Book Review: What We Knew by Barbara StewartThree

I won this signed copy from a Twitter contest.  I love reading YA novels, so I was super excited. I loved the cover art, but didn't know anything about the book or author.  Most YA novels that I read do not deal with adult issues.  This one did.

I am not a drinker, smoker, or drugs person.  I guess that makes me very clean cut.  So I took issue knowing who this book is marketed for with all the drinking and things that went on.  However, I am not naive enough to think that this is not how most high schoolers behave.  I know they do.

For the majority of the book I felt like this book was disjointed.  It didn't seem to flow well.  It seemed like some things were very abrupt like the author didn't know how to get what she wanted into the story.

Three quarters of the way through the book I started getting anxious while reading it.  It dredged up a lot of emotions from my past that I thought I had dealt with.  So that was a bit unexpected.

The last 20 pages or so were beautifully written.  It is almost as if someone else wrote those last pages.  I really wish the whole book were written with that quality of writing.

I will say that this book does have triggers.  So if you have dealt with any of the following issues I would think twice about this book.
rape
incest
molestation
drug abuse
alcohol abuse

Review: Voluminous False Fiber Lashes

I bought this for a dollar off a beauty auction on Instagram.  I am glad I didn't pay any more for it because I HATE IT!  It does not compare to my Younique 3D Fiberlash mascara.  It just is clumpy, and makes my eyelids hurt.  I also hate the design.

Will never buy this!

Review: Don't Despair, Repair Hair mask

I got this in my Ipsy bag a while back.  I never remembered to put it into my shower to use.  Finally I remembered!  I used it this week.  Here is what I think:

Pros:
easy to use
not a strong scent

Cons:
didn't seem to do anything to my hair

This is not an item I will be buying again.

Review: Hot Spring Sauna Facial Mask

I cannot gush over how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE this mask!  I got it in one of my mystery bags from an instagram auction.  (if you don't know about instagram auctions look up m_t_sells....it's my selling page but there isn't much there).  This mask just had the feeling of a warm cloth soaking on your face.  Soooo relaxing!  It had slight exfoliation, and a wonderful apricot smell.  It was easily removed as well.  

Pros:

warming sensation

exfoliation

easy removal

scent

my skin felt velvety smooth for two days! 

cons

warming sensation if you don't like that feeling

you may not like apricot scent 

I will definitely have this in my mind to buy more of!  

Book Review: brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

This was one of our book club books for #adultbooklr (tumblr).  I had never heard of this book before, but I was excited to see why it won so many awards.  At the beginning I was concerned that it was just going to be a book written by a black women talking about racial issues.  There were parts of it towards the beginning that caused that fear.  Being a white woman, I am fed up with being told how mistreated the blacks are compared to white.  In my eyes, we are all the same.  Apparently, others don't share that belief.

Anyway, this book was a very pleasant read.  It was full of short, eloquent poems.  I didn't realize how fast I was reading this book.  I finished it in just a few days.  It ended up leaving me feeling good.  It was a very calm book (which is good because I was in the hospital when I read it).  It did talk about the civil rights movement somewhat.  I even learned a bit from it!  (somehow I didn't realize that blacks were trained to sit at counters)

If you are looking for a quick, feel-good read this would be a great option!

Book Review: Shadowshaper

This book was mailed to me by one of my friends to read.  She had gone to BookCon and got this as book swag.  She knew I have been having a hard time, so she thought she would send it to me.  I was super excited to read this book because I love supernatural YA novels, but unfortunately this one left me wanting.  

It has a great concept for the book.  Spirits that get shaped into art.  It's a wonderful concept!  However, I felt that it didn't reach its full potential.  

The first half of the book seemed to have been written by a different person.  I almost couldn't continue the book because I felt that the writing was below what I would expect for a YA novel. I'm sure the grammar would be fine for someone in the 14-15 year old range, but for an adult it seems a bit amateur.    

Once I got through the first half of the book things started to connect better.  The writing seemed to get better, and the plot seemed to come together.  I felt that the plot seemed a bit slow.  Nothing seemed to catch my attention until I was 3/4 of the way through the book.  The last few chapters were great, but I wished the good parts of the book weren't so condensed into the end.  I feel like the author just didn't know how to end the story, so it was abrupt.  It was a very simple, easy ending.  

I had expected more.  Overall, I give it 3 out of 5 stars.  Mainly because I know someone like my niece would love this book.  It would be ideal for a 13-15 year old girl that likes art.  

I loved the cover art of this novel.  I should also say that it was an uncorrected proof, so it is possible a lot of what bugged me about this book has been corrected.  

Book Review: The Dip by Seth Godin

This book was recommended to me by my upline in Jamberry to read, so we could discuss it later.  It's a very short book, so it's a quick read for anyone.  And pretty much everyone should read it.  It has so many possible implications that this book is good for!  I am struggling with severe Postpartum Depression, so while reading this book it helped me come to grips with my situation.  I also figured out some possible coping strategies.

I think this is my favorite quote from the book:
"Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can't deal with the stress of the moment."

Not only does it help me look at my business in a different light, but it also helps me to remember not to give up this fight with my depression (and trust me....it's a fight!).

There is another quote that I really like about running.  I like it because I am a runner.  No, not really.  This picture is me finishing my first half marathon.  So I am a fat runner.  ;)

"The Dip is not just before the finish line.  It is at mile 20.  Once you see the crowd at the end, finishing is easy." 

Boy is that true!  I encourage EVERYONE to read it.  Even people in junior/senior high school.  It's a simple read with profound thoughts.  

Book Review: The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

First off, this book was much bigger than I had expected.  I don't mind reading bigger books, but it just threw off my reading schedule a bit.  I think it is a bit different than Susanna's other books.  It was chalk full of beautiful imagery.  Due to her writing I know want to visit so many different places!

The majority of the book moved slow.  Not slow enough that you didn't want to read it, but slow.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.  Until the last quarter of the book!  The last quarter of the book was incredible!

Everything started falling into place.  You were so invested in these characters that you intently felt their pain.  My heart actually clenched up for these characters!  I couldn't put the book down once I reached the last quarter of the book.  That made the whole book worth it!

It's nice that she has tied in many of her other books into this book too.  You don't need to read the other books to love her books, but she will bring a character in from a book here and there.  It makes it fun!  This one made me want to reread the Winter Sea again.