Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

Here are my obsessions this week.

BOOK

Cover of Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas (goodreads)

 Dangerous Girls is a dark and twisty read. It sucker punches you and totally messes with your head. As soon as I heard Abigail Haas was writing a companion novel, Dangerous Boys, I knew I would want to read it. I am curious to see what twists she has in store and I've been hearing good things already.

The cover was released, and I pretty much love it. I am unsure if this will be the North American cover, but I kind of hope it is.

*side note - can Dangerous Girls become a movie?! Please? It would be amazing.

Anne and Henry by Dawn Ius (goodreads)

It's no secret that I am a big fan of Tudor history. I was immediately intrigued when I saw this in Publishers Weekly recently

A contemporary retelling of the romance between King Henry the VIII and Anne Boleyn, in which Henry is a wealthy, popular teen destined for political greatness, and Anne is the manic pixie dream girl who ensnares him and threatens to destroy the life he's worked so hard to build. 

A contemporary twist on the story of Anne Boleyn and Henry. I am cautiously intrigued because this synopsis. Not thrilled about the whole 'manic pixie dream girl' thing, or the 'ensnares and threatens to destroy his life' bits, but I hope it's a misleading synopsis. I see that Henry might feel this way, so perhaps it's from his point of view. Either way I am intrigued enough to check it out.  

TV/MOVIE 

Movie options Love Letters To The Dead, and We Were Liars

With the success of The Fault In Our Stars it seems more of the contemporary novels are going to be destined to hit the big screen. Two of my recent favourites have recently been optioned. We Were Liars already has a screenplay in place.It was written by E. Lockhart (as per Deadline). I believe that I heard Ava Dellaira is writing the screenplay for her novel as well. I approve of this trend of author's adapting their own novels. I feel it helps keep the tone of the work intact, and the author knows this material better than anyone. 

What are you obsessed with this week?

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Release Date - May 13, 2014

Publisher Website - Random House Canada
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 240 pages
My Rating - 5/5
**received in exchange for an honest review from the publisher**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

There are some books that are simply too hard to review. This can be for many different reasons. Some are because you don't want to ruin the plot. Some are because you could never due justice to the incredible writing, and some are simply because your love can't be formed into the right words. We Were Liars is almost impossible to review because of all of this.

Part of what this novel does so well is to make the reader feel like they are part of this world. The make the reader feel like they are in on a secret. You feel like you're part of this family, dysfunction and all. It makes you feel like you're part of this friendship, including every secret and lie. Lastly, they let you be part of this forbidden romance, stolen moments included. It's mesmerizing and completely engrossing.

I've never read a novel by E. Lockhart before this one. Her writing style was poetically beautiful. It's magnetic in that it pulls you in, lushly descriptive, and stunning. I think the writing is the element that most stands out for me. She brings the setting, characters, and plot to life easily, and with such captivating prose.

Unreliable narrators are some of my favourites, and Cady is no exception. Her murky, dreamlike narration compliments the sleepy summer days on the island setting. It also kept me guessing. Obviously when a narrator is unreliable (for any reason) we should expect some surprises, and as the synopsis indicates, secrets. I think the pacing and reveal was perfectly executed, and left me ugly crying on the bus.

This review is shorter than I would like for a novel that completely stunned me, slayed me, and broke me. Yet,  I don't want to say anymore. Do yourself a favour and don't spoil We Were Liars before you experience it for yourself. This books is one of those that you don't just read, you truly do experience it, and this aspect is what makes unraveling it's secrets truly memorable. Allow yourself to experience the novel as it's meant to unfold, and be swept away into the story of the Liars.

As soon as I closed the book I immediately wanted to open it again and read it all over again, but this time as someone in on the secret. This time as a Liar. You'll finish this feeling connected to the characters, and this group of people. I do, however, recommend perhaps getting two copies; one for you and a friend though. Trust me when I say you'll be dying to talk to someone about it when you're done.

New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews).

I had some amazing books land in my mailbox this week.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (goodreads)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (goodreads)

Huge thank you to Bloomsbury for the copies of The Bone Season. Expect a giveaway soonish (maybe right after Book Expo America and I will see if I can get them signed). Excited to help with the promotion for The Mime Order.

We Were Liars is the type of book that broke me into a million pieces. I am so thrilled to have a hard cover edition to put on my bookshelf. Thank you to Random House Canada for the copy.

Happy weekend, and happy reading!

New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews).

Lots of Christmas goodies in my mailbox this week! First up Christy (The Reader Bee) got me some fantastic goodies. Sorry of the crappy photos. Using my cell phone!

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (goodreads)

Shadow of the Queen (Once Upon A Time comic by Various (Goodreads)

She also sent my two lovely bookmarks (one with the Eiffel Tower on it, and one of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz). A huge, huge thank you to Christy! 

Next up my #TBTBSanta gift arrived. If you're not familiar with that hash tag, it's the Secret Santa run by lovely people behind The Broke and the Bookish. My secret Santa is still a secret, so if you're reading this THANK YOU!

The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison (goodreads)

If you can't tell by the photo I also got some Lindor chocolates, David's tea (in a cute Christmas ornament) and some candy canes. The magazine pictured has tons of delicious sounding cookie recipes. Excited to make some with my sister, and her girls.

Lastly, I got an e-ARC for review, and it's a big one!

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (goodreads)

A huge thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the chance to read this. I've already devoured it, and it's every bit as wonderful as you've heard.

Hope you had a fantastic book haul this week too! Link me in the comments so I can come visit.

Happy Reading, and Happy Weekend!

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

A smaller obsessions post this week! Here are my obsessions this week:

BOOK

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

My flailing about this one is because of Jamie at The Broke and the Bookish. She has made me NEED to read this one. Katie at Bookishly Yours brought it to my attention and after reading Jamie's Goodreads review I am obsessed. Have I mentioned that 2014 is going to be the year of awesome books? Because it totally is.

MOVIE/TV

Catching Fire

I was late to the party but I FINALLY got to see Catching Fire. AMAZING, right? I totally adore Finnick. Sam Claflin impressed me. I was nervous about how Finnick would be portrayed, but he did a fantastic job. Jennifer Lawrence is, as always, perfection. Josh Hutcherson is perfect as Peeta. I don't know how you couldn't be a little in love with Peeta after this movie. The message and tone of the book came through perfectly. Some of the marketing of the movie hurts my heart, because it totally goes against the message of the entire series, but the movie showed exactly what made me fall in love with this series. Oh, and I would totally tell Finnick all my secrets.

Reign

Still totally loving this show. It's surprised me, and I am fully hooked. Doesn't hurt that Francis is pretty swoon worthy (most of the time). A strong Queen, a dashing Prince, and some fun twists make this deliciously fun TV! Check it out if you're not already hooked.

OTHER

Lindor Chocolate Calendar

Tomorrow is December 1st! That means I get to start my countdown to Christmas with my yearly chocolate calendar. Every year I get one, and Lindor is my FAVOURITE chocolate so this calendar is basically perfect for me.

So what are you obsessed with this week?