Small Hiatus Time

Hey all, I figured I owe you all an explanation for the on going MIA action on the blog since the book haul. Lately, I just have been emotionally drained from everything around me. From work, to school, to personal stuff I don't want to talk about, this blog was the farthest thing from my mind. And also, I haven't been reading any books. I know, shun the non believer here, but it happened. I don't this sudden depressing episode of mine attacked me like a ton of bricks, and it still lingers I guess. I dunno, maybe it's noticeable with the tone of this post today.

But, there is a plus side to this. I've been writing. Writing was always my go-to activity whenever I feel like shit and it helps me understand that my characters are one of the few things in my life that will be there for me other than family. The writing I've been doing is mainly outlining for my Soldiers series, which I will talk to you guys more about in 2016, and it's actually pretty cool on how its turning out as we speak.

So I guess bottom line is, I just haven't been in the mood to blog right now and that's okay right? Maybe..

However, I do want to wish you all a Happy Holidays. I'll be back around News Years to discuss the books I might've received during Christmas and what are my plans for this blog. I hope you'll understand what's going on. Things are weird, but they will get better in time. Just not right now I guess. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday. Hug and kiss your love ones because they are there for a lifetime. See you guys on the 31st, happy howling my fellow wolves.

December Book Haul

Hey guys! Today's post is going to be quick because I'm trying to catch up on my TBR reading to get reviews prepped up for you all next week. But lately, I've been in a small reading slump from work and other things so yeah I haven't been sticking to my list. However, I figured that buying more books would help me get back into reading when I'm off from work, and it did. My soul twin/best friend came down to see me for the weekend and before we enjoyed our late night activities, we bought books. We each gotten around 6 to 7 books in the store, but also a few books from our gift exchange. As a result, I'm gonna attempt a book haul in the way a blogger normally does, by taking a lame ass photo and discussing it! (wooing as I spin around on my computer chair).

Let's get started my fellow wolves.

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This haul contains two mangas, a comic, a classic, a re-telling, and a random novel I never really heard of before. If you all ever read any off these books, let me know on twitter or in the comments below and we'll discuss them!

First, a visual:

Isn't it beautiful? And you get my assistant in the shot too. His name is Miles from Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. As you can see, I'm not the best photographer, but these books are shiny. Now to allow me to introduce you to these wonderful books. :D

1.) Peter Pan by JM Berrie: I've been dying to read this for a long ass time. Peter Pan has always been a favorite of mine and finding a physical copy of this novel just made my day gradually get better when my friend and I traveled for the day.

2.) I'll Never Let You Go by Mary Burton: My soul twin got this as a Christmas gift for me when he arrived and I honestly don't know what's it about, but its a thriller so I'm dying to read it in 2016.

3/4.) Wolf's Rain Manga: After years of searching, I finally found the manga editions to my most favorite anime in the world. Wolf's Rain is a beautiful crafted anime and these books just add my joy into my inner fan girl by a 100% average.

5.) The Child Thief by Gerald Brom: So after watching Magical Molly on book/ you tube (check her channel guys, its awesome), I completely emerge my inner fan girl and found out how obsess I am with Peter Pan and the concept of his story. So when I found the last copy of this at the barnes and noble I went too, I had to snatch it for myself. I heard this book was fantastic and I'm dying to read it real soon.

and finally 6.) Sandman Overture by Neil Gaiman: I love Neil Gaiman as an author. His books are wonderful and insightful even when most of these books are within the fantasy genre. After hearing positive things about this comic series, I decided to grab this beautiful anniversary prequel to his best work. I plan on getting the actual series in small amounts because I have other books to read and buy haha.

So that' s it, my December/first 'book haul'! I apologize for the lack of excitement since you're all probably use to watching book hauls on you tube. I'm still too shy to deal with the camera so this is what you get and I hope you enjoyed it. :) What kind of books did you get for Christmas or gotten before the holidays? Let me know in the comments below or on twitter and I'll be back soon with another post. Happy Howling!

Top Ten Tueday: The best books I read in 2015

Top Ten Tuesday was created by the people over at the Broke and the Bookish blog. I hope you enjoy the list I've composed and let me know in the comments below what were your top ten books of this year. ^-^. This was very tough because I had a kick ass reading year, but I'm pretty sure I'll do another list again during New Years Eve.

Fictional Army Book Tag

Good morning my fellow readers, happy Friday to you all! So today I was going to do a review on Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, but I figured to wait on it till Monday since I have a busy weekend ahead of me. My Cheshire Cat (best friend) and I are finally reuniting after 2.5 years and I have a final to complete for school. Nothing to fear though, I do have something in store for today.

As you can see on the title of this post, I'm going to do the fictional army tag! I randomly found this tag last night while browsing on you tube on Readlikewildfire's channel and wait, 'yep, let's do that for Friday instead.'. This tag was created by BOOKadoodles on you tube (will put the link down below) and let's get started shall we?? (Note: I will be using anime/manga characters as well for this).

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1. Name your strategy team! (People who will plot the every move of your army to guarantee victory! (2-4 characters)

Shikamaru Nara from the Naruto series, Celaena from the Throne of Glass series, June from the Legend trilogy, and Chubbs from the Darkest Minds trilogy

2. Name Two drummers (a.k.a two characters that you wouldn't mind sacrificing)

Ever Bloom from the Evermore series and Wendy Everly from the Trylle trilogy (by bitches)

3. A Protagonist most likely to turn traitor

I feel like Cole from the Darkest Minds trilogy would've made a traitor in the third book because his motives were to secretive for everyone else's tastes (but for good reason). I feel that he would be a traitor, but will come back eventually.

4. Two creatures that you want on your side.

The wolves from Princess Mononoke and the Jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland because I want a dragon.

5. Five bad-ass characters of your choosing (I'm picking six because I can and five is never enough for my army..)

Kiba from Wolf's Rain, Day from the Legend trilogy, Adelina Amouteru from The Young Elites trilogy, Rowan Lynch from the Raven Boy series, Rowan from Throne of Glass series,  Kaede from the Legend trilogy, and Ruby from The Darkest Minds trilogy

6. A Speech-giver to inspire your troops

Liam from the Darkest Minds trilogy. He's a natural leader in my opinion and he's one of my fictional boyfriends so yeah..

7. Name a general and a second-in-command

General would be Carol from Throne of Glass series and second-in-command would Eleanor from the Something Strange and Deadly trilogy

8. Name someone to financially support your army!

Gansey from the Raven Boy series (he needs to live.. that's all I got to say)

9. What character would be your army healer or caretaker?

Magnus Chase from The Gods of Asgard series because of his demi-god abilities to heal others quickly when needed.

10. One magical character

Magnus Bane from the Mortal Instruments series. Do I really need to state my reasons here?

11. Name Your Territory! (What fictional place would you choose as your battlefield)?

Westros because of the different regions we can explore and kick ass with.

12. Name an author to write about your epic deeds and victories!

Maggie Steifvater. She's perfect with descriptions and her writing style matches what I've always envisioned of doing for my own writing.

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Okay that was the Fictional army tag! Who would you want in your army if things go down the shitter? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be back on Monday with another blog post.

Happy Howling!

Book tag creator: BOOKadoodles

Song of the Day: The Beginning by One Ok Rock

Book Review: Queen of Shadows

Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4): Written by Sarah J Maas

Release Date: September 1st, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children

Format of Novel: Hardcover

Rating:4.8/5 Stars

Summary (From good reads): The queen has returned.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire--for vengeance, to rescues her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past..

