The White Rose (Lone City #2)

By: Amy Ewing
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published Year: 2015
Pages: 320

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Violet is on the run. After the Duchess of the Lake catches Violet with Ash, the hired companion at the Palace of the Lake, Violet has no choice but to escape the Jewel or face certain death. So along with Ash and her best friend, Raven, Violet runs away from her unbearable life of servitude.

But no one said leaving the Jewel would be easy. As they make their way through the circles of the Lone City, Regimentals track their every move, and the trio barely manages to make it out unscathed and into the safe haven they were promised—a mysterious house in the Farm.

But there’s a rebellion brewing, and Violet has found herself in the middle of it. Alongside a new ally, Violet discovers her Auguries are much more powerful than she ever imagined. But is she strong enough to rise up against the Jewel and everything she has ever known?

                                                           First Impressions

I loved the first book The Jewel (review here). Oddly enough, this sequel kind of snuck up on me. From time to time I go to the Barnes & Noble website and flip through their Coming Soon page. If I hadn’t done that, I don’t think I would’ve known this was coming out! I’m normally much better at following sequels but for some reason I forgot about this one. I like the cover and I think it’s beautiful, but I think the first one is slightly better/more appealing to me. Either way it would’ve caught my attention even if I hadn’t already read the first one.

                                                          What I thought

I wanted to love this one so much but it fell flat for me. I still liked Violet and the overall concept of this world, but this book seemed a lot like a filler before a big finale.

The White Rose picks up where The Jewel left off. Violet was just caught with Ash and is being brought to the dungeon. She manages to escape with help and brings Ash with her. They also find her friend Raven, who she gave the serum meant to fake her own death. The entire first half of the book (and I do mean until page about 150/300) is Ash, Raven, and Violet fleeing the different circles trying to get to the person who wanted to help Violet escape in the first place.

This was the part that just seemed so tedious to me. Nothing happened in this first chunk of pages. It was a lot of “We’re now in this city. Oh no! We almost barely got caught but it’s ok. We’re safe. Let’s move onto the next city where the exact same thing will happen.” There was no character development during these scenes and no relevant information. I don’t understand why an editor didn’t encourage Ewing to cut a large chunk of this out.

Finally, Violet and clan get to their original destination (that if Violet hadn’t screwed up in the first place should’ve taken only like an hour) and the story starts to pick up again. There is a lot of story building and backstory explanations during the second half of the book but it helps to make the world and the situation make more sense. I do like some of the backstory, but I was annoyed and confused by some of the reasoning behind why Violet specifically was needed.

At this point of the story things almost seemed to move too fast. The second half of the book should’ve been much longer and played out over a longer period of time. Instead, Violet seems to access her powers in a different way immediately and then gets control over them immediately and then figures out how to save the whole island, immediately.

In the author’s section in the back of the book, it explains that The Jewel was Ewing’s thesis project. I feel like that explains a lot about why the first book was stronger and better than the second. I would guess that during the process of writing the first book she had a lot more feedback, direction, and redirection to make it stronger. This book definitely feels more like the writing of a debut author than her first one does. There are a lot of tangents that aren’t important and then the important portions seem rushed. While the second half of the book did redeem itself, it didn’t completely overshadow the first half.

This book wasn’t terrible, but I wanted it to be so much more. The first half of the book was really tough to get through but the second half of the book was worth the wait. It was interesting and kept me curious enough to see what’s going to happen in the third book. I don’t know if I would recommend picking up this series as heavily as I did after the first book. I’m tempted to say wait until the third book comes out and then I’ll let you know if all 3 are worth it. 
 

Nordstrom Fall Beauty Trend Show

On October 23rd, my mom and I attended the Nordstrom Fall Beauty Trend Show. I was curious to attend this because last year I attended a Bloomingdales Beauty Event. This was the first one being hosted by my Nordstrom and I had never attended an event like this by them before.

It started off with a fashion show which was really fun! I liked seeing all of the fashion trends as well as the beauty trends. They also did another fashion show in the middle which was a nice way to break everything up.

The two main beauty focuses of the event were The Graphic Eye and The Bold Lip. The first trend they went through was the Graphic Eye and the brands that shared roducts were Anastasia, Osmotics Comeceuticals, T3, Nest Fragrances, Clinque, NARs, Laura Mericer, MAC, Trish McEvoy Smashbox, Bobbie Brown, Hanae Morie, and Wildfox.

