The Month of December and Hot Cocoa | A Monthly Wrap-Up

Lovelies!! It's time for my monthly wrap-up for December- the month of Hot Cocoa, Family & Friends- and of course- Presents!!

~ Baker's Corner ~

Recipes I baked this month! The links will take you to the recipe, as they are not mine!


Mini Muffin Pancake Bites

Oreo Balls

LadyBug Cookies (this one is my recipe)
Take vanilla wafer cookies and put red frosting, then put black frosting dots, and a junior mint as the head- and you get a delicious ladybug cookie!

~ Le YouTube Channel! ~

What bookish videos did I do this month???


What Did I READ In NOVEMBER?!

Spinning Starlight + Stitching Snow | More Book Rants!

FINISHATHON | Another Readathon I Said I Wouldn't Do

FINISHATHON DAY 1~

FINISHATHON DAY 2~ Another Short Update

FINISHATHON DAYS 4~ 5~ & 6~ Wrap It Up!!

Christmas Song Book Tag

~ What Did I read in December??? ~

Guarded Crown by Addison Carmichael [3.5 stars] [REVIEW HERE]


Jingle Hell by Holly Jane [3 stars] [REVIEW HERE]

So I re-read Caraval by Stephanie Garber this month, and loved it all over again! I should now be ready for book 2 in 2019!!

One Piece Vol. 3 was just as good as the first two!

Bleach Volumes 1, 2, and 3 were very intriguing and interesting- I hope to read more soon!

The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson [4 stars]

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han [1 star]


Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine [2 stars]

Both of these were books disappointing for me, but Jenny Han's book has now reached the top of my ''Least Favorite List''. In fact, it's won the prize for ''book I can't stand.''




That was a much shorter recap of my month than usual, but I hope you guys had an AWESOME Christmas, and I hope you have a great NEW YEAR!!!

What did you read in December?? What was your favorite and your most hated book you read??

Thanks for reading loves!
~Books with Noel

Jingle Hell by Holly Jane

*I was sent an ARC of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review, my thoughts and opinions are my own!*

Title: Jingle Hell

Genre: A Christmas horror short story

Author: Holly Jane

Published: November 27th, 2018



{Synopsis: 

Jingle Hell,
Jingle Hell,
Jingle all the way.
Oh, what fun,
It is to hide;
To slaughter and to slay…
Excited to relax after a stressful year of school, Jingle enters the Christmas holidays happy and carefree, determined to enjoy herself.

Yet fate has other plans.

A mysterious Mass-Murderer known only as ‘The Christmas Killer’ is targeting her town, terrifying the neighborhood. At night, Jingle has dreams in which she witnesses the murders and is horrified to discover in the morning that her dreams are true. Paranoid that people will accuse her of being the Murderer and unwilling to trust those close to her, she confides her fears about the Christmas Killer and her suspicions regarding their identity in her diary.

Digging deeper into the mystery, Jingle realizes that the Christmas Killer may be closer than she initially thought.}



  Okay, so the format was super interesting and made it very easy and quick to read. The story was told as Jingle wrote in her diary. So we get to read each diary entry and then at the end, we can read some police case files.
 It gave it an interesting perspective for me, though I did become seriously concerned for Jingle's sanity after reading some of her diary entries lol.

  Jingle's name may be my favorite thing, it's so interesting and unique! Which made reading the synopsis just more creepy. This story fits well as a scary short Christmas story.
 Not to mention the cover, there are two different copies but the red one I just like a lot better- it fits the atmosphere to me.

I sadly was not too attached to the main character, but Jingle Hell actually gave me goosebumps once or twice- the descriptions of Jingle's dreams and thoughts were very... let's just say they can give you goosebumps! Let's leave it at that lol- no spoilers!

The ending was a plot twist all the way and I actually had to reread it twice to make sure I read it right (it figures I was reading it at 12am 😅). I was a little confused by the ending- just in terms of which person was more psychotic, though. You'll understand that statement when/if you read the story!

But the ending- as in the very last two pages- fit so well that I was very happy with the short scary story. I'm also glad I didn't read it right before Christmas!


[My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐]


Have any of you heard of or read this book? If so, what did you think? If not, would you want to or what are your thoughts on it??

Thanks for reading!
~Books with Noel

My Weekly Pull | 7 |

  My Weekly Pull is something I'm going to be doing every Wednesday to show which anime or manga I had pulled for myself that week. My friend Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? hosts My Weekly Pull for comics that she has read or is reading, so make sure to check her out because it was such a cool and fun idea that I asked if I could do it for anime and manga (I don't get to read a lot of comics sadly)!