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in a unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena's epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

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I had a difficult time reading this because lately I wasn't really in the mood to read really long books after a day from work. But, after taking my sweet time with this novel, I finally read this beast completely. Let me just say, you all probably have finished this before this review, but hell what a action-packed event huh? So many things occurred during this installment and they were fantastic. From the rescues, to the rebellion against the King of the Glass Kingdom, to Celaena/Aelin's upcoming reign as queen, to new chapters of Manon and the Thirteen. The fight scenes were on point and the drama between the cast of characters were executed

This book was in my opinion, the second best novel of Sarah J Maas (top one is ACOTAR). So much occurred that I can't say much since this review is spoiler-free. I will say that you will not be disappointed because we are learning how Aelin's court is finally rebelling against the Glass King with her old friends and new allies appearing in such an unexpected way that it makes you scream "What the hell!?" in a excited fan girl mode. And the characters, oh my god I just want to hug Carol and Dorian so freaking much right now. They are my babies and this book almost emotionally destroyed me with the changes these two made, especially Dorian. 'Cause, holy shit right in the end? (If you already read the book before me). Rowan and Aedion were great for this book because we see them becoming more developed as characters and I'm glad they're on Aelin's side because it would be more crazy if they weren't, yet at the same time, I sort of want to see them be cursed into being on the dark side or something I dunno.

What I also enjoyed was the Manon chapters. Compare to the third book to the series, I was finally able to understand more of her and her coven of thirteen. I was beginning to feel sorry for her when she learned the twisted secrets her grandmother hid from her throughout her life. But at the same time, since Aelin is the main protagonist of this epic series, I have a gut feeling that Manon is going to be the grand antagonist that we are all waiting for in the final two books.

Queen of Shadows overall was filled with great action, sass, and emotional outlooks that made my heart break, mend, break again, and cheering for the entire story to keep on going.. This story was an amazing installment to the series and I seriously cannot wait for more in the next year because I want to see how far Aelin is going to go as Queen. Is she going to keep kicking ass or did she start a new world war? Only time will tell..

Happy Howling fellow readers.

#ConqueringKingdoms Book Tag

Hey guys! So today, I decided to do a random book tag I saw on the book tube from several book tubers I like to watch. This particular tag was created by the author of the Falling Kingdom series, Morgan Rhodes in honor of the upcoming release of the fourth book "Frozen Tides". The questions looked a lot of fun and since I plan to read this series next year, I wanted to do this tag because I've been hearing not positive vibes about this series and since I plan to read it next year. Plus, the questions are pretty bad ass too. So let's get started.

1. In Mytica, there are constant betrayals and you can't trust anyone. Who do you trust to be your constant companion on your adventure?

I wish I can say my best friend in real life, but in the book universe, I would say Magus Chase from "Sword of Summer". I loved him as a character and I want him by my side because of his loyalty and other abilities that I cannot explain if you haven't read the book yet.

2. You'll come across many who will want you dead in Mytica, so you need to be ready to fight. What kind of warrior are you?

I feel like a cross over of Mara from the Mara Dyer trilogy and Celaena from the Throne of Glass series mainly because I can see myself as a mixture of it if I was given a weapon. o.O

3. Which fantasy world would you like to conquer?

I will like to conquer the world of Shadow Hunters/Mortal Instruments because I live in the state of New York and I just want to travel to different realms with their runes. (I haven't read A darker shade of magic yet so can't say that book yet.. lol)

4. Which fictional character would you choose to rule by your side?

Toph from Avatar the Last bender series. No reason, she is Toph and therefore is meant to be queen or "Melon lord'.

5. Who would you throw into the dungeon?

Wendy from the Trylle Trilogy because she annoyed me to no end. I almost didn't finish the trilogy because of her.

6.  Who gets stabbed in the back?

I want to say two people for this question; Arobynn Hamel from the Throne of Glass series and Clancy Gray from The Darkest Minds series. They are the type of villains I would love to torture over and over again violently just because of their actions in their respected stories. >.>

7. What elemental magic would you choose to wield and why?

Can manipulating the shadows count as a elemental power or are we talking about the four elements like in the Avatar the Last Airbender series? If not, then I will choose earth bending because of Toph. Toph's ability to earth bend is freaking amazing!

Okay, so those were my answers to this awesome tag. What are your answers to this tag? Tell me in the comments below and I'll be back soon with another blog post. Happy Howling!

Gods meet children, children meet Adventure of a lifetime! (Part one)

The Lightning Thief/Sea of Monsters/The Titan's Curse: Written by Rick Riordan
Release Dates: 4/16/05, 4/1/06, 5/7/07
Format of Novel: Nook
Ratings: 5/5, 4/5, 4.5 Stars

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I need to make a confession, I only just started reading books by this author as of early this year. When I first heard of it, I was in my freshman year of college and listening to book tubers fan girl/boy about it. And I'll be honest, I wasn't going to pick up his books like Percy Jackson or his Egyptian-inspired trilogy because I fell in love with other books. However, when I started taking classes like mythology, fantasy, and so forth; Rick Riordan's name kept popping up. And as a result to it, I started buying his books, specifically a bind up of the first three books to his Percy Jackson series. And Let me just say, I regret not reading them in the past. I loved them and read them in a three day's span. Riordan has such a way with his writing that allows people to connect with the lore and characters naturally. I very much enjoyed the writing style, Rick Riordan was able to activate his inner child to make the start of this series so entertaining for children who are starting to take reading as an interest.

I'm sure you all know what this series is really about, but if you don't then allow me to explain. This series focuses on the young protagonist by the name Percy Jackson and his discovery of being a demi-god, a son to a God of Greek mythology. We follow his adventure as he tries to uncover more of his powers and the new world around him. We see him meeting characters with their own personalities and god-like abilities I.e Annabeth and Grover, and many more that I probably shouldn't state right now since most of you already read this series already.

One of the things I really like in this series is the concept of the magical realism we are told throughout the books. It reminded me a little bit of Harry Potter, minus the spell names of course. But, we are forced to focus on the importance of names, and other common fantasy tropes we don't tend to notice right away. This is just me stating these things due to the classes I took in college, but I felt that this was cool and well done. It makes us aware as fantasy readers/writers and sometimes we have to follow these tropes to make our stories more pronounced I wanna say, but yeah. Rick Riordan took his time with this series and it turned out so beautiful and my younger sister and cousin enjoy his books too.

Overall, the start of this series was fantastic and I'm dying to spend the money to purchase the rest of this series (and yes, I plan to buy the companion series as well). Percy Jackson is such a fun and humorous character and I want to see how far he's willingly to go stop Hades and Ares from possibly taking over the world. And also see how far Percy and Annabeth's relationship is gonna take place!

Book Review:The Sword of Summer

Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard (#1): Written by Rick Riordan

Release Date: October 6th, 2015

Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books

Format of Novel: Hardcover

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.

One day, he’s tracked down by a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.

The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.

When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.

Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die..

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At long last, Rick Riordan has created a trilogy with Norse Mythology! (Yay Loki and Fenrir!). This book was a delight to read. We follow Magus Chase, the cousin of Annabeth (not a surprise there if you as me..) and his journey in the demi-goddess status of Valhalla after taking the leap of faith to protect those that helped him and dying in the process. Wait a minute you may ask, he died? Well hell yeah he died.. How else are you going to get to the hotel of the gods right? Haha. Sorry there, I needed to be a butt with you all. But, for those that have read this book already caught on with this cruel short summary of the book. Any who, if you all followed Riordan in the past, you know that the end of the book or is it? haha.

