Let the hunt begin! 

There are three teams: Team Red, Team Blue and Team Purple. 
In each team, there's a huge list of authors that hold a clue for the scavenger hunt along with exclusive content and fun information to learn more about the authors. On their posts, you will find their lucky book number highlighted and with the sum of all of your team's numbers, you will then have the code you need to enter the contest. What could you win, you ask? The prize will be an awesome book by each author of your team!

Go check it out guys, it sounds super cool! I'll link the information right here. All of the the rules and prizes are listed there.

The scavenger hunt is only between April 28th and May 1st, noon, eastern daylight savings time. Sorry for not giving you guys too much notice as I only found this out now. I already entered for the contest and I'm pumped to see which team will win when they announce it on May 4th! 

Come join the hunt! 
P.S. Go team RED!

My OwlCrate Subscription Box is here! I was so excited to share with you guys what I received in my April box. I’ve tried Uppercase Box twice before and felt like trying a different kind of Book subscription box to see the differences. If you guys know of any cool book subscription boxes I should check out, please let me know!

I absolutely loved the box and the little bird prints on the side. Inside, the card that was given to introduce the box was so well-designed. So much detail is put into it. My favorite part is the writing on the wall that says FREADOM. Anyways, it explains all of the items that we got in the box on the other side of the card so I avoided it until the end because I wanted to keep it a surprise.

​I saved my favorite bookish item for last guys. Isn’t this such an awesome bracelet? I’m going to be wearing this absolutely everywhere. It even came with a 10% off coupon if I’d like to order more jewellery from The Geeky Cauldron. You guys really should check this site out.
 
As for the book! By the time my box came in, I’ve had three possibly ideas on my mind as to what the book could be. You don’t even want to know how many hours I’ve spent looking up possible newly released dystopian novels. The book I received was Flawed by Cecelia Ahern. With this book, I received a wonderful letter written by the author and a poster of the book. I was originally surprised to see that Cecelia wrote a dystopian novel. I’m so used to hearing her name in conversations about her other books such as P.S. I Love you and Where Rainbows End. This is her first YA novel and I’m looking forward to see where she goes with this one.

​Flawed is about a society where everything and everyone is perfect. Celestine North is just that: perfect. She’s living the perfect life. Everything is going right until something happens that leads to her making a decision that might change her life for the worse. If you break the rules, you might get in trouble and branded as FLAWED. I’m excited to see where this story will go! The idea of it kind of reminds me of The Giver by Lois Lowry in a sense or even Matched by Ally Condie; both with people who stand up against what is deemed to be perfection. I’m looking forward to exploring this world and what Cecelia will do with it!

I’m more than pleased with my awesome birthday gift. I will definitely be buying from OwlCrate again!
 
What did you guys think of this book and all of the awesome bookish items?

This book revolves around a girl named Tess who, after an unfortunate event allowed her to leave the orphanage early, sets out on a mission of self-discovery. Left with only a box containing a clue of her past, she leaves Hope, Ontario so that she can find out the truth about her family and where she came from. What she didn’t expect though was that her clue would lead her to an abandoned mansion. Always having these visions and reoccurring nightmares that make her sometimes question her mental health, not only does this opportunity allow her to figure out more about her past, but it allows discover her own identity.

The Unquiet Past was really interesting. Kelley Armstrong wrote this book in a collaboration with 6 other authors to write a series called Secrets.All 7 books of this series involves a different girl on her way to discover their real family after the orphanage burns down. It was great to have the chance to read what Tess goes through and I'm looking forward to read what the others figure out as well! It’s been a while since I’ve read a book like this and I loved the suspense of it all. I loved the plot but I felt as though it could have been more developed. It starts off with something happening at the orphanage which was a great start and caught our attention right away but it got a little slow after that. Once the build-up started, it just seemed as though it kept building up higher and higher until it couldn’t anymore, leading to an abrupt ending. I found the story to be very enjoyable. It had me at the edge of my seat and it had the perfect amount of suspense and creepiness considering I’m not one to read books that are usually creepy. Her secret was very interesting too and it was great learning more about it as the story progressed. We did feel though that her secret could have been hinted much earlier in the story since it felt sort of random when it was brought to light. Other than that, it was great reading through quite a few twists and turns, lies and truths. 

