It's Okay To Not Be Okay

I've been staring at this screen for ages just trying to figure out why I do the things I do. When I first found out about blogs, amazing books and all the platforms that are available to someone who loves to share their opinion and love of books I was taken back as to how many people were already doing it. I blog about many things from books to movies, mental health and general life problems. As you can probably see there aren't many posts on here and that is just because of some idiot which I have no time to waste on.

I've now been blogging for 3 years and it's been incredible. I have met and spoken to so many amazing authors who have given me advice about my own work. I've made many, many friends that I have yet to meet and that's okay. This is the biggest reward I get from sharing my opinion and I can't thank you people enough. There are so many supporters around and at first it can be really scary. All you have to remember is be yourself, genuine and think that everyone started from the bottom once in their life.

I do have Instagram and it is so much fun seeing everyone's images, different interpretations on all sorts of subjects. If you have an account comment down below and I'll follow you, I'm always looking for new people to check out! 

You're probably wondering what the hell I am on about. I've had a rough couple of days, you won't know this but I live with my parents and my mother has a serious condition. It is self inflicted so no sympathy to her. I was so lucky to have Dave with me because I don't think I would have been able to cope it was a push too far for me. I would just like to know if you guys have any means of keeping focused. Sometimes I forget to relax and do my own thing and I think that's where this blog comes in really handy.

If you are going through a dark time I would recommend starting a blog, even if you don't publish it to the world, it helps get things off your chest and you can connect with other people. Sometimes you need a total stranger to make yourself feel better. Basically what I'm saying is if you need someone to rant to or blow off what's going on in your head then please feel free to email, direct message me or comment on one of my Instagram pictures saying you need help and I will get in touch with you however I can.

Love, Becky.

 

Harry Potter books 1-4

I realised I'm nothing like other readers, most people were brought up with Harry Potter in their hands but I wasn't one of them. I was found outside digging, riding motorbikes and making my own adventures in the forbidden woods. I'm really grateful for my different upbringing; I will try my best to do the same for my little boy. However lets get onto the review.

Swish and Flick

So as stated above yes I wasn't brought up with J.K.Rowlings amazing work but most of my readers have. If you haven't read Harry Potter then I'm going to sum it up real quick for you with no spoilers.
A young boy called Harry Potter lost his parents from an evil wizard. He is in fact a wizard himself but for the time being he's sent to awful relatives who treat him like a slave. On Harry Potter's 11th birthday he receives a letter that he needs to go to a school for witches and wizards. This is where his journey begins with his two best friends Hermione and Ron. Through all 4 books we learn more about friendship, different mythical creatures and the power of such a brilliant school. There are different scenarios that are challenging for Harry and we go on so many adventures.

Book 1 - Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
The first book took me around 5/6 days to read from start to finish. It was the start of something truly amazing and I think the series really started out well. We learn a lot of Harry's back story and get introduced to lots of characters. I think my all time favourite was Hagrid simply because he was this friendly bubbly person that really looked after the pupils especially Harry - kind of like a father figure. The writing was super easy for me and I think that's the amazing thing about these books you can read them at any age and appreciate them. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars.



Book 2 - Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Moving onto the second book we get even more character building and world building. We see that Harry has a lot of things that push him back; not only is he famous for being a survivor of a horrific tragedy but his guardians don't help him when he does have to go home. This novel did take me 9 days to read which isn't as bad as I'm making it out to be. We get to see more of Draco Malfoy who is a lot of people's favourite character and yeah he does have some amazing qualities. You really get a sense of his bitterness and jealousy. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars.



Book 3 - Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban
I absolutely loved this movie and thought it was going to be the same when I read the book. I was so so happy when I started reading this novel. I fell in love all over again and I'm not going to lie I do have a small crush on Sirius Black. I don't really know if it's a crush or just a huge surge of happiness when he walks onto the page. This novel did take me that little bit longer to read I think it was a couple of months. I rated the book 4 out of 5 stars just like the previous 2 books.



Book 4 - Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
So I wanted to enjoy this book as much as Dave did but unfortunately for me it was a little bit of a let down. I honestly thought that it could have been just that little bit shorter. Don't get me wrong the story was incredible and I loved all the challenges that Harry had to go through. It was such a brilliant idea that they had to kind of guess what they'd be doing. The last few pages were really intense. I did have to rate this book 3 stars which means I enjoyed the novel but it wasn't my favourite. I am really excited to get onto the next 3 books even though I know what happens.



Let me know what you thought below because everyone has a different opinion and mine just seems to be out of the ordinary and I'm okay with that. If I liked every book that everyone else did I wouldn't be being true to myself or you guys.
Love, Becky.

Escaping The Reality

When people ask me why I like reading they freak out when I suggest it's to escape. For me books are a way of shutting away the world and my responsibilities just for that short amount of time; it keeps me sane and lets me be someone who doesn't have things to do. I don't have the best, peaceful life that I want because let's be real that's not reality. Life is full of ups and downs so I thought what's better than reality? A world where us readers can go to get away from the dreadful happenings.