                   ~                    ~                    ~                     ~                       ~


Last Week's Anime...

Last week I watched some more of Fairy Tail's season 2, and yes- I got to watch the episodes I meant to!

Season 2 Episodes 1 - 5!

As always, I was super happy with it and can't wait to watch more.




Last Week's Manga...


This past week, I read only one manga: One Piece Vol. 3

This Week's Anime...


This week I hope to get farther into Season 2 of Fairy Tail!

   (some nice fanart I found a while ago!)



This Week's Manga...


No manga this week! Instead, I have some COMICS!!!!!

      Spider-Geddon Issue #1 by Christos Gage
      Infinity Wars Issue #1 by Gerry Dugan 

I'm really excited for the Infinity Wars comic, it came out in August this year so... still fairly new!




What are you guys recently reading/ watching???
~Books with Noel

P. S. Did you have a Merry Christmas?!?!

Writerish Questions | Writing on Wattpad

I am a writer- and I loved to write way before I loved to read. Some of you may not know, but I'm currently writing and revising a novel: a sci-fi YA that is turning into a series/duology...

Another writing-related thing you most likely don't know: I write a lot of my works on Wattpad.



I did a lot of practice writing by writing fanfictions and such on there. 
That was why I joined Wattpad, was to get better at dialogue and pacing, and have feedback from my audience and fellow writers.


It's AMAZING!! I love Wattpad (just make sure to save your writing every once in a while), there are clubs that you can join, based on genres and then other ones specifically for editing questions, marketing, publishing- and much more.


I've been writing on there for a while now, and I've made several writer friends and definitely improved my writing. 
If I have a question, need tips or advice- I can make a discussion in any of the clubs and quickly get lots of different opinions from different writers.

I do some of the chapters as samples and to ask for feedback on the story so far, etc. But currently, on Wattpad the only part of my book you can see is barely a fraction of the very first draft.


But to actually write my book, I have a 3-subject notebook that I keep track of things in. Such as a vague outline, character descriptions (so I don't forget), and a list of important plot points that I can't forget to tie up. 
You have to keep track of these things!

 
I write each chapter on Wattpad (but do not publish them), I copy and paste the chapters to Scrivener, and there I can always go back and look something up if I forgot. Or add something, remove something, etc.

Sometimes though, I will write a few sentences to a page of an important scene in my notebook and then flesh it out and add more when I type it up. 


I have a few friends that have a hard time coming up with what to write when they stare at the blank page in Wattpad's writing area so I would suggest brainstorming on paper for that. I don't have that problem a whole lot, my Writer's block is more of just a slump. 
Since I have lots of different writing 'projects' (the fanfictions, my novel, and my poetry collection) I am constantly writing or plotting or outlining, so when I have a hard time writing is like when I have to take a break for a while.


 


If you're going to write on Wattpad, here are some things you should know:


- Always click that save button. Always.

- Copy and paste your chapters to another document or even print it (I save mine to Scrivener).

- Tags are your friends.

- You can always change the title, synopsis, and cover.

- You don't have to just use Wattpad's cover creator, I use Canva's free book cover creator (there's even an option for a wattpad book cover).

- You can rearrange and go back and edit chapters whenever- just make sure to keep clicking the publish and save buttons.

- Go back and check your past chapters, to make sure your story is consistent.




Now on Wattpad, there are some things you need to know or remember to get readers, keep readers, and make yourself happy with your writing too.


- You need to update your story regularly. Whether that is once a week, twice a week, once every two weeks- you need to let your readers know. Don't just forget and then update every two months. You need to be persistent in your story, otherwise you'll fall out of love with it and/or it'll never get written!

- Write what you want to read. You can write something specifically for someone else in mind, but I personally have found that I need to want to read what I write. I need to be excited to discover more of it as I write. I have to like what I'm going to be spending my time writing!

- Don't forget your audience. Your audience will be actually reading your story if it is published on Wattpad. And they will comment on all sorts of things. Advice, tips, encouragement. Maybe not always something good, but the majority of the time they will tell you what they think about the dialogue, the plot, the characters. They'll give you feedback on your story, which is wonderful.



On Wattpad, I actually have been asked a lot of questions about writing (and while I do answer them on there) I'm going to repeat them on here.



