Top Ten Tuesday: Whatever, I still like to dress up.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted over on brokeandbookish. This week we had a choice of two options and since in England we don't really celebrate Halloween, and I've never really been that into it; I picked the second option. Because secretly I am five years old and love pretending to be people I'm not.

The topic is: Top Ten Characters Who I Would Totally Want To Be For Halloween

1. Isabelle Lightwood A black dress, thigh high boots and an electrum whip? Um yes please. Seriously though Halloween is perfect for pretending to be a shadowhunter.

2. Scarlett O'Hara I adore clothing from different time periods and really I would look a little mental if I dressed as her any other time. 

3. Bellatrix Lestrange Hands down best Halloween costume ever. Like she's scary but also looks damn fine in a corset. Also I'd really like to know if I could make my hair look like hers.

4. The White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia. She must have like the coolest outfits ever. And plus the fur would keep you really warm since it's freezing in October (I'm a wuss when it comes to the cold).

5. Aphrodite Any of her appearances in the Percy Jackson series. Especially her civil war era one. She's the goddess of beauty for god's sake who wouldn't want to dress as her?

6. Daisy Buchanan How I love 1920s clothing. Everything about dressing up as Daisy appeals to me. Even if I don't like her as a character.

7. Dorothy Gale A bit of a Halloween favourite but I love the cute little outfit and she's one of my favourite fictional characters ever.

8.  Tessa Gray As you might be able to tell I really love period dress (bit of a history nerd not going to lie), so the idea of dressing in Victorian clothes appeals to me immensely. Mental I know considering how uncomfortable they are.

9. Hermione Granger I would pretty much use this as an excuse to go out and buy a uniform and wand, which I crave but have no real need for. Of course I should dress up as one of the best female fictional characters of all time.

10. Black Widow Okay, okay I know this is supposed to be a book meme so I'm cheating but the topic is technically only fictional characters. And I long to don a red wig and a black jumpsuit. 

Are any of you actually dressing up as an fictional characters for Halloween? Or who would you like to dress as?

Let's Talk About: Strong Female Characters

Everyone wants to see a strong female lead in books. In fact I would even go so far to say as though we need them. Little girls who read books need characters they can look up to, genuinely inspirational women. Books are usually great examples of this, most (and I really do mean most) authors won't write a two dimensional protagonist. But sometimes people get confused with what makes a strong female lead.

A lot of people turn to the weapon-wielding, butt-kicking bad ass. Of course it's great to see women taking on these roles usually reserved for men. But sometimes people think that that is the only example of a strong women. And by God that isn't true. By restricting the definition people are once again limiting what women can do and what defines a strong woman. Great character such as; Mara Dyer, Liesel Meminger and America Singer. These characters all have admirable qualities and to label them as 'weak' or any other word synonymous with that is unfair. 

Personally I find it a lot harder to relate to characters like Tris Prior and Katniss Everdeen, sure they're brave and are awesome in there own way. But they're so far removed from some girls (and certainly their situations). I find it a lot easier to look up to characters like Annabeth Chace (I mean sure she's a freakin' demigod but she's a lot more like me) and June Iparis (admittedly she kicks some butt). And while I do love a women who can fight for herself, sometimes their cold, and occasionally sociopathic personalities mean they're not the kind of people I'd want to hang out with...at all. But then again, that isn't to say I don't wish I was a little bit more like Katniss and a little bit less like Bella Swan.

Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

About The Book:
Title: The Dream Thieves
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Age Range: 13+
Publication Date: 17th September 2013
Pages: 439 pages (hardback)
Publisher: Scholastic

Summary:

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Blue and Gansey will be the same. Ronan is falling more and more deeply into his dreams ... and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Gansey is needed at home, and is struggling to stay in Aglionby. And Adam? He's made some new friends. Friends that are looking for some of the same pieces of the puzzle that Gansey, Blue, and Ronan are after. Great power is at stake, and someone must be willing to wield it.

Rating:

Review:

It's official; I am in love with The Raven Cycle series. The Raven Boys was mainly focused on world building and introducing us to the characters, but in The Dream Thieves it's full steam ahead with character development and thickening the plot. Honesty is one of my favourite things in books, authors who romanticise and sugar coat thoughts and feelings just end up with a book that feels fake. But Maggie Stiefvater does no such thing; all the internal monologues are brutally honest and often I find myself imaging thinking the exact same thing. She writes people so well; each character has their own charm and appeal but also their ugly secrets and not so pleasant attributes, but it's this kind of reality that makes them all so likeable. The whole cast of characters feels like they could really exist, their dynamics, their speech, their whole existence. 

Ronan takes the spotlight in this book, which at first I wasn't too excited about as I wasn't a fan of him in The Raven Boys, but once we dug deeper into his story I actually started to like him. Without giving too much away I think it's safe to say that he's a lot more than the token bad boy. Although it we only get glimpses of it in this book it's easy to see how his individual character arc is going to tie into the overarching storyline. Gansey still remained my favourite in this book, I especially loved how his relationship with Adam and Blue shifted and that we got to see more of his home life. I've never been a fan of Noah, though I hope (like with Ronan) we get to know more about him (though I doubt it because of the whole you know...thing), and he feels kind of secondary compared to the other raven boys. I love Blue, she's so...well normal. And she hates it. And that's the best thing - that feeling of not quite belonging (similar to Adam) is something I connect with so well and Maggie executes it in a way so that it doesn't come off as self pitying.