This month, not only did B and I read this book but his girlfriend, Cat, decided to join our Book of the Month for a while! We will be having 3 separate ratings at the end of this review since she wanted to share her thoughts on this story with us. She had mentioned: “The Unquiet Past was the first book that I’ve read by this author and it made me want to read a lot more by her and see what more she has to offer.” It was my first book that I’ve read by her and I feel the same way. I’ve already started looking up more of her books. I did say that maybe the build-up felt rushed but this book was also written to be part of a series of shorter books and so it could possibly be that the author had so much to say. Her other books are known to be relatively longer and I’m excited to discover more by her.

Overall, this book held a lot of suspense that kept you on your toes and just enough creepy for those of you like me who have never been a fan of scary reads. It was a very fast read with a lot of build-up, twists and turns and even a tiny bit of romance. I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it if you want something fast and suspenseful.

I give this book a 3.25 out of 5!
B gives this book a 3 out of 5 and Cat, who I’d like to say welcome to our little Book Club, gives this book a 3.5 out of 5!

P.S. I can’t wait to announce the book we chose for next month guys! I’ll tell you all about it on the May 1st!

Talk to you guys tomorrow!
Mel.

I was inspired to create a book haul today after having an awesome moment today at Chapters! An employee was walking around with a cart of new books that came in and what did I find on the cart, you ask? This gorgeous new book that was supposed to come out next week! It's safe to say that it was bought then and there with what was left of a birthday gift card before it had a chance to even get on the shelf. I was so happy and realized that with my birthday, I had a lot of books this month and wanted to share my excitement with you! 

The Unquiet Past by Kelley Armstrong
The Unquiet Past is about a girl named Tess who, after an unfortunate incident occurred at their orphanage, is sent on her way with only one clue that could help her figure out where she came from. B's girlfriend had suggested this book to be our book of the month for April. I'm almost done reading it and I am very excited to share my thoughts with you guys on Friday! I actually ended up purchasing this as an eBook. It was great timing because Kobo gave me a 20% off coupon code for my birthday and before that, they rewarded me with 5$ on my account. I think it was some kind of promo but it was awesome because I ended up getting this eBook for 64 cents.

The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine 
This is actually a retelling of Snow White. From what I've read so far, it's a very intriguing tale about a girl named Lorelai who is a princess on the run with a mission to kill the wicked Queen Irina, magic against magic. There's a twist too because from the blurb that they give us, the prince in this story needs magic to help save his Kingdom and the only way he can is with the help from the Queen. To get her help, he has to become her huntsman. I am so excited to read this book. Snow White is one of my favorite fairy tales and this sounds like such an exciting take on the story. My cousin actually ended up getting me this book for my birthday and I'm looking forward to reading it.
 
The Crown by Kiera Cass
I just know that this book will be read in a day. I didn't receive it yet because it really comes out next week but with a few Chapters gift cards, I ended up pre-ordering it for my birthday. I am going crazy right now with anticipation and I'm hoping so much that it comes in early like what happened with Passenger earlier this year with the way that it arrived a week earlier than the release date. The Crown is the final book in The Selection series and I'm going to be really sad when it's over. I didn't think I would like this series because I was never a big fan of The Bachelor but this series stole my heart. It's not just like The Bachelor either guys, it has action and rebellion. You guys really need to check this series out. Just sayin'. I'm so excited that I can't breathe right now. 

Ruined by Amy Tintera
Ruined was another pre-order of mine with my gift cards set to come out the same day as The Crown. This book sounded really awesome to me and the way they described the romance to be kind of like The Selection and the revenge/action to be a lot like Red Queen, I was hooked. Two of my favorite elements similar to two of my favorite books: I need it. From what I read in the blurb online, this book revolves around Emelina Flores who is seen as a Ruined after Ruina, her home, gets destroyed. With revenge on her mind, she decides to find a way inside the enemy's home by pretending to be the future bride of the prince. With the original plan of killing the King and taking her revenge, she doesn't realize the hold that the prince has on her as she begins to question her heart and her plans.