In this exciting book, we follow Riordan's take on Norse Mythology and Magus Chase's life before and after he discovers the truth of his heritage. Unlike the Percy Jackson Series, this book took on a little more serious approach with the character development, especially with Magus. We see him transisting from being homeless, to death, to living in this freakin' beautiful and adventurous hotel filled with fallen heroes from all different times periods, to embracing a quest in a similar matter like Percy did in his series. In a personal opinion, I felt that this book was my instant fan girl book out of all of the Rick Riordan books I've read in the past because I felt a more mature connection with Magus from the moment I read the first sentence.

The other character were fantastic as well. Like the ones from Percy Jackson, these characters maintained a humor to them that we see from the crazy author that really brought out the story to life. The action scenes in this was spot on with exciting descriptions and the dialogue was realistic and wonderful. Each of the plot twists and milestones were a great touch to the start of this wonderful trilogy. Even though this was the first to Magus' adventure, I'm dying to read more of this protagonist and his friends in the near future. This book was a nice touch to Riordan's mythological world and I can't wait to read more from him in the near future!

December TBR List

Good day everyone, hope you're doing well today. Today, I'm revealing to you all my monthly TBR list from now till probably beginning of the new year. As far as the list goes, this month is mainly going to be filled with e-books or arcs that I requested from Net galley. Due to work, I fell behind in maintaining a personal promise to myself as a blogger to read and review more of these books on a regular basis. But, since I figured this month will be the e-book focused month, I should be able to read/review more for you guys and post them on here when I get the chance too.

Let's get started on the TBR list because that's what you've been waiting for right? Right.

1. Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin (E-ARC)

2. The Secret of Dreadwillow Carse by Brian Farrey (E-ARC)

3. The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden (E-ARC)

4. Wolf, WY by A.F Henley (E-ARC)

5. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (E-Book)

6. Slammed by Colleen Hoover (E-Book)

7. Her Dark Curiosity by Meghan Shepherd (E-Book)

8. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas (Physical book)

9. Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan (Physical book)

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I think that's plenty, right? Or should I keep adding more to it? No? Probably will keep adding more to the list on my own time or whatever. What are your tbr books for this month? Tell me in the comments below and I'll see you tomorrow with a book review. Happy howling my fellow wolves!

Top Ten 2016 debut books I can't wait to read

I know there's a thing call "Top Ten Tuesday" roaming around the blogging world, but since I work on Tuesdays, I wanted to switch it up and do Top tens posts on my own time instead on a set date since I'm a newbie around the book reviewing world. I'll probably sign up to do it on Tuesdays eventually, but I can't with work consuming my life. But, basically this post is gonna describe what books I'm dying to read during the new year and since it's already December, why not talk about it right? :) Now I'll say this, this list has only debut novels and authors that are appearing in 2016. I am going to make a 2016 list of other novels for authors that are already published, but have books being released during the new year. So let's get started right? Right.

(In no particular order)

1.) After the Woods by Kim Savage: As I looked at the summary on good reads, I'm growing more interested by the second, the premise seems to be a thriller theme with a dash of paranormal. Since these sort of books are up my alley in the reading department, I may snag a copy when it comes out. And look at this cover, mysterious right?

2.) Underwater by Marisa Reichardit: Like After the Woods, this book's premise caught my eye. However, since I don't read a lot of contemporary novels, I think this will be a risk taker on my part into that genre. Personally, I think it's gonna make me shiver and cry a little on how relatable this character sounds to a introverted person like myself.

3. Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan: I've been seeing popping up on blogger's twitter accounts and blogs lately, and my gut is telling me that this is going to be the fantasy of the year when it's officially released. But, only time is

4. The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie: Just the title makes this book sound and look fantastic as all hell. Plus the premise on good reads sounds pretty bad ass.

5. Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshabaugh: I am in complete and utter awe for this author because I've been waiting for her to make a debut with a book since she became a contributor in the 'Let the words flow/(Pub)crawling' blogs back in I want to say 2011? The premise of this book sounds fantastic and I'm gonna pick this up when it releases. I'm so proud of her for kicking ass and making a name in the publishing world!

6. Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton: The idea of this story sounds interesting to me, plus its nice to read books with diversity in it. :)

7.) Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst: This book sounds like a heartbreak waiting to happen, especially with the princess falling in lover with another. But, what I like is the twist within the romance and how the premise from good reads doesn't tell you much about it. Hopefully it turns out pretty cool in the end.

8.) Dreamology by Lucy Keating: Every girl needs a romance in her life and this sounds like my perfect romance story of the year. This is the first time hearing about this book and already, I'm craving it from what I saw on good reads.

9.) A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess: This books is apparently about magic and I do enjoy seeing magic in books. Haha.

and finally...

10.) Daybreak Rising by C.K Oliver: This is like number nine on my list, but I feel as so it's gonna be a little darker than A Shadow Bright and Burning. Though more or less, this sounds like a kick ass book as well.

Okay, so these books are my most anticipated of 2016 in terms of debut novels being released. What are you looking for reading next year? Let me in the comments below or on twitter(@xthewolfwriterx) and I'll be back tomorrow with a book review. Happy Howling!

NaNoWriMo: Final Results

Hey guys. Well yesterday was the last day of National Novel Writing Month, or the end of hell in my words. Haha. I will like to take this moment to give you all pats on the back or shoulders because we made it out alive. Even if some of us didn't win the event, it's the effort of trying our very hardest with the butt kicking and getting an idea out there in the world that may be the 'one' we will crown ourselves with the title of author.

So let's get to it, what are we going to do after NaNoWriMo? Well one or three things. Either plomp into food comas, read loads of books, or write some more? I go with all three if I was you. As writers, we have to balance our lifestyles with our writing and realistic choices like being an adult/student. It gives us the chance to breath and the chance to pretty much do whatever the hell we want since no one is around to stop us from taking a break. They see the way we look, talk, or even walk after dealing with our characters for a month straight, so the people of the outside world have to get use to us when we are in (how to put this nicely) our demonic forms. It's basically a sign for people to stay away till at least a week later or a month.. or till whenever we want a touch of reality..

MOVING ON.. haha. As I mentioned before, we writers are entitled to a break, or get that burst of energy to finish the damn novel! All I can really say is do what makes you happy when NaNoWriMo is done. If you want to keep working on the same project, do it. If you want time to work on another project, do it. If you want to binge eat, play videos games, etc- do it. It's entirely up to you as a writer and as a person. You can keep kicking ass like you normally do in your writing and edit the stuffing out of it.

I myself am taking a minor break from writing for a few days because I just gotten my new laptop (Trying to figure out scrivener and alternative to Microsoft word *don't have it yet..*) and work is giving me more hours (yikes) so there's that.. However, I will be blogging more now! Since I don't have to use my mom's laptop now, I can post book reviews faster than the speed of light. (Or try too at least lol). I dunno, my mind changes so many times that half of the stuff I say on here could be a bunch of lies or not.. Haha.

So what are you planning on doing now as a writer? Let me know in the comments below and I'll see you guys with another blog post really soon. Happy Howling!

Ps: You're crazies are beautiful and here's my final word count of the event.

