April 2020 – Reading With Daniella

Review: Hush, Hush

Posted on April 30, 2020April 30, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Good morning, my lovely readers!! I hope you’re all remaining safe and healthy.
Today I’m bringing you a review of Hush, Hush, which I was strongly encouraged to read by many friends on Bookstagram. I didn’t love the book but it was addictive and entertaining – the perfect distraction during these times. 🙂
Hope you enjoy!! ❤

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: Young Adult – Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Series: Hush, Hush #1
Pages: 391
Publication Date: October 2009
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Read April 2020

Goodreads Synopsis:
A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE
Romance was not part of Nora Grey’s plan. She’s never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.
But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora’s not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can’t decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen – and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read Hush, Hush?
What did you think of Patch?
Is it worth continuing on with the series?
I’d love to hear from you in the comments down below!!

Thank you so much for hanging with me today.
See you again soon!! ❤

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Quote Corner

Quote Corner #10: Kill the Boy Band

Posted on April 28, 2020April 26, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Good morning and happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying your day so far!
Today I am sharing some of my favourite quotes from one of my all-time favourite books, Kill the Boy Band.
Happy reading! 😉

The joy you find as a teen, however frivolous and dumb, is pure and meaningful. It doesn’t matter that it might ferment and taste different when you’re older.

“[He] was a living wonder. He lived and we all wondered how he did it. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. May he juggle with Jesus.”

I am so done. I cannot. I have lost the ability to can.

Did I love them because they were the only boys in my life who consistently told me that I was beautiful? Probably. I loved The Ruperts for who they were, sure, but I mostly loved them for how they made me feel. Which was happy. The Ruperts made me happy. The simplest thing to be in the world. And the hardest.

Maybe it was obsession, but it was also happiness; an escape from the suckiness of everyday life. And when you find something that makes you happy and giddy and excited every day, us fangirls know a truth that everyone else seems to have forgotten: you hold on to that joy tenaciously, for as long as you can..

“I wasn’t just going to leave because Orange unceremoniously kicked me out.”
“Apple.”
“No, thank you. I’m not hungry.”

“Happiness isn’t always easy,” he’d said. “But it’s a priority.”

I was holding someone captive and all that was going through my mind was a Billboard Top 40 love song. I was going to hell.

Isabel’s infamous tweets ranged from the cartoonish and impossible:
Im going to pull ur tongue out of ur mouth wrap it around ur neck n strangle u w it so hard ur eyes will pop out. i will pee in the sockets.
To the quaint:
Get ur fcking hands off him bitch i will cut u. #RupertLIsMine
To the cryptically disturbing:
I watch u in your sleep.
I would never condone Isabel’s scary tweets, but you had to give the girl credit for managing to stay under 140 characters every time.

This book is by far the most wild, hilarious and entertaining story that I’ve ever had the absolute pleasure of reading about. It’s very unique and creative and I don’ think I’ve ever before had this much fun reading something. I’ve read this book twice: once as a physical copy and again in the form of an audio-book. I had the time of my life both times and would highly recommend reading this in either format.
If you’re a fan of dark humour, I would HIGHLY recommend giving this book a try. This is also a fantastic story to pic up if you are a fangirl (or fanboy) of anything because you will probably find many elements of the story to be very relatable – I know that I sure did!!

You can see my review of Kill the Boy Band here.

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Reviews

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Happy Sunday! I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!! ❤
This afternoon I’m back with a review of one of my favourite books ever, The Unbecoming of Mar Dyer. I reread this for the third time last week (as if I don’t have a about fifty other books that I should be reading right now) and I had the absolute time of my life. This story never fails to blow me away.
I hope you enjoy! 😀

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Genre: Young Adult – Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery/Thriller
Series: Mara Dyer #1
Pages: 456
Publication Date: September 2011
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Read May 2015, April 2017, April 2020

Goodreads Synopsis:
Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.
There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong.

Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read this trilogy?
What did you think of it? Who was your favourite character?
I would love to discuss it in the comments down below! ❤

As always, thank you so much for reading. Until next time!! 🙂

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Reviews

Review: The Unrequited

Posted on April 25, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Good evening! I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy! ❤
Today I have a review for the first book that I have DNFed in years. This story had a fantastic premise and a really strong start, but it just didn’t go in the direction that I was hoping.
Happy reading!! 😉

The Unrequited by Saffron A. Kent
Genre: New Adult – Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 340
Publication Date: July 2017
My Rating: 1 of 5 stars (DNF)
Read April 2020

Goodreads Synopsis:
Layla Robinson is not crazy. She is suffering from unrequited love. But it’s time to move on. No more stalking, no more obsessive calling.
What she needs is a distraction. The blue-eyed guy she keeps seeing around campus could be a great one—only he is the new poetry professor—the married poetry professor.
Thomas Abrams is a stereotypical artist—rude, arrogant, and broody—but his glares and taunts don’t scare Layla. She might be bad at poetry, but she is good at reading between the lines. Beneath his prickly façade, Thomas is lonely, and Layla wants to know why. Obsessively.
Sometimes you do get what you want. Sometimes you end up in the storage room of a bar with your professor and you kiss him. Sometimes he kisses you back like the world is ending and he will never get to kiss you again. He kisses you until you forget the years of unrequited love; you forget all the rules, and you dare to reach for something that is not yours.
NOTE: Please be aware that this book deals with sensitive topics like cheating. 18+ Only.

Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read The Unrequited?
Is it on your TBR?
Let me know in the comments down below!!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon!! 🙂

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Reviews

Review: Again, But Better

Posted on April 23, 2020April 23, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Good evening and happy World Book Day!
Today I’m back with a review of Christine Riccio’s debut novel Again But Better. I had a few issues with the book, but I enjoyed it overall!
I’m also very happy to be sharing this review on World Book Day because I talked a lot about my love for readsing and relationship with the online book community in my review! ❤
I hope you enjoy!! 🙂

Again, But Better by Christine Riccio
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary, Romance, Magic Realism
Pages: 373
Publication Date: May 2019
My Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Read April 2020

Goodreads Synopsis:
Shane has been doing college all wrong. Pre-med, stellar grades, and happy parents…sounds ideal—but Shane’s made zero friends, goes home every weekend, and romance…what’s that?
Her life has been dorm, dining hall, class, repeat. Time’s a ticking, and she needs a change—there’s nothing like moving to a new country to really mix things up. Shane signs up for a semester abroad in London. She’s going to right all her college mistakes: make friends, pursue boys, and find adventure!
Easier said than done. She is soon faced with the complicated realities of living outside her bubble, and when self-doubt sneaks in, her new life starts to fall apart.
Shane comes to find that, with the right amount of courage and determination one can conquer anything. Throw in some fate and a touch of magic—the possibilities are endless.

Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read Again But Better?
Do you watch Christine’s videos on YouTube?
How do you feel about YA books featuring protagonists in their late teens or early twenties?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below!

Thank you so very much for reading! See you again soon! ❤

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Quote Corner

Quote Corner #9: Splintered

Posted on April 21, 2020April 20, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Happy Tuesday! I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!! ❤
Today I am sharing some of my favourite quotes from Splintered by A. G. Howard!!
Hope you enjoy! 😉

He’s a contradiction: taut magic coiled to strike, gentleness at war with severity, a tongue as sharp as a whip’s edge, yet skin so soft he could be swathed in clouds.

Raising one hand, he tilts his hat to that sexy slant. “You want me. Admit it.”
Even if he’s partly right, I’ll never tell him. “Why would I want you?”
He lifts three fingers to countdown. “Mysterious. Rebellious. Troubled. All those qualities women find irresistible.”
“Such an optimist.”
“My cup is never empty.”
“Too bad your brain is.” The words bite, but my smile softens with affection.

Morpheus reaches out to catch a teardrop on his fingertip. He holds it up in the pale glow that radiates from the few remaining sprites above us. A curious frown curves his lips. “You cry for him yet bled for me. One must wonder which is more powerful. More binding. I suppose we shall one day know.”

“I hate you.”
“Only because of the way I make you feel.”
My fingernails eat into my palms. “Only because you bring out the worst in me.”
“Oh no, luv. I bring out the life in you.”

We turned to find Morpheus standing there with enough rage in his black eyes to send the Devil packing for heaven.

“Sometimes a flame must level a forest to ash before new growth can begin. I believe Wonderland needed a scouring.”

I shake my head, eyes clamped tightly. “We’re too high … it makes my stomach kick.”
He laughs and inhales a puff off the hookah then blows the smoke over me, saturating me in the comforting scent. “That’s how you know you’re alive, Alyssa. The kicks.”

“No one knows what he or she is capable of until things are at their darkest.”

I love this series so much! It is such an underrated trilogy. The plot and world building were very well done, I loved (most) of the characters, and the writing style was to die for. The first quote here honestly remains to be one of the prettiest things that I have ever read.
I read this trilogy so long ago and reread the first book via audio-book last year, and it is definitely still one of my favourites! Its a very dark and spin on Alice in Wonderland that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good fairy tale retelling or a fascinating urban fantasy romance!
And good God, I haven’t even mentioned Morpheus. My, oh my, don’t even get me started on him. He is such a complex, fascinating, and attractive character that you simply can’t help but fall in love with. I would still consider him to be one of my top book boyfriends. ❤
On top of all of that, these covers are stunning! This series is truly the most beautiful that I have even come across, between the gorgeous covers and the coloured ink used for the text inside. These are actually the only novels that I’ve seen with coloured ink, but I wish more publishers would make use of it – it takes the physical beauty of a book to a whole ‘nother level!
A. G. Howard has since written a few more YA retellings, which I am so excited to read! I’m hoping to get to RoseBlood, a retelling of The Phantom of the Opera soon!! 🙂

You can see my review of Splintered here.
You can see my review of Ensnared (Splintered #3) here.

