I'm back. Whoa, does it feel good to say that. Cause Gods has it been a rough couple weeks. I just needed a break, a little bit of breathing space and all. I've just spent basically the last month chilling in my shell embracing my love for YouTube and Netflix, no blog, no worries. But the thing is, I was worried. All I could think about was blogging and how I knew my lack of presence on the internet would just cause everything to spiral into a dark abyss. Which is totally understandable, but still NOT COOL!! 

Well today as I was talking to my friend* about how talking to bookish people on the internet was so much more fun than anything ever. I realized... I HAVE NOT BEEN TALKING TO BOOKISH PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET. THEREFORE I HAVE NOT BEEN DOING THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER. So this hit me, while I was eating some pretzels, and I realized, I need this back. I need to post about what I love. Even if it means hours of frustration over my blog design, or even if it means a very, very, small portion of this planet gets to experience the heavenly glory that is my blog. I NEED THIS BACK!!! So here I am, with a long awaited post, that I should have posted weeks ago, and am devastated I never did! 

*yes, although you may be surprised I do have real friends. Has your mind been blown? 

So, naturally I figured since my absence I needed to get everything caught up to date. I was worried this post would seem kind of random in the middle of the month. But lucky me decided to stop being stupid right at the beginning of the month, which means my super smartness helped me realize this post would be an April goals extravaganza.

So therefore I now command you to listen to what my plans for this month are, and if you ever see that I am really not completing them, throw things at me until I listen, because I have the attention span of a 2 year old...

• Okay, well, this goal is a little teensy weensy, super freaking terrifying for me! Lets just say it is the reason I dove into this pit of blogging despair, as it was causing me so much frustration I wanted to punch some, or many things. That is my blog design. I am suffering from thousands of technical details and my complete lack of knowledge of anything that involves even the teeniest bit of CSS is not helping. Which means I have gotta find away around that. I have a few ideas and I know that once I put them into motion I will be super ultra happy, which obviously will encourage me to blog more, which means good things will happen, blogging never caused anything bad!
• Usually I would write a post and immediately post it, like, whenever I felt. This meant I was a super inconsistent turtle, as some days I am more busy than others. The obvious solution was to pre-write posts, but I just never did. That was a mistake. Step 2 in my blogging downfall one might say. Which means I have to put my big girl panties on and actually start doing the logical thing. I really don't think whipping out random posts at random times to feed the world was really working... Once I'm done blabbering on this post, I'm gonna basically create a thousand more, which means I can finally start posting on a schedule! Not at the strangest times...

• Communicate. Yup, I'm one of those people that can live comfortably inside my own shell, as a turtle I really do prefer that. However since I have recently found out my true spirit animal is a tiger* I realized I must embrace my tiger qualities and actually learn to talk to other bloggers. The art of forming words with ones mouth is quite difficult, (well in this case with a keyboard) but I think I can do it. I belieeeveeee.

*Do not ask me why I take spirit animal quizzes in my free time. I do not know. I simply believe it is my calling..

• Photography. Although I haven't been particularly serious about blogging in the last month, I have been pretty serious about taking bookish photos. Which I am super excited about!! My next goal is to definitely start including more of my own photos on my blog! Finding them online is cool and all, but lets be real, we all admire bloggers who are capable of taking their own! I wanna become one of those for sure!!

AAAA, 4 goals may not seem like a lot to all you people out there, but it is for me. April is looking like its gonna be a pretty rough month! But you know, its gonna take quite a bit of effort to get my blog where I want it to be, and I really am willing to do that! I have missed blogging so much and cant even begin to comprehend what my stupid mind was thinking leaving it behind! I have so many reviews to catch up on, so I best end off here before I talk about random things, which I am bound to do. I really need to learn how to focus... 

Celaena has an awesome backstory

In case you didn't know, I adore backstories. No. I love backstories. They are what makes up a character, what shapes them into who they are, their personality, their actions, even what they look like has all been shaped because of backstories. Celaena is the perfect example! Her backstory is not only super interesting, but it is also connected to her(unlike in other books) It is very clear how her past effects her now. Which is fabulous for meee!

Celaena Is My Favorite Character

 There Is A Love Triangle But It's Still Small

So there definitely is a bit of a love triangle in the book, but it is still growing. Throughout the book you see how each of them begin to realize their feelings for each other. At the end of the book it gets stronger and it will definitely make up some of the second book, in this case it isn't a super big deal yet.

It Really Is An Introduction To The Series

In my opinion everything that happens is building up to the next book. In this book we spend time getting introduced to the characters and the setting, it helps you understand the relationships between the characters, and shows you everyone's roles in the story. Also I think everything that happens is all building up to the rest of the series. In other words this book is sort of like the introduction and rising action,whereas the next books will be more of the climax(or I could be horribly wrong and just rambling about lies)  I think it is similar to the love triangle in that way.

The Ending Was The Best Part

In the ending there is tons of action, as expected. I love action, action is what keeps me going, it is my life(food is also my life) The ending has lots of it, which is great because it means the next books will also have lots of it. The very, very ending itself wasn't exactly action-packed, but it definitely promised some in the next book!

Final Rating:

I Loved The World Of Grisha

I find many books don't have super interesting settings, usually they are based in today's world. Although I usually enjoy those books nonetheless, I love being taken to completely new worlds, places that are new to me, places that are sadly made up(real or not real?????) This book had just that! I loved how it had a 100% new location, not in the US like most books are set, instead in a brand new country! I also loved the concept of Grisha and how they weren't simply called witches, no, they were Grisha!

Everything Was Introduced Well And Flowed Nicely

It can be hard to introduce such a complicated world and deep characters, however Leigh Bardogo did it with ease! I never found myself confused throughout the book, wondering what she was talking about. If you payed attention while reading, you wouldn't get lost! I find with such a complex concept its easy to lose track of whats happening and what these strange things being mentioned are. Fear no more, because this book has got your back when it comes to that!

The Characters Had Depth

Each character had a backstory. I love backstories. They are the work of Gods. Backstories are perfect, they give characters so much depth, you get a better understanding of their actions and personality. The information given in backstories helps shape the character and give them more depth. They also give you a better understanding of the characters. In Shadow and Bone the important characters all had some sort of story behind them, I especially liked Mal and Alina's story! Even the Darkling had his own twisted tale that made up his personality!

There WAS Action But Not Tons

Books packed with so much action and adventure are perfect for me. Although I couldn't put this book down, it didn't have as much action as I expected. The beginning was nice and juicy with action, so was the end! However I found that the middle was lacking a bit of that extra intensity. Most of the book was spent with Alina training, obviously not the most interesting thing. Don't get me wrong, there was some though! I'm hoping the next book is a little more exciting!

The Ending Changed My Rating

I did not like the ending. Not one bit. It wasn't that there was a plot twist, or something crazy. It was too calm! There was nothing that made me want to scream and throw a fit! Don't get me wrong, those ending hurt me, but they also make me beg for more! Those are the things that get me excited for what is coming up next in the series, not the case in this book. The ending here was too easy. I did however read the first chapter of the second book, which was included. That really got me riled up! Such a cliff hanger! But why wasn't it included in the ending of the first book? Not added to the second!

Final Rating:

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