The Last Orphans Book Review

Title: The Last Orphans
Author: N.W. Harris
Series: The Last Orphans #1
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: 2015-reads, books-i-own, dystopia, owned-ibooks, damaged-guys

This book was given to me, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

"Everyone changed so much in a short time, seeming grown up, ready to fight and to survive."

The concept of teens and children living in a world without adults isn't really a new concept, but this book is very refreshing, bloody, and unique, and stands out for me. This book was full of action and grief. I found it really hard to stop flipping through pages. It had really strong characters and it was so fun to read about how this new world effects them and makes more brave.

The Last Orphans is a dystopian book based on a world where adults are killed off all at once, leaving teens and children to learn what happened and protect themselves. Shane Tucker has had a pretty awful day, going to his grandmother's funeral and fighting with his alcoholic father. Little does he know, that it is about to get so much worse. Suddenly the sky turns green, a storm picks up, and his aunt is murdered by a ton of bees.

He finds other teens and finds out they are in the same situation, having their parents and grandparents dieing from nature and animals. He meets Kelly Douglas and her sister Nat, and together along with his best friend Aaron, football player Steve, tough girl Tracy, and a gothic girl Laura, they have to protect over 70 kids. Soon they learn that they may be in the same danger the adults were in, and go on a mission to save everyone from possible death.

One of my favorite parts about this book were the characters. My favorites were Shane, Tracy, and Aaron. The main character Shane was just a great naturally born leader. He goes through so much pain in a matter of hours, and loses so many people, but he still steps up to help others. Tracy was probably my favorite character. She was such a bad ass and a survivor. Aaron was Shane's best friend and seemed like a really funny nice person.

I do have to say that I thought this book was really gory. I mean, due to the type of book it is, it's supposed to be that way, but it might have been too much. Harris went into detail about many adult's deaths and different graphic scenes. I didn't really bother me, but if you aren't into bloody scenes, read with a little cation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It reminded be a lot of Gone by Micheal Grant and The Walking Dead. So if you are into good world building, gory scenes, and a ton of action, I would give this book a try!

Nailing The Book: The Mara Dyer Series Nail Art

Hey there! I hope you are all having a great week. I'm starting a new semester and I've been doing plently of nail art. Speaking of nail art, I have some for you today! These designs are based on the Mara Dyer Series by Michelle Hodkin. This trilogy is one of my favorites. Its just so mysterious and mind blowing. It is one of those books that has you really thinking and second guessing yourself. Here are goodreads links for the three books, if you want to check them out: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, and The Retribution of Mara Dyer. (How beautiful are those covers!)

For this nail art I used a lot of nail polishes and I am not going to name all of them. But one of the main polishes is China Glaze Out Like A Light, a new favorite of mine. I used a nail art detailer brush for the titles. I topped it all off with Nicole by OPI Fast Drying Drops.

Emoji Nail Art Classics Edition

Hey guys! I hope you all had a great weekend! I went to a winter carnival, and hung out with my best friend. I also get Monday off tomorrow, so I don't have the Sunday night blues.

So today I have some nail art that actually isn't challenge related. I feel like for nail art, its just been challenges lately, and wanted to paint something fun. I did some emoji nail art! Personally I use a pretty limited amount of emojis when I'm texting, but I know that I have used all of these at least once. I drew them with a nail art brush. The base color for this design is Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights. I also used NYC Black Velvet, L.A. Colors White, NYC Red Velvet Rope, and Wet n' Wild I Need a Refreshment. I topped it off with the Nicole by OPI Fast Drying Drops.

#31DC2 Day 21 Holidays

Hey guys! I hope you all had a great weekend! I have finals this week for school, so I'm pretty nervous and tired from staring at math and chemistry equations for too long!

Today I have the 21st day of the 31 Day Challenge 2.0 for you! The theme for today is "Holidays". I did kind of a mash up of all of my favorite holidays into one manicure. I used a ton of nail polish colors here so I'm not going to list them all. I free handed this design with a detailer nail art brush. I topped it off with the Nicole by OPI Drying Drops. The holidays in order from left to right are The Fourth of July, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Book Review

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Series: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: books-i-own, favorites, favorite-series, have-high-hopes-for, love-the-cover, other-supernatural, romance, 2014-reads

 “I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was.”

This. Book. Just. Yes. I loved everything about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. It was so beautifully written and gothic, yet emotional and upbeat. I have always been into books that are more dark, design and story wise. I picked this book up for it's design and because it sounded super interesting, and I wasn't disappointed.

This book also has pictures, which added so much to the book. The pictures are dark, creepy, and beautiful. When I was reading this, and saw that the next page had a picture, I would get all giddy. It is such a unique way to add to the story.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is about Jacob Portman. His grandfather dies in a mystery accident, that leaves Jacob wondering if the ridiculous childhood stories his grandpa told him are true. His grandpa told him stories of children with abilities and powers, and about a bordering school for these peculiar children. So Jacob goes to the island of the bordering school to find out if the stories are true.

If you haven't read this yet, what are you waiting for? It's so amazing! and it's going to be a movie! I can't wait!

