Book Review: Delirium

In order to honor my resolve to post more, here's a book review that has remained unfinished for far too long... Delirium by Lauren Oliver! :D

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.

(just a note: I absolutely love the synopsis. I just. It's fabulous, isn't it?)

What I liked: Oooh, dystopians. I'm always attracted to dystopian novels, and this one was especially interesting to me--the title, the synopsis, just the whole idea in general. I absolutely love the writing style; there are plenty of descriptions but not so many that it's extremely boring (like another book that I'll be reviewing soon). I couldn't put it down. Every time I told myself I'll stop at the end of this chapter, I kept reading on and on until like 3 AM. Not kidding. I especially love the character named Alex, though I'm not sure if I should elaborate on why ;) sort of spoiler-y. Oliver does a fantastic job of explaining how this new USA works without making it seem like an info-dump. And I got mad plenty of times, but I'm pretty sure I was supposed to get mad, haha. Ending was beautifully heart-wrenching and I'll leave it at that. 

What I didn't like: The narrator, Lena, was kind of eh to me. Nothing to really dislike about her, but she didn't really stand out in any way. (note: this changes in the next book. Wow.) Relationships and trust seem to build weirdly fast, probably because quite a few weeks pass throughout the book, but it seemed a little rushed. Some swear words are used, the f-bomb two or three times, but that's not worth not reading this book. Romance was mostly just kissing, some suggestive moments but they were written smoothly. 

Overall Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommended Reading Age: I don't really know ummM 12+, maybe 13+

Sorry, I'm still working on my book-reviewing skills...right now they're still in the random-paragraphs-of-my-thoughts stage. Someday I'll get better.

--Audrey

The Fun Questions Tag

-ignores that I've deserted blog for 2 months again-
...
well okay I guess I can't exactly just ignore that. I'm sorry. I'm a terrible blogger. I visit blogs very often, but I just never know what to post on my own blog.
But when I saw the fun questions tag on the fabulous Seana's blog, I thought it would be easy enough since it's like, a ready-made topic for me.

1) When is your birthday? (You don't have to include the year if you don't want to.)
June 11! :)

2) What are 3 of your favorite colors?
Black, turquoise, and gold.

3) What are your 3 favorites quotes?
This is super hard for me to decide so here are 3 quotes I really like but they might not be my favorites:
"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once." --John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

"When your legs get tired, run with your hear." --Cassey Ho

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." --I have absolutely no clue. Oops.

4) Are you addicted to YouTube?
Psh... no.... *wipes liar's sweat off of palms*

5) What are 3 of your favorite shows on TV or YouTube or both?
Once Upon A Time, Make it or Break it, and America's Got Talent

6) What are 3 qualities you like in a best friend?
Kind, loyal, and likes to read (I'm sorry I just. Really have a hard time talking to people who don't read a lot because reading > life)

7) Do you like your name? 
I'd like it better if my last name was a Shadowhunter name, but sure. Why not.

8) If you have the choice to pick your own name, what will it be?
I'm still trying to figure out what my Shadowhunter name will be so I'll get back to you on that.
But as for first names, maybe Hazel (from TFiOS and Heroes of Olympus hehe) or Isabelle (Lightwood) or something book-related, of course.

9) What is your fantasy dream?
To be a Shadowhunter. :)

10) Do you wear makeup?
Not normally, but I do for performances/competitions.

11) If you could write a book, what would the title be and what would it be about?
I'm writing several books, but I want to keep the ideas vague so they'll be a surprise if I get them published! Everything from magic to anorexia to gymnastics.

12) What makes you cry?
Books, specifically character deaths or something that a character says. (cough CLOCKWORK PRINCESS cough)
the occasional movie, but that's rare.

13) What makes you angry?
Any sort of racism, sexism, bigotry, or in general unfair bias. Also authors killing off the characters I love. Like. Seriously?!

14) What makes you happy?
Books, gymnastics, Jace, books,  rain, my friends, books, books, books...

15) What is "Fangirling?"
fangirling: noun
defintion one: Audrey's favorite pastime
definition two: when one (usually female) obsesses over something (anything. Music, a book, a movie, an actor...) by crying over it, laughing too much, screaming, buying an abundance of related merchandise, etc.

16) What are your 3 favorites snacks?
Ummm. Blueberries, Greek yogurt, and of course, chocolate.

17) What are your 3 favorite foods?
Sushi, Greek yogurt, and who could forget chocolate.

