“The Priory Of The Orange Tree” By Samantha Shannon
I have been wanting to read this for a long time and I know have the urge to read a fantasy book. I think this will be a great book for my birthday month! It is an 800 paged book so this might be a big reach to say I will finish it next but I do hope I stick with it.
Let me start off by saying I am typically not a huge fantasy reader, let alone a book about vampire’s. I really have no desire to read Twilight and honestly that could be because I have already seen the movies, I hate Robert Pattinson and I think it is way too popular (is popular the word I am looking for? Probably not.) I found this book all over Booktok for a fun YA Romance Vampire read and I was already not super stoked about it but like I said, I saw it everywhere! So I decided to purchase the first book with low hopes and jumped in.
About The Book
Author: Tracy Wolff
Published Date: April 7th, 2020
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Main Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Page Count: 592 Pages
GoodReads Rating: 3.77 Stars
Synopsis
When Grace’s parents unexpectedly pass away due to a car crash she must leave hot and sunny California and move to cold and snowy Alaska to attend her uncles Boarding school. But when she arrives she can tell something is off about this school. Every student belongs to a clique but she just can’t seem to fit in to any of them. She can’t even make it to her first class without her life being threatened. The worse part is that everyone seems to be keeping secrets from her. How could a boarding school be so mysterious and dangerous?
Rating
Review
I have read so many mixed reviews about this book ranging from five stars to one star. I have seen comparisons to twilight (which I haven’t read yet) and I have seen people stating it was super cringy.
Did I think parts of this were cringy? Yes, the romance aspect of this book felt very strange but then again it is a fantasy novel based in a high school age group. Thinking back to my high school romances I guarantee we were this cringy and awkward. So I feel like for a YA romance read this was suitable. The main character and her love interest also started off hating each other and just a few short days later can’t keep their hands off of each other which seemed fast until you read the whole book and the author I felt tied it together nicely.
As for this book being a knock off of Twilight, I guess I can see where these people are coming from but then again it still had its own storyline. I can see a few similarities just from what I have seen of the Twilight movies but honestly, I found this book and plot more interesting. Maybe I should read the Twilight series before I make the assumption that this is better. However i have no desire to read that series.
I gave this four stars rather than five stars because I honestly found the main character grace annoying more often than not and towards the last fourth of the book I did get a little bored but the ending pulled me right back in. I also felt like this book did not need to be 600 pages long, but even so I read it in a week and that is very impressive on my end.
I am very excited to read the rest of the books in this series and I really hope they just continue to get better.
QOTD: Should I read the Twilight series or just call it good?
August has officially come to a close so you know what that means! That’s right, it’s time to talk about what I accomplished this past month. Honestly I am not sure why I am making hopeful lists each month because I never actually follow along with them. With that said let’s get down to business (to defeat the Huns) Just Kidding but really let’s get on with it!
What Did I Plan On Reading
I told my self last month that I wasn’t going to make a big TBR for this month because I tend to over do it and then I never get around to finishing it. Well this month I did end up finishing four books but not exactly these four. I had a pretty interesting month where I tried to join a bunch of buddy reads to keep me motivated to read and then also try to still read my other books along with it. Well I did enjoy the accountability that came with buddy reads but I realized I didn’t enjoy talking in large groups about the books. Should I join more buddy reads this month?
What Did I Actually Read
This month my list of books that I read I was actually really surprised with the genres and my ratings that I gave out. I typically wouldn’t have picked these books out on my own which I think is the greatest part about the buddy reads.
“Razorblade Tears” By S.A. Cosby
This book was my favorite book that I happened to read this month. I am not typically a big fan of violent things and this book was extremely violent, but it was a very important part to the book and it helped create the characters. Speaking of the characters, they were extremely well rounded and you ended up feeling for their struggles.
I gave this book a well deserved five star rating check my review out here.
This book was very magical and had a very great message tied into it. I highlighted so many quotes from this book that will stick with me forever! It did start off a little slow which is fine because it was all story building that was much needed!
I promise you will fall in love with every single one of these characters! I wish I could be friends with them in real life.
Down below I will link my full review for you to read.
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling
I read this book as a buddy read for my first time ever! I wanted to see what I missed out on when I was younger by not reading this sooner, and let me tell you, I definitely missed out on finding a love for reading sooner.
I know this author has been controversial lately but I am trying to separate the author from her work. I did not write a full review on this but that is ok because I feel like everyone has read this already.
