A Step Toward Falling

Sometimes one mistake can change everything.

Emily doesn't know why she froze. Or why Lucas did too. They could have helped Belinda, but they didn't.

Sometimes people can surprise you.

Emily thought she knew Lucas. And she thought she understood Belinda. But maybe she judged them both too quickly.

Sometimes good can come from bad.

Emily and Lucas's punishment is community service with people with disabilities: people like Belinda. Soon they feel like maybe they're starting to make a difference. But can they do anything to help the one person they hurt the most? - excerpt from book

A Step Towards Falling by Cammie McGovern is a standalone contemporary book. This book has a very interesting perspective, a character with a disability. I quite enjoyed that perspective because it's eye opener for me as I would not have been able to understand a person with that kind of disability. The other character's perspective is also interesting as her thoughts are crucial in making the story progress whereas the one with the disability provides more feelings for the book.

I liked that the characters all had growth in the story and it was a good direction for them. It was really heart warming to read about the changes that those characters go through. Their actions in the story was reasonable where it really highlights the message of this book. I can't say that the plot is interesting, it was okay. The twist and turns were also okay nothing that surprised me. It was a book that had an okay pace with nothing dramatic or heartbreaking happening.

Overall this was a contemporary book that has a good message. I felt that this message was really important as the community are sometimes unaware of the difficulties of people with disabilities. I like the effort of the author because she wrote a good story to incorporate the message. I do recommend this book to contemporary lovers as it's good to gain new perspectives and learn compassion. As for reread I don't think I would pick it up again in the future. A quote from the book which I love:
"love isn't about looking perfect to the other person. It's about being able to show your imperfections." -Page 333, line 9

Top 5 Wednesday - Worst Love Interests (male or female)

This week's discussion is the worst love interests for the characters in the story. Many a times when we read novels, we enjoy the plot, enjoy the characters but not the love interest. Of course this is purely based on personal opinion because let's face it everyone is different. Some can love it, some hate it, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Below are a list of love interests that kinda annoyed me when I was reading the novels. These are love pairings that I usually do not support because I felt that it was not fitting. So without any particular order these are my top 5:

Gale from The Hunger Games

Sometimes I feel that this character weighs Katniss down too much and often I felt like he loved her out of convenience such as they have so much in common in family struggles or they go hunting together. I don't see sincerity in his feelings for her. The relationship just doesn't feel important to them.

Edward from Twilight

For Edward it was too much instant love, he didn't need to get to know her. He just craves her and wants her, sounds stalker-ish and too obsessive for my liking. The love between is just too childish, I guess that's how it is for teenage love but not all are like that.

Bella from Twilight

She is just too weak minded and such a damsel in distress. When they broke up she acted like such a child, such a baby. I swore I could have slapped her many times in the book. I totally felt that she and Edward is not a good match at all, the dependency for each other is just unrealistic. then again the whole book is unrealistic to begin with.

Nanoblock Giant Panda

These are the instructions on how to contruct the Nanoblock Giant Panda. I also have a youtube video in time lapse. Link will be after the photos.

The YouTube video:

Signs Point to Yes

If only Jane's Magic 8 Ball could tell her how to get through the summer. With her "perfect" sister, Margo, home for her "perfect" internship, Jane is not going to be able to spend the summer writing fan fiction, as she had planned. And her emergency babysitting job requires Jane to spend the whole summer in awkward proximity to her new crush, Teo, a nerdy-hot lifeguard with problems of his own. With his best friend out of town, Teo finds himself without anyone to confide in...except Jane. Will Jane and Teao be able to salvage each other's summer? Even the Magic 8 ball doesn't have the answer...but signs point to yes. - excerpt from book

Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall is a young adult romance book that is set in the summer. I have quite like romances that happens in the summer and usually I would buy those books when I spot the summer word in it. I guess it's because there's no summer where I am and there is no summer holiday as well. It's always enjoyable for me to read about what teenagers do when they have their summer holiday because it never happens to me. As far as young adult romances go, I have not had one myself in the past.