Do I have a Writing Buddy?

Er. My pug is my Writing Buddy actually. She lays beside me on the couch and I'll sneak her some pieces of food when I take a break to eat.
Though I am doing some world building for a writing project with my best friend for a series we're planning. Other than that, I currently write my projects alone. Maybe in the future, I'll coauthor with someone though, for now...I'm a little busy with several writing projects and life.

I do, however, have a friend that hosts WriteAThons sometimes, and does Writing Sprints with me when she can! She'd probably be my human writing buddy... Here's her blog. We're ''Author Buddies''!!




How do you get your writing ideas?

 I have a naturally over-imaginative brain, so fanfiction ideas are constantly there. And sometimes I'll add some ideas that I got from a wicked cool dream I had. It tends to work the same way with my novel ideas...




Do you listen to music when you write?

Yes, I actually make playlists for my writing projects on YouTube. But sometimes I don't listen to anything when I'm writing.




How often do you write?

 Um, every day actually. I'm constantly writing- when I'm not reading or baking or anything else (such as those two jobs I have).




Do you plan all the different types of scenes in your stories/fanfictions?

 Nope. I have a general idea of the plot when I start writing (or even just one tiny idea), and I wing everything else. I'll already have an idea of what I like or don't like in fanfictions or other stories, and I just come up with it as I go.
Now sometimes when I start a scene, I'll suddenly know exactly how I want it to go and how it'll tie into the story.




Do you outline?

Ah.... yes and no.

For fanfictions- No.

For my novels, yes. But it's more of a small plot point outline- very skeletal and bare. I fill it in as I write. Chapter by chapter.




Do you ever go back and rewrite then?

Yes, for my novel if I add something that needs to be hinted at earlier or I forgot something or suddenly think of something- I can go back and fix and edit it.




What do you drink when writing?

Where do you think I got my coffee addiction from???




How do you stay inspired to write?

It's not about staying inspired, but I have an inspiration board on Pinterest for each of my writing projects. For settings, characters, or anything that reminds me of my project.




Do you have your book saved anywhere besides on Wattpad?

Of course! I have Scrivener which I use to edit and revise my book. Whereas Wattpad is used for when I write the 1st draft of it.




How do you plan to publish?

I plan to self-publish. I plan to use Amazon's Createspace and Kindle Direct Publishing.






What was the first book you remember writing?

I used to write ''books'' about my toys when I was real little. My first one was actually a trilogy and about my Littlest Pet Shops. (So embarrassing.)




If you're a writer, please comment about your experience. Do any of you like Wattpad? Have you used or heard of Wattpad before?



Thanks for reading!!
~Books with Noel

P. S. Please tell me I'm not the only one that wrote fanfictions.

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Guys- I've found yet another strong YA female protagonist that is both hilarious and captivating to read about!
Can you guess who she is?
Can you? Can you? Can you?

(You already know from the title of this post, don't you? -_-)

She is... *drum roll* Alosa from Daughter of the Pirate King!

So I believe I owe you guys a few book reviews, and one of them is- yes- the book mentioned above!

Title: Daughter of the Pirate King

Sequels?: Daughter of the Siren Queen is the sequel- but I haven't read it yet!

Author: Tricia Levenseller

Published:  February, 28th, 2017

Genre: YA Fantasy



{Synopsis: There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I've gotten what I came for.

   Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map―the key to a legendary treasure trove―seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.
   More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.
In Daughter of the Pirate King, debut author Tricia Levenseller blends action, adventure, romance, and a little bit of magic into a thrilling YA pirate tale.}

If you liked any of the following, this book may be for you:

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid

 Legend by Marie Lu
   
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins


So, wow.

  The romance was not a mushy gushy mess, you guys! It played out very well, especially since there was denial and drama going on for our lovely protagonist throughout a portion of the book- but that didn't make it bad or boring at all! I feel like it happened gradually and was not forced on the love interests (which is a nice change).

  I loved how we figured out more about Alosa as the story went on- we had a chance to actually care and want to know more before it was thrust in our faces. And I mean, there's still a lot more to go considering her parents...are interesting, to say the least. 

  The plot was a bit predictable- except for certain parts- but the author tied and wrote everything so well that I didn't care if I could see something that would happen in ten chapters or less.

There was action, humor that had me laughing out loud (which got me some weird looks), and romance that I did not want to bark at. I loved it.