In this book the plot deviates away from the Glendower arc a little, though it's always there in the background, and kind of comes back into it at the end. I enjoyed the change and the whole concept of dreams was so cool. I could imagine it would be quite hard to pull the weirdness of dreams off without it creeping into down right trippy territory but it was done so well. Admittedly at times I did get a little confused with everything linking in together and for pages at a time I was lost. It may have been the linking together of the two plots but in the end I was clear on what was happening, and I loved how the ending set up for the next book.

The only massive problem I had was the Grey Man. Honestly I just didn't get the point of him, apart from maybe adding a little dept to Ronan's story. But honestly it seemed like a needless diversion from the main character's points of view, and because the air of mystery is so key to him, his chapters didn't really help my connect or understand his character. I would've preferred the book without him I think, although I did like his relationship with Maura.

But overall I really did love this book, the complexity of the plot and the introduction of the Grey Man did ruin it a little for me which is why I can only give it four stars but on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's an intricately woven story where (almost) everything ties in so neatly. The hints at what are to come are so subtle yet I'm able to pick up on them mostly and the speculation which comes from them just makes it an even more interesting read. I cannot wait for the next one.

Buy The Book

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Favourites on Friday: Feeling Nostalgic

This is a new feature I want to try out on my blog where each Friday (more or less) I talk about some of my favourite book related things. I'll decide the topic each week and tell you about my favourites.

This week's topic is: Favourite Books From My Childhood

1. The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling I think this kind of goes without saying for anyone between the ages of eleven and twenty five. This series got me completely hooked on reading and literally no other book series in the world means as much to be as this.
2. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder My mother read these books when she was a child so naturally she forced me to read them. Luckily I loved them. They're not quite like anything I've read, and honestly not the most exciting books ever. I just love the insight it gave into someone's life and a time and culture I knew nothing about.
3. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman I was about eight or nine when I read these and besides from the Harry Potter books they were the first real fantasy books I read. It was my first real experience of really relating with a main character. Also shipping. Will and Lyra were my original otp.
4. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild I read this after watching a BBC film of it starring Emma Watson. Again it's one of those books were I can't quite work out why I loved it so much. Again it was probably the insight into a time and way of life I hadn't experienced. And the relationship between the three sisters.
5. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett This book shaped quite a lot of how I write now. The description and characterisation just made me fall in love; it was so honest and real to me. I considered Sara pretty inspirational as a little girl, this was the only story that really taught me that any girl can be a princess and that perseverance could get you through anything.

Quotes

'You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.' - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

'There's no great loss without some small gain.' - Little House on the Prairie.

'Every atom of me and every atom of you... We'll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams... And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they wont' just be able to take one, they'll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we'll be joined so tight...' - The Amber Spyglass

'It might have all the same; you never can tell what's magic.' - Ballet Shoes

'If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.' - A Little Princess

What were your favourite books growing up? Have you read any of these before?

Life of a Blogger: Origin of Your Name

Life of a Blogger is a weekly meme hosted by novelheartbeat. The idea is that each week there will be a new topic (non-bookish) to give people a chance to get to know the blogger better, and others that participate!

This week's topic is: Origin of Your Name

So as you can see from the bottom of every post I've ever written my name is Georgia. Not a super interesting name I know. And I wish I had a super cool story behind it but sadly not. Basically my parent's whose names are John and Jane think that it sounds like a combination of theirs (it doesn't and I have told them this many times). Also all the females of my generation names end in 'a' so I guess that's kind of like a tradition like; Laura, Emma, Georgia and Olivia. But apart from that it's pretty dull, so yeah.

Do any of you guys have slightly more interesting stories behind your name? I certainly hope so.

Book Haul: Temptation Kicks In

For some reason my brain thinks that just because I'm away visiting somewhere; that's an excuse to buy a shed load of books. It's really not. However here is the damage. 

Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan This isn't the kind of book I would usually pick up but I have heard some very good things about it and when I went to buy it the woman in the shop said she really enjoyed it too. So I consider fate to have played a hand in this one.

The Jewel by Amy Ewing I haven't heard terrific things about this book. It is the sort I would typically read but reviews haven't been great. I think I will probably still read it, but it maybe be pushed down near the bottom of my to-read list. 

The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth Laban I had never heard of this book until I saw it in a bookshop. But the cover was so pretty and the synopsis sounded really interesting. For some reason I adore books set in boarding schools and it sounds like it could be a little sad; and I love sad books.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Everywhere I look people are reviewing and raving about this book. I have no clue what it's about apart from a group of affluent kids. Oh! And that there's a twist at the end! (or something like that). It's a lot shorter than I thought it would be actually, especially the way people had been talking about it.  But do I care? Nope. I love jumping on bandwagons.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer This is another one of those books that I'm really late to the party about. Originally I wasn't too keen on the idea; a cyborg Cinderella in a Beijing set somewhere in the future (I'm sorry what?). But everyone's next door neighbour and their dog seems to have read this book. So I'm giving it a go.