#thelittleink

[crookedlibrary]

Synopsis:

“They called us a murder, as in crows.” Tannyn Carter has always had a thing for nightmares. Other people's nightmares, that is. She can smell them on people's skin, taste them on her tongue. Lightning, the sight of blood, fire, darkness. She's been surrounded by nightmares her entire life. But nothing could have prepared her for the day her best friend, Eve, turned up dead in an oak tree with her heart carved from her chest. Tannyn's friends, known throughout town as the crows, decide to take matters into their own hands. Investigating into Eve's death attracts the attention of the killer, who begins leaving them sinister messages, taunting them.  In the midst of her friend's absence, Tannyn begins spending more and more time with Eve's twin brother, Theodore. She finds herself drawn to him in the same way she was drawn to Eve—but it is a dangerous and alarming attraction. She trusts Theodore with her life, but she isn't sure if she should. Theodore's fears are like broken glass between her teeth. He's afraid of thunderstorms—and of someone finding out his secret.  As Tannyn navigates a world of heartbreak and dead crows and boys with razor-sharp fears, she must face the worst nightmare of all: her own. If it doesn't kill her first. 

My Thoughts:

Story time! So, while I was on Twitter one night, I came across this author. She was doing a giveaway and as a joke (Because I am me), I asked her if I could read it before it came out. Which is in May. My birthday month. I seriously didn’t think she’ll say yes. Lol But SHE did! And you guys, I GOT TO READ MY FIRST ARC! Before it comes out!!! *swoons* I was in heaven. Though, I should yell at myself because it’s taken me this long to do a dang review. Life has been messy. So I hadn’t had time. But now I do and now I can yell at all of you to read THIS BOOK! Please, check it out on May 25th. Because it’s such a wonderful, good book. I couldn’t be happier that she let me read it. I feel so blessed. Thank you goddess. ^_^

Good Points:

There is so much to say about this book that I don’t really want to overwhelm all of you. So I’m going to try to not write such a long one, this time around. I’m trying okay? Lol. The characters were all wonderful. They were complex and they were human. So human that I felt for a while that it was like going outside and meeting someone new. I had to remind myself that I was reading a book. *laughs* They felt so alive across the pages. And the friendships between them all? Can I have a best friend like that? Because swoon my dead heart.

And while I am at it, the diversity in it was done so well that I never even thought they were. Like the tran’s boy, or the Mexican guy. They were hidden jams written throughout the book. That it blended in so well in the storyline. Sometimes you add diversity into your books because you want someone to feel special, and while I understand that; some writers don’t do it will. You can tell they just added them because its the thing to do but this author here didn’t. They were written in so well that I never even questioned it. I was just like “Oh, hello.” Back to reading. Lol

Each character was flawed in some way and had their own issues to deal with but none more so then Tannyn. She had a panic disorder. It felt like I was having one while reading it and I do get them in real life pretty often. So as you can tell, I was really impressed. Because not only is it hard to write about but it’s hard to show it. And how the character would really deal with it. And Tannyn had some issues but it didn’t kept it away from falling in love with her. I usually just wanted to give her a hug. Lol

The relationship between Tan and Theo? Can I just have them as a poster? Be still my heart. It was messy, and twisted (good way, not bad way)  and unsure of themselves. But they cared for each other so damn well. And he understood her but still loved her the way she was. Never wanting to change it. But just held on when she wasn’t well. Even when he did mess up, she forgive him. And he didn’t just go “Ah, I am an asshole and you gotta forgive me anyway.” No, he apologized and it was really refreshing.

I just need funko pops of them now, okay? But free because mama is poor. Lol JK.

Bad Points:

I had a little bit of a hard time with wanting to write anything bad about this book. Mostly because she let me read it before it’s pub date. But then I just had to remind myself that it doesn’t mean it’s bad. Just means that it was something I found not so wonderful. Which isn’t a bad thing. It helps the authors learn. It helps them better themselves. (As long as the review is actually nice) cuz sometimes I read reviews and some ppl are really mean. Like wow. >.< That’s a lot. Doesn’t it need to be so mean? It’s okay to harsh but like no hate on the author. They are still ppl.

It isn’t written very eloquent or smooth. It’s written like a beginner. While her characters are done beautifully, I felt like the writing fell flat. (But I do gotta give it to her though, sometimes when the writing isn’t done well, sometimes it’s hard to stay with the book. But when you add wonderful characters, you don’t really care how the writing is done. Which, I’m happy about because usually I like both to be done well to keep me from just pushing the book away. Some books the writing is enough to keep me interested but sometimes it’s not enough even when you have awesome characters. Like The Black Brotherhood. I loved that series in the beginning, because the characters and the story line was good but then somewhere the story line fell apart and even though I loved the characters, I couldn’t stick it out.) It some places, the storyline was a little confusing.

Like, (no spoilers) how did the twins have these powers? How did Tan have these powers or nightmares and fears? There really was no say. Which I felt took away from the story but it wasn’t such a big deal for me. Just wished I knew.

I do wish that some of the characters had more pov then what they did. I really wanted to learn more about Jack and West. Were they a couple? Because if not, I ship them anyway. Lol

Overall:

Real life ppl, and real life monsters. What are your fears? And do you wish for someone to be able to tell you what you deeply fear? And while your at it, wanna join a gang? Because if you do, you’ll be a crow. And who doesn’t want to be one?

Rating:

4 in half stars.

[filophilia]

An old draw-my-day from TheLittleInk (Another Courtney!) On YouTube. I'm binge watching drawing videos because apparently watching someone draw with just music in the background is the only thing that quiets my mind enough to fall asleep. I thought this particular video warranted a share because look how cute is that dollar bill?! Like I would not attempt to draw our money at all and I see it in some form every day! Great work, and the heart is really well done. I love the pen lines added after the watercolors.