So firstly I like the setting of the book, it's just a simple story about a teenage girl doing her summer job and also falling in love. There is also some important life event happening at the same time which the main character is experiencing. It's quite a common thing as it happens to all teenagers when they reach that point of their lives. Another major thing that is happening would be to the male character of the book. I liked his actions and reaction to his problem. Both characters are quite cute and their interactions are cute too, I would have prefer more happening between them though. I liked that all characters in the book had a bit of growth which is relevant to making the plot progress forward.

I quite like the pace of the story and the plot was not too bad. Seeing that this is a romance book, there isn't too much twists but I think it was good enough. This was a really short book about 200 over pages so it was a quick read. I liked that even though it was a short book, quite a number of things had happened. This was a simple but cute and sweet kinda summer love story and I liked it very much. In summary, if you're looking for a light hearted, cute and sweet summer romance then this book is your cup of tea. I would definitely read it again when I want some summer lovin' but not when the story is fresh in my head now.

Top 5 - Best Suggested Books You Loved

I have always been on the lookout in the book community for the hypes and the trends that is going on around the world. With technology being a necessity in everyday life, social media often influences my book buying. No longer do I just walk in a bookstore without any aim, walking along shelves to simply find a book by reading it's excerpt at the back. Nowadays, I often buy my books based on suggestions or reviews from Youtube (booktubers), Google+ (book bloggers), and also Goodreads.

So pretty much a big portion of my books are suggested by someone and sometimes I treat those as my research on what to read too =P. But sometimes I do pick up books based on people whom I know real life (my cousin sisters). Therefore the list below is really the best that I've read in no particular order:

The Selection series

This series was recommended to me by my cousin sister, she has already completed the series when she told me about it. She is known to not like books with romances but she actually enjoyed this hence I was interested in the book knowing that her taste in books are similar to mine. I really really enjoyed the series because it was not insta-love crap that I usually do not agree with. I like that through time America manage to make her decision and find true love from the series, also this book had a good message along with it. I've already written reviews for all three books, links are below:

The Selection, The Elite, The One

The Night Circus

This book was very enchanting, very magical and a book that is so hard to predict. The characters were fantastic, the descriptions of the place was so wonderful, it's definitely a must read and I always recommend it on bookstagram. This was a book that I learnt about from Youtube and I can't quite remember who was the booktuber. I also have reviewed the book, spoiler free here: The Night Circus

The Rest of Us Just Live Here

What if you aren't the chosen one?

The one who's supposed to fight the ZOMBIES, or the soul-eating GHOSTS, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the BLUE LIGHTS and the DEATH?

What if you're like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.

Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week's end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.

Even if your best friend is worshipped by  mountain lions. - excerpt from book

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness is a standalone book that has an odd tale that captures you from the beginning. What is so interesting about this book is that the main character is just your regular teenager. This book focus is not on the chosen ones who fight off whatever evil that is lurking but the people around it like you and me.

I have to say that this book's chapter beginnings is interesting as it's snippets of some event that is happening in the town. It's not long just a few lines on the incident and then it's back to our main character. The main character and his friends are just your regular teenagers dealing with regular problems. You won't expect the book having some adventurous plot because it's all about their interaction with regular problems. So the interesting part is how those regular problems came to be and their dealings with it. There is growth for the characters but it's not major ones, yet they were still interesting to read about. I guess it's the characters that capture my heart with their story and struggles.

This was a really short read and the plot was not bad. The twists and turns were quite interesting and I felt that the story progressed at a good pace. I really like the side event that is happening. Overall, I think it was an enjoyable read because it talks about something that is quite real about the world and the people in it. This was my first Patrick Ness book and judging by other people's impression of him, he write really well. I cannot say I'm wowed but I'm still intrigued to read other books of his. I'm not sure I would recommend this to people who would want to try his writing because the reviews ain't that great for this book. But I guess Patrick Ness fans would want to read this. For a taste of his works, this is not recommended to start with. I was suggested to try A Monster Call which I heard has a movie adaptation coming soon.