Word count: 50,550

(So much better than last year! Two time 'champion' here lol)

Book Review: The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man: Written by Ralph Ellison

Release Date: February 1st, 1995 (My copy of the novel)/First published in 1952

Publisher: Vintage

Format of Novel: Paper back

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature. For not only does Ralph Ellison's nightmare journey across the racial divide tell unparalleled truths about the nature of bigotry and its effects on the minds of both victims and perpetrators, it gives us an entirely new model of what a novel can be.

As he journeys from the Deep South to the streets and basements of Harlem, from a horrifying "battle royal" where black men are reduced to fighting animals, to a Communist rally where they are elevated to the status of trophies, Ralph Ellison's nameless protagonist ushers readers into a parallel universe that throws our own into harsh and even hilarious relief. Suspenseful and sardonic, narrated in a voice that takes in the symphonic range of the American language, black and white, Invisible Man is one of the most audacious and dazzling novels of our century.

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"I am an Invisible Man."- Ralph Ellison. One of the greatest quotes I've read in the history of my reading life. When this novel was assigned in my African-American literature course, I didn't research this like I would with other books. I took it in and was impacted with large amounts of awes. The book was a hitter, especially with the beginning sentence. It made my heart jump from happy to sad, to bittersweet to nodding my head in bracing the learning about the struggles African Americans had to deal with during the fifties and sixties, including dealing with riots against those that hated them to no end.

The book is told in the first person point of view where the protagonist learned about his old school transferring him into New York City, a place he didn't know much about after racial events. But, given that the boy was naïve, he goes along with it and struggles to no end. One of the important scenes I ended up clutching my heart for the kid was he gotten himself stuck in the riots after being recruited into a gang. It was that pivotal point where we see him snapped emotionally and mentally, getting that he's dealing with racism and that he was truly invisible to the world and the people that 'taught' him the ropes of the city.

What really sparked my love for this book was how we don't get to know the protagonist's name throughout the entire book. I felt as so I was a part of this story or taking on the role of the protagonist taking on this crazy journey. Ellison truly did a fantastic job in his writing and revealing the truth to the eyes of the readers.

Overall, This was literally one of the best books I've read in 2014. I'm so glad that my professor made us read this book. It was the best one we'd read because it felt so personal and the imagery was heartbreaking and the cast of characters were powerful. I really wish I picked this book up sooner, but my school never really showed it to us so I was naïve till I walked into my course in college. This book is a powerful read and I highly want people to read it if they want to understand things like racism and the transitions of adulthood.

NaNoWriMo '15: Week four

Hey guys, so here we are on the final week of National Novel Writing Month! How are you guys doing? Decent? Did you win?! o.O You have to tell me, or not it's up to you haha. Today's short post is about music and how does music gets us writers in the mood to write when everything is rather distracting to the naked eye. I myself have a hard time focusing writing unless there is constant noise around me. (Which is normally why I write more in the kitchen where everyone is around instead of my room/desk.)

I wanted to exploit my musical tastes for you and maybe get you guys inspired with the music. If my musical tastes don't help ya, then so be it. Perhaps you would like share your favorites in the comments below? :) So let's begin shall we?

Ever since I was thirteen, I found myself falling in love with Japanese Rock/Pop/Metal. From the moment I found Gackt and Hyde, and anime shows like Wolf's Rain, Naruto and Loveless, I was hooked.

The way the Japanese was able to compile their music was heaven to me, a life's saver when I needed a escape from reality. The English lyrics are powerful in some songs and it inspired me to write and grow my career as a writer during high school. My favorite songs from Gackt is Redemption, while Hyde's song Season's call was heaven to my heart. To this day, I never forget to blast though songs when I'm in my room when I'm angry or in the mood to write. Along with the Japanese music, I listen to other bands like Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park, Evanescence, etc, just to get different ideas for the stories I'm working on and they help, but the Japanese/anime music sparked my love for writing and for anime. It taught me how to embrace other types of music and culture while working on the writing.

So what type of music do you listen too while writing? Tell me in the comments below and I'll see you on Sunday with another blog post. Happy howling!

Current word count: 48,286

Hyde's Seasons call:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H12yeB7Lmo
Gackt's Redemption:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXp0v93ZRTs

Book Review: Paper Hearts

Paper Hearts: Written by Beth Revis

Release Date: November 1st, 2015

Publisher: Scripturient Books

Format of Novel: Paper back

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): Your enemy is the blank page. When it comes to writing, there's no wrong way to get words on paper. But it's not always easy to make the ink flow. Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice won't make writing any simpler, but it may help spark your imagination and get your hands back on the keyboard.

Practical Advice Meets Real Experience

With information that takes you from common mistakes in grammar to detailed charts on story structure, Paper Hearts describes:

• How to Develop Character, Plot, and World
• What Common Advice You Should Ignore
• What Advice Actually Helps
• How to Develop a Novel
• The Basics of Grammar, Style, and Tone
• Four Practical Methods of Charting Story Structure
• How to Get Critiques and Revise Your Novel
• How to Deal with Failure
• And much more!

BONUS! More than 25 "What to do if" scenarios to help writers navigate problems in writing from a New York Times Bestselling author who's written more than 2 million words of fiction.

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I remember reading snippets of this from watt pad and I felt myself nodding to about 99.9% of her words and examples for writing. Beth Revis delivered such honest advice for writing in general and its fantastic. The way she makes the book speak to us is so breath taking and enjoyable because she's dead honest yet humorous with the advice. She flat outs tells people how weird and difficult the writing business is going to be if you want to make a career out of story writing. It's such a fresh reminder to see how these best selling authors of the fantastic books we love and fan boy/girl over are still similar to us with the challenges and so generous to help us get to their level of craziness because they hold the love for books like we do and want to spread the love to  the world.

My favorite thing about this book was the honesty. Like I mentioned before, Beth Revis was really honest in her writing advice book. She explained how the writing advice we'll always hear from other writers aren't always the truth. Instead, she expresses different tips on how to better yourself and continue to do you as a growing writer. Another thing that I did enjoy was the way she described her journey pre-published. She was so relatable because she really brought out the long process of how difficult it is to take the risk and the wait, oh the waiting process to hear from publishers and agents.. It's a bitch and at least she gave me an better understanding on how much of a bitch the waiting is gonna be when the rest of us start querying.

Overall, this book is great for us writers. Its honest, blunt, and quite helpful when learning how to 'write' or get into the business of writing. I'm so glad I picked up this advice book because she made her 'story' encouraging yet will described the struggles in a realistic way. If you are a writer, I highly suggest picking this volume so you can grasp the truth of the writing and get reminders that you possibly forgotten throughout the years. It's such a refreshing book for writing and while I do have a few other favorable ones in my tool box, this book is a wonderful addition for writers to have in their author toolbox.

What are your opinions about this book? Let me know in the comments below. :)

Book Review: Tsura

Tsura (Tsura #1) Written by: Heather Anastasiu

Release Date: August 18th, 2015/September 20th, 2015

Publisher: Self Published/Net galley

Format of Novel: E-book arc on Nook

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): In WWII Romania, Tsura, a young Roma (gypsy) woman, has no choice but to leave her lover, Andrei, behind and marry the grandson of the man whose basement she and Andrei have been hiding in. An epic WWII saga, for fans of The Bronze Horseman and Outlander.

