Wrapping Up January!

Not quite sure where January went but its time to wrap up another month on the blog. New Years Eve feels like it was actually yesterday so I'm trying not to think about the fact that 1 month of 12 has already been and gone. This month was a weird one, between work and school I didn't really achieve much- but that's how January tends to be. I hope you enjoy this post!

Books

-Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover by Ally Carter

5 stars

-Only The Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

5 stars

-Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

5 stars

-United We Spy by Ally Carter

5 stars

-Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling 

5 stars (obviously)

My reading month was basically taken over by The Gallagher Girls series which I'm okay with because it was the best. And then reading Harry Potter again was so great and just as magical as the first time I read it, so excited to carry on with my re-read of the series.

Music

A couple of days ago I went to see one of my favourite bands in the world, The Kooks. It was such a great experience to be able to see them and they put on an amazing show, definitely one of the best gigs I've ever been to. If you ever get the chance to see them then I would highly recommend it, they are just happiness in a band.

The songs I had on repeat this month:

-Simple Minds- Don't You Forget About Me (I have this song on repeat every month though so its not saying much)

-Cornershop- Brimful of Asha 

-Rap Monster- Awakening

-Troye Sivan- Youth

-M83- Reunion

-The Kooks- Westside

Film

This category is hard to write about this month because I literally saw no new films. Which is crazy because usually I seem to live at the cinema, but I have watched a lot of TV this month so I thought I'd just break the rules and count that as film. These are the main TV shows I've been watching this month.

-Shadowhunters

January gave us the TV show adaptation of The Mortal Instruments series, Shadowhunters. So far we've had 3 episodes and although I'm kind of dying from the cringe, at the moment I'm willing to get past it. I really hope they can bring this TV show up to the standard of the books.

-Pretty Little Liars

I was so excited for this show to return and it didn't disappoint. Its come back bigger and better than ever, I am pretty scared about what is to come but right now the tension is high.

-Deutschland 83

This show has just blown me away and I need the next episode so bad. I didn't expect to love this show as much as I do, but 4 episodes in and I'm literally lost for words at how good it is. If you get the chance, watch this show. Its probably the most tense show I've ever watched and I looovveee it. 

February brings quite a few things. I'm going to Germany which I'm really excited about, I'll also be beginning my driving lessons, so hopefully it will be a fun month! I hope you had a great January and have an even better February and I'll be back soon with another post!

-Darcy

February TBR

So today's post is coming a little bit early, but this is a TBR mainly for February, but also for the last week of January. These are all the books I am wanting to read as soon as possible. At the moment it just seems as if there are even more amazing books to read than usual, every book on my shelf is calling to me and thats pretty exciting. So here is the list of books that are at the top of my priority list.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Having just completed my re-read of The Philosophers Stone, I am so excited to carry on with the second book. Reading these books again is just as magical as the first time and I can't wait to re-experience The Chamber of Secrets.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one who hasn't read this book, I've held off on it for way too long for no real reason. But now that I have the book I feel like I'm definitely in the mood for it. 

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick 

I have heard so much about this book but up until recently it wasn't released in the UK. Now I have it! I will be going on holiday in February so that's when I should be reading this one, hopefully I will love it as much as everyone else.

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

When I ordered this book I was so excited about it! But I got distracted by other books and I have now yet to read it... So I hope that this month I can re-kindle my excitement and finally read this!

For now I'm going to leave my TBR at that, its not a crazy amount but I don't want to commit to a huge pile of books and then get annoyed with myself for not getting around to them. Hopefully February won't be as busy as February was so I will have more time... I guess we will see in my February Wrap Up! Thank you for reading this post and I will see you with another one soon!

-Darcy 

Series Review- Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter

'Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her? 

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.'

Read this series, you will not regret it.