Top 3 series I recommend to you guys as readers to escape:

1. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare - for me I was reading this to have a relationship with a family that didn't necessarily connect. In all the books you do realise that they have their own problems but you don't feel the same as you would. The writing takes you away with demons, vampires and many other mythical creatures not to mention amazing lead characters.

2. A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R.R. Martin - I know I haven't read all the books in this series but the amount of context you get in these just automatically makes you forget what's going on. Your taken on a journey with many perspectives and your kind of routing for one character to the next.

3. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier - This whole trilogy is about time travel and it takes you from one period of time to another. It has lots of romance which can carry you away if your having your own relationship problems. Also the writing is super easy to get through so before you know it all the adventures will be over in a good way.

There are so many books I wanted to add onto this list but it would go on forever and I don't want that. If you have any recommendations then please leave them below! I need more novels to escape in before my little man comes because I don't want to miss a moment with my new little family.
Love, Becky.

*All the images are taken from google or Instagram as I am having lighting difficulties at the time*

The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L Armentrout

I am so bad at keeping up with Netgalley recently so I have decided to pledge that every month I will try my absolute hardest to publish reviews and read at least 1 review book. So I'm starting off 2017 on a good note because I have finished The Problem With Forever. I have always been a big fan of Jennifer's work but for some reason I really struggled with this novel; this doesn't mean I didn't enjoy parts of the book. It was published back in May 2016 and I waited till new year to start it which is really bad of me. It took me a couple of days to complete and I would probably rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Review (no major spoilers)

So to wrap the whole story in a little bow we have Mallory who is our main girl in the novel. Mallory was bought up in a foster home along with Rider who is our main swoon worthy boy. They both grew up in the same foster home but they get separated due to being adopted. When Mallory decides she's ready to brace the world she goes to school not even thinking there'd be a slight chance she'll see Rider again. We go through a cute high school romance and Rider has some good morals for saying he plays a pretty bad boy/ass character.

Mallory and Rider were both abused when they were in care and this is where I warn everyone that if you have never read anything like this please go in with care. There are some scenes that could make you feel on edge or maybe a little bit too much for you. Mallory as a character was brilliant, she was really relatable in the sense she was shy. I seemed to connect with her in a very likable way which was the main reason I liked this book. Rider is this bad boy with a HUGE heart, he definitely has some good morals and wants to do the best. He wasn't too over the top with his bad boy reputation which was refreshing.

Jennifer has really done amazing with her characters I just didn't love it as much as I normally do with her books. The writing was good but I think the topic of the novel didn't appeal to me as much. I couldn't find any faults the book just wasn't my cup of tea. I absolutely love the cover it makes it so inviting and I am really tempted to get the physical edition so I can have it on my shelf. I know it's frowned upon by some people but then I do enjoy supporting authors as much as I can.

Thank you.

I just want to say a huge thank you to Netgalley, Jennifer L Armentrout and Harlequin Teen for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I will be doing better in the future at getting my reviews out on time.

I hope you all have a great day and I'll be back next Tuesday.
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Love, Becky.

My top 4 most anticipated releases of 2017!

So this morning I got up to plan out my video which you will be able to check out at +Air, Fire, Water and the Stones and it's all about my top 5 most anticipated movie releases. Then a huge lightbulb went off, why am I not doing a book version of this? And here we are. I hope you all had a brilliant New Year I can't believe how fast it's going already. Just a side note, non of these are in order I am equally excited for every single one.

Let's do this:

1. A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3) by Sarah J Maas - I have yet to read the second book but that doesn't mean I am not excited for this. I can't wait to finish my two current reads and hopefully jump onto the second book in this series/ triology. The book is scheduled to be released May 2nd.
2. Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare - The first book Lady Midnight was absolutely incredible, hands down my favourite Cassandra Clare book. This is meant to be a whopping 704 pages long and the sooner it's in my hands the better. This is another release in the month of May. We even have a cover reveal! Expected publication: May 23rd.
3. A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E.Schwab - I have just started the first book and let me tell you there is no way I am not carrying on with the trilogy. It didn't have me hooked from the start but now I'm into it I am definetly enjoying it more. This book is hopefully being released early in the year Expected publication: February 21st.
4. The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo #2) by Rick Riordan - I was so really lucky last year to get a copy of this from Netgalley, I did end up buying the physical copy as well because I just loved it so much! I can't wait for this to be released. We do have to wait till May 2nd.

I hope you enjoyed my second blogpost of the year, I thoroughly enjoyed getting all my favourites together. All I have to do now is wait for them all to be released and I have nothing to read. Dave looks at me giving me the eyes because we all know full well that I have a HUGE to be read shelf in my room.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin See you all guys soon.

Love, Becky.