18) What are your 3 favorite drinks?
tap water (preferably cold), Chinese green tea, and guava juice

19) Can you tell us a little about yourself?
*stern English teacher face* of course I CAN tell you about me ;)
Here goes: I'm Audrey Jones, 15 years old, and a competitive gymnast (not the super serious kind who try for the Olympics or anything, just to be clear). I am extremely obsessed with reading fiction of many different genres. I also secretly aspire to be a Shadowhunter and my one true love will always remain Jace from The Mortal Instruments series. Sorry, nonexistent boyfriends. *shrugs*

20) What are 10 random facts about you?
- I love butter cookies even though they're super unhealthy.
- I can't sing. At. All.
- I have weirdly green eyes.
- My hair is really, really, really long. But I usually keep it braided or in a bun or something.
- I have a secret dream to become a famous YouTuber (part of the BookTube community to be specific).
- I am useless with computers.
- I have participated in every single NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo since 2009.
- That is not to say I've won all of those.
- I love cats.
- I don't actually have any cats.

21) What are your 3 fun things to do?
-read fiction
-do Pilates (it's just really fun okay)
-procrastinate on YouTube

Thank you all for reading! :D 

--Audrey

I'm...back??

The reason I haven't been posting for over 2 months (I'm REALLY sorry) is not just because I've been super busy (even though I have) it's just...
I...
don't really....
know...
what to post about...

My book reviews are more like unformatted rants with unintentional spoilers
My writing is nonexistent because I'm doing NaNoWriMo and I can't write anything until I have WON

and in general I just have no idea what to post
Most blogs I see have some sort of angle--books, writing, fashion, humor, etc. A lot of people have a slight schedule, which helps keep them on track.

I...don't...

And every time I think I'm going to go write a post, I just...
Can't.

If you have any specific topics you want me to blog about, please tell me! That would make my life a LOT easier, wow.

Anyway, if you're still reading this, that means you haven't given up on my 2 month absence, so THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU

And yup, that's all. Yet another useless random post centered around me, and who cares?
So here's a picture of Jace to cheer y'all up

Random Fridays: Hairstyles

Here's another Random Friday post, hosted by Emma! I highly recommend that you check out her blog, it's all kinds of awesome.

THIS WEEK'S THEME IS HAIRSTYLES.

OH

MY

WORD

THANK YOU SO MUCH EMMA

I am obsessed with hairstyles. If I'm bored, I look up hairstyles and try them on my hair. Sometimes in class if I'm bored, I'll do my hair into different types of braids --shhh--

 waterfall braids! <3

 queen braid, isn't it pretty?

 one of my favorites, the Chinese staircase ponytail

 braided sock bun. I have worn this so many times...

 fishtail braid! :)

 MESSY BUNS. OMG.

If you can't tell... I have a thing for braids xD

There are a lot of hairstyles I like, but these are probably my favorites! ;)

Hilda's Giveaway

I just found out some exciting news... Hilda is having a giveaway! Click here for her original post.
She's giving away 2 free and SIGNED copies of her book, "The Invisible Spy, Spying on the Lives of Celebrities."


And that's not all, the 2 winners also receive a free adjustable star ring! Isn't it adorable? :)



I'd make a collage or something, but I am just awful with computers xD So here are the answers to the questions! :)

1) If you could spy without being seen, which celebrity would you spy on?
Oooh. Definitely Gabby Douglas, I would LOVE to see her training routine. <3

2) What would you do if you teleported over to your celeb's house?
You're asking me what I would DO if I was teleported?

Well.

HELLO I'D CELEBRATE THAT TELEPORTATION EXISTS
MAGIC EXISTS
YAY
And then I'd see what Gabby Douglas eats and memorize her diet and copy it.

3) Would you lend your magical ring to someone else? Who?
One of my very best friends, Jasmine Edwards. *cough* I wouldn't say she's the best with not losing things, but she is such an amazingly interesting person...she'd figure out how to do something very, very cool with a magical ring.

4) Would you spy on your crush and friends?

As of right now, I don't actually have a REAL crush. It's just book characters, soooo... I mean if they existed OF COURSE I'D SPY ON THEM. OMG. 

And my friends, well. I don't know why I'd spy on them, really. I see my friends at school, and in the afternoons they mostly just do homework and go to their various sports/clubs. And I'm not particularly interested in watching Jasmine swimming five miles of different swim drills every day, so I'd have to say no.

5) Would you tell anyone of your secret (magical ring) ?

Jasmine. Jasmine is even more obsessed than I am about magic. 

6) What would you wish for?