“It won’t be a real marriage.” Tsura put her hands to Andrei’s shirt and pulled him in close. “I’ll never share a bed with him. I love you. I only do what I must to keep us all safe. Once the war ends, it’ll be as if it never was.” She caught his face in her hands. “I am only yours, Andrei.”

“Yes, you’re only mine,” Andrei bent over and growled in her ear. “When you put on that dress for him and walk down the aisle in that ugly goy church,” he kissed her hard before putting a strong hand to the back of her neck, pulling her forehead to his, “you think of me, here. When you say your vows to that man, you remember that it’s me who has owned your body tonight.” He again pressed his lips to hers. It was a claiming.

(Received this book from Net galley in exchange for honest review)

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This novel was the first one I've ever read from this author, I couldn't believe how much I loved it once I started it. I loved learning about the WWII era so this completely caught my eye once I saw it on Net galley. There was so much emotion and angst elements into this that I almost cried and I rarely cry when it comes to books. I was quickly able to tell how much research Anastasiu put into this novel without groaning in complaint about it. She did an amazing job with the research so it made the story so realistic in my eyes.

Plot wise, this book was different because I've never read a lot of historical fiction other than The Book Thief so I was happily surprised about it. We follow the gypsy by the name Tsura and her struggles to stay alive and have a happy ending with her beloved Andrei whose Jewish. She's forced into a marriage with a friend of her lost brother's to keep up with appearances. Over the course of the time, she ends up learning the truth about her brother and starts making a change for herself and for others that she meets along the way. I can't really explain as much, but this book was powerful in that dynamic.

Since this is a duology, I'm not going to explain much of this expect telling you about how fantastic this book was to read on my nook when not working away at retail haha. Yes there is a lot of information dumping with the short number of chapters, but in the end, its worth it because of how strong willed Tsura as a woman and keeping to her role as gypsy in tack because it brought out a awareness to me that things were a struggle for not only Jewish people, but to others as well that weren't considered 'normal' in the Nazi's eyes. Overall, this story was strong, emotional, and this reader here is waiting for the stunning conclusion of this duology.

Book Review: Carry On

Carry on: written by Rainbow Rowell

Release date: October 6th, 2015

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Format of Novel: Hardcover

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

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You guys(sssssss)! I'm fan girling so hard core right now! This book was freakin' amazing! (Course you probably know this by now.) I can't simply put the enjoyment I have for this within flopping my sweatshirt sleeves happily for days. Carry On is the 'fan fic' of Rainbow Rowell's novel Fan girl and to be quite honest, I found this novel to be her best one out of all of the ones she's written thus far. The characters were fantastic and querky (Loved Baz to pieces). Even though they were almost similar to the cast of the Harry Potter series, they held a originally to them that made me wanting so much more. (I finished the book in two days flat.. Sad huh?). They were so real to me as a reader, and they made me feel as so I was a direct witness to the entire adventure the cast had to endure to save their school and the world of magic.

Speaking of the world of magic, the system was interesting as well. While I did laugh at the way they had to say their spells, I thought that this was a very nice way to connect with children and perhaps people that don't normally read books like we do. The system of magic is surprisingly well known to the entire world instead of a secret to the norms.

Another thing that I was really, really in love with was the romance. Rainbow Rowell made it so fucking perfect between Simon and Baz.. It felt so, so natural, yet she took the time to make it slowly develop into something so unique and cry worthy. The passages between the two were beautifully written and ohh my word, I was so excited to read the passages and just smile from ear to ear.

This story guys, please pick up this book if you want to see some real romantic moments. I know the magical system is going to be weird because of the similarity to Harry Potter, but this book develops into something fantastic for readers to enjoy. I know it may not be the best book out there, but its nice and natural.

NaNoWriMo Week Three

Hey guys, hope things are well. How's NaNoWrimo going on for you thus far? It's been officially three week since this epic event started and man, we are kicking ass with our novels right? (or getting inspired everyday right?). Probably by the time you read this post, it would already be Sunday morning and I'm on track for the word count (35,000). Hopefully you all are kicking some ass with your writing too. :) I wanna hear about it..

In today's post, I felt that I needed to talk about one of the most important things in story writing. No it's not about plot or grammar since that those are the basic stuff in writing in my opinion, but I wanna talk about the way I see characters. Characters are what brings the story to life with their personalities and actions because about 80% of the time we want to go on epic adventures instead of dealing with stupid stuff like being an adult or student in school. When we write, we create these people out of our own minds, usually about what we desire to be or fantasize people that we want to see in real life, but never really do. However, sometimes they don't always get along with us and we can't write their stories until you break their grounds and force yourself to write shitty and revise later.

With my characters, its truly a hit or miss. They traveled with me everywhere I go like work, random trips, or their buddies' stories to examine what will happen to them if they don't behave. I mean, I don't know how you guys get along with your characters, but I'm just gonna point out how I manage to deal with them. Maybe these tips will help ya, but maybe not.

1. Torture: Blast music in your ears to block them from annoying you or torture them with shitty music if you're focusing on one project instead of five at once so they will behave and let you work. When you want to work one specific project, it usually works quite well.

2. Watch guilty pleasure shows: It's gonna help you get inspire to write and gather ideas for writing. In a way, its like your characters are watching the show with you so they can get inspire as well to be more developed once you get down to writing.

3. Eat sweets (Loads of it): If you want to treat your characters like human-ish beings, then you want to treat them with sweets so they can get along with. (It can be use as doggy treat when they're not working nicely with ya)

and finally 4. Have a conservation with them: They need that humanity to meld their personalities and motives because that's one of the most important parts when writing/reading. Characters are vile, we need them to read about them in order to enjoy their story to the fullest.

So there you have it, my odd tips of how to make get along with your characters. How do you get along with your characters while in the middle of the writing process? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be with another post real soon. See you later and happy howling!

Word count as of 11:30 for NaNoWriMo: 35,479 words

Book Review: The Dream Thieves

The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Release Date: September 17th, 2013

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Format of Novel: Hardcover

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?

Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself.

One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.

And sometimes he's not the only one who wants those things.

Ronan is one of the raven boys—a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan's secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface—changing everything in its wake.

(Review contains minor spoilers due to be a continuation to a series)

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This book is the first sequel to the Raven Cycle series by the whimsical Maggie Stiefvater and it mostly focuses on Ronan, the 'bad boy' of the group and the drama between him and his family. I loved Ronan's characters in this series because we get to realize that he is a complex character with a ability we never really seen before (or at least I haven't) in books. I loved how snarky he can be towards Gansey and how independent he can be. It showed that he can pull off the anti-hero status, which I have a feeling that might be the case when they continue their search for the Raven King. Plus his talent, my word that is an amazing talent right? Adam is one of my favorites (shipping him and Rowan together..), he's so stubborn but is completely loyal like Gansey and everyone else in the group of friends.

I also enjoyed the different subplots in this book as well. We got to see the characters grow a little more and get to see Adam finally changing his life for the better and Blue coming more out of her shell and into a strong character. She's one of the top three favorites of mine for this series along with Rowan and Gansey. Speaking of their 'leader, Gansey is so sweet in this book. He's so curious and helpful and it kills me every time when people just treat him like garbage.

