So today is the 27th November, 2015 and I thought that I would do a little NaNoWriMo update. I have completely and utterly failed NaNoWriMo. There are three days left and I have only written 23809. There is no way that I am going to reach the goal of 50,000 words by monday. So I have made a decision. I just want to finish the book. I have seven more chapters to write before the end of the book. So I am merely going to attempt to finish the book. By the start of the Christmas holidays (18th December) I want to have finished writing the book. I think it'll be about 30,000 words by then. Following that I shall start to edit the book by doing a second draft. I have a feeling that I am going to   change the point of view (again) from third to first.

I'm actually quite proud of the amount that I wrote considering that it was my first time taking part and it usually takes me to years to write 10,000. So I'm actually really proud of me.

No I was wondering if I could have a little writing buddy someone who would read through my draft and give me some pointers. If you are interested then please comment below or go onto the review policy page. There you will find my email.

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2015 - 63
XXX

Do you have a certain place at home for reading?
Usually I read on my bed as I have a lovely little read nook with a lamp and some fairy lights, place to put my book and drink, and a bookmark pot thing. Also my bedroom is relaxing because I can surround myself with my books and wrap up in my quilt. It's cozy!

Bookmark or a random piece of paper?
Most of the time it's a normal bookmark. But I do have a habit of using old train tickets as bookmarks ... receipts too sometimes.

Can you stop reading anytime you want or do you have to stop at a certain page, chapter, part, etc?
I have to stop at the end of a paragraph or I'll lose my flow and that's just frustrating!

Do you eat or drink while reading?
It depends. Sometimes I have a cup of tea and some biscuits. Sometimes I have juice or a glass of water. But I might not be reading for very long so I don't mind not have anything to eat or drink.

Can you read while listening to music/watching tv?
I do listen to music when I read. Not all the time though. If I do then I'll probably be listening to classical music or movie soundtracks. Something with a lot of instrumental. It helps me focus. But the telly can be a bit distracting. Unless I'm reading whilst the family are watching telly. But if I'm really into a book then nothing can distract me.

One book at a time, or several at once?
I'm guilty of reading several at time. Always have done and probably always will.

Reading at home or everywhere?
Everywhere; I travel to get to school so where else do I read?

Reading out loud or silently in your head?
Silently in my head is usually the only way for me to read. Unless I'm reading aloud to someone else.

Do you read ahead or skip pages?
If the book is a bit dull then yes. But I do sometimes accidentally read ahead. Because I'm an idiot!

Breaking the spine or keeping it new?
I hate breaking the spine of one of my books. I like them to loook new and pretty on my shelf. However some of my older books are ratted to show how much I've read them. Which I think is also kind of nice. It shows how much I love them.

Do you write in books?
No! Only if they are books for school. But even then I can't stand it! I mean, I don't mind but it isn't fun. I would rather not do it.

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2015 - 62
XXX

What You Need To Know:
Title: The Lost Symbol
Author: Dan Brown
Number of Pages: 509
Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Action, Drama, Fiction
Series/Standalone: Standalone but revolved around the same male character as previous works
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: 15th September, 2009

The Plot:
Famed Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon answers an unexpected summons to appear at the U.S. Capitol Building. His planned lecture is interrupted when a disturbing object - artfully encoded with five symbols - is discovered in the building. Langdon recognises in the find an ancient invitation into a lost world esoteric, potentially dangerous wisdom.

When his mentor Peter Soloman - a longstanding Mason and beloved philanthropist - is kidnapped, Langdon realises that the only way to save Solomon is to accept the mystical invitation and plunge headlong into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and one inconceivable truth.

My Thoughts:
Out of all of Dan Brown's books that I've read I think this is my least favourite. The Lost Symbol follows the familiar Dan Brown formula that follows conspiracy theories, a threat to humanity and a rather large (and fairly unpredictable) twist. Once again, he doesn't disappoint. However, it also felt different. His writing style seemed different almost ... bad in places. Which infuriated me because the plot was actually really good.

Yet even though the writing style is ... inadequate in places it was strangely addictive. It took quite along time for me to get into the book (I actually started the book in November 2014) but once the action began I could hardly put it down.