This part of the show as very similar to the Bloomingdales one in that each brand shared a few of the products they wanted to spotlight and then how best to use them. It was nice because a few of the brands had just gotten their holiday sets in, so we got a sneak peak of those, but it wasn’t anything revolutionizing. I did like that they included fragrances (both candles and perfumes)

The Bold Lip had products presented by Clarins, Kate Somerville, Philosophy, Nuface, Clairsonic, Lancome, Guerlain, Dior, Estee Lauder, Yves Saint Lurent, Diptyque, and Tom Ford. Again, it was mostly stuff that I had heard before with the exception of Guerlain. There was a lip primer that they showed that I hadn’t seen it used before. I didn’t get a chance to stop at their counter to try it that day, but it’s definitely something I’m curious about! They claim that it not only helps keep your lip product o, but it also helps to keep the color true to when you first put it on.

Similar to Bloomingdales, the Nordstrom event had samples that they gave to attendees. They gave out a tote bag, which was really nice! I liked getting a tote bag as opposed to yet another makeup bag. I have those coming out my ears. In the bag they included a few samples, that ended up not being very exciting. Bloomingdales had some deluxe samples, as well as a large and diverse selection. The Nordstrom bag was pretty sparse and mostly included perfume samples.
 

Overall, the event was ok. I liked the show itself, but it wasn’t mind blowing and the samples that were given out were ok as well. I’m hoping that as they continue to do events like this they will improve. The best thing about this event was that I was able to repurchase my Estee Lauder Advance Night Repair Serum at 10% off with a free $58 full size Advance Night Repair Eye Cream! If you have an event coming to your area, I’d say give it a shot but don’t hold your expectations too high. The other thing I would suggest would be to make a makeup appointment at a brand you typically wouldn’t visit. I went to NARs, thinking that they would have some of their holiday stuff out but they didn’t. I wish that I would’ve gone to a brand like YSL or Guerlain. Maybe next time!

Where have I been?

Let me start by saying I hate reading posts like this one and I hate writing posts like this one.


I'm sorry!!!!!


I have been absent from this blog for almost a month. I got married on October 10th and then proceeded to get sick after that. I apologize for my lack of blogging and I hate that I have to apologize for it. My goal is to get back on a consistent blogging schedule in November. I have some posts all set for the future so fingers crossed I will get myself back on track!

September 2015 Favorites

Books

Deep Blue Eternity By: Natasha Boyd (Book Club)

This Book Will Change Your Life By: Amanda Weaver (Review)

Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger By: Beth Harbison

The Affinities By: Robert Charles Wilson

Why Not Me? By: Mindy Kaling (Review)

Grace Under Pressure (A Manor House Mystery #1) By: Julie Hyzy

The Map of Time By: Felix J Palma (Did not Fini

This month was a struggle book wise. I had a hard time wanting to read and I had a hard time find a book that really got me excited. Maybe it’s because school started again, maybe it’s because my wedding is coming up, maybe it’s because I was on such a roll at the beginning of the year. Either way, I definitely wasn’t excited until I picked up Why Not Me? It is hands down the best book I read this month and I highly recommend it.
 

Beauty

Beauty Protector Protect & Oil ($25.95)

I received this product in my Birchbox and fell in love. It makes my hair so soft and I love the way it looks when I use it. I purchased a full size this month and am excited to make it a part of my every day hair routine. I typically use it on wet hair, mixed in with a curl cream, but I am excited to tri ton dry hair too.

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Lolita ($21.00)

I bought this lipstick as a potential wedding day lipstick, and while I ended up picking something else, I am in love with this color! As is evident by a lot of the colors I review on my blog, I love a bold lip. However, for my wedding day I wanted something more subtle/natural. The girls at Sephora helped me find this lipstick. While I was hesitant about trying it at first (I am very wary of anything with a brown tint) it has turned out to be an amazing nude. My lips are very pigmented, so it’s difficult for me to find a nude that doesn’t just disappear on my lips. This enhances my lip color and is absolutely beautiful.


Buys

EVOL

Specifically the Gluten Free Mac & Cheese with Uncured Bacon. I LOVE Mac & Cheese. It is possibly one of my favorite foods and it’s really difficult to find a good microwavable version. I decided to try this one, even though I was a little wary of it being gluten free, and it’s really good! It doesn’t taste any different than regular Mac & Cheese.

Not too many Buys this month as the wedding is coming up, so I need to be careful with my money!