This book brought out a woven to Ronan's past, learning about his brothers and seeing how they might fit with everything in the next book. Especially with their special powers, it makes me want to see it first hand and maybe hint Ronan on grabbing a few things for me haha. Overall, I really need to read the next book because this series is fantastic with the wordsmith and lively characters that continue to steal my heart even to this day. What is your opinion on the Raven Boy Series? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be back soon with another book review. Happy howling! :)

Book Review: Blood and Salt

Blood and Salt: Written by Kim Liggett

Release Date: September 22nd, 2015

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Format of Novel: Hardcover

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.” These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to the spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to Quivira, Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling cornstalks of this village lost to time.

Ash is plagued by memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the town’s history of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels drawn to Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.

As the community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash must fight not only to save her mother, but herself—and discover the truth about Quivira before it’s too late. Before she’s all in—blood and salt

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This was one of books I was dying to read this book for a period of time because I love me some horror romance. Coming from a person that enjoys that genre, I decided to take a gander at this novel. Meaningless to say, I did enjoy it quite a bit. It was fast pace and I giggled at some of the chapter names even though I wasn't suppose too. The concept of the story was gripping and suspenseful, considering the elements of a cult and alchemy, I was able to be pleasantly surprise by the events Ashlyn and her twin brother endured while trying to save their mother from becoming a vessel for their ancestor.

The pacing of the story was spot on, though I was slowly loosing interesting because I wanted it to have more suspense into it and a couple of the twists were predictable. But, the significant ones were executed quite nicely. I enjoyed the main cast of characters very much, they were out of it yet a perfect fit for this time of duology.

The only main problem I did have with Blood and Salt was that this book reminded me too much of the Mara Dyer trilogy. It was probably because of the mind bending stuff we see in that trilogy, but I think I had too high of an expectation for this book since Mara Dyer was such a beautiful crafted novel for psychological thrillers in my opinion.

All in all, I found this debut novel compelling, suspenseful, and interesting due to the occult elements that this book. I thought it did lack a little with the twists, but otherwise, I fairly enjoyed this novel. I eagerly await for the sequel that will released next year and possibly other novels from this author as well if she continues her writing in the horror genre.

NaNoWriMo Week Two

Hey guys, so I apologize for not committing to the twitter sprints. I had work during the times I wanted to do them so I couldn't really get to a computer without passing out. So as a result to it, I'm not gonna do the sprints this year, but next year for Camp NaNoWrimo in April for you all. :) Now on to the next activity, week two. This week, I barely made the word count for the past few days. Throughout this week, I had to work odd shifts at work and the motivation to write was crashing down so hard since all I wanted to do was watch Arrow.

However, after tonight, I'll be caught up and reading like a speed demon for reviews, I just hope you all can forgive me and join me in April for twitter related fun and what not. Any who, what was planned for this week was me listing down some (hopefully) helpful writing tools that helps us get through the day of writing like a fiend. So today I'm going to list ten tools I like to use to get me writing and maybe inspire you guys the stuff you like to use while writing. :)

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1. Laptop/computers: That one is pretty oblivious right? The laptop are the godsend objects that allow to hide away our drafts in a locked and key location. To help gather information for our lovely projects, and to watch Netflix when bored.

2. Scrivener and Microsoft word: Now I'm still getting use to scrivener, but Microsoft word has been a godsend to use. It helps me write my manuscripts in private, and there's so much to learn about the program while editing the shit out of the drafts too.

3. Notebooks, Pens/Pencils, binders (etc): These older tools are still legendary to us writers, but yet we still use them for private journals, school, just about everything we can muster. It helps us keep organize and enjoy ourselves in the daydreaming world.

4. Food/Books: People gotta eat, have snacks, have a few drinks to get the heat going in their systems. Plus, books are a huge ass help to feel motivated and get tips on how to grow as a better writer too.

5. Comfy clothes: If a writer is comfy, the writer is happy. If the writer are wearing stuff that involves going into reality to do adult things, then we are not happy at all.

6. Comfort drinks: Many of us like coffee and liquor. I'm on the liquor department, but after drinking ice tea, water, hot chocolate, the energy just keeps on going haha.

7. Music/head phones: Let's use the time wrap again! Music is the best thing in the entire world.

8. Blankets/pillows: To keep our bodies warm when we don't want to move from the bed or couches.

9. Pets: The comfort of animals is a wonderful thing when you're dealing with stress. Animals have a weird ability to know when someone is need to be relax while they work. My dog helps me whenever I'm alone and she sits with me like right now as I type this for ya.

10. Family/friends: We all need a party of people that jumpstart our fan base. They are there when you cheer, cry, vent too when stress. They know how you act and feel and support you even when they tease you about hiding in a cave for days just to write.

So that was my list, what's your list of tools when writing the big stuff? Let me know in the comments below and I'll see you on Monday, happy howling!

NaNoWriMo Week One

Hey guys, well today at midnight is the end of week one for the NaNoWriMo. Since this post is mainly about an update and some quotes, I figured we should get right down to it right? So, how are things going for you all? Are you reaching today's goal or just writing for fun without a focus on the word count like I am? :) On my end, I'm meeting the goal, but at the same time, I'm taking my time because real life and laziness. So far, I'm about to reach 11,000 with my bucket list, but I have a fan-fic project taking over the bucket's manuscript and you don't have much control over it whenever the story pops right into your head. But, other than that silliness, things are decent.

Now onto the main focus of week one, writing quotes. We all get into those horrible ruts that deepens our depression and lowers our confidence levels by let's say 50% of the time. When we don't have that special motivation, sometime we look to other things that would boost ourselves to our fullest to keep on going with our writing. So, today to motivate you lovely writers, I'm going to present ten writing related quotes I found on good reads and hopefully you'll enjoy them to the fullest. :) Happy Howling fellow writers!

1. No one can tell your story so tell it yourself. No one can write your story so write it yourself.

2. Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing." -Melinda Haynes

3. Writing is a struggle against silence

4. Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works." -Virginia Woolf

5. Be courageous and try to write in a way that scares you a little. -Holley Gerth

6. As a writer, you ask yourself to dream while awake." Aimme Bender

7. The secret of becoming a writer is to write, write, and keep on writing.- Ken MacLeod

8. Writing is the painting of the voice!- Voltaire

9. Your biggest problem is yourself. Getting out of the way and letting your imagination take over is the best way. Jerry Cleaver

10. There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter--and bleed. -Ernest Hemingway

Book Review: Shadow Sun (Spoiler alert)

Hey guys! So remember when I told you that I was gonna do something nice for you today? Well, let's discuss a spoiler-y session for the epic conclusion of Shadow Sun by Lani Lenore. If you haven't read the books yet, well go do so because this review is not really for you all (yet). But, come back for the discussion in the comments below or on twitter! Please do, I'll send you pictures of cookies, I promise.

Now on to the review!

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So this book, let's examine the cover first shall we?
 It's so freakin' beautiful for a self published novel. Oh my god, who wants to pet it with me? Just kidding. Maybe.. It symbolizes so much in the book, with Rifter falling down to Nevermor, how the pirates were formed, and how our wolf pack is dealing with everything to bring their once peaceful world back to some normalcy. We see everyone other than Wren expressing their personal desires. Finn wants to grow up and explore on his own, Toss wants peace with his wolf Bruno, and Sly, wanting to die after suffering for so long. Wren in my opinion, was a favorite of mine because she finally grew a set and wasn't as much of a love sick puppy like she was in the first book. She's accepting her role in Nevemor, going on to protect her new family, yet still maintaining her love for the fallen hero.