The only thing that I didn't ''love'' was the cliche idea of how tough and awesome Alosa was- yet when she needed to prove it, she couldn't. However, I stopped caring about that cliche after the first 3 chapters.
The cliche of touch strong female protags is something that I see so much, I just don't really care for it. But this book was amazing with it!!

I also believe that this book has now started a new book phase...

wait for it...

...



*Drum roll*


Pirates!!
 (Out of curiosity, how many of you rolled your eyes or shook your head?)

[My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐]



Have any of you read Daughter of the Pirate King yet?? What are your thoughts on it and would you want to read it??

~Books with Noel

Guarded Crown by Addison Carmichael

*I was sent an ARC of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review, my thoughts and opinions are my own!*

Title: Guarded Crown

Series: Book 3 in the Guarded Trilogy

Author: Addison Carmichael

Published: September 15th, 2018



Synopsis: 

FINAL FIGHT FOR THE CROWN & HER HEART—

Andee Peters, the sole regal heir of Umbrey, now faces the ultimate challenge—to contentedly live her dream life here in this world, or return to Noma in order to fight her dictator father, Lydon tel-Mortem, for her family’s crown and stop a world war that would ultimately kill millions of people and enslave the rest.
That means not only choosing between two worlds, but between two loves—Mick Barron, her sexy Guardian Prime and the man of her earthly dreams, or Leotner c-Tallega, the dark, attractive prince of her country’s ally Cirkna and the father of her unborn child.

Two Worlds.

Two truest loves.

One choice Andee must make…

If she can survive her father’s ultimate trap.

                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   So to recap my thoughts on this series so far (with spoilers of course):

•  I love Mick and Andee (or Peter and Sandy, depending which names you use).
• I also really liked Leot and Andee- but only when I was pissed at Mick and thought he was a douchebag.
• I was probably just as tormented and confused as Andee in this last book because I wanted her with Mick- but I also really liked Leot...

 That was a short recap, Lol.


 The Romance. I think we can all agree that the person who should've kept their hands to themselves most of the time- was Andee. Though certain bad decisions that she made because of her hormones, did make great ammunition for later scenes.
 I was tense throughout reading because I wanted and needed her to be with Mick and I was so worried- but the author continuously kept making me laugh or cheer both guys on!

 Another thing I have discovered about this series: if you think a character is dead- do not trust that thought! Though the author always managed to make it humorous and exciting when someone turned out to not be dead- even if you were totally okay with that but not really (because you're torn between the same two guys as the main character).

 I have issues in case you can't tell lol.


 ANYWAYS,

Onto that ending...
 I may or may not have cried when one of the attractive men that were fighting for Andee's hand died (no spoilers for who it was though ;P).

 I also may or may not have laughed giddily while crying- because I'm a fangirl now- and made my family deeply concerned. 

Then the epilogue made me scream in pure excitement, so now I will be getting off here to go pester the author to write more about this.
:D I can't stop smiling just thinking about it!!


 But in terms of rating and favorites between each book in the series... Guarded Crown would be ranked last. Guarded Wish (book 1) is definitely my favorite, Guarded Heart (book 2) had so much going on and so many things that were revealed and like it was leading up bigtime to book 3.
 Now don't get me wrong it is a good book- but comparing each book to each other this is the outcome for me.
 Unless we're talking about endings- in that case, this one wins everything. Hands down, no competition.



 [My Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐] [3.5 stars]



 Author's website: http://www.addisoncarmichael.com/

THANK YOU SO MUCH ADDISON FOR PUTTING ME IN THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS!!!

 Guarded Wish (book 1) Book Review: https://bookswithnoel.blogspot.com/2018/05/guarded-wish-by-addison-carmichael.html

Guarded Heart (book 2) Book Review: http://bookswithnoel.blogspot.com/2018/06/guarded-heart-by-addison-carmichael.html



 Thanks for reading!!
~Books with Noel

P. S. Some of you may have heard of Addison Carmichael a few times on my blog! In fact, two books that were on my Wintry TBR are the new books that she sent me!

My Weekly Pull | 6 |

   My Weekly Pull is something I'm going to be doing every Wednesday to show which anime or manga I had pulled for myself that week. My friend Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? hosts My Weekly Pull for comics that she has read or is reading, so make sure to check her out because it was such a cool and fun idea that I asked if I could do it for anime and manga (I don't get to read a lot of comics sadly)!


