reading – Page 3 – Zakiya N. Jamal

Bookish Ardour’s Dystopia Challenge 2014

Posted on May 20, 2014December 24, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Books

I’ve never participated in a book challenge before (which is crazy since I read so much). However, I’m really excited to join this one because I read dystopias on a regular basis and it’s probably my favorite genre of fiction.

The idea of the challenge is to read a certain number of books in this category within the year. I’m willing to include books I’ve already read this year so I’ve decided to try for the Contagion level of reading 15 dystopian books this year. Whoa.

Bookish Ardour apparently does this every year and I’m really excited to join in for the first time (even if it is almost half way through the year). I’ll be doing reviews on each book I read and I’ll indicate if it’s book I read as part of the challenge. Below is the list of books I’ve either already read this year or plan to read as part of the challenge. Feel free to join me on this reading adventure.

The List:

1. The One by Kiera Cass

2. Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz and Michael Johnston

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth

4. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

5. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

6. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

7. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

8. Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

9. The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

10. The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

11. The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

12. Gone by Michael Grant

13. Hunger by Michael Grant

14. Lies by Michael Grant

15. Plague by Michael Grant

Well that’s the list. I feel confident I can do this before the year’s end. It’s go time.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: Binge Reading

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Books

The best feeling is discovering a book series that already has four or five books out. You don’t have to wait (im)patiently for the next one to come out, you can just grab it from the library or buy it instantly. Though this can be a great thing it also be bad. Really bad. Why, you ask? Because just as quickly as you became obsessed with Scandal you’ve become just as obsessed with the Private series. What’s worse is unlike a TV show, reading takes longer and you can’t really multi-task while you’re reading. Instead you find yourself so wrapped in your book, hours have gone by and you’ve forgotten how to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, and socialize.

In short, you’ve become a hermit.

It’s okay. Take a breather, relax. Binge reading is a fine (and fun) activity. It’s great to find yourself wrapped in a series with these characters you just can’t stop thinking about and always wanting to know what happens next. Reading is fundamental after all and unlike watching TV it won’t kill your brain cells.

It becomes bad, however, when you let your reading take over your whole life. Now you might be thinking, “That would never happen.” Yeah, sure. Here’s some signs that you might be losing it:

You freak out when the library doesn’t have the next book in the series.
You’re willing to buy the next book (or next three) no matter what the cost. “If I don’t check my bank account then it’s not real.”
Friends ask you to hang out but you say no because you JUST GOT TO THE GOOD PART.
You tell yourself you’ll go to sleep at 3 AM but then when 3 AM comes and you’re still in the middle of the chapter so you say, “I’ll just finish the chapter,” but it ended with a cliffhanger. You can’t possibly stop now, you’ll just go to sleep at 4 AM. This cycle continues until suddenly the sun is up.
When you have to eat or go to the bathroom you take the book with you.
Actually you just take the book everywhere.
People try to talk to you but you just say, “Uh huh,” or “Okay,” because really you just want them to be quiet so you can keep reading.
When you’re not reading you have to remind yourself what’s real and what happened in the book. No you do not have super powers and no you’re not in the middle of an all out war with the Capitol. Relax.

If any or all of these apply to you, you might have a problem but that’s okay because let’s be real reading too much is never really a problem right? The book series has to end eventually . . . but then you’ll find another one to read then another then another until you forget what real life is.

Here’s the deal, I love binge reading as much as the next person but just as binge watching TV can be bad for you so can binge reading. For one thing you can actually hurt your eyes by reading so much. For another you’ll start alienating yourself for the sake of a book. Don’t let your favorite character become your best friend. The day a character in a book actually starts talking to you is when you know you need to put the book down.

Rather than binge reading, take a break in between books. I give you permission to stay up however, long it takes to read one book but after you’re done give it a rest. Go for a walk, go see a movie, hang out with friends. Don’t let a fictional world become your whole life. Remember, no matter how good the book is, it’s not real and it’ll still be there when you get back.

