Looking forward to 2017 for the books

So yeah...2016 was rough. Blog-wise I had no motivation to update or read cause if you hadn't heard adult life is hard, and then life-wise just...yikes. Went a little news-numb towards the end there cause the bad was constant and overwhelming. So I'm ready to dive back into reading, and I'm hoping this list will give me some incentive.

Anticipated Reads of 2017:

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen (June 6th)

Dessen is an automatic read for me sometimes more for the nostalgia than the plot. Her formula has gotten a bit dull over the years, but I'm hoping maybe this one will break away a bit.

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo (May 30th)

Honestly this just looks like a fun read, and it's got something I've personally never seen in a YA before—K dramas. I've watched a couple and really enjoyed them, so I'm excited to see how it influences a contemporary YA novel.

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth (January 17th)

Her Divergent series didn't really catch my interest, but I absolutely loved her short story, Inertia, so I'm willing to give this one a shot. Also that cover art. It's beauty 100% makes me want to buy it anyway.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (May 30th)

Another novel with an amazing cover—I absolutely love how it's just so natural looking like a fun Insta photo that you wish you could have been apart of. The plot summary also hints at an opposites-clash-yet-they're meant-to-be cliche, which I'm always on board to read.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (February 28th)

So first of all, I've heard great things about this from Twitter, and actually just learned from the Goodreads summary that it's already had movie rights sold. Wow. But mostly I want to read this because it has important discourse for current events, and novels have always been one of the best ways for me to understand/comprehend oppression in a way I've never personally experienced.

Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken (Janurary 3rd)

Yes, this has already come out. And yes, I already have it. But I haven't gotten around to reading it, so I'm still counting it. I put together a review for Passenger, the first in the series, so you can read that to decide if the series sounds appealing to you. (It's so goodddd.)

Caraval by Stephanie Garber (January 31st)

Alright so this is one of those weird ones where I haven't heard a lot of specific things, I've just seen praise for it all over my Twitter feed. I know at least that it's got magic and carnivals happening, and since I liked The Night Circus I'll give it a try.

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh (May 16th)

Being honest here—I saw the main character was an alchemist and automatically wanted to read it cause of FMA. Sorry not sorry. Continuing past that, it seems like the start of a really badass series, and I've got a strong hunch I'm gonna love the protagonist.

And that's my list! Which I just noticed only has books for the first half of the year...whoops. Anyway, if everything goes as expected (when does it ever), then I'll have a review up for Wayfarer soon. But since I don't trust my lazy self, I've decided I'm also going to start bringing in the "thingamabobs" in my blog name and just share about random stuff. I'm very good at getting suddenly obsessed with new things, so expect the unexpected. I'd plan a post ahead of time and probably scrap it because I'm into something new. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Happy New Year!

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh | Spoiler free review

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch...she's falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. 

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

Rating: 4.5/5
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction

First of all, I have to appreciate and gush about the diversity in this novel. While I love fairy tale retelling/inspired stories, I recognize that the most popular ones are from Western Europe, the capital of historical colonization. Their stories are great and all, but that's partly because we're so used to them due to Europe prioritizing their culture over others. There are so many beautiful, creative fairy tales/folk tales around the world, and they deserve just as much attention. So, The Wrath and the Dawn is heavily inspired by One Thousand and One Nights (or what we more commonly know it as: Arabian Nights) in a way that is new-ish to the YA community, and it's amazing.

Going a little deeper, the writing is phenomenal. When you have a storyteller for a narrator, it's pretty obvious that the language needs to be smooth, poetic, but not too over the top. It's a tricky balance, but Shazi's voice was exactly how it should be, with a little more sass added in for character purposes. Actually, when I really think about it, several characters had some sassy element to their personality; the only difference was whether it was based on confidence, cleverness, or arrogance. And you can definitely tell the difference, which showed how strongly developed and unique Ahdieh's characters were. (Also sarcastic, take-no-shit characters are my weakness which made this novel heaven on earth, really.)

Something else I really appreciated in the book was that while there were a couple different points of view, they were always minor but necessary. Shazi still had full reign of the narration, but sometimes there were some outside scenes that needed to be done since there was so much happening both in and outside of the palace. I kind of thought of it like The Hunger Games movies; although the novel was told from Katniss' view, which meant the movie should focus solely on her, I really enjoyed the small, independent scenes they included with President Snow. It gave us a little more perspective into The Capital outside of Katniss' view, which made it personal to the viewer, and it was always to benefit the plot and theme. It all shows how when an author/producer has a complete understanding of the novel, they are always aware of how a scene becomes useful whether it's for plot, character development, or theme.

And while a lot happened plot-wise, there was so much more set up for the next book (which is killing me because I need to know what happens). To be honest, I'm a bit unsure as to how it will all be able to fit into a duology (or a two-book series). There's a lot of layers happening and a lot of people making plans, so I'm very interested in how it will all play out in the sequel. I trust the author, however, so I'll be eagerly awaiting what's next for Shazi and the gang.

Overall, The Wrath and the Dawn was beautifully written, culturally refreshing, and incredibly captivating—there was always some foreshadowing, adventure, suspense, or romance happening, but it was never over-stimulating. If you pick up this book don't expect to put it down for awhile.