tries to imply into the book, and older readers can feel highly delighted because of that.

The only flaw I found inside this book, was Branwell Brontë’s portrayal.  I found him selfish and annoying—as he always wanted to be the older sibling and be more “manly”.

I mean, at the end of the book, he betrayed his sisters while they were going to rescue him and Anne, who were currently imprisoned on a cell.

He bloody betrayed them.

Sheesh, I wanted to throw the book across the floor, and ruin it, but I, like many other bookworms, do not want our sacred copies to be ruined by anger and hatred towards only one character.

But other than Branwell, I, like many other readers, felt delighted towards Charlotte, Anne, and Emily.  They were one of the most beautifully written characters I have read in my entire life as a bookworm.

Therefore, my friends, I feel like I’m going to give this book 9.5 stars.
It would be 10 stars, but I just didn’t like Branwell that much.

​Actually, I felt annoyed when I had to read the chapters he was in, when Brunty kidnapped Anne and himself.

But anyways…

This book is magnificently well-written and came to me as a delightful read.  It was surprising, because this was my first time reading Catherynne M. Valente books, and I felt like I was falling in love with each and every one of the characters (even Brunty—not Branwell, though).

Congratulations The Glass Town Game; you passed the Pink Smoothie-Confirmed Book Process. This means you are Pink Smoothie-Approved! You won a Pink Smoothie Sticker.

©2018
​
Pink Smoothie