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Reviews

Review: Wicked

Posted on April 19, 2020April 17, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Happy Sunday!! I hope you’ve all been enjoying your weekend thus far. ❤
This morning, I am back with a review of the first book in Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Wicked series. As a massive fan of her’s, I was a teensy bit disappointed with this read, but I still enjoyed it overall.
Happy reading!! 😉

Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: New Adult – Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Series: Wicked #1
Pages: 376
Publication Date: December 2014
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Read April 2020

Goodreads Synopsis:
Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans.
Twenty-two year old Ivy Morgan isn’t your average college student. She, and others like her, know humans aren’t the only thing trolling the French Quarter for fun… and for food. Her duty to the Order is her life. After all, four years ago, she lost everything at the hands of the creatures she’d sworn to hunt, tearing her world and her heart apart.
Ren Owens is the last person Ivy expected to enter her rigidly controlled life. He’s six feet and three inches of temptation and swoon-inducing charm. With forest-green eyes and a smile that’s surely left a stream of broken hearts in its wake, he has an uncanny, almost unnatural ability to make her yearn for everything he has to offer. But letting him in is as dangerous as hunting the cold-blooded killers stalking the streets. Losing the boy she loved once before had nearly destroyed her, but the sparking tension that grows between them becomes impossible for Ivy to deny. Deep down, she wants… she needs more than what her duty demands of her, what her past has shaped for her.
But as Ivy grows closer to Ren, she realizes she’s not the only one carrying secrets that could shatter the frail bond between them. There’s something he’s not telling her, and one thing is for certain. She’s no longer sure what is more dangerous to her—the ancient beings threatening to take over the town or the man demanding to lay claim to her heart and her soul.

Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read Wicked?
What were your thoughts on it? How did you feel about the world building?
Did you find it to be too predictable?
What are your favourite Jennifer L. Armentrout books?
I’d love to discuss it in the comments down below!! ❤

Thanks so much for hanging with me today!
See you again soon! 😉

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Reviews

Review: Broken Beautiful Hearts

Posted on April 18, 2020April 17, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Hello, hello!! I hope your morning has been off to a lovely start!
Today I’m here with a review of Broken Beautiful Hearts, which is a book that I actually finished at the beginning of last month, but I didn’t get around to posting the review until now. I was really excited to read it, but I was quite disappointed for a number of reasons.
The cover is stunning though, isn’t it?
Hope you enjoy! 🙂

Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 407
Publication Date: February 2018
My Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Read March 2020

Goodreads Synopsis:
Her heart has to break before it can open.
When star soccer player Peyton Rios receives an offer from her first-choice college, senior year starts off exactly as planned. But when Peyton uncovers her boyfriend’s dark secret, she confronts him―and finds herself falling down a flight of stairs. Peyton’s knee―and maybe her dream of going pro―is shattered. Everyone is talking: Was she pushed, or did she fall? Peyton knows the truth, even if no one believes her.
He has to let someone in before it’s too late.
With her future on the line, Peyton goes to stay with her uncle in a small Tennessee town to focus on her recovery. Dating is the last thing on her mind―until she meets sweet, sexy Owen Law.
But Peyton doesn’t trust her heart, especially when she senses that Owen is hiding something. When their secrets are finally exposed, Peyton has to decide if love is worth fighting for.

Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read Broken Beautiful Hearts?
Did you enjoy it? How did you feel about the romance?
Have you read any of Kami Garcia’s books?
Let me know in the comments down below!!

Thank you so much for joining me today. Until next time!

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Reading Challenges, Reviews

Review: That Summer

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Good morning, my lovely readers! I hope you all have been having a great week. 🙂
This morning I am bringing you a review of Sarah Dessen’s debut novel, That Summer. This was definitely my least favourite of the ten books that I’ve read by her, but I’m glad I finally had the opportunity to read her first book.
I read this book for my Divination exam in the Magical Readathon!
Hope you enjoy!! ❤

That Summer by Sarah Dessen
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 208
Publication Date: January 1996
My Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Read April 2020

Goodreads Synopsis:
For fifteen-year-old Haven, life is changing too quickly. She’s nearly six feet tall, her father is getting remarried, and her sister—the always perfect Ashley—is planning a wedding of her own. Haven wishes things could just go back to the way they were. Then an old boyfriend of Ashley’s reenters the picture, and through him, Haven sees the past for what it really was, and comes to grips with the future.

Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Is That Summer on your TBR?
Have you read That Summer?
How did you think it compared to her other novels?
What are your favourite and least favourite Sarah Dessen novels?

As always, thank you so very much for reading. 🙂
See you again soon!! ❤

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

See my reviews of Sarah Dessen’s other books:
Along for the Ride – Sarah Dessen
Someone Like You – Sarah Dessen
What Happened to Goodbye – Sarah Dessen

Quote Corner

Quote Corner #8: Mockingjay

Posted on April 14, 2020April 9, 2020 by Daniella @ Reading With Daniella

Good morning and happy Tuesday! I hope you are all staying healthy and safe!
I’m back with another weekly quote – this time I selected Mockingjay.
I hope you enjoy!! 🙂

“It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”

Haha, for once in my life I finally only have one quote to share from a book. But I adore this one so much that it honestly deserved a post all to itself. It’ so simple, but so lovely, and holds all the truth in the world.

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.