                   ~                    ~                    ~                     ~                       ~


So I know I skipped last Wednesday's My Weekly Pull- but I had been so busy from Nov. 29th - Dec. 4th, that the only time I had to do my November Wrap Up was last Wednesday :(

BUT now we can discuss what anime/manga I plan to start next, and which ones I have finished!


Last Week's Anime...

  Last week, I didn't really get to watch a lot of anime (I know I'm such a disappointment) but I did get an episode or two of Fairy Tail's season two in!

  As much as I would love to stay up all hours of the night watching this anime,  I do actually have a life I have to live (I know, I'm surprised too).

Last Week's Manga...

I did, however, get to read three volumes of manga this past week!

Bleach Vol. 1

Bleach Vol. 2

Bleach Vol. 3


I definitely am going to continue with this manga, so it's a good thing my brother has volumes 1 - 10 of the manga!

It's nice to have certain series where I specifically like either the anime or manga better, and then there are series where I want everything to do with its existence (such as Fairy Tail- I want the manga and anime Lol).



This Week's Anime...

Some more Fairy Tail!! I can't get enough, Lol :D

I'll set a goal of a few episodes- because I don't know how much time I'll actually have to watch the anime *wipes away tears*.

Season 2 Episode 2

Season 2 Episode 3

Season 2 Episode 4 

Season 2 Episode 5


I'll let you guys know what I think of the episodes and how far I got next week!



This Week's Manga...

One Piece Vol. 3


I only have one manga set aside for me this week because I have a lot of ARCs to get through this month. One is better than none!

Wish me luck!!


What are you guys currently reading/watching for anime or manga?? Have you seen or read any of these?

Thanks for reading!!
~Books with Noel

A Epic Winter TBR + Snowy Goodies

It. Is. December!!

I can now have lovely pictures of snowflakes on my blog!! 😍😀

As promised here's my TBR post, I don't do these too often...but sometimes I just have a big urge to do them...so here we go!
*REAL QUICK!* I will also be sharing some baked goodie recipes for the winter season! (Or as I call it- the Happy Season!)

The Death Messenger by Henry Taba

A book I've desperately needed to read and review but has sadly taken me a while...

Guarded Crown by Addison Carmichael (Book 3 in the Guarded Trilogy)

I can not believe it has taken me so long to get halfway through this book I was so excited about! Though that is really all due to my hectic work schedule right now...

Jingle Hell by Holly Jane

Super psyched to read this short horror novel- the name fits rather well with Christmas right? Right?
No, just me?

Okay then...

Knight by Addison Carmichael (Book 1 in Sons of the Alpha series)

Addison Carmichael has a new series coming out in 2019 Y'all!! It's a werewolf series too!!

Beauty and Her Beast by Addison Carmichael
(Short story/prequel to The Sons of the Alpha series)

Need I say more? A Tale as old as Time... with a twist!

The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett (Book 3 in the Nightmare Affair series)

So this is one book I meant to finish in November...but I wasn't able to so I'm going to finish it this month!

Summoned to Thirteenth Grave by Darynda Jones

So I haven't read this series, but I won the first giveaway in my life and received this book! The last book in the series by the author!

So now I have some catching up to do...







                      ⛄                    ⛄                    ⛄                     ⛄


What baked goodie recipes do I have to share with you??? Here they are!
(As always, the links will take you to the recipe as they are not mine!)



Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

Gingerbread Cupcakes 🎄

Fluffy Hot Chocolate Cupcakes ☕

Peppermint Sugar Cookies 🍪

Gingerbread Pancakes!!

Chocolate Covered Oreo Balls (My personal favorite!)



⛄                          ⛄                              ⛄                           ⛄                             ⛄

What's on your TBR for December??
Any baked treats you're excited for?!?!


Hope you have a Merry Christmas!!
~Books with Noel

The Month of November and Sweaters | A Wrap-Up

Guys, I am so sorry I uploaded this late!! I've been going insane with my schedule- two jobs, my dog, scholarships and math- are murdering my brain!

This past month it finally started getting colder where I am (weird that October wasn't cold, but okay), and now I'm overly excited for Winter! Or as I call it, the Happy Season!

So here's my wrap-up for the month of November and Sweaters!
 P.S. My wrap-ups are going to be different from now on because I don't have time to set up links for all my friend's blogs and blog posts :( 

~ What did I read this past month? ~

I had a fairly good reading month in November, but I still didn't finish what I had wanted to :(
But here's the loot!