Besides why rush a good thing? The sad truth is the series will have to come to an end eventually or worse you’ll actually catch up and find yourself waiting a year for the next one. Why put yourself through that torture? Take your time with the series. Re-read all the good parts. Let it all sink in before you jump right back in. Trust me, it won’t kill you.

Honestly, I know many of you will ignore my advice and keep binge reading anyway. If you do I wish you the best and enjoy the reading.

Sources for photos: Tumblr

Book Review: Onyx

Posted on March 8, 2014May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews

In answer to my question in my review for the first book of this series, I’m not sure if this series is going downhill or not but maybe I’ll figure it out by the end of this review. Let us begin.

First, my feelings about Katy were very up and down throughout the novel. This is the second book in Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Lux series and last time we left off Daemon told Katy he was going to make her fall for him and of course she said that’s ridiculous and he said:

And as we see early on, he means business. Flowering Katy with gifts and attention Katy has to force herself to not believe he has feelings for her which is ridiculous because he clearly does. However, she is in thorough denial blaming their new alien connection for his feelings. In conclusion, she’s crazy.

Needless to say when a new, human guy comes in the picture Katy is all too happy to jump on that train in hopes that she can forget all about Daemon and aliens and just be normal. Sadly, for Katy this guy, Blake, is anything but normal. Rather he might just turn out to be her worst nightmare.

Despite Katy’s annoying disbelief in her clearly budding relationship with Daemon, I still like her as a character. She can be very sassy when she wants to be and definitely doesn’t stand for Daemon’s crap which is great.

Even so, I really love Daemon. He’s so flirty, snarky, protective, and attractive and it’s heartbreaking to watch him put his heart on the line and Katy still not believe it’s real. Daemon is what really kept me reading. And Katy when she wasn’t discussing her blog so much which is ironic since I have my own blog and know exactly what she’s talking about when she says she’s going to write four book reviews in one sitting. I feel for you girl. However, I’d rather hear about your alien drama rather than all the books you read.

What’s also great about this novel is Katy get’s her own powers. For the first time she’s not completely defenseless (although she could handle her own in the first book as well). Learning how to control these powers, however, causes Katy and Daemon issues, especially since they’re keeping her powers and their new alien connection a secret from everyone, including Dee, putting a strain on their friendship.

Overall, I’d have to say that I did enjoy this novel more than the first in the series. There’s way more sexual tension between the two main characters, Dee gets some action as well, and the alien drama gets even more crazy as the Department of Defense (DOD) makes a big appearance in this novel. With so many threats, secrets, and romance around, this novel was an exciting book to read. Yes, there were still some parts that I could do without (mostly Katy’s inner monologues about her feelings about Daemon and her books) but overall this book was good enough for me to buy the third.

Stars: 4out of 5. Good but not OMG amazing.

Borrow or Buy: Borrow. This one isn’t as cheap as the first one and although I’ll definitely be rereading some parts at some point, I don’t think it’s something I needed in my Kindle library.

Book Review: Obsidian

Posted on March 5, 2014May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews

I am a creature of habit so when I find an author I love I read all their books until there’s no more left and I don’t stray. I’m also pretty stuck up about the books I read. Not to say I only read classics and NY Times Bestsellers but I only read novels that I deem to be “worthy”. That being said, rarely do I ever take a chance on an author I’ve never read/heard of before. But this time since it was only $2.99 on my Kindle and I was desperate to read something new I had to take a chance and I’m very glad that I did.

I don’t know where Jennifer L. Armentrout has been hiding this whole time but I am now officially hooked on her Lux series. The series focuses on Katy Swartz, a 17 year old girl, who moves to a small town in West Virginia with her mom a few years after her dad died. Both her mom and herself are looking for a fresh start and although Katy is not at all thrilled with her mom’s choice of location she attempts to take it in stride for the sake of her mom.

