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[silliott]

hey gang I’ve kinda ghosted this page again, since I last posted I’ve read Percy Jackson and the Olympians 1 and 2, and Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Im kinda out of it rn and don’t have the energy to post, idk why. I may or may not keep u updated but it doesn’t matter does it? this blog was for me and no one else is enjoying it anyway sooo

[silliott]

They Both Die at the End

This is 100% worth all the hype, I didn’t know if I’d like it at first because, I mean you know the ending. I don’t remember how the author put it, but you don’t read a book just to finish it, you read it for the story.

I read half of this in class and I still cried a little, I probably would have sobbed if I was by myself. There’s so many emotions you’ll experience and it makes you really appreciate life.

I love how strong Mateo and Rufus’s bond is. It’s surprising how Rufus could be so caring toward Mateo even when they’re both dying at the end of the night.

I’ve never been so motivated to just live. It makes me feel guilty for not doing extravagant things and I know if I were to die today I would have wished I didn’t spend my life stressing over simple things.

Everyone is connected in this story, like One of us is lying (but there’s actually a character map provided!!), and it’s mainly 1st person pov, but it also switches to 3rd person, and it switches perspective, this was easier for me than Good Omens because perspective switches were more obvious and showed who it was focused on. Most chapters were new POVs, but they were titled “Rufus” or “Mateo” or anyone else.

This is a 10/10. I definitely think you should read this one. I love how there is queer rep without it being the whole purpose of the story, and of course I love Mateo and Rufus, it’s sad they die in the end, especially how they died.

[silliott]

The Hunger Games

+Catching Fire & Mockingjay

Major Spoiler Warning

Okay, everyone’s read the hunger games at this point. I was a little late to the party 😓. I only read it after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes came out in theaters. I watched the movie with my dad and we discussed the books and how many there were and I realized, I haven’t read them!!

I stole my brother’s copy of the first two and read those SO quick, it was really good and I was surprised, I had tried reading them years ago when I was like, Young, and failed miserably. (Kinda embarrassing after hearing how many people read these as practically newborns)

I borrowed the third book from my friend Alex, that one was great I loved the ending, I loved how even though katniss said through out the books she would never have children, she ended up having kids. It shows how she’s confident her kids are going to be safe. THEY DID NOT HAVE TO KILL OFF PRIM THOUGH.

I’m a sucker for a little romance, Peeta and Katniss’s relationship is so cute, I mean, besides the being forced to be in love because they beat the system and whatever. Peeta is a literal angel to Katniss. dude. I’m so happy that Katniss had a realization about how shitty she was treating him, after all he had done for her. I’m a little less happy that it took Peeta being tortured with tracker jacker venom and falling out of love with her to realize that.

This is a dystopian novel, obviously, but it really makes you think about the systems we have in place now. I mean, we aren’t sending 12 (sometimes more) tributes into an arena and letting them fight to the death for our entertainment, but still!

I’ve always wondered if there’s other civilizations in the hunger games universe, I mean, they only take up one country, what about the others?

I rate this a 10/10 because it was fantastic, the world is put together so well, I’m not an expert on literature but there’s definitely some metaphor in there. I love it! Not for little kids tho yall are insane

[silliott]

I really wanna get into book annotating again but I’m scared to ruin my books :’( I prefer writing on the book when I read it tho and I need to express my thoughts! Not just have a little tab saying one thing about something that happened, emotions are more complicated than “sad:(“ “happy:)”

I would totally annotate Good Omens because I def need to re-read that, but I’m lending my copy to a friend soon so ummm kinda can’t do that till after. Obviously I wanna annotate the L&C because I’m a little obsessed but my copies are BRAND NEW I hadn’t even read them!! I borrowed when I read them originally(save the planet)

[silliott]

Good Omens

I’m ashamed to say… I didn’t like this one—at first, at least. I still finished the whole book, but it was in the middle of me reading Lockwood and Co, and if you’ve seen that rant: yeah. I was a little distracted!!

Being in the middle of a series with a 1st person narrative, it was a little difficult to get used to the 3rd person omniscient narrative with constant scene switching. By the end of the book I had just barley gotten used to it, so I could never really enjoy it as much as I wish I did

It’s a really interesting story and I 100% am going to read it again, now that I know how to, so I can learn details I missed and understand the story :)

I give this a 6/10 but because it’s kind of my fault, the story itself is a 9/10!

[silliott]

Lockwood and Co.