The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz
As you can tell, I'm in a very fantasy/royal type of book mood lately and this book caught my eye when I was looking through BookTube videos. You guys really should check out the book trailer for this one too, it's a really good one! I'll link it here. There seems to be a lot of drama in this book and the idea of it sort of reminds me of one of my favorite TV shows, Reign. The book is about two girls, a princess and a mage who grew up together. With a possible arranged marriage, forbidden love and a whole lot of drama, Princess Marie-Victoria and Aelwyn try to plan themselves a different future that might not end as well as they would hope.

The Way Back to You by Michelle Andreani & Mindi Scott
In all honesty, this book was such a treasure for me today. I haven't even heard of this book but it was in my hand in an instant. I went to Chapters today to browse, which is always my excuse and lo and behold, fresh off the press copies were on a cart as I watched the employee trying to find space on the shelving area for them. The cover caught my eye first as I've always been a sucker for the color orange but then I googled it, in rapid-fire speed I should add. It was exactly the kind of book I've been looking for! I've been kind of in a reading slump ever since I read Me Before You and I've been having trouble getting into other books. It's about this girl named Ashlyn who passed away in an unfortunate bike accident, leaving her best friend, Cloudy, and her boyfriend, Kyle, heartbroken and lost. With the discovery that Ashlyn's organs were donated and had saved three lives, Cloudy talks Kyle into going on a road-trip to find them in the hopes that maybe things will begin to seem clear and that maybe their lives will feel whole again. This book took me back because I had a friend back in my early teens named Ashley who unfortunately passed away four years ago. I had nothing but fond memories of who she was when we were younger and when she passed, it just didn't feel real. I feel like I will relate a lot to this book. They also describe the writing style to be very witty and I've always loved witty humor in contemporary novels. 

Curse of the Sphinx by Raye Wagner
I was always curious about this book and I've seen videos on it from Sasha's channel Abookutopia. It's sort of like a mix of the modern world with some elements from Greek mythology. It's about a girl named Hope who is always on the run in a world full of action and romance. All I know so far is that people are after her and with her mom taken from her, she doesn't know who to trust. In one of Sasha's videos, before playing a game with another vlogger and Raye Wagner, they promote that only until the end of April, if you sign up for Raye Wagner's newsletter, you get a digital copy of Curse of the Sphinx for FREE! Since the book doesn't seem to be sold at Chapters, I was so pumped that I could do this and so I did. I now hold a beloved copy of this book for my tablet. Check out the video right here! 

April's Owlcrate Book
My Owlcrate Subscription Box that my boyfriend got me for my birthday didn't come in yet! It should be here any day now so stay tuned for an Unboxing! I'm so tempted to look online to see what will be in the box but I've been so good and I really don't want to ruin the surprise for myself. I don't want to be a cheater and look up Unboxing videos but it's one button away and it's driving me absolutely insane. I'm hoping it arrives this week. All I know is that the theme this month is Dystopia and that's one of my favorite genres. I'm looking forward to seeing what I got! 

More posts will be up soon as I'm excited to share an Unboxing video and my thoughts on April's Book of the Month! 

Talk to you guys later!
Mel. 

When I started my blog, I thought I would take the completely anonymous route. I thought, how creative would it be to go by my first initial? It would give my blog a bigger focus on my book reviews and overall general posts. It's going great but I started thinking this week about how I wanted to add a little bit of a personal touch. I'm starting to know you guys more and all I seem to give you is the first initial of my name! I feel like if you guys knew my first name and a little bit about me, maybe this blog will seem more open and can even add a friendlier aspect to it. 

Hey guys, my name is actually Melanie! I might love books but I'm also a lyricist. I've been writing songs since I was really little. I'm actually working on an album right now and a few of my songs were actually inspired by some of my favorite reads. It's going to be one of my many summer projects. If you guys are interested in hearing any of them when the recording is complete, let me know in the comments! 
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​I would also like to take this moment to thank everyone who's been following my blog. It's you guys that make writing this blog so rewarding and such a fun experience!

Mel.