Miscellaneous

College Football

College football season is back! Over labor day the fiancé and I took a trip to Dallas with a few of my friends to see the Wisconsin vs Alabama game and it was so much fun! It was a great way to kick off the football season, even though Wisconsin lost. Florida is 4-0 so far, so that’s always exciting too! I can’t wait to lounge my Saturdays away in front of the TV.

Wedding

My wedding is in a week and a half! My life has been non-stop wedding stuff, so you might not hear from me much within the next few weeks. I bought some amazing bridesmaid gifts and I can’t wait to give them to all of my girls. My dress is almost done, and I have my makeup picked out and purchased. Everything is falling into place and I’m starting to get really excited!

Why Not Me?

By: Mindy Kaling
Published Year: 2015
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Pages: 240

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): In Why Not Me?, Kaling shares her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life, whether it’s falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, or most important, believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you.

In “How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet’s Confessions,” Kaling gives her tongue-in-cheek secrets for surefire on-camera beauty, (“Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn’t the land of appropriate–this is Hollywood, baby. Out here, a dark-skinned woman’s traditional hair color is honey blonde.”) “Player” tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. (“I had been replaced by a younger model. And now they had matching bangs.”) In “Unlikely Leading Lady,” she muses on America’s fixation with the weight of actresses, (“Most women we see onscreen are either so thin that they’re walking clavicles or so huge that their only scenes involve them breaking furniture.”) And in “Soup Snakes,” Kaling spills some secrets on her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and close friend, B.J. Novak (“I will freely admit: my relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell.”)

Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming-of-age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who’s ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who’ve never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper.

                                                           First Impressions

I received the first book that Mindy wrote through the Birchbox book club and fell in love. Because of how much I enjoyed the first book, I started watching The Mindy Project and started to really like Mindy as a person and an actress. I was very excited when I heard that she was writing a second book and immediately put in on my TBR.

                                                             What I thought

This book was great. It definitely did not disappoint and I had higher expectations for this one than I did her first. This book addresses Mindy’s more current life events as opposed to her childhood, as in the first book. I’ve read a lot of celebrity autobiographies and the second book about more current events is usually a letdown and not as interesting as the first. However, this was not the case with Mindy’s novel.

It isn’t written in exactly the same style as her first book, but there are definitely similarties. I think in the first book there were a lot more advice sections, whereas this one had a few more stories. I really enjoyed learning about all of the different parts of Mindy’s current life and found it to be funny, entertaining, and insightful. One of the things I love most about Mindy is that she is smart. She makes a lot of observations that make the reader think and I appreciate that.

I loved reading this book and couldn’t put it down. I, unfortunately, don’t have a lot to say about it other than it was very enjoyable. It is definitely written better than some other celebrity autobiographies that I’ve read and I didn’t feel like it was lacking anything.
 

I could turn around and re-read this book right now. I want to purchase it and add it to my collection and I recommend everyone read it. If you haven’t read the first one, I recommend reading that first. Not necessarily because you have to, but just because that one is so good too! I think by reading her first book before this one, you get to know Mindy a little better and can end up enjoying this book a little more. I’m sorry that I don’t have much to specifically say about this book, but it’s a little hard to talk about it since it doesn’t have a plot. It is well written and a great book to read.
 

Birchbox September 2015

In case you are unaware, Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription box. It costs $10 a month and you receive multiple sample size item. These boxes allow you to try tons of new products that you may have never even heard of before. The other fun thing about Birchbox is that every time you purchase an item from their site, or review a product from your box, you receive rewards points! Once you collect 100 points, you get $10 off of your next purchase. These points definitely add up quickly between buying your box, and reviewing the products.

Each month, Birchbox allows subscribers to pick one of their samples. If you prefer surprises, you don’t have to pick one. You can choose to be surprised instead. They also offer full boxes that have been made by a guest. This month’s guest editor box was a Customer Favorites box since it is Birchbox’s birthday. This month’s sample choices the Davines Love smoothing shampoo and conditioner, POP beauty Portfolio Eyeshadow Trio in Sugar Plum, Anastasia Beverly Hills Perfect Brow Pencil, and the Dr Brandy Pores No More Cleanser. I debated between the POP Eyeshadow, Brow Pencil and Cleanser. I almost didn’t pick one, but ultimately went with the cleanser.

Each month Birchbox also offers what they call Birchbox Plus items. These are items that you can add to your box at a discounted price. They are typically things like tote bags, journals, or jewelry. This month they had an acrylic make-up organizer by Isaac Jacobs that I just couldn’t pass up. I don’t typically mention these items because I don’t purchase them, but they do offer them each month.
 