“Among the Beasts and Briars” by Ashley Poston
I read this book not really being a fantasy reader so I was surprised to enjoy this story as much as I did. I did knock it down a star for a few reasons but the biggest was spelling mistakes that were very distracting! I also felt the storyline had a bit of repetitiveness to it, but over all it was a super cute story to read and got me into reading more fantasy books.
I will leave my full review down below so you can see more information.
A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with. You may not live on the island, but you can’t tell me it’s not your home. Your bubble, Mr. Baker. It’s been popped. Why would you allow it to grow around you again?
A direct Quote from “The House in the Cerulean Sea”
I just love the thought that the people you surround yourself with become your family, safe place and home. Surrounding yourself with people that will always care about you is so important to our true happiness in life.
Life Events
We have added a new member to our small little family. I saved a three week old kitten from the dumpster at work last week and decided to take him home and adopt him! Being a newborn baby kittens mom is honestly super nerve racking, I have to make sure he stays fed every few hours, help him use the restroom and overall just keep him alive! I stay up so late at night making sure he isn’t going to die on me. please enjoy some cute pictures of my sweet baby boy.
In other news I also started a new job that I am absolutely loving! I am making so many new friends and truly enjoying the work environment. However, I feel like training typically is like this in new jobs. I hope I continue to love it as the time goes by.
Last week I received three boxes of book mail! What an exciting week! My favorite day of the week is what ever day I have a package at my door. Whether I know what I ordered or if I have honestly forgotten what I got for my house, it will always be a good day when I see that mailman.
My three boxes came from only two different sources. One came from One Night Stand With a Book and the other two were from Book of the Month Club. I know I am a bit obsessed with Book of the Month, I can never pick just three books so I have two subscriptions to it, yikes!
One Night Stand With a Book
This is not a subscription based book site. They have many options to choose from and each option comes with a drink mix and some snacks! The option I chose from for this order was their primum book box that changes theme each month and comes with a book, snack, drink mix, and many other fun goodies!
Lets explore!
This boxes theme was “Summer”!
Inside we have so many goodies!
“Been There, Married That” by Gigi Levangie
Flamingo rubber duckie
Two bookmarks
Tumbler
Sunglasses
Lei
Scrunchie
Beach ball
drink cozy
Snacks
drink mix
All of this was only $34.99 and it was all a surprise! What a fantastic company! I promise you will not be disappointed! July’s theme is true crime and it looks as if they still have a few boxes left, go check the web site out ASAP!
For the people who haven’t heard of this subscription service let me walk you through it real quick! Each month for $15.99 you get one credit that is good for your first book any book after that is $9.99, up to two extra books, so a total of 3 books for $36.00! That is honestly a steal if you think about it! Every book is a hardback which normally runs for about $26.00 a piece! Sorry, I am just so excited about this subscription! Each month they will pick five main picks for you to use your first credit on and then with your two extra books you can pick any book from previous months. A lot of these books are new or early release, this is a fantastic opportunity!
Ok, that is plenty of information , let’s move on to the good stuff!
My four picks were…..
“Last Summer at the Golden Hotel” by Elyssa Friedland
“We are the Brennans” by Tracy Lange
“Razorblade Tears” by S.A Cosby
“56 Days” by Catherine Ryan Howard
Three of these books were main picks this month which is insane! Normally I like one or two main picks and then I choose from previous books. This month they had so many good choices and if money would have allowed I would have gotten all six books.
Look at all these cute bookmarks!
Each box will come with a funny, or should I say puny, bookmark. I have a decent sized collection going but these are a few of my favorites.
If you sign up using the button below you can get your first book for only $9.99!
I am so excited to read these books! I would dare say that this is the best haul I have ever gotten since I started this journey. If you haven’t looked into these book boxes please give them a try! I promise they are worth it!
On Thursday this past week I received a book in the mail. The book is a hardback copy of Belinda Lei’s “Not THAT Rich”, I already own The E-Book and the paperback copy so if that doesn’t tell you how much I loved this book maybe this review will https://worldofbaiblog.com/2021/06/20/not-that-rich-by-belinda-lei-book-review/
I originally received a free paperback copy from the author herself in return of an honest review, this review ended up being a five star review because I truly loved it! This book is Belinda’s debut novel and with her writing you would never be able to tell that, she is extremely talented and able to paint a beautiful picture in your head as she tells her story.
The reason why I am posting about this book once again is because on the hardback front cover flap there is a blurb that I wrote! Can you believe it? Because Idk if I can. Someone pinch me please!
All because of an incredible Debut novel an amazing friendship bloomed and I couldn’t be happier! Please go follow and support my dear friend and her wonderful book!
World of Bai 