The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

Hullo! I recently finished reading The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater, which was excellent.
You may have heard of it before, but it's a fairly recent book, so it's not too famous yet, though I have no doubt it will be in the next few months.
Now, I know that normally I give you a plot summary for the book and then review it, but this time around I can't seem to be able to write one that's coherent without being spoilery. So, I guess you'll just have to trust me when I tell you the story's great. Oh, and don't chose whether or not you want to read it based on what it says on the back, because I don't find it does the story justice. Anyway, hope you read The Raven Boys even without a plot summary, 'cause it's worth it.
Onto the review: the book was really good, as you'll have understood from what I've been saying. I absolutely loved the characters, mostly Ronan and Noah (and Adam, but now I'm confused as to what to think about him). They were very well written and seeing their different POV's and ways of dealing with people was quite entertaining. Parts of the book were really funny and others just made you want to cry, and I loved that. Not that I love crying, but I like it when a book makes you feel a whole bunch of different emotions and isn't just one thing the whole way through. I really liked the way the story developped, it was extremely interesting and surprising (for once, I didn't expect at all what was going to happen). I'd never read anything by Maggie Stiefvater, but now I'm thinking I might give the Shiver series a try. The only about Raven Boys that I didn't like was Whelk. And that's purely because he was a despicable character and I don't like despicable characters. Apart from that, he was well written, it's just that I wanted to punch him in the gut throughout the entire book.
So, overall, I'd give this book an 8.5/10. It was really good and I would greatly recommend you pick it up and read it, because it's totally worth it.
I'll see you sometime soon with a new review,
Toodlepip,
x Clara

Massive Book Haul!

Hey guys!

Today's post, as you'll have guessed by the title, isn't a book review, but a book haul. Before I get any comments on the amount of books that we're purchased here, I'd like to say that these were bought over the course of a few months (from January to May, so 5 months) and that buying this amount of books is not a habit of mine.   

Anyway, onto the new books! :) I'll put these in order of purchase.

1. Daughter of Smoke & Bone - Laini Taylor (iBooks)
I watch Christine's (polandbananaBOOKS on YouTube) videos and for a while now she's been singing the praises of this book, so I thought I'd check it out. I haven't read it yet, but defo look forward to doing so.
2. Me & Earl & The Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews (iBooks)
Another book that was purchased after hearing a booktuber say great things about it (in this case, Raeleen, aka padfootandprongs07 on YouTube) and so I thought I'd give it a try. Haven't read it either.
3. Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins (iBooks)
I bought this after reading Anna, have read it and absolutely loved it. I did a review on it, you can go check it out if you want.
4. The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han (iBooks)
I found this one while browsing on iBooks and quite enjoyed it. It wasn't the best book ever, but it was a fairly agreable read. If you want me to write a review on it, feel free to ask.
5. Clockwork Princess - Cassandra Clare (iBooks and Amazon)
I'd been waiting for this gem to come out for a few months now and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Definitely one of the best books I've ever read. I'll be writing a review on this one quite soon, hopefully. (Also, I bought it in eBook and physical format because it was that great)
6. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green (Amazon)
I borrowed this book sometime last year and loved it so much that I decided to buy so I could have my own copy. If you want a review, I'd be glad to write one.
7. Looking for Alaska - John Green (Amazon)
Well, John Green purchases are self-explanatory, I believe. I mean, come on! The man's genius! 'Nuff said.
8. Just One Day - Gayle Forman (Barnes & Noble)
I was in Barnes & Noble about a month ago and saw this book. I'd heard nothing of it, but it looked pretty good. We'll see how that turns out.
9. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson (Barnes & Noble)
I'd heard some quite good things about this book on the Internet, so I decided to give it a try.
10. The Messenger - Marcus Zusak (Barnes & Noble)
The Book Thief was amazing, so I thought I'd pick Zusak's newest novel (at least I think it's his newest).
11. Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion (Barnes & Noble)
I've been dying to read this book. The movie was great (I wanted to wait to read the book before I saw it, but alas, it wasn't possible, so I'll be reading it as soon as I can).
12. The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson (Barnes & Noble)
I've been a pretty hardcore Cassandra Clare fan for a while now, and Maureen constantly appears on her tumblr and she seems to be very good friends with her, so I thought I'd pick up one of her books and this one seemed particularly interesting.
13. Paper Towns - John Green (Barnes & Noble)
I'm currently reading this one and absolutely loving it, but that's not a surprise since it's John Green.
14. Go Ask Alice - Anonymous (Barnes & Noble)
I've heard some pretty great things about this book. I'm halfway through it, and I quite like it. Though I don't think 'like' is the right verb. Anyhow, the book's good.
15. Crash and Burn - Michael Hassan (Barnes & Noble)
Another Raeleen recommendation, we'll see how it turns out. It sounds pretty good.
16. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs (Barnes & Noble)
This book had gotten some extremely varied reviews from all over the internet: some, like Jesse (aka jessethereader) can't stop saying wonderful things about it and others, like some girl I can't remember from Goodreads, said it was one of the worst books they've ever read. I thought I'd give it a try anyway, so we'll see how it turns out.
17. Changeling - Philippa Gregory (Sent to me)
I won this book in a contest on a bookworm blog like mine, so I really don't know anything about it. I thought I'd include it in the haul anyway.
18. The Perils of Certain English Prisoners - Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins (Waterstone's)
I'm a pretty big Dickens fan and when I saw this book at Waterstone's I thought I might see what it was about. I'd never heard of it, so I'll see how it turns out.
19. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (Waterstone's)
Another recommendation from Raeleen I thought I'd give a try. It seems really good and I really liked the cover.
20. The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater (Hatchards)
I read this one on the plane and it was one of the best books I've read in a while. I'll be putting up a review fairly soon, because, guys, it was truly amazing.
21. Love and Friendship - Jane Austen (Hatchards)
I'm a pretty big Jane Austen fan so it was only natural that I bought this one when I saw a Jane Austen book I'd never heard of. It's one of her really early novels (she wrote it when she was fourteen!) and, plus, it was only 6 pounds.
These last two aren't normal books but I thought I'd include them anyway: Wreck This Journal, which I got from Urban Outfitters, and Finish This Book, which I got from the Tate Modern, are both by Keri Smith. They've gotten pretty popular in the past few months. If you haven't heard of them, they're a kind of interactive books, where you're told to either do something to the journal or write about something in the book. They're quite fun to complete.

So that's it: my huuuuuge book haul's done. Hope you enjoyed it. I'll be back with a review sometime soon. :)
Toodlepip,
x Clara