If there is one thing that Dan Brown is good at, it is his plot twists.
Angels and Demons haunted me for weeks with the multiple twists it holds and I remember reacting rather loudly on a public train when I reached the climatic twist in The Da Vinci Code. All of them I did not predict yet when I thought about it I saw it coming from the tiny hints throughout.
But this twist blew me away. It took me a good half an hour to understand what happened. It was so far fetched that even now I can't comprehend it fully. There are tiny hints but really, I feel, that it's one big plot hole. Which really is annoying because it's brilliant.

I think the poor quality (yet addictive quantity) is to do with the large gap between writing the Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol. Yes he wrote another book between them but not following Robert Langdon so he lost his style slightly ... his writing flow. It makes sense really.

Rating:
I may have adored the plot line but the writing itself was so poor that sadly I can only give the book ***

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2015 - 62
XXX

What You Need To Know:
Title: The Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Number of Pages: 383
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Romance
Series/Standalone: 1st book in the Red Queen Series
Publisher: Orion
Publication Date: 10th February, 2015

The Plot:
This is a world divided by blood - red or silver. The reds are the commoners, ruled by a silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen year old Red girl from the Poverty stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.
That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates, Mare discovers that, despite her Red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver Princess, now engaged to a Silver Prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.
But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers; Prince against Prince; and Mare against her own heart.

My Thoughts:
I had only heard good things about this, yet I knew nothing about the book itself. Something that I adore. I think it is a beautiful moment when barely anything is known about a book. You can dive headfirst into a whole new world.

Personally I found the first chapter and a half a little bit boring. Okay, maybe not boring but it took me a long time to read it. Mainly it was a tad bit slow.
However, the rest of the book made up for this. It was so well executed. The characters were so believable and that twist!

There really isn't a lot I can say about this book without spoiling it for the masses. It's the type of book which you don't need to know a lot about it to enjoy. The blurb is all that you need. So I shall simply say this ..... go and read it!

Rating:
This book was all but perfect and if it hadn't have been for the slow opening then it probably would have been perfect. Sadly it took me a while to get into the book so I'm going to have to give this book ****

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of  - 62
XXX

What You Need To Know:

What You Need To Know:
Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Number of Pages: 372
Genres: Young adult, Romance, Contemporary Fiction
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: 2nd December, 2010

The Plot:
Anna Oliphant is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, an crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair. Sweet, charming, beautiful, Etienne has it all ... including a serious girlfriend.

What You Need To Know:
Title: Fairest 
Author: Marissa Meyer
Number of Pages: 256
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fairy Tales, Retellings, Romance, Novella
Series/Standalone: Prequel/Bridge book to the Lunar Chronicles
Publisher: Fiewell and Friends
Publication Date: 1st March 2015

The Plot:
Queen Levana's story is finally told in this bridge book/prequel between 'Cress' and 'Winter'. People know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her 'glamour' to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived in a very different story.
An unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death.

My Thoughts:
There's only one thing that disappointed me about this book. It wasn't long enough. It was so short (and addictive) that I basically read it in one sitting. Something that I never get chance to do anymore. Oh the joy of being a student. But I binge read this book.

I don't really know if I would class this as a prequel. It holds some minor spoilers for some of the earlier books so you should probably read them in the publication order: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest and Winter.

This book instantly hooked me. From the confusing opening to the dramatic ending and all the things in between. It had such an amazing narrative and it had all the writing genius of the rest the books.

Initially I began to feel sorry for her (her being Levana) but as the book continued I realised how twisted she actually was. Seeing it through her point of view was a truly magnificent way to show how she became the evil queen. It is true what they say; evil isn't born, it's made.

Although I don't feel sorry for Levana, per say, but I do understand her more. Which I think is why Marissa Meyer wrote Fairest. It makes you see the madness because there is always a new perspective that you can have on a villain. Think of Wicked or Maleficent; the list goes on.

Rating:
So I am going to give this book *****

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2015 - 62
XXX

What You Need To Know:
Title: All I Know Now
Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher
Number of Pages: 352
Genre: non-fiction, advice, guidance
Standalone/Series: standalone
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Publication Date: 23rd April, 2015

The Plot:
All I Know Now is the guide on how to survive the stressful world that is the 'teen age'.Growing up can be hard to do so this book helps to combat some of the harder topics for adolescents such as bullying and body image.
Thus helping any young adults to grow up gracefully ... most of the time.