The Gallagher Girls Series by Ally Carter

My Rating- 5 Stars

Genre- Romance, spy

Books- I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You, Cross My Heart and Hope To Spy, Only The Good Spy Young, Out of Sight Out of Time, United We Spy

This review is mainly going to be about books 2-6 of this series as those are the ones which I have just finished binge reading. When I read the first book about 2 years ago, I wasn't that taken by it, it didn't grab my attention and I found it a bit too middle grade for my liking. But when I saw the second book in the series at a really good price a couple of months ago, I thought I would give it another go as my best friend absolutely loves this series. That was possibly the best decision I have ever made... (I can't decide if I'm exaggerating or not)

Over the last two weeks or so, this series has been the only thing I have read. I quickly became so obsessed and engrossed in the story, the characters, the romance, everything is absolutely on point. About halfway through the second book I went straight to Amazon and ordered the next two books in the series because I knew I would need them. Now I have finished the whole series and I'm basically in mourning, they were just so good. 

I wish I was a Gallagher Girl, it is literally the coolest concept and these girls are just a family. Cammie can speak like 14 different languages and can break out of high security prisons, she is literally one the most kick ass characters I have ever come across. 

This series is not the most intelligent, incredible one you will ever read. Its light hearted and its fun, but it didn't need to be any more than that in my opinion- I was addicted and never bored. Probably the best thing about these novels is that they just have so much heart, I can't even begin to describe how lovable every character is and how upset I am that I am finished with their story. 

But the thing is, its light hearted and fun, but there is so much emotion in every page. Especially book five, it just felt so raw and real. Its safe to say that I would seriously recommend this series, every book is just such an adventure and I know that I will end up re-reading the books all the time. But right now I am going to go into some spoilers from the whole series, so if you haven't read these books yet then I would say to just do it, you will not regret reading these!

Read no further if you haven't read the books

I would like to start this spoiler section by just talking about Zach. I just love Zach way too much and its kind of problematic. Cammie and Zach have become one of my number 1 OTPs of all time and the two of them together is just perfection. Ally Carter managed to perfectly develop their romance so that it wasn't too rushed and it didn't drag, it was just right. Every single book had me swooning over the two, I'm way too sad that I won't be getting more of them. I could probably do a whole post just talking about them but I should probably talk about other things as well. 

It feels so long ago that I was reading book two, the way this story develops is absolutely amazing and so much happens in what feels like such a short time. These books aren't huge, but so much happens and I love that, there is constantly action and I was never bored.

This cast of characters made me so happy, I love that even Cammie's Mum got her happy ending with Mr Solomon, even though its a little odd because its her dead husband's best friend, but hey who's judging. Also Townsend and Abby made me way too happy, I would read a book about those two. Bex, Liz and Macey were all so unique and had such different personalities. Sometimes when the main character has more than one best friend in a book, their personalities can just blend together and there isn't really much point. But Cammie's friends were all so different that you could tell who was saying something without even looking. Ally Carter just seems to know her characters so well and I love that. 

We had our fair share of plot twists in this series, the plot was always going off in different directions yet it didn't really feel that way, it just felt like you were on the journey with Cammie. Something that is fresh in my mind because it happened towards the end of the sixth book is the fact that Townsend is Zach's father, I seriously did not see it coming, not even a little bit. I feel like it would have been nice to have a little bit of closure in that respect, we found out about that particular twist and then there wasn't really much more.

I have to talk about the blowing up of the Gallagher Academy because it was a pretty dramatic moment. I never expected it and I'm really sad, it was Cammie's home so it was pretty heart breaking. Catherine was the absolute worst, I felt so bad for Zach and that he had to be associated with her. 

Out Of Sight, Out of Time was possibly my favourite of the series, it felt like there was such a huge change of tone in that book. I loved how much deeper the story became and it felt so much richer, every page was filled with excitement. This was the longest book of the series but it felt like it went the quickest, I absolutely devoured it and I will be re-reading it soon to be honest. 

And now this series has left me with a huge book hangover. It feels like I have gone on such a journey with these characters and I just wish it could go on forever. Now that I don't have Gallagher Girls to read I don't really know what to do with my spare time. I hope you enjoyed this review even though it is basically just me gushing. I am definitely going to be picking up more from Ally Carter and I cannot wait to see what else she can do. Thank you for reading this review and I will see you again very soon with another post,

-Darcy

Shadowhunters- Premiere Review

The wait has been long and painful, but January has finally come, bringing along Shadowhunters with it. For those who do not know, Shadowhunters is the brand new TV show on ABC Family based on Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments book series. As a huge fan of these books I have been hesitant about what the show would hold for us. So we got two episodes to get the ball rolling and these are my first impressions. I will start off by saying that I don't expect any TV show to be the most incredible thing I've ever seen from the first couple of episodes. It does take some time for the cast and crew to find their groove, so these are just my thoughts on what I've seen so far.