I thought it would be fun to mention some of my favorite book quotes. There is no particular order and there are probably a lot more but these are the ones I was able to think about. I hope you guys like them as much as I do and if you guys can think of other quotes, please don't hesitate to mention them in the comments section! I'd love to hear what your favorite quotes are!

1. "Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it." – Divergent by Veronica Roth

2. "It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing." – The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

3. "What if evil doesn't really exist? What if evil is something dreamed up by man, and there is nothing to struggle against except our own limitations? The constant battle between our will, our desires, and our choices?" – Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

4. "There were different kinds of strength. I knew that now. It didn't always come from a knife or a willingness to fight. Sometimes it came from endurance, where the well ran deep and quiet. Sometimes it came from compassion and forgiveness." – Enclave by Ann Aguirre

5. "When people stop writing down their stories, the soul of the world is lost" – Horde by Ann Aguirre

6. "You love me. Real or not real? 
    Real." – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

7. "Meeting your soul mate is like walking into a house you've been in before - you will recognize the furniture, the pictures on the wall, the books on the shelves, the contents of drawers: You could find your way around in the dark if you had to." – I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

8. "After all this time? 
    Always." – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

9. "It's our choices that matter in the end. Not wishes, not words, not promises." – Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

10. "I saw you, and I wanted to be close to you. I wanted you to let me in. I wanted to know you in a way no one else did. I wanted you, all of you. That wanting nearly drove me mad." Patch paused, inhaling softly, as though breathing me in. "And now that I have you, the only thing that terrifies me is having to go back to that place. Having to want you all over again, with no hope of my desire ever being fulfilled. You're mine, Angel. Every last piece of you. I won't let anything change that." – Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick

M.

“She breathed in, wondering what it would be like to set sail across the vast expanse of water, a dot on the edge of violent waves one moment and in the swell of a calm flowing ocean the next, beyond control and at the will of nature.” – Laura’s Legacy by Valerie Holmes

Laura Pennington is a very strong-willed woman who likes to take control of her own life. In the regency era, you must be presentable as a proper lady but from the start, Laura always seems to have other plans and that’s what worries her father. She’s always out and about and so he decides one day to arrange an engagement for her and the young man, Daniel Tranton. What she doesn’t expect however, is his surprising involvement in her next adventure.

Firstly, I’d like to thank NetGalley and Endeavor Press for allowing me to read such a lovely novella. Valerie Holmes has such wonderful writing that really makes you feel like you’re there with the characters. It definitely should categorize as a feel-good read as I couldn’t help but smile the whole way through. I barely even had breaks in between reading as I could not put it down. It kind of reminded me of Pride and Prejudice a little bit but only in the sense that both characters are so strong-willed. Also, Romance isn’t the only thing you will find in this wonderful novella. You will find plenty of action within its pages as these characters always seem to find themselves in some sort of trouble and that's something I really enjoyed while reading this book. It wasn't solely based on the arranged engagement and the way she should act more properly. There was so much happening in between and it kept it so interesting. I loved it.

I found this novella to be very refreshing and I would definitely re-read it again. I will need to find a print copy for my collection!
I will definitely be recommending this read! I give it a 4 out of 5!

Until next time!
M.

It's my birthday today! I was supposed to be working out of town today but with the bad weather out there the past few days, I ended up spending it at home. So I thought, why not do something special on here for my birthday? It'll be like I'm celebrating it with you guys somehow and that makes me smile. I loved doing the last few book tags and I decided to try looking for one that could be birthday related. I ended up finding one that I thought was pretty cute called The Birthday Book Tag. You could find the original version of this book tag right here.

Oh before I start, I have some amazing news! In a previous post, I had mentioned that I would love to try out new book subscription boxes. I have tried Uppercase Box twice so far and I had really enjoyed it but it was beginning to be tough for me money-wise and so I had to cancel my subscription. Well, I received an email today that my boyfriend had purchased a subscription box from OwlCrate for my birthday under the gift option! OwlCrate is one that I've been really eyeing for the last couple of months and April's theme just so happened to be my favorite genre: Dystopia. I am going crazy just trying to figure out what book and bookish items I will be receiving! I can't wait! It should be shipping sometime in between April 15-20 so I will definitely be posting an unboxing post as soon as I can. 

Without further ado, The Birthday Book Tag!