[3 stars]

Soon to be Reviewed!

[5 stars]

Review here

[3.5 stars]

Definitely, want to read more of the manga!!

[2 stars]

Didn't particularly care for it, but am still curious...

[4 stars]

Review coming soon!









~ How's my YouTube Channel? ~

Aside from forgetting to record videos a few times or unable to update for awhile- my YouTube is going pretty good *nervous laughter*.

But here's the videos I did in November!!


BookTube Watching Book Tag

30 Seconds to Guess That Book! | Guest Video!

Netflix Book Tag

Currently Reading + Daughter of the Pirate King (and others!)


I had a friend do a video with me in the 30 Seconds to Guess That Book video, we got to play an interesting game we made up!



~Book Hauls, TBRs, & Recipes ~

So I'm going to do something I do rarely- give a TBR! Not today- but in a different post soon! It'll be my December TBR!!

I also got quite a lot of books in November, but I don't have time to list them all here... but I'll do a YouTube video about them and give you guys the link!

And then, of course, I baked some goodies for Thanksgiving!! (Btw, how were you guys turkey day??)


Dutch Apple Pie
(If you add crumbled graham cracker crumbs to the crumbled top before baking- it makes it even better!!)

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

Copycat Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


And that was a overall of my November!

I'm so sorry I couldn't give links to my fellow blogger's blogs and posts this month, but I'm finding a hard time doing anything lately :( 
I'll do a separate blog post soon if I can get around to it!


Happy Holidays!!
~Books with Noel

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

Time for another review my lovely friends and readers! 

A book that I read this month and feel is a hidden gem, and I'm also glad I found it at my library before I'd even heard anything about it!  That's right I picked this book up on a whim- simply because it looked kinda cool and the name was intriguing.

 Title: The Forgetting

Author: Sharon Cameron

Sequels?: There is a sequel- but I haven't read it yet seeing as I just finished this one.

Published:  September 13th, 2016

 Genre: Scifi



 [Synopsis: What isn't written, isn't remembered. Even your crimes. 
   Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories -- of parents, children, love, life, and self -- are lost. Unless they have been written. 
  In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because she is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten. But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. 
  As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence -- before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.]



   So I started reading this book- and next thing I know I was on chapter three in the library where my brother was supposed to pick me up- and I had three missed calls from him because I had been so sucked into the story.
   I've been crazy busy these days- so that fact that I lost track of time like that and couldn't get it out of my head was wonderful and rather bad. I'd forgotten what it felt like to suddenly look up thinking it'd only been a few minutes- but it was an hour later and you weren't sure where you were for a minute because you'd been so into the story and the world and its characters!

At the beginning of the first chapter I had been thinking ''Oh, this is another character that is just generic and plain-''
 Boy, was I wrong- I learned my lesson that I was not going to get through the first 15 pages without caring about the protagonist like she was a cinnamon roll that needed to be protected even though they'd already lived through some crazy s***.

(I literally bought the book as soon as I finished reading it, and it's now on my bookshelf BTW!)


But onto the world and plot!!
  So I was thinking the book was more along the lines of The City of Ember or The Hunger Games (because Gray and Nadia gave me Peeta and Katniss vibes for most of the book honestly)- I was once again WRONG! Gray and Nadia were not to be compared to other couples in YA books, and neither was the world in The Forgetting.

  When I say the genre of this book is sci-fi- I mean it is sci-fi, there is no mistake, though I did have to wait til like halfway through to see everything. And it is a sci-fi book that fits and brings out what you think of when you hear the words ''Science Fiction". Except for aliens- there are no aliens (just to put that out there).

  I couldn't guess where the crap things were going in this story- whether that was because I was too invested in the characters (which is very likely) I don't know- I just couldn't guess anything correctly! The book exceeded everything and took it to new twists and levels that I would've thought made the story more plain and cringy. But the author tied it so well into the plot- the villain- the world, that it was not plain and cringy by any means.


Speaking of villains....
One of the antagonists was rather obvious from page one, the second one- who happened to be the big bad villain- was revealed in an interesting way that was not really a plot twist or hard to guess either. But what was a surprise was the motives and stories of both antagonists...
No spoilers there though! :P


One last thing... there apparently is a book two...

My prayers were answered, but now I'm terrified of what's going to happen in the sequel.....



Have any of you read The Forgetting?? 
If so did you like it? If not- would you want to??


Have a good one guys!
~Books with Noel ;)