Cast/ Characters
Every time a new cast member was announced for this show I ended up beyond excited. Most of this cast are the spitting image of how I imagined their characters in my head and I absolutely love that. I am going to start by talking about Clary as she is of course our protagonist. So Katherine Mcnamara is our new Clary, someone who I have never seen in anything before this show. My first impressions are sadly not that positive, so far I just haven't connected with her. This is something that can totally change, but as of right now I'm not really feeling her character, she just seems quite naive and un-Clary-like... I'm remaining open though.
Dominic Sherwood as Jace was such good news to me, I have seen Dom in other things and have really enjoyed his acting. In the show he has yet to completely blow me away, but he's doing great so far and I am just so happy that he is our Jace. So far I haven't felt that much chemistry between Jace and Clary, but again this is something that can take time so its definitely okay. 
Simon makes me smile like an idiot already. Book-Simon is one of my number one characters of all time, with good reason, he is just a bundle of joy. No different to Alberto Rosende playing him. Ignoring a few cheesey lines, for example 'So hot' (you may or may not know what I'm talking about.) I think he is a fantastic Simon!
Isabelle and Alec are absolutely spot on, they're so beautiful it kind of hurts. I am so excited to see more of them, I loved their interactions with each other and I just want more. Also, I just have to say that Simon and Isabelle together are just the greatest.
Magnus is literally exactly the way I imagined him in the book and I honestly could not ask for more. Although we haven't really had much from him yet, he is already so magical and quirky. 
Alan Van Sprang is basically Valentine. He is actually scary and brings forth a character who can easily be seen as a pretty dangerous guy. Excited to see more from him!
There are quite a few other characters, but I don't want to bore anyone by going into too much detail about every single character!

Plot
Already they have changed quite a bit from the book, but this was definitely to be expected and it doesn't really bother me, obviously they are two separate things so they don't have to be exactly the same.
The pacing of this show is very quick and everything is always moving quickly. In a way this is a good thing because something is always going on, but at times I felt like I couldn't keep track and wanted things to slow down a little. One of my biggest pet peeves in books, TV shows and films is when the character has just found out something completely life changing, and they act like it is completely normal or just generally move on from things too quickly. It can make the whole thing seem kind of unrealistic and I felt this more than once watching Shadowhunters. Clary easily steps into life as a Shadowhunter and just accepts the whole thing in what seems like the blink of an eye. I can see that many people wouldn't even notice this, but personally I find this trope really annoying. 

World
So this franchise relies quite a bit on the world, demons, underworld creatures, technology, weapons etc. So for me this is something just as vital as plot and characters. We have only seen a tiny fraction of this world so far and that is such an exciting thing. We have seen a couple of demons so far and they're quite gory, definitely similar to how they are described in the book. I am so glad that they didn't hold back on this because they are demons and they aren't supposed to be pretty! 
Episode 2 gave us The Silent Brothers and they are definitely scary enough, I hope we get more of them because I feel like they were a little bit skipped over in this episode.
I never visualized the Institute as being as technological as they have presented it. I'm definitely not saying that its a bad thing, but I think it is definitely different and I can't help but compare it to the Institute from the film which was the absolute opposite.
I love the Seraph blades and think they look so much cooler in the show than I ever imagined them in my head which is always something great when watching an adaptation. 

So those are my initial thoughts and feelings about what we have been given so far from this series. I am definitely excited for the next episode because I honestly found these two so entertaining to watch. Right now there are some cringey moments and its not perfect, but I wouldn't expect that straight away anyway. If you've seen the show then let me know what you thought of it! I hope that this post hasn't been too rambly (I really need to organise my reviews better!) and I will see you again soon for another post,
-Darcy

Wrapping Up December!

December has been and gone- meaning that my monthly wrap up is back. I don't really know what happened to 2015, it was gone in a flash and now, here we are in 2016. So here are all of the things in December, I hope you enjoy!