I don't quite understand? Like, if I had ANY wish, what would I wish for?

It would be for me to have some sort of magical powers or involvement in the magical world (that is, if it exists. If it doesn't exist, my wish would be for it TO exist. Hehe).

7) Finally, why would you like to win this giveaway? Be honest. ;)

It's a free book. The extent to which I will do things for free books is amazing. And all I have to do is post! :)

And it's AUTOGRAPHED. Autographs are always awesome, especially from someone as friendly as Hilda. And who knows, maybe someday when this book becomes the new Harry Potter, I can sell it for millions of dollars :P

Random Friday: Dream Jobs

I'm kind of having a hard time right now with a lot of different complicated things :(
But I really want to start posting again, so here's Random Friday, a weekly feature I found over at Emma's blog! I highly recommend you all to visit her blog, it's utterly fantastic.
And, uh, just note that these are my dream jobs so some of them might not be entirely, ah, possible. Hehe.

 

1. Shadowhunter

If you've read The Mortal Instruments series, you'll understand.

If you haven't, well. First things first, GO READ THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS BY CASSANDRA CLARE ASDFGHJKL IT'S AMAZING

A Shadowhunter hunts demons. And I know it may sound weird or scary to you if you haven't read the books, but trust me. Shadowhunters are awesome.

 

2. Author

Need I elaborate?

 

3. Professional Gymnast

I

I just

Gymnastics is so amazingly awesome. It might be hard, but it's also fun and competitive and teaches you things that you can't learn from school or books. The feeling of being at a meet, of being on the floor while everyone in the room is watching you and only you. Those split seconds of flipping through the air nine feet above the ground.

And also the feeling of failing. Of not being able to grab the bar during a transition, or stumbling over your own feet after attempting a dismount of the beam. Knowing what it's like to have to crawl you your knees, stand up, smile and lift your head proudly when all you want to do is run away and cry.

So yeah. Even though I know there's no chance, I would absolutely love to be a professional gymnast.

 

4. Book Critic

Not entirely sure if this job exists, but how awesome would it be to be paid to read books and give your thoughts on them? I probably wouldn't be the best book critic due to my very prejudiced dislike of several genres (horror being one of them), but still.

 

5. Past Dreams

Like Emma, I'm going to list my past dream jobs.

President: Ah, back when I thought that was actually possible....

Teacher: 5 year old me loved to boss people around. In fact, 14 year old me still loves to boss people around (hehehe).

Painter: You know, when I was 3 and just painted a sun and thought I was the best artist in the whole world...that was my dream job ;)

Princess: Don't we all have this dream...

 

Wellll, there are probably more, but I think that about covers my biggest dreams. Soon I'll be posting a City of Bones movie review, some book reviews, maybe some original writing...

 

--Audrey

 

 

 



I Can't Understand Poetry

Wow, I haven't posted in a long time.
And as it turns out, my first post in almost a month is going to be something as useless as my inability to understand poetry.
But seriously. I can't. It's very...annoying? Not annoying. More like...disappointing? Irritating? I really don't know what word to use here, so let me just explain in further detail...

When reading poetry, people usually have their own interpretation of it. They see a theme or a meaning or a message or a point or an observation about the universe or something.
But really, before I can even start to dissect meanings out of poetry, I have to at least get what the poem is even talking about.
It usually takes me about three rereads before I finally have some kind-of formed understanding on what the subject of the poem is.
And as for pulling themes or messages out of poems, well. I can't do that at all. Of course, I've studied poetry in school, where I completely make up a four-page essay on what I learned from Shakespeare's "Macbeth." (psst...I really learned nothing from his poems/sonnets/plays/literary works, because as mentioned about a million times above I can't understand poetry. Aaaargh).
Okay, this topic isn't actually worth a blog post, but I was thinking about it for so long and I figured I'd better post about something soon, so lo and behold a rather incomplete post about my troubles with poetry. (wow, there were a lot of grammar errors in that sentence. But quite frankly I am way too lazy to fix them).

Anyway....
I have a few posts that I've been working on, but I'm suffering from some horrible writer's block and those post drafts are just sitting there, unfinished.

And since my school starts tomorrow *cries* I probably won't have as much time to blog. In fact, I have some summer homework that I had better finish up lest I start the new school year with a zero.


THE CITY OF BONES MOVIE IS RELEASING TOMORROW ASDFGHJKL I'VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR IT OMG
I really can't think of what else to post, so here's a YouTube video that I found very interesting.

--Audrey