My Thoughts:
I rarely ever read non-fiction. It's something that I really don't connect well with. I only really read non-fiction when I read text books. But I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't have the best high school experience and I think that this book would have been really really helpful for me back then.

The layout was brilliant. For those of you who don't know, Carrie Hope Fletcher is a musical theatre actress so it's set out like a programme! It has different acts for the different topics and an interval and a props list. I loved those ideas because it let me take pauses between the different acts. The interval was a nice divide between the two sections. Whilst the prop list has a detailed list that people can go to for help such as child line and other sites like that. That little detail truly touched me.

It's also filled with these little doodle illustration things that were drawn and put in by Carrie herself. They're lovely and fit in so well. One example being that for the interval page there is an image of Carrie in her Eponine costume as she is currently playing Eponine in Les Mis on the West End.

I have to admit something. I wasn't sure how I would feel about Carrie's writing style. I have followed her on Youtube since basically the beginning and she is very chatty and I wasn't sure how she was going to incorporate that. But I was pleasantly surprised. Her writing style is so informal that it felt like I was reading a letter or a transcript from one of her videos; she had perfectly captured her own thought process. It was both personal and informative which you have to admit is a bizarre combination. Yet it somehow worked.

Rating:
I just felt like I had to give it *****. I think that maybe I would have given it four and a half stars it that were an option but it wasn't because it wasn't completely perfect yet it is wasn't merely a good. So I thought that the five stars was the best option.

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2015 - 62
XXX

What You Need To Know:
Title: Dorothy Must Die
Author: Danielle Paige
Number of Pages: 464
Genre: Fantasy, fairy tale, magic, young adult
Series/Standalone: First book in the 'Dorothy Must Die' series
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: 1st April, 2014

The Plot:
Amy Gumm didn't ask for any of this. She was just another normal girl from Kansas; but it seems that is exactly what the Revoluntary order of the Wicked wanted.
But Oz isn't the the Merry Old Land Amy knew from the old stories. The Munchkins are slaves; Glinda the Good drains the land of magic; Dorothy rules with an iron fist.
Wicked needs amy to do one thing, to save Oz. So one thing must happen; Dorothy Must Die.

My Thoughts:
I've had real mixed feelings around this book. The synopsis sounded amazing but I had heard mixed reviews so I was unsure about the whole thing.
And I have to admit that I really wasn't that impressed. The concept was beautiful and at the start I had real hope for it.

Personally I think that too much time was spent setting up the novel on Earth; it depleted the flow which is rather annoying. Some of the characters were not believable which meant that I didn't fully absorb the story.

However, I have to say that the majority of the storyline can't actually be faulted. I loved the idea but it wasn't executed that well.
One key example of this is that on the blurb it says:
'Remove the Woodman's heart,
Steal the Scarecrow's Brain,
Take the Lion's courage
And then - 
Dorothy Must Die'
From the start of the book we know what has to happen by the end of the book, but we don't know why or how it has to happen.
I expected that by the end of the book that Dorothy would be the only one left. But I was sadly disappointed. Normally I have to complain about the author rushing but for the first time I can say that Danielle Paige spent too long setting up the novel. Thus making it rather boring even though the idea should have been amazing!

Rating:
I was so disappointed with this book so I have to say that I'm only going to have to give this book
***

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2015 - 61
XXX 

I'm a huge Disney nerd. I think I'm as avid a Disney fan as I am a reader so upon discovering that there is a Disney Book tag. Well let's just say that I squealed quite a lot! So it's time to get started with ......... The Disney Book Tag. 

What You Need To Know:
Title: Cress
Author: Marissa Meyer
Number of Pages: 550
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Series/standalone: Third Book in the Lunar Chronicles
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
Publication Date: 4th February, 2014

The Plot:
Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. But none of them care as they plot together to overthrow the lunar Queen Levana and her killer army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned in a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her net screens for company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai.
Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

My Thoughts:
Just like 'Cinder' and 'Scarlet', 'Cress' is a loose retelling of the fairy tale Rapunzel. I've spent the last year adoring this series and I was worried that this book would be a disappointment because it is so much bigger than its predecessors.
But thankfully it wasn't.

The plot was fast paced (although I have to admit that there were some dull moments; mainly at the beginning) and the characters were as loveable as ever. I had a fear that Marissa Meyer would loose the distinctive voices of each of the characters as it's written in 3rd person. But I could so clearly distinguish each unique voice and every chapter was so refreshing.