The other characters like Calico and Savoii were interesting, bitchy yet I felt that it was necessary to have them be bitching after their survival. Yet, I loved how they were slowly developing their own desires while with the Wolf Pack. With Calico, I felt that she was the opposite of Wren with being able to get pregnant with Sly's child and able to fight at a better level than possibly everyone in the pack. But, the way Lani made Calico a little soft before her upcoming death was heart breaking, especially after the way Rifter killed her monstrous lover seconds before.

What was a nice surprise was Max's return. Who else wants a spin off with him as the protagonist? Me? Probably.. I was so thrilled to see him return to us to help out in the quest and to rediscover his beloved sister again, even though Whisper only brought him back to get back at Wren and Rifter.. She was such a bitch, loved it. And Little Horn.. he was sinking cute! I don't care what everyone

Now to the plot, the plot of this story was a major 'WTF' moment after we learned about Rifter's past in Wren's dream. Who else freakin' figured out that Rifter was gonna be the Scourge in the end? And that the skull at the desk was **ing Calico's head?! Holy shit! I'm still going wtf because of that moment when Wren and Scourge were having their talks before the epic fight took place. Man, I can't even begin to tell you how crazy everything went in the fight. And Mach/Mech going insane, I wanted to hug him so freakin' badly. He's so cute and he didn't deserve his death from Rifter.. It sucks.. But, it was necessary for the downfall to begin really.

What did you put me through Miss Lenore?

And finally the ending, I'm still confuse about it. Was it a time loop or did Rifter get pulled into the afterlife where he can life with Wren for eternity or did time reverse? I don't have a clue. Overall, this was a epic conclusion to the trilogy, or at least in my opinion. So thank you Lani Lenore for giving me the Peter Pan series I've always dreamt of reading/writing and made exceed my expectations.

Alright guys, let me know what are your opinions on this book in the comments below and I'll back tomorrow with a another post. Happy Howling! Also, if you're doing NaNoWrimo this year, follow me on twitter @xthewolfwriterx for random sprints on Wednesdays and Fridays at 3pm & 8pm and we'll get some writing done! Bye for now!

National Novel Writing Month 2015!

Happy NaNoWriMo! Or in the writing, happy exciting hell month to us! I know many of you know what this month is all about so I won't go into details or at least the long ass ones. But, this year, I'm making time to make blog posts about this joyous event since I'm no longer in school. All of the information I'm gonna give you are going to be dates I'm going to be posting in relation to this so we can interact with each other as writers and maybe do random sprints on twitter if you're interested, of course. ;)

Originally, I wasn't going to take part of this, I was planning to stay hidden in the writing cave to work on it with no pressure from the limited time. Life can affect the writing and 80% of the time, I don't have the ability to balance stuff until its too late. However, once I saw the famous book tubers talk about this event, I realize that I can't do that. I needed to make a goal and kick ass like the rest of you can with your novels. In my writing, I'm a messy one that likes to work multiple projects at once instead of sticking to only one. Last year and 2013, I worked on my Reaper series and surprisingly I had success in it, including getting to 50k each time.. (Maybe its the calling novel? Just wait and see haha), but this year I have a messy method on writing various chapters of my bucket list stories. You heard me folks, I'm gonna work on my bucket list stories as a 'novel'. Twelve stories with multiple chapters, 50k, simple right? Maybe, maybe not. I just hope that things are gonna do decently and kick ass with you all on this monthly journey. So let's give each other the  motivation we need and enjoy ourselves because if we don't write, our minions (characters) are gonna kick our butts in our dreams lol.

Thank you for being a part of this post. I'll leave all the dates and twitter hashtag down below for you and let's be great writing friends on NaNoWriMo as well. Keep kicking ass and I'll see you guys with a book review on a random book in my shelves. Good luck and happy NaNoWriMo!!!

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Links:

NaNoWriMo: Rayne Wolf

Twitter: xTheWolfWriterx / #wolfwriters15 (on Wednesdays at 3pm & 8pm eastern times, will say otherwise if something is going on; starting on 11/11/15)

Watt pad: xTheWolfWriterx

Dates for NaNoWriMo posts:

11/7/15: Week one & Ten writing quotes (to keep us going)

11/14/15: Week two & Top ten writing tools

11/21/15: Week three & How to get along with our minions aka characters

11/28/15: Week four & Writing Music Hour

11/30/15: Final day, what's next for us writers?

Book Review: Shadow Sun (spoiler free)

Shadow Sun (Nevemor #3) by Lani Lenore

Release Date: November 3rd, 2015

Publisher:

Format of Novel: E-Arc/Nook (received from author in exchange for an honest review)

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): As it began, so shall it end.

Time has passed since the Rifter went into the sun, and while Wren has missed him terribly, she does not doubt that he will come back. She has tried to shadow her grief as she travels across Nevermor with what is left of the Wolf Pack, attempting to heal the land and restore it to its former state. But that task is made more difficult by plummeting temperatures, and the fact that the sun seems to be slipping farther away.

When a different sort of darkness comes over the land, Wren discovers that not only may she be looking to preserve the world for Rifter’s return, but she may have to save it from him as well.

Shadow Sun is the epic finale to the Nevermor trilogy, a dark fantasy based on Peter Pan
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Well guys, Happy Halloween! Today is the day we conclude the Nevermor trilogy by Ms. Lani Lenore with a short, spoiler free review since I got to work tonight at our Halloween store. And as a bonus, I will do a full on fan girl based review on November 3rd. (The book's release date). So let's get to it shall we?

This novel was a stunning conclusion to the trilogy with twists, new people, and finally- Rifer's past. From what was given, the book was left at a few months after the events of Forshaken Dreamscape. Everything  in this book was such a mind bend in specific parts that I have no exact words how to described it to you without spoiling so much. The characters, old and new were a wonderful blend and their growths were on point. The plot was point and Lani took it with a greater length from the other two books.

In this book, we learn about Rifer's past and how the war between the wolf pack and Scourge's pirates came to be in the decaying world of Nevermor. We also learn about the meaning of Sly's visions, everyone's hidden desires, and the return of a old face finally returns after 'years' of being gone for so long in Wern's life. There's so much to say, but I will create a spoiler-based review once the book releases to the public's eye.

Guys, this entire trilogy was absolutely breath taking and so beautifully done that I'm still waiting to hug a physical copy of this lovely book to complete my collection. Lani Lenore is a author that really needs to be recognized more for her talent in the horror arts of fiction, especially for this particular day. Alright guys, I hope you all have a lovely and safe Halloween, I'll be working till the adults are allow to have fun lol. I'll see you all with another review on Monday.

Happy howling!

NaNoWriMo Tag

Hey guys, today we are going to do something a little different because we are almost to the time of hell and fantastic fun times. That's right, its almost time for National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for us crazy writers. So, I figured let's start the Pre-NaNoWriMo with a fun tag I found on youtube created by Kristina Horner. It's basically a tag about the experience of NaNoWriMo and to encourage people to try this event out for the first time.

Let's get started!

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1) How many times have you done NaNoWriMo?

I've done it on and off for five years now. As a person with very low confidence in thyself, I never really sat and done it because events happened during that time. But, last year was an eye opener because I did it and won with my Reaper story by five words lol.

2) How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?

Umm.. Through fiction press and the blog "Let The Words Flow/(Pub)lishing Crawl" when I was sixteen. Helped me get through a rough patch in my life at the time and encouraged me to write again.