Massive Spoiler warning

AHHHHHHHGGGGHSHSJDJSJDJSJSJ!!!!!!

I don’t even know where to start. I’m doing all five books at once but who cares. I know this series is for like 12 year olds but I’m allowed to enjoy younger literature sometimes!!!!

My friend, Ryn, introduced me to this series. It follows a ghost hunting girl named Lucy Carlyle and her friends/co workers who work together at London smallest ghost hunting agency: Lockwood & Co.

It’s a little bit spooky and a lot bit interesting, there’s mysteries to solve through all five books and one main mystery… “what’s the cause of The Problem?”

spoiler warning!!!!! I recommend reading the books before going any further (if you’re curious as to what I rated it: 10/10 GO READ THEM!!)

The Problem is what they’ve named three outbreak of ghosts across England, it started 50 years ago and is only getting worse. Ghosts are attached to a “source”, and item that has enough significance to them, it ties them to the living world, preventing them from leaving.

Lucy’s job is to get rid of the source so the spirits don’t attack living humans. She’s a listener, someone who can hear snippets of dialogue from ghosts, or other sounds associated with them.

There’s 2 definite types of ghosts, Type 1s, which are mostly tame and mostly disconnected from the living realm, and Type 2, ghosts who are more violent and more attached to the living realm.

Most ghosts can’t hold real conversation, but Marissa Fittes, the founder of Fittes agency has claimed she’s encountered a Type 3 ghost, a ghost that is so attached to the living realm that it is fully conscious and can hold conversations. Type three ghosts can only speak with certain people, the strongest of listeners.

Most people are skeptical of this, Lucy included, until she encounters a Type three. Skull, she ends up nicknaming the ghost, because it’s attached to its skull. The skull is kept in a jar that her colleague, George stole from Fittes when he got fired.

The skull is my FAVORITE character. He plays a major role in all of the books except the first one (she finds out he can speak at the very end of book one) and he’s comical and sarcastic.

Lockwood and Co has a Show adaptation, but it only covers the first two books. I don’t enjoy the show as much as the books, they remove all of the character from Skull, he’s just some random ghost basically. And they even KILL. HIM. OFF. In the end.

They ended up canceling the show, which sucks, but I don’t know how they could have continued it after killing off Skull, because he’s the reason Lucy comes back to Lockwood after she leaves to save him from herself. (A weird ghost told her he would die because of her and Lucy is head over heels for Lockwood). He’s the reason they find out Tom Rotwell (The owner of another huge agency) was doing sketchy shit and causing an upwelling of ghosts in a small town by trying to enter the Land of the Dead, he’s the reason Lucy got out of the land of the dead when she and Lockwood entered that realm to escape Rotwell when they were almost getting caught, he’s the reason they figured out Penelope Fittes (the current owner of Fittes) was actually Marrissa Fittes POSSESSING PENELOPES BODY. He’s the reason Lucy and Lockwood left the Fittes building alive after Marissa attempted to kill them by detonating a big ass bomb to kill all three of them.

Skull is INCREDIBLY under appreciated in the show, they make him just some old dude who can be killed off by some stupid mirror instead of the funny, sarcastic, Lucy’s age, ghost friend he was who saved their asses more times than I can count.

Jonathon Stroud is a fucking god. I don’t care that these books are directed towards a younger audience they will always have a place in my heart. I HIGHLY recommend you read them, even after being spoiled by this review.

I think Joe Cornish could have done so much better with the show, and I hope someone revisits the idea of some sort of visual media, show or movie, for these books in the future

I give this series a 10/10 total, it was so fucking good.

[silliott]

Paper Towns

I always forget about this book, it wasn’t very memorable to me for some reason. I chose it for my 2nd independent novel for English but after I read it I ended up choosing a different book. This has a movie adaptation that I never watched because I didn’t like how they portrayed Margo in the little movie thumbnail(shown below). It seemed too Disney edgy type which didn’t suit her.

Margo was wild, and yes technically “edgy” but I really doubt she would look like that. I Imagined her as a slightly chubby, short curly haired girl. I don’t remember exactly how the book described her so my interpretation might be different.

I read this over fall break when I was visiting my mom’s house, so way before we even started the assignment. That probably contributed to it being unmemorable. It’s a cute story and I don’t think it’s a waste of time to read, it just wasn’t eye opening to me.