That is until she meets her next door neighbor, Daemon Black, who seems to hate her from the moment she meets him, and Katy has no idea why. All she knows is he’s a douche bag that she hates but is also kind of attracted to. Talk about awkward. Daemon’s sister, Dee, is his opposite however, as she quickly befriends Katy, despite her brother’s warning. The more Katy spends time with the Blacks the more she realizes that there’s something strange about the Blacks that she can’t quite put her finger on. It’s not until Daemon saves her life that she learns the truth: they’re aliens.

By saving Katy’s life Daemon leaves an alien trace on her that puts her in danger of being found by other aliens that won’t hesitate to kill her. This forces the two to spend more time together than either of them bargained for as Daemon feels obligated to protect her and get rid of the trace that also puts himself and sister in danger. This of course leads to multiple fights, a lot of sexual tension, and the learning that they may have more in common than they originally thought.

I’ll admit the beginning started pretty slow with Katy constantly talking about how much she missed writing on her blog and me thinking, “Nobody cares; get to the good stuff!” However, the novel then quickly picks up once she meets Daemon and starts hanging out with the Blacks on a more regular basis.

What makes this novel great is although it relies on the classic “girl meets guy who turns out to not be a human” trope it differs because although we all know they’re probably going to end up falling for each other it doesn’t start off that way. Katy knows she wants Daemon sexually but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a dick to her and what’s great about Katy is she doesn’t stand for it, not even when she finds out the truth about him and what he could do. Armentrout produces a character that’s not afraid to say what she’s thinking and is willing to stand up for herself no matter how attractive and mysterious a guy is. That’s awesome.

Additionally, Armentrout is a saint and adds two chapters in Daemon’s point of view at the end of the book so we can know exactly what he was thinking in those moments. While you’re reading you’ll understand why this is such a God send. Daemon is such a hard character to read and always leaves us wondering, “Does he like her or not?” It’s frustrating but so fun to read as well.

I plan to read the whole series over my spring break so I’ll have many reviews to let you know whether the series get’s better or worse from here but I’ve read the first two chapters of the next book and I’m very excited to see what happens next.

Stars: 4 out 5. Though I think the novel is great over all, the beginning was too slow for me.

Borrow or Buy: Buy. It’s so cheap, why not? Plus it’s really good and you’ll definitely want to reread it at some point.

Book Review: Blue Bloods

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Books

I’m not sure how I feel about Melissa De La Cruz. She has this uncanny ability to write books that make you want to keep reading but for me this feeling mostly comes from curiosity, not interest.

I thought this book was okay. There’s a lot of mystery in it that left me wondering what would happening next. However, I also found many of the characters to be irritating.

This book is the first in another series about vampires, which already deterred me a little bit. Of course, Cruz puts her own spin on the vampire idea. In her series, vampires live forever through their blue blood that carries on their many lives. Basically, they are reincarnated over and over again. They still drink blood but the sun doesn’t kill them it only makes some of them itchy if they’re allergic.

The main character, Schulyer, is an outcast at her prestigious high school. Even so she has a hidden beauty and when a senior and one of the most popular guys in school, Jack, notices her and one of her fellow students is found dead things start to change for Schulyer who later finds out she’s a vampire and so are many of her classmates.

Of course, there’s something special about Schulyer, who’s curiosity about who she is and the death of her classmate leads her to a search for the truth about who could be killing vampires who are supposed to be immortal.

Like I said, I kept reading because I was curious. I wanted to know what Schulyer was and who’s killing these kid vamps. Overall, however, I didn’t find the novel to be that great. It didn’t draw me in and I wasn’t obsessively reading it late in the night to find out what happens next.

Even so, I will most likely still read the next one because I want to know what happens next. Who knows, maybe I’ll like the next one better.

Stars: 2 out of 5

Borrow or Buy: Borrow. This is definitely a book I wouldn’t re-read. Unless you need a refresher on what happens when you finally get around to reading the next one. But in that case you could probably just read the summary on Wikipedia.