I wanted to share a quote that I've found meaningful in the book:
"Not everyone has to be the Chosen One. Not everyone has to be the guy who saves the world. Most people just have to live their lives the best they can, doing the things that are great for them, having great friends, trying to make their lives better, loving people properly. All the while knowing that the world makes no sense but trying to find a way to be happy anyway" - Page 216, line 16

Top 5 : Biggest Badasses

LOL at myself!! I actually written a blogpost with incorrect interpretation. So the biggest badasses are characters that have lots of confidence, cool and frequent disregards of authority. I went and wrote about villains instead but no worries I'm writing a new post that fits this category. I will repost that with the proper title instead. There are many characters who fits in this category lately in young adult books. As the urban dictionary most top definition, that person is one ultra-cool motherf*****. So below is my top pick kick ass characters not in any order.

Wolf from Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles)

A character who is mysterious, strong and fights for a living. This guy never reveals too much and then when he does, well you'll be slightly surprised at his true nature. What he is capable of is what makes him a badass. If I continue more on him I would be spoiling people who will read Scarlet. 

Kaz from Six of Crows 

A gang leader in the most messed up city. His past which influenced who is he now totally qualifies him as a badass. He has so  many tricks up his sleeves that it's hard for people to figure him out. Even with a disability he is able to defend himself which is truly amazing. His mysteriousness totally appeals to me. To know how badass he is, please read Six of Crows which was my favourite book last year.

How to Marry a Marquis

When Elizabeth Hotchkiss stumbles upon a copy of How to Marry a Marquis in her employer's library, she's convinced someone is playing a joke. But with three younger siblings to support she has to marry for money, so a guidebook to seduction might be just the things she needs - and what harm could there be in taking a little peek?

James Sidwell, the Marquis of Riverdale, has been summoned to rescue his aunt from a blackmailer,. And, posing as the new estate manager, his primary suspect is his aunt's companion - Elizabeth. Intrigued by the alluring young woman with the curious rulebook, he gallantly offers to help her find a husband - by allowing her to practise her wiles on him. But when practise becomes all too perfect, James decides that there is only one rule worth following - that Elizabeth marry her marquis.  - excerpt from book

How to Marry a Marquis by Julia Quinn is a wonderful story about a woman trying to get marry and unexpectedly falling in love. I have not read a historical romance for quite some time now, probably a year's time and I was happy that I picked up this book. I adored Julia Quinn's writing and so far she is the only historical romance author that I've been reading. After reading so many of her titles, I'm still satisfied with her stories. This book was no exception, it was funny and at times your heart beats fast feeling excited for the heroine.

What I love about this book is the characters, the male and female characters were quite realistic. This is because at that timeline, I would agree that people of their status reacting the way they did. The female character was not the typical lady who swoons so easily and have gone through much herself. I love that the value of family is strongly highlighted in the story, and it's important to the characters. The interactions of the characters are wonderful parts, the conversations so interesting. The male character himself also have some issues but overall he is a man who would be wonderful to be married to.

I also love the plot of the book very much, it's such a simple love story, nothing rushed, no instant love and it's at a good pace. The events that happened in the book were funny at times and one of the twists was exciting. I love that the book did not try to drag on too long. Everything happened at wonderful timing.

Overall it was a very good romance book as I could not stop reading to find out how their love would happen. The thrill of the romance is definitely the moments for the characters and I loved all of it. I highly recommend this book to readers who love romance books, historical romance, fans of Jane Austen would love this too. Before I end my post I have to share this line from the book:

"Never forget that love is the most precious gift of all. Money and social status are poor subtitutes for a warm, tender embrace, and there is little in life more fulfilling than the joy of loving and knowledge that you are loved in return." - Page 375, line 14