The products I received this month were as follows:
 

Birchbox Plus- Arcylic Makeup Organizer by Isaac Jacobs ($22)- This is a clear acrylic makeup organizer with a rose gold accent. I have been working on organizing my home bit by bit and I really liked the look of this. I liked that it had two tall spots for my brushes and then 9 smaller spots for everything else. I also like the flat section which is great for my eyeshadows. I liked fitting everything in this and it makes it a lot easier to see what I have. If you’ve been looking for a better way to keep your makeup out, I’d highly recommend looking into something like this.
 

100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream (Full-size $25)- This is an eye cream that is meant to be an immediate pickup and reduce the look of fine lines and dark circles. It smells like coffee vanilla which is very pleasant. The consistency is a bit thick for my personal preferences but it blends in nicely. It also works well with makeup. I don’t know if I’d say that I notice any difference in the past week of using it, but I’ll keep trying it. It’s in a nice tube so it’ll be a great travel eye cream.

Dr Brandt Pores No More Cleanser (Full-size $35)- This is a cleanser meant to minimize pores and leave skin clean and smooth. I really liked the Pores No More mask, so I’m excited to try this out. Because I’m getting married soon, I haven’t been playing with a lot of face products. Last thing I need is to try this out and have a major breakout. I will definitely be trying it soon though!

POP Beauty Eyeshadow in Sugar Plum (Full-size $26)- I was really excited to see this in my box! I love receiving more than one of the sample choices. These eyeshadows are very pretty and a similar travel version to the Laura Mercier Palette I recently purchased. They are surprisingly smooth and pigmented and I do like them a lot. The only unfortunate thing is that they tend to crease. I don’t typically have that problem with eyeshadows, but I noticed the darker taupe/grey color creased.

By Rosie Jane James Perfume (Full-size $39)- This is a fig, amber, and gardenia perfume. I initially really liked the smell but then was a bit unsure of it once it was on me. I will have to wear it a few more times before I decide how I feel about it. If I decide I like it, it could be a good wedding day contender!

Dear Clark Volumizing Tonic (Full-size $26)- This is a hair treatment that is meant to volumize. I do like to use volumizing treatments at my roots and I will say that this is one of the first products where I saw immediate results. I really like what it does but it also makes my hair very frizzy. I might have to play around with it in combination with other products.


Overall, this is a good box. It’s nothing that has me jumping out of my skin, but the products are very nice. 

This Book Will Change Your Life

By: Amanda Weaver
Published Year: 2015
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Pages: 170

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Take a chance and change your life…

College was supposed to be where Hannah’s hard work paid off, but the major in honors chemistry she’s been working towards since childhood is slipping away. Worse, she’s not sure she wants it anymore. Salvation comes from an unlikely place—a used bookstore and Ben, the passionate college senior who works there.

Ben’s trapped in a life mapped out for him. Trapped in a future career as a lawyer to make his father happy. Trapped pursuing a girl he doesn't even like because she fits into a world he doesn’t want, but can’t escape. But then he meets Hannah. And for the first time, he knows what it means to truly want something.

So he gives in to being her friend. Then to wanting her. Then to kissing her. And within the freedom of his impulsivity, both of their carefully planned lives begin to fall apart... 

I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher. This in no way shape or form influenced my review of this book.

                                                           First Impressions

The title was definitely the first thing to catch my eye with this book. I love to read books with characters who love to read and I had a feeling that’s what this was going to be. The cover is pretty cute as well. It definitely has the cover of a romance/new adult book, so I knew it would be on the light side. I was excited to read it on my vacation!

                                                            What I thought

This is definitely a nice light fluffy book. It’ surprisingly short and I think that, unfortunately, that is a shortcoming. It was nice to be able to read it quickly, but I think that this book could’ve been a lot better if it had delved a little deeper and was a little longer.

I also feel like this book is the perfect example of a New Adult novel. Hannah is a freshman in college and Ben is a senior. On an unexpectedly rainy day, Hannah ducks into a used bookstore for shelter. Once in the store, she meets Ben, the cute bookstore employee. Hannah shares that she never reads for fun and Ben, an English major and avid reader is appalled. He immediately decides he needs to find a book for her and when he gives it to her he states that the book will change her life.