3.) What was the name of the first novel you attempted with NaNoWriMo?

Ring of Roses, a fantasy about a ritual gone wrong and a girl finding out the truth about her biological mother.

4.) Give us a I sentence summary of what you're writing this year.

Uh.. I don't have one.. I'm still debating if I'm doing this at all this year or not. Sorry!

5.) What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

My grandpa told me before his death "Just write the damn book, we're always behind you if you need the push" so I keep the words close to my heart because he was my biggest fan..

6.) Did you ever take a year off from NaNoWriMo? Why?

Yep, Personal reasons that I don't want to explain on here.

7.) What's your biggest inspiration when figuring out what to write?

Anime, music, and probably daydreaming.

8) Read us the first sentence from one of your novels

I can't really read it since I can't record stuff at this time, but I have one for you guys from a random thing: "Every memory is similar to a single petal of a flower. Holding onto its vibrant scents of the specific memory till it looses its gentle grip on the unbearable reality forever."

9) Why do you love writing?

I don't have a reason behind it, I just do.

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Alright so that was the NaNoWriMo tag. What are your answers for this cool tag? Send me the links to your blog posts or videos so I can see them! I hope you all have a great day and happy howling my fellow wolves!

Links:

My NaNoWriMo (Let's be buddies!): http://nanowrimo.org/participants/rayne-wolf

The Tag video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjP-mr0hprY&index=1&list=FL3ujVaxy12x5398r3CqihvA

Book Review: The Raven Boys

 

The Raven boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Release Date: September 18th, 2012

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Format of Novel: Paperback

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

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At first, I didn't plan on starting this series until all of the books came out. But, I decided to give this series a chance and I'm happy that I did. This series is so much better compare to her wolf series (and yeah, this is coming from someone that loves wolves with a fiery passion). The writing style was beautiful and the cast of characters were unexpected and fresh to my crazed mind. The twists and turns between the new group of friends were never ending and that really got me to fan girl loudly while in my room. The relations between the 'raven boys' were really interesting. I loved Ronan with his tough guy act and his unique ability (which is more revealed in the sequel), Adam's yearning for independence and love, and Gansey.. Oh Gansey, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He's been trying so hard to help his friends out while looking for this mystical ruin and the Raven King.

Blue Sargent was a very nice touch as a female protagonist. I thought she was going to be a weaker character, but I was completely wrong. I like how she doesn't have a crazy ability about her, but yet she still maintain a strong will to keep going and have a stubbornness to her that literally shines like the boys do in the series. The cast of characters were a wonderful bunch all together and I wanted so much more from them.

But, what really brought my attention to this book was the word flow and the power of Maggie's writing style. It's just so freakin' beautiful and lyrical. Her writing literally pulls you right in for an all-nighter and it's so realistic that you feel like you're a character in the book. She makes her words similar to classic literature we're force to read in class, but she makes it fun.

All in all, I found this story compelling and breathtaking. Everything about this book was original and whimsical with the word flow. The series is worth reading if you enjoy the mystery and an odd bunch of people banding together to uncover those mysteries of the Raven King.

What were your thoughts about this book? Tell me in the comments below and I'll be back with another post tomorrow. Happy Howling!

Book Review: Shiver

Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Release Date: August 1st, 2009

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Format of Novel: Nook

Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
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Normally I would fan girl about lycanthrope in Young Adult books. Almost to the point where a review like this one would be nothing, but everything a young teenage girl gossiping on how cute the characters and the whole plot was on point. However, this was a book I wasn't a huge fan nor was I disappointed in it. To me, this book was a flat plain on a developing hill.

Don't get me wrong, I love Maggie Stiefvater and her beautiful writing (aka Raven Cycle series) and her way to bring out characters in a entertaining way. But, for this book, I almost didn't finish it because I was muttering curse words at the lack of the lycanthrope I craved. The plot was completely flat, but it lingered in hope for a better continuation of the trilogy. However, what did drawn me into the book was her writing style and her idea of lycanthrope. I'd enjoyed how she made the curse more season related because I do think wolves are more associated with winter than summer. It was a great idea, but I wish there was more to it.

The characters were flat as well in my opinion. I didn't like how there wasn't any growth to Sam and Grace throughout the novel. I liked the romance between the two, but I wanted to see more other than the romance. As for the other characters, I think there were a little stronger than the protagonists, but perhaps there will be a better out look in the other two books.

Overall, I did enjoy the idea of the book, I just felt that this book was a slow debut to the trilogy. I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to read the rest of the series, but maybe I will in the near future because I do love Maggie Stiefvater as a author and I want to give the series another try because of my love for her writing. What did you all think of the book? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be back on Tuesday with another review.

Happy Howling!

Anti-Heroes: Vicious revenge for All

Hey guys, I recently brought this lovely book in paperback, and holy crow did I love it! (Hence forth the special title down below). This review is basically going to have me fan-girling like a crazed lunatic, but I'll try to maintain an honest review about this lovely book. So let's begin shall we?

Vicious (book #1) by V.E Schwab

Release Date: September 24th, 2013

Publisher: Tor

Format of Novel: Paper back

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

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When I first heard about this story, the premise was the one thing that got me hooked so fast that I wanted it so badly. But, I wanted it in paper back so I waited, and waited until I got up and brought it with joy. I was so stoked and let's just say I wasn't disappointed in this book. The flow of the writing was so fluid, it was almost like I was reading a comic book and the twists, oh my god. I regret not reading this book sooner. I was literally going bananas in front of my dad while he was watching his Mets game and took in the jokes when they started over my fan girling. And the way the chapters were set, it was literally like watching a movie in your head. I wanted to take my time with this book, but everything in V.E Schwab's writing kept forcing me to read this book till very end.

But, let's get real here guys, what really brought us to enjoying this book? You guessed it, the characters. Victor, Eli, Mitch, etc. They're all so amazing! I'm forever Team Victor because of his personality and his way to stay loyal to his motives. He's shown to be a introverted, brilliant person, yet I felt that he wanted to be loved. He was lonely and I kept thinking, if he was more open with his emotions, than maybe things would be okay for him. But then again, he wouldn't be the Victor I love if he didn't act the way he did in the book. I loved the growing bonds he, Mitch, and Sydney are creating throughout the present chapters. They're almost like a family unit and it brought a little bit of normalcy into this story.

Eli was also an interesting person because he was the one that came up with the theory of E.Os. In someway, he did dragged Victor into it with their growing curiosity melding together as a single unit, and turned this one thing into something huge. I almost seemed to see Eli as a possible cult leader. He was charming and gentle enough to lure people into his revenge against Victor for accidently killing his girlfriend (and Victor's friend). But, I don't like the way how he thought himself as God of the E.Os. It was a little too much in my opinion, but it was necessary because of the events that unfolded in the 'past' between the two friends. His 'girlfriend' was also a nice additional into his adventure to killing the other E.Os. She reminded me of Lillith/the serpent. And I almost cheered very loudly when she died in the end, but also felt bad because of certain things I cannot really explain until the second book comes out.

Overall, this book was fantastic. It was filled with suspense, anti-heroes, and paranormal elements that shinned nicely throughout the tale. This entire story almost felt like a biblical movement, but I enjoyed it because of how crazy every character was portrayed. I can't wait for the second book now even though I thought the ending to this book was a great way to end Victor's story. If this was your favorite book, tell me in the comments below about your thoughts. I'll see you guys soon with another review. Happy howling!

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