Now to mention Cress herself. Even though she's only young, her character truly reflected someone in her position and I thought she so effortlessly showed the dreamer inside of us all.

Onto the plot! I really didn't know where Marissa Meyer was going to take the book; especially after the massive cliff hanger at the end of the last book. Yet she topped it. The book was filled with all sorts of adventures and such amazing bombshells.

Even though she is a mega bitch, I'm loving Levana's character. There's something about her desire for power through all these evil, manipulative ways that I find scarily intriguing. I cannot wait to get me hands on Fairest so that I can learn more about her dark backstory before I read Winter.

Rating:
Because of all of the points above and the killer ending. Then I think that I'm going to have to give it *****

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2015 - 61
XXX

Last month I was an idiot and spent a hell of a lot of money on books. Don't get me wrong, I love my books but I'm a student and I can't really afford all the books that I keep buying since I'm supposed to be saving up for Christmas and stuff that will happen next year. But I keep buying them anyway.

So this month I bought 18 books for £63. I say 'I bought' but some were actually  of the books were bought for me but still £63 for 18 books; that's a bargain. I don't know if I'm the only one but I adore bargain book shops. It might sound strange but there are some charity shops that are just for books which I think is awesome! Not to mention that there are just some book shops that are amazing for buying bargain books in!I spent £28 on 11 books; three of which were a hardbacks and one was a boxset so I got a lot for an amazing price.

The books that I got from these bargain book shops are as follows:

• Rogues, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardener Dozois 
• The Legend Trilogy, by Marie Lu
• Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
• The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith 
• The 5th Wave, by Rick Yancey
• The Power of Six, by Pittacus Lore
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan 
• Eldest, by Christopher Paolini 
• Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer 
• Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer
• The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathon Stroud.

I'm an avid reader, which you really should know since you are reading this little blog. But what some people may not know is that I also adore writing. I write fanfiction and I've been meaning to write an original novel for the past millennium so I thought why not go for NaNoWriMo this year.

November is National Novel Writing Month, just like October is national reading month. And I have wanted to be apart of NaNoWriMo for years but I have always been too busy. The original plan was that I would take part from next year when I'll be in uni and will be able to spend time doing this. But no I decided, to hell with that. I am going to start writing it this year. So like an idiot I decided that in the most painstakingly difficult year when I not only have exams but also auditions that will determine my future that I would attempt to write a 50,000 word book.

Since I have uploaded this three days into November I thought I'd let you know that I have already written 6711 words which I think is very good. Hopefully I will be able to actually win this. If I did it would be completely amazing.

I'm writing this post because I would love for people to read my works. My four year anniversary of being on Wattpad occurs at the end of this month. Therefore I am going to upload my novel on Wattpad as an early birthday/anniversary present for all my readers. So from 18:30 today on the 3rd of November, 2015 I shall upload the first part of my novel.

Now onto the little details. My original novel is called ............................. 270.

Synopsis:
The world is harsh for the survivors living inside of the Dome; life isn't going to be easy when the world was all by destroyed by nuclear war heads. But life is especially hard for the children. At birth a lottery is rolled which releases a number between 7 and 22. The age that that child will be forced to leave their home and live out in the hazardous planet that they once called home for 270 days.

Bree Kampf seems to be no different than the rest of the 270 who will go out to die on the 31st December, 4052. But she knows how to survive. She has to since she's lived on the streets for most of her life. She knows how to survive. Or at least she hopes she does. The wild could be more dangerous than the savage world that she's already used to. Especially when Bree doesn't know who she can trust when the people around her seem to be just as bad as those outside of the Dome that they call home.

But the question is, what will she have to do in order to survive?

Excerpt:
The world was cold, as usual, and the blackened sky was filled with their infamous snow and mist. The world was silent. None dared move, not even those who lived in the shadows on the streets. Like the girl who had woken only moments ago who dared not yell out or even gasp, for none really knew when the patrols would gather near. The florescent lights flickered on and off over head, bathing the street in a yellowing light. The sharp wind curled around the corners as fast as death, it flickered up the scraps of the street and smashed them into any in its way. It flicked the girl’s jet black hair in all directions and smashed her limp limbs about. The wind was the master puppeteer.

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2015 - 61
XXX