One thing that I loved about this book was the references to real books and the discussions that the characters had about them. I loved that Hannah, a non-reader, was turned onto reading by someone who was so passionate about reading. I always hope that I can do that with people who I meet who say that they aren’t big readers, so it was great seeing a character who did this as well. I also liked both Hannah and Ben. I thought that their relationship was cute and I liked that their struggles with college were realistic.

My biggest issue with this book was that everything seemed so superficial. If this book had been twice the length, I would have been able to get to know the characters better and the relationship between Hannah and Ben could’ve been more nuanced and realistic. It all seemed a bit quick and any changes they made all were quick. There were also difficulties with Ben’s dad, and because of the length of the book, it seemed like all resolutions happened in a page. There was no development prior to the arguments and then things seemed to be fixed in a moment. Because there was no development, a lot of the time it felt like the characters were reading from a script and didn’t really feel the way that the author wanted them to. 

If you enjoy New Adult novels, this is definitely a cute book to pick up. I would also say that it’s a good beach read, even though we are at the end of beach season. I read this on vacation and it was the perfect book. It was quick, light, fun, and easy to read. There were some shortcomings in the character and story development, but it still manages to be enjoyable. I wouldn’t re-read this, but I would definitely read more about these characters. I am curious to look into more by this author as well. 

Saint Anything

By: Sarah Dessen
Published Year: 2015
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Pages: 417

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?

Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.

                                                            First Impressions

I really like the cover of this book. Knowing it was by Sarah Dessen, I was immediately interested. She is one of the most solid young adult authors out there and I know that anything she writes will be great. I haven’t read one of her books in a really long time, so I was looking forward to checking out this one.

                                                             What I thought

Sarah Dessen has done a great job again. She has a great way with characters and making a reader really feel like they are a part of the world that she’s created.

Saint Anything starts with Sydney in court with her brother as he is getting sentenced. As you find out early on, her brother Peyton drove drunk and paralyzed a 15 year old boy. This was not a first or isolated offence, so Peyton is sentenced to time in prison. This, of course, throws Sydney’s world for a spin as well as the rest of her family. Her mom becomes very obsessed with Peyton’s life and only sees it through rose colored glasses. Her dad throws himself into his work, and Sydney kind of crawls into herself. She decides that she wants to switch high schools, so that she can start over somewhere that people didn’t know her brother. While there, she makes a new set of friends who help her learn who she is as a person, away from her brother and family.

I really enjoyed this book. It is definitely one of those books that when you finish it you feel like you’ve eaten a really good meal. It’s long and detailed but in the best way. The only issue that I had was that I kept waiting for something big to happen and when I finished it seemed a little anti-climactic and not fully finished.

Sydney, Mac, and Layla are absolutely wonderful. The brother-sister relationship with Mac and Layla was nice to see. It was also a nice contrast to the poor brother-sister relationship with Sydney and Peyton. I also liked how everyone’s relationships developed. While Layla was a little quick to include Sydney in her life, it was still believable because of Layla’s personality and because Sydney didn’t immediately open up to her. Mac and Sydney’s relationship also developed slowly and was very believable.

I didn’t like Sydney’s parents, but I don’t think that we’re supposed to. I also don’t know how I feel about the overall problem of the story. I think that considering how big of a deal it is, that Dessen glossed over it. I thought there as going to bemore focus on the fact that her brother’s accident paralyzed a 15 year old boy and that Sydney would talk about it a little more than she did. I understand that it was a lot of inner struggle, but there wasn’t much action with it. It seemed like this big even happened, and then nobody dealt with it. Again, I understand that that is part of the point, but it doesn’t make for the most emotional or life changing read.

This book also made me ridiculously hungry. Layla is obsessed with French fries and her and Mac’s family also own a pizzeria that is apparently delicious and also sells garlic knots. These are mentioned almost constantly throughout the book, so I wouldn’t recommend reading this without food nearby. I am still craving French fries and pizza as I write this review. It’s a fun little quirk of the story that I really enjoyed.
 

I feel like this is more of a 3.5/5 than a solid 3, but I’ll explain why I didn’t round up with this one. I did finish this book in a little over a day and was very invested in the characters and story. I found many moments where I didn’t want to put the book down and just wanting to know more about Sydney’s everyday life. I think it’s another solid book for Dessen, and if you are a fan of hers then you won’t be disappointed. I’d recommend this book, but I can’t see myself re-reading it. I think there are other Dessen books that I liked more, so if I did purchase one of her books for my shelves, I would probably choose another one over this.