I give this a 7/10, it’s definitely better for younger kids and it was entertaining, just not all that. Sorry this one was short, I read this so long ago I only know basic details, I probably couldn’t give you a better review then though.

Thanks for reading :))

[silliott]

My Reading List (in no particular order), if anyone is wondering

[silliott]

One of Us is Lying/Next

Slight Spoiler Warning

ALRIGHT LETS DO THIS!!

Fair warning I read the first book months ago, and the second last night. I have yet to read the third as I just found out it exists but I’ll review that when I finish it!

I can tell the author had a lot of fun with this series, there’s very well built lore, it’s cohesive, every character has a backstory and a reason for their actions (even if that reason is “I was a stupid teenager who got everything I wanted”) and when you get to the end of the book it all clicks together in a shocking way and you’re like “WHAAAAT” or “OMG!!! I KNEW IT” and you text all your friends especially the one who recommended you read it (or maybe that’s just me).

I am proud to say that I GUESSED THE ENDING BOTH TIMES. Well- not exactly the ending but more the major plot twists. Which I think is fantastic, the author gives you enough information to figure it out on your own, but not make it too easy.

These were really “page turners”. I read the first one super quick and the second one in a day (though it was hard to get into it after not reading for a bit). They’re not that wordy or difficult with a pretty low reading level (I don’t know what a reading level is; I just thought it was easy to read). I would not recommend these for young children as they have mentions and showings of suicide, abuse, sex, sexual abuse, murder(obviously), death in other ways, and more. You know yourself, if you’re a ten year old reading this and you think you can handle it, go for it!!

The characters are very thought out and everyone is connected which is fantastic. I’d love to see a character map that shows every connection. Chances are if you see a name, it’s important.

McManus did an excellent job with this book. Every piece of information has some meaning to it, even if you have to look beneath the surface. At first when I heard there was a second book, it thought it was going to be a cheap sequel cash grab, but she did a fabulous job continuing a story that didn’t need it. You can finish the book and be done, or you can read the next one and find out more background about characters, or encounter new, just as well thought out characters and story.

My one major criticism is the ending of the second book. It ended so abruptly I started reading the acknowledgments thinking it was just the next page. She could have done more with that ending I feel, but it wasn’t horrible. It just seemed tired and like she wanted to get it over with.

I give this a 9.75/10 it’s super entertaining and fun, the second books ending was disappointing tho

As much as I want to scream and rant about the plot twists, I won’t. I’m going to save the surprise for you :)

Any of this could change after I read the third book, it’s on my Reading List but it might be awhile (there’s so many 😓)

[silliott]

I drew this portrait (can you call it that??) of my friend and I’m kinda proud of it :)

[silliott]

About me!!!

My name is Elliot, I chose it when I was 12–im 15 as of this post— and it’s stuck ever since. I love the rain more than anyone else I know and I HATE summer; this is probably because I live in the desert :,)

I don’t expect anyone to read my book reviews or look at my art. On the rare occasion I post anything it’s for myself. I think it’s neat; it’s like a little public portfolio of things I can look back on.

I strive to be the best person I can possibly be. I haven’t been that way always but after I stopped fucking around on the internet all day I realized not everything’s about me; people deserve second chances and to not be judged by their past actions—or even present actions— you never know what people go thru.

I listen to music (shocker) and my taste varies a lot but I’ve been into MCR lately. I’m “learning” Dutch—it’s a long story as to why I’m learning it , but I have a 400+ day streak on Duolingo as of me posting this.

I really enjoy books, going to a college prep high school is stressful as fuck and blocking out my problems with books is the closest I can get to actually getting rid of them.

Im a nightowl who loves the morning but its soo hard to wake up after staying up until 4 am the night prior. During school I usually wake up at 5:00 and read until I’m forced to get ready by my friends who want me at school.

Im not necessarily a child prodigy when it comes to art, but my friends say I’m good at it. Art isn’t my real passion tho, neither is reading (I actually hate English) math and chemistry are my favorite subjects and I want to eventually pursue a career in one of them.

That’s pretty much it!! If you got this far: thank you so much for taking time out of your day to focus on me, same goes for if you just skipped to the end, time is relative and I still appreciate you :)

[silliott]

I forgot about tumblr should I review the last 13 books I’ve read since loveless or no

In chronological order:

One of us is Lying, Paper Towns, Lockwood and Co: The Screaming staircase, Lockwood and Co: The Whispering Skull, Lockwood and Co: The Hollow Boy, Lockwood and Co: The Creeping Shadow, Good Omens, Lockwood and Co: The Empty Grave, The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, They Both Die At The End, One of Us is Next

I have ~20 books on my Reading List but I’m poor!!! So we’ll see

[silliott]

Loveless

Spoiler warning

It’s late, so this probably won’t be very long but I finished this book yesterday and I LOVED IT.

