October Fairyloot Review| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
So I was lucky enough to  get a 3 month to subscription to Fairyloot which started in September. This meant that I got the October box and the theme for October was Steampunk Rebellion. I loved this box as much as the last one and you can read my review of the last box here.

This is an overview of the contents of the box. We definitely got a lot more smaller items in this box, which I kind of prefer. There was a wide of variety of items and hardly any cross overs or similar items from the last box. I loved the variety as there was something for everyone in this box.

The first item in this box was a candle made by Meraki Candles. There were six you could get and they were inspired by Divergent. I got Dauntless (super happy about this) and it smells like Dauntless Cake and Warm Amber. I love the subtle touch around the outside, you can see the fire and it ties nicely to Dauntless.

Next,  there was this awesome Clockwork Ring made by Cogs and Curiosities. This is such a cute piece of jewelry. I personally won't be wearing this much as I tend not to wear rings this much. But it does embody steampunk with all the mechanical pieces in the copper glitter.

This is a close up of the ring designed by Cogs and Curiosities. I love how detailed it is.

While we are talking about jewelry, the other piece of jewelry in this box was this Mechanical Butterfly Necklace designed by Fairyloot. Again, I really love this but like the ring I probably won't wear it that much as I'm the type of person who has a few staple pieces of jewelry I wear. That's when I remember to wear jewelry. I'll definitely be using this in Instagram photos though.

Here is a slightly blurry close up as my camera WOULD not focus on it. I love the little pops of copper on the wings.

Next we have, what is quite possibly the best item I have received in a subscription box EVER, and it is an Infernal Devices Tea Towel which was designed exclusively by Read at Midnight. You guys know I am a huge fan of The Infernal Devices, so I literally squealed when I saw this. I'm probably not going to use it as a tea towel and I'm going to find away to display it in my room.

This is a first for me and that is a book themed lip balm made exclusively by Behind the Pages. Gina also designed something for the September box and I'm so happy that my Behind the Pages collection is growing. It is based of Elias from An Ember in the Ashes (I believe) and smells of spice and rain.

What makes it exclusive is the gold colouring and glitter Gina added. I love smelling this and one day I'll get round to testing it.

Then we have an item designed by Happy Hello Art. If you follow me on Instagram (shamless self promo, follow me @itscarenzab) then you will know that I have all the Cassandra Clare bookmarks that Happy Hello art has to offer. I was a little bit disappointed with this as I already have it, but I will be keeping it because I love adding to my Cassandra Clare collection. You could either get Will or Jem.

Like the tea towel, this item was a first to me. This washi tape was included by Fairyloot and I love it. As I mention in most of my posts, I bullet journal so I'm looking forward to using this in my journal.

A close up of the Clockwork pattern on the washi tape.

The book in Fairyloot's October box was Metaltown by Kristen Simmons. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to reading this but I am looking forward to. Apart from TID, I haven't read any Steampunk.

The signed bookplate, as you can see I am terrible at sticking them in and mine is a bit wonky.

We also got this badge which links to the book. I really like how the outside looks like a cog.

Like last months box, there was the unique hashtag which helps you find your reading buddy.

This was my unique hashtag, like last month I didn't find my reading buddy :(

There was also another Fairyscoop, I have had so much fun reading these.

A super detailed author interview with Kristen. I love that it includes some book recommendations.

 There was this cool metal maze on the back as well as a photo competition to win an ARC. I entered but I didn't win.

There was also a letter written by Kristen talking about Metaltown. I love how the paper has the design of the card that tells you whats in the box. It's a really nice touch.

 Here is the graphic for the October box. I have to say I preferred September's but this is still really cool.

The information about what's in the box. Mine has bluetac on because I have stuck it up.













So that concludes my October Fairyloot review. I was blown away by the quality of the box and am looking forward to picking up my November and finding out what's inside. My November review will be going up at the end of December.
Love,
Carenza x

Book Review Monday- Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson and Robin Wasserman| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
So for my final Book Review Monday in November, I thought I would talk about one of my favourite reads of the month. As you guys know, I am huge fan of Cassandra Clare- I have a whole blog post talking about my love for her work, the link is here. Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy came out this month in Bind Up form (the eBooks of each individual story have been available since late 2015). This review will be a bit different from my other reviews as I will talk about each story individually and within there I will talk about my opinions and characters. This review will contain spoilers, so if you haven't read this book then don't read this review.

Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and Others- Contains Spoilers 

Cover Review

Personally I am not a huge fan of this cover. The person on it doesn't look like how imagined Simon would look. I do like how it is a mix of the old covers and the new covers. Also, with the UK version you don't get a dust jacket.

Welcome to the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

This story follows Simon and his journey to start at the Shadowhunter Academy. It was so heart breaking to read that he wanted to leave New York to leave the others behind because he couldn't remember them. His interactions with Clary and Isabelle were so hard to read because you could see they loved him so much but he couldn't remember them. I loved Simon's new friend George Lovelace, it was nice meeting a non-American Shadowhunter. Also, I liked how he stood up for himself and he didn't want to use his name as a way to get into the best class. The scene were Isabelle comes to the academy to tell everyone Simon is here's was so funny but it was hard to read when Simon rejected her. 

 The Lost Herondale by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman 

This story follows a conversation between Catarina Loss and Simon after they Shadowhunters receive a lecture about a Shadowhunter who left his fellow Shadowhunters. Catarina tells Simon of how the punishment for the Shadowhunter was carried out on his pregnant wife. Catarina saves the baby and raises at her own, before sending him away to protect him. Meanwhile, Simon is trying to apologies to Isabelle and Clary comes to visit. This was one of the stories that didn't add much to overall story arc.

The Whitechapel Fiend by Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson 

 This story follows a lecture that the Shadowhunters receive from Tessa Gray. She tells the story of when they believed Jack the Ripper was at large, but it turned out to be a demon that they killed. Jace is helping out at the academy and on Simon's advice, he speaks to Tessa. Simon writes a letter to Isabelle trying to say sorry. While this story didn't add much to the story arc, I loved being back with the TID gang. You guys now I love The Infernal Devices so much and this story brought back all the feels.

Nothing But Shadows by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan 

Like The Lost Herondale, this story is told as a conversation between Catarina and Simon. Catarina tells Simon that he is not the first to ask to drop groups. In this story we follow James Herondale (Tessa and Will's son) and his time at the academy. We learn that he doesn't want to be at the academy as he feels as though he is an outsider. He ends up forming an unlikely friendship with Matthew Fairchild (Charlotte and Henry's son) after James turns into smoke. The boys end up being expelled and trained at the London Institute. Simon realizes that Clary is his best friend and he begins to put more effort into their friendship. I really liked this story as we got a first glimpse at the characters that are going to be in the Lost Hours series.

  The Evil We Love by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman

Like The Whitechapel Fiend, this story was told in lecture form. Robert and Isabelle Lightwood come to the institute to tell the Shadowhunters about the Circle. We learn that when Robert was in the Circle, he couldn't bear runes. Valentine helped him overcome his fear. Valentine, Robert and some other Circle members track down the werewolves that killed Valentine's father and Valentine tortures it. Robert objects but doesn't tell the others. Later in the story, Micheal (Robert's parabati) tells him that he is gay and loves him. Robert reacts badly and tells him he is disgusting. After the lecture, Simon tracks to down Isabelle to apologies but she doesn't want to hear it. She leads a bunch of Simon's friends astray and persuade them to summon demons to a party. Simon tells on them and it turns out to be a plot by Isabelle and her father. They arrange to go on a date. I liked this story as it shows a different side of Robert that we never got to see in TMI

Pale Kings and Princes by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman

In this story, the Shadowhunters recieve a lecture from Helen Blackthorn who is in Alicante for her wedding to Aline. Helen is forced to tell the story of how her father and uncle were captured by faeries. Her uncle was tortured into insanity and her father had two children with the fae. Isabelle and Simon go on a date but it fails. The rest of the story tells the reconciliation of Simon and Isabelle. I really liked this story, even though it was very emotional.   

Bitter of Tongue by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

This story is about Helen and Aline's wedding. Simon, Isabelle and the other Shadowhunters are out an a routine patrol