So Many Books To Review, So Little Space #2

My book review game has been hella awful lately. So I am here with the 2nd edition of "So Many Books To Review, Not Enough Space", where I review a ton books in a slightly shorter manner. I have a TON of books to review, so I'm just going to start already!

Title: The Blood of Olympus
Author: Rick Riordan
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: The Heroes of Olympus #5
Previous Books in Series: The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades
Bookshelves on Goodreads: i-need-it-nowwww, book-boyfriends, books-i-own, favorites, mythology, my-emotions-i-cannot, romance, 2014-reads

“Correct." Kekrops sounded bitter, like he regretted his decision. "My people were the original Athenians--the gemini."
"Like your zodiac sign?" Percy asked. "I'm a Leo."
"No, stupid," Leo said. "I'm a Leo. You're a Percy.”

This book is so amazingly bitter sweet for me. I'm super upset that it's over. I mean I grew up on Percy Jackson through my early teen years. But I'm still bawling a little bit that it's all over. But at the same time, it was soo soooo perfect.

I'm not going to tell you anything about the plot because it would be impossible not the spoil you on so many of the previous books.

But Rick Riordan started so many things for me. The Percy Jackson series is one of the reasons I started reading. And it started a love for all things mythology. He infuses mythology tales into his middle grade funny style, and it just works. Can't wait for his next book!

Title: The Archived
Author: Victoria Schwab
Series: The Archived #1
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Bookshelves on Goodreads: 2014-reads, have-high-hopes-for, love-the-cover, owned-ibooks, read

“What if I mess up?"

"Oh, you will. You'll mess up, you'll make mistakes, you'll break things. Some you'll be able to piece together, and others you'll lose. That's all a given. But there's only one thing you have to do for me."

"What's that?"

"Stay alive long enough to mess up again.”

 The Archived was beautiful and very unique. I can't really think of another young adult book that I've read that was anything like it. I loved the whole plot, the characters, and the very concept of the book. It was just great.

The Archived is about Mackenzie Bishop. She is a keeper; some one that keeps the dead inside the archived and protects the archives secret. In this world, the dead are stored on shelves in the Archived. They can wake up and it is a keeper's job like Mackenzie to put them back. Mackenzie is dealing with grief after her young brother dies and her parents move away from the tragedy. She goes to a new school and meets another keeper, Wes.

This book is full of lies and pain. Mackenzie lies to her parents and her best friends, because she has to keep being a keeper a secret. But it's also about finding someone who you can trust with your life and protecting a secret. I flew through this book and loved it!

 Title: Unbound
Author: Victoria Schwab
Series: The Archived #2
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Previous Books in Series: The Archived
Bookshelves on Goodreads: 2014-reads, have-high-hopes-for, love-the-cover, other-supernatural, read, romance

 “The funny thing about armor is that it doesn't just keep other people out. It keeps us in. We build it up around us, not realizing that we're trapping ourselves.”

The Unbound was a fantastic sequel and darker than the first. I was worried that this might be worse than the first, but it wasn't. It exceeded my expectations. I feel even harder for the characters (especially Wes).

I can't tell you everything about The Unbound, but I can tell you some. Mackenzie struggles with nightmares so mad that she doesn't sleep days at a time. She also struggles to keep up with her keeper duties and appear in control. If she doesn't keep it together, she will be kicked out of the Archived and have her memories erased.

The Unbound didn't disappoint! I really hope that Victoria Schwab writes a third book but if she doesn't, it still ended perfectly. I defiantly recommend this one!

#31DC2 Day 20 Supernatural

Hey guys! Today I have some nail art for you. I am doing the 20th day of the 31 Day Challenge 2.0. The prompt for today is "supernatural". I took it literally with nail art from the show Supernatural. I'm pretty sure I have done some supernatural nail art on here before because it is one of my favorite TV shows ever.

I used a detailer nail art brush for all of my nails. On my pointer finger is an angel banishing symbol drawn in NYC Red Velvet Rope over Revlon Bare Bones. On my middle finger is a pentagon drawn in L.A. Colors White over NYC Black Velvet. On my ring finger is Bobby's favorite word Idjit. I wrote it in L.A. Colors White over NYC Black Velvet. My pinkie finger features Castiel's coat and tie. I drew it in NYC Black Velvet, Sally Hansen Blue Me Away, and L.A. Colors White over Revlon Bare Bones. I topped them all with Nicole By OPI Fast Drying Drops.

#31DC2 Day 18 World Cultures Nail Art

Happy 2015! So I don't know if you guys remember, but I stopped doing the 31 Day Challenge 2.0 a month or two back. It was partially because the main creators took a break from it and partially because I had a lot going on. Even though the main blogs participating in it are still on break, I really need to finish this challenge! So I'm going to try and come back to do some some challenge nail art!

Day 18's prompt is World Cultures and for some reason I had a really tough time with it. I couldn't think of a design for the life of me. But I finally came up with doing the Chinese dragon design. I don't really know much about them but they are in parades and such and I always thought that they were so cool. So I tried to do my own little attempt. For this nail art I used a small detailer brush. I used a ton of different reds and oranges so I'm not going to named them all. I topped it off with Essie Good to Go.