Books

-Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
4 Stars
-Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
3 Stars
-Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
4 Stars
-Cross My Heart and Hope To Spy by Ally Carter
5 Stars

I enjoyed reading all of these books, but Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy just stole the show for me. I have reviews for all of these books except for that one, as I will be doing a series review very soon. I read Ugly Love extremely quickly and found it pretty addictive, Colleen Hoover's writing is absolutely on point- but it wasn't quite a 5 star book for me. Noughts and Crosses fell a little bit flat for me, I go into a lot of detail in my review but overall I just wasn't very impacted by this novel and found that it wasn't really my cup of tea. Twenty Boy Summer was very enjoyable but the characters lacked a bit of substance for me so it wasn't 5 stars to me. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy completely addicted me and I am absolutely obsessed with the Gallagher Girl series, my only 5 star book of the month, this series is awesome.

Music

I was supposed to be seeing The Kooks in December, but sadly their show was postponed for January (which I am definitely looking forward to). Nonetheless, as always I listened to an awful lot of music and these are some of the songs I had on repeat..
M83- We Own the Sky
Sugababes- Freak Like Me (a bit of a throwback for me)
Panic! At The Disco- Death of a Bachelor
SHINee- Married to the Music
Coldplay- Adventure of a Lifetime
Stromae- Alors On Danse


Film

So its safe to say that my number one film of the month was Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which completely blew me away (I am dying to see it again). I've been waiting for this film for so very long, afraid that it was going to be a disappointment, but seriously- if you haven't seen it yet then go to the cinema right now! The other film I saw at the cinema this month was Sisters starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, which just really wasn't for me. The humour wasn't really my style and I thought it just completely lacked substance. I have reviews for both of these films on the blog so if you're interested then definitely check them out! (Apologies for the lengthy Star Wars review, I had a lot of feelings.)

I had such a good December, especially as I was doing Blogmas which was super fun and rewarding. It was also my birthday month and I had a great day eating pizza and chocolate with friends and family! Overall I would say December and 2015 in general, was a complete success! I hope you enjoyed this post and I will be back very soon with another post..
-Darcy

Review: Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
A Non- spoiler Review

' "Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."
"Okay."
"Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?"
"Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?"

According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer'
My Rating- 4 Stars
Genre- Contemporary/ romance
Review- Non- spoiler

Before I start... Happy 2 year anniversary to my blog! I started Darcy Elizabeth Books on New Years Eve 2 years ago, although I was absent for quite a bit of time, I am so happy to be regularly blogging again and it seriously doesn't feel like 2 years have passed, anyway, I hope you enjoy this post! 

For me, 2015 was definitely the year of Sarah Ockler. I have loved reading her books this year and I just have two left now- books that I am so excited to get to. Sarah Ockler does not skip over gritty subjects in her books, the characters she writes have real life problems and are dealt with so tactfully. Twenty Boy Summer brings us a story of loss and the attempt to move on from the pain and heartbreak which comes with it. 
Twenty Boy Summer was extremely well written and enjoyable, but personally, I felt like it wasn't as up there with her other novels. I loved reading Anna's story, but it did lack in a couple of areas which I will go into. This is definitely not to say that this is a bad book, because if it was I would not have given it 4 stars, it just didn't hit me as hard as her other books did. 
I felt so much sympathy for Anna through this whole book, it was absolutely heart breaking to read her story and Ockler dealt with the whole situation so well. But I feel like my main problem with this book was that Anna's character was hard to connect to, sometimes she would do things which made no sense and that was hard to get on with. The overall love interest in this novel, Sam, was great, but I seriously feel like his character was pretty under developed and we didn't really get to know him very well. Anna's best friend Frankie was a huge part of this story, she was fine but at times extraordinarily frustrating and reckless. So looking back at this novel, I think that the reason this wasn't a 5 star book for me was due to the characters and that its generally quite a character driven book.
The plot was very well done though, I really loved the flashbacks which I can normally find a little boring- but were nicely dispersed through the story. The attention to detail was a definite bonus and gave the story so much substance, the writing was so engrossing and I just never felt bored.
This book is an emotional roller coaster and has so much heart, when reading I felt sad, happy, betrayed and overall- involved, which is always something I love in a book. There is nothing worse than reading a book and not caring at all what happens to the main character, so on that part I would say the book was very well done. 
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book and Sarah Ockler generally. For me, she is definitely an auto-buy author and her books make me so happy! Although I had a slight problem with the characters, this book was definitely very enjoyable and a good read. I hope you enjoyed this post and I will have another one for you in 2016! I can't believe this year has already gone, but I'm so excited for a new year and am more ready than ever to get up as many posts as I can! See you soon,
-Darcy