I related to the main character, Georgia, too much and Jason, Pip and her reminded me of my friend group, even though I would never even fathom dating my Jason. I have no idea how Alice Oseman managed to fit every emotion and experience if ever felt and had into less than 400 beautiful pages but she did and it was almost an awakening.

It was an amazing reminder to appreciate the fuck out of my friends because they are all I have, I love them so much and I’m proud of that. I loved all the characters and how they were so well thought out, there wasn’t a single flat character.

The ending was beautiful, im so happy about how it ended, I only wish there was a second book to hear more about Georgia’s life but I know that’s not what I’d really want. It ended perfectly and as much as I would like it, it doesn’t need any more.

Rooney and Georgia’s friendship was beautiful, I hope someday I’ll have a friend I can unapologetically love like they love eachother. Alice Oseman is a fucking god they did such a fantastic job on this book, im so grateful that my friend recommended it to me, it had a slow start but once I got past the first chapter or two I could not set it down. I highly recommend you read this, just beware there is a lot of talk about sex, so if you aren’t into reading about that I might prepare yourself before reading.

I give this a 9.5/10 as the start was slow, but READ IT!! PLEASEEE

(Sorry for any misspellings or ideas you disagree with, feel free to debate me in the comments!!)

[silliott]

Turtles All The Way Down

Spoiler warning

I read this book a bit ago but I want to start “reviewing” the books I’ve been reading because I’ve gotten back into reading and I love to rant.

I had to read this book for my ‘Independent Novel’ for class, im 15 (my birthday was today actually!) and in 9th grade at a pretty hardcore school. I’m supposed to finish reading it by October 1st but I just got hooked and couldn’t stop, I already returned it to the library 😭.

The book is about a girl named Asa Holmes, but her friends call her Holmesy. She, though it is not directly stated, shows signs of OCD, intrusive thoughts etc. You follow her along as she struggles and attempts to deal with her problems as a 16 year old girl.

There is a missing person who was very rich, and holmsey knew/knows this person’s son named David Pickett. Her friend and Her really want to solve this mystery because there is a large sum of money for solving it.

This is where it gets kind of disappointing, the book had potential to not dabble into romance and all of that, since I am asexual and not necessarily into romance I’d prefer a non romantic focused book for a change but it’s John Green so I’ll allow it this once. While she is trying to solve the mystery of Davis’s father she falls in love with Davis. This was very frustrating to me, though it helped shine a light into the unseen difficulties people with OCD have to deal with when it comes to romance, I, again would enjoy a book NOT centered around romance. Davis ends up giving her a large sum of money to not uncover the mystery and she goes on with her life regularly; studying and hanging out with her best friend who writes Star Wars fan fiction. Well as regularly as she can, she constantly worries about bacteria and illnesses and recently she’s been getting more frequent intrusive thoughts that bother her and trigger her “thought spirals”

She gets into an argument with her friend over her selfishness and the way she constantly brings others down, how she is kind of a nuisance. While arguing they’re in the car and it gets so heated they crash. Holmsey is hospitalized but her friend ends up okay

They forgive each other and holmsey becomes content (or as content as she can) with her “issues”. She and David don’t last, he and his brother, now without parents, have to move away and Asa realizes she isn’t in the right place for a relationship anyway, as much as she wanted to kiss David it was just not going to work because it caused triggered her thought spirals to the point she drank hand sanitizer which caused serious liver damage.

I was disappointed with the ending of this book as it seems like it had the potential to be something it didn’t, the ending was not happy but that isn’t a bad thing, it was nice having a realistic ending but I wish there was more, it seemed lackluster and rushed

Even though some parts were disappointing I still really enjoyed the book and I read it VERY quickly, I would give this an overall 8/10 and I would re-experience this book for the first time if I could.

(I’m apologizing in advance because I am reviewing this book weeks after finishing it, I finished another book before this one but this is one I really did want to review. If I have some details wrong or there’s a detail I left out that you think I should add and share my opinions on please let me know, just don’t be rude about it! Tell me your opinions on this book if you want to, I would love it hear how others feel about this book as it is pretty popular)