Blood of Olympus

(GOODREADS)

So here it is. The thrilling conclusion to what has been nearly a five year commitment.

 And to be honest?

 I loved every bit of it.

 I have never once regretted picking up this series in the eighth grade, never once regretted the torture of waiting an entire year  between every book.

And now here it is. nearly five years after finishing The Lightning Thief,  I read what is quite possibly, the last book about Percy Jackson's world, The Blood of Olympus.

Love Letters to the Dead

Good Reads

This book is written in letters to the dead ( I know what you're thinking; it's probably around the lines of "No. Really!!?!" and "How did you guess!?!" but anyway...) and the idea is super cool--at first.

So here's the deal, the protagonist Laurel is processing the tragedy of her sister's death (which takes place before the time of the novel) and she receives an English assignment to write a letter to a dead person and that is how this whole thing begins.

So it's kind of interesting for a bit. But honestly? I don't get it. Laurel says she is so torn by her sister's death, how May was her best friend, how May meant SO MUCH to her, but I don't see any of that in the actual book.

What I do see, is Laurel pining after some guy named Sky, and just in general living her life, while occasionally throwing in "May died. I'm sad. It's my fault"

And what sucks is that you don't see this girl that's torn by grief actually getting torn by grief. Which to me, just really takes away the whole point of the book.

Another thing- the dead people. She writes letters to them; a paragraph about who they were, what they did, etc. and then stuff like this:

On my first day...I used my favorite outfit from middle school instead, which is jean overalls with a long-sleeve tee shirt and hoop earrings.

The next thing I realized is that you aren’t supposed to bring your lunch. You are supposed to buy pizza and Nutter Butters, or else you aren’t supposed to even eat lunch.

And this gem:

I especially like to watch this boy, whose name I figured out is Sky. He always wears a leather jacket, even though summer is barely over. He reminds me that the air isn’t just something that’s there. It’s something you breathe in.

From this you can tell its basically written like a diary. May isn't even a huge part of it, which is awful because all I really wanted was to find out what happened to her, and that doesn't even happen until the last half. Laurel's grief doesn't even seem visible during the first half. she doesn't even seem slightly bent from the devastating thing that is losing a loved one. And the lack of grief really screwed this up for me.

Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Reading,

Sidra

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

Goodreads

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye  Walton is not anything if not a lesson on life, love, and the beauty and pain of both.

The story follows Ava Lavender; an extraordinary girl wanting to be anything but. Ava was born with wings and a twin; who was born unique in his own way.

The beauty of this book comes from the writing. Walton paints a picture with words that made it hard to turn away. And the voice that was give to Ava had its own special quality, she narrates to the reader about the sorrows and joys faced by her family; as well as the difficulties of just living.

***

To many, I was myth incarnate, the embodiment of a most superb legend, a fairy tale. Some considered me a monster, a mutation. To my great misfortune, I was once mistaken for an angel. To my mother, I was everything. To my father, nothing at all. To my grandmother, I was a daily reminder of loves long lost. But I knew the truth — deep down, I always did.

I was just a girl.

***

Ava shows us that love isn't ll its cracked up to be. Sometimes we love those we try hard not to. Sometimes we love those who we know aren't meant to really and truly deserve our love, and then we turn around and ignore those who deserve it more than anything. And sometimes, people are just straight up psychos and need to be mashed in the head a couple times.

It's really hard to review abook without trying to spoil the important bits, but in this case everything is important. Yes, its the story of Ava Lavender, but the story of Ava Lavender can not possibly be told without the story of everyone around her. And that's the beauty of it. Every character in this book is not meaningless and adds to the plot, setting, and story; in some way.

In conclusion: Ava Lavender taught this 17 year-old girl more about love, life, and the rainbow after the storm than anyone ever could. And that's why Leslye Walton has one the most beautiful debut novels ever.

Rating: 5/5

Happy Reading,

Sidra

Feature and Follow 3: Book Looks!

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and ayou must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

Question of the Week: Book looks - Your favorite fashions from the books you've read - Suggested byGo Book Yourself

The kefta's (? I don't know if I spelled it right..) from The Grisha Trilogy seem gorgeous to me. And they contribute to an entire culture so there is definately appeal in that. Besides that, its the robes and uniforms from Hogwarts. One of these days, I'm gonna get my hands either a Ravenclaw or Slytherin outfit and I shall feel amazing. 

What about you?

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While you're here, I would appreciate it a bunch if you would go follow me on instagram  (<---- LINK). This blog is so hard for me to keep up with, and although I LOVE posting on here, sometimes school is just a hassle and I can't post as much as I want to. 

BUT, with IG I plan on posting at least once a day, with what I'm reading currently, mini reviews, and other book related things.

So please follow :)

****ALSO, I LOVE reading ALL of your comments but I'm not able to reply, because I'm still trying to figure out this template ( from bloggercandy.com She has a LOT of pretty & free ones :) ) But I appreciate every single one.

Happy Reading, 

Sidra