Top Books of 2015

Blogmas Day 24

So its that time of year again, the time when all book bloggers and vloggers alike share their absolute favourite reads of the year. These are the best books that I read in 2015, some being new releases, others a little older but new to me... So on this, Christmas Eve and the last day of Blogmas, I am going to share my top books of 2015, I hope you enjoy!

This is in no particular order because I literally couldn't.

 Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

The book that kick-started my summer this year. This was just a perfect read, I have so many happy memories reading this book in the sun and I never wanted it to end. When Sloane ditches her best friend, Emily, with no explanation at the beginning of the summer, Emily is left all alone wondering where she is. Sloane has disappeared, the only thing left behind is a bucket list for Emily to complete over the summer.... Morgan Matson is an absolute genius with words and characters, the story is completely relateable and I cannot wait to re-read this novel and fall in love with it all over again!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Sarah J. Maas blew me away with this book, probably my number one of the whole year (which is saying something next to all these amazing books). I can't even describe how amazing this book is, I was on the edge of my seat and could not stop turning the pages. This Beauty and the Beast retelling follows Feyre, who when murdering a wolf in the woods is only thinking of survival. But when the wolf turns out be fae, Feyre has to pay for what she has done at the hands of 'the Beast'. This book is a roller coaster and a half, so much happens yet we still have more to come in the second book!



An Ember in The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

There were way too many amazing debuts out this year, An Ember in the Ashes being one of them. Reading this book is like going on a crazy adventure, its heart breaking and breath taking (unintentional rhyme) and I absolutely loved it. When Laia's brother is kidnapped, she is left to fend for herself to find the only person she has left. 
All Elias wants to do is escape from his life as a soldier and get away from his cold-hearted mother. 
These two characters tell such an incredible story and I would honestly recommend it to anyone.


The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

This is the book that began my absolute obsession with Sarah Ockler books, and so far it has been my favourite of her novels. This book is funny, sad, adorable and everything in between. Jude's Dad is quickly losing his memory as Alzheimers takes over his life and Jude is left to look after him. Her project is to re-build his old motorbike and to get her Father back on it, so she employs Emilio to help fix it up. But Emilio is a Vargas, one of the boys her sisters have warned her against her whole life.. The plot goes from there, I absolutely love this story of family and adored how real it felt, Sarah Ockler is a contemporary Queen.


The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Adieh

I think that 2015 was the year of re-tellings for me, before this year I hadn't read that many. Another debut, this book spins the story of A Thousand and One Nights and does it incredibly. The imagery and writing in this novel is completely stunning and I wish I could write like Adieh. I want everyone to read this book and for them to love it as much as I do, its in my top 3 of this year (even though I said I couldn't put this list in a particular order, I break that rule for this) Please give me the second book right now, I actually need it.


Cress by Marissa Meyer

The third book in the Lunar Chronicles, this was my favourite of the series. When you read these books, you feel like you are in the same world as the characters, Marissa Meyer writes magically. Cress is a re-telling of Rapunzel (the third re-telling on this list already...) and I could read about her and Thorn's characters forever. This year gave us the fourth book in the Lunar Chronicles, Winter, but for me Cress is the best in the series. Winter would be on this list if I hadn't also read Cress this year!


So, those are the best books I read this year. I only put in the ones that stood out the most for me because there were so many amazing reads for me, I didn't want this list to be too long. Every single book on this list was of course 5 stars and I recommend every single one!

I also want to address the fact that Blogmas is over, which is completely crazy and it went so quickly... Writing a post everyday has been such a challenge, thinking of ideas and sitting down every night to write has been difficult but in the end so rewarding. I definitely needed to do this and I'm so happy that I did (even if I did join on day three instead of one... But hey ho lets forget about that). Thank you so much for reading this post and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas day (whether you celebrate it or not) and I will see you soon!
-Darcy