1. Count your birthday along your bookshelf and then subtract your birth month. What book does it land on?
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The book that was chosen was Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. This is the third book in The Raven Cycle. I haven't had the chance to start the series yet but I hear that it's amazing.

2. If you could spend your birthday with any fictional character, who would it be and why?

Oh man, I would love to spend my birthday with the whole group of characters in The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy by Nora Roberts. These people are just all about friendship and I feel like they would throw one heck of a birthday party. It would be a night full of laughter, that's for sure. 

3. Find a book that is the color of your birth stone. 

My birthstone is diamond so I'll go with a book that mostly has the shade of white on the cover. I would probably go with The One, the third book from The Selection Series by Kiera Cass. I'm looking forward to reading The Crown which is coming out next month!

4. Is there a series with the same number of books as your age? If so, what is it?

I'm 24 years old today and I'm not sure if there is a series with 24 books in total. I could be wrong though. If you know of one, please let me know!

​5. Pick a book set in a time period, world or country you would like to have been born in.

That's a tough one. As much as I love dystopian novels, I would not want to be born in that type of world. I would have to go with the world that Cassandra Clare created from The Mortal Instruments series. I would have loved to be a shadowhunter. I just finished watching the end of the first season of the show too and I'm just obsessed right now. I can't wait to get a copy of Lady Midnight from her new series!

Tag, you're it!

"I thought, briefly, that I would never feel as intensely connected to the world, to another human being, as I did at that moment." – Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Let me start by saying that I am having such a huge book hangover right now. This book was such an emotional roller-coaster for me and now I definitely need to see the movie when it comes out in a few months. I will be sitting there with a bag of popcorn, a box of tissues and the book in my purse because I'm having a hard time letting go of these characters right now.

The book starts off with Louisa who just lost her job at a nearby café and is trying really hard to find another job to help support her parents, her sister and nephew. Louisa is a very ordinary and chatty girl who, after many failed job attempts, ends up finding work as Will Traynor's caregiver. After an accident that had occurred two years prior, Will Traynor is now a quadriplegic. Once successful and with a love of living life to its fullest, he finds himself to be very miserable since he no longer has control of his life. At first, he tries to drive Lou away with his sarcasm but Lou is set out on a mission to show him that life is worth living no matter the circumstances. What they don't expect is the hold they have on one another.

This book. This book took my breath away, stole my heart, broke it and taped it back together again. My dear heart has been through a lot while reading this book. It carries so much hope and love within its pages. I love these characters so much. Throughout the book, you can see the determination that both Will and Lou have as they try so hard to make the other's life better. The progression of their affection for each other was a big plus for me. I was never a huge fan of the instant love you sometimes see in some books and this one felt very gradual and realistic. The whole story felt realistic to me. It felt like something similar could very well happen and it makes you wonder how you would approach the situation. What would you do? It's not always going to be happy moments though, I have shed many tears while reading this book so you have been warned, my fellow readers. I was very invested in this book and I highly recommend it. 

​5 out of 5. This is definitely my new favorite book and it's going to be very hard to top it.

Oh man, I don't even know what to read next after that. Any suggestions?

M.

Book of the Month!
We had a very interesting suggestion given to us by B's girlfriend this month. She thinks we will enjoy The Unquiet Past by Kelley Armstrong and so we thought we would give it a go! I've always wanted to read one of Kelly Armstrong's books and so this will give me the opportunity to get to know her writing style. From what I've read so far, the story revolves around a woman named Tess as she's trying to find out the truth about herself. She feels as though something is wrong with her and so she digs deep within her past and figures out more about her family. I was told that this book has a sort of supernatural feel to it and it's been a while since I read something like this. I'm really looking forward to it. Catch our review on April 29th! 

I Met Kristan Cannon!
In March, I had the opportunity to meet Canadian Author Kristan Cannon. I had reviewed her book After Oil recently and she liked what I had said about her wonderful debut. We met at a Starbucks briefly and I got the chance to hear more about her work and her upcoming projects. I wish her lots of luck in her future endeavors and I can't wait to read more of her upcoming titles. Thank you again for a signed copy of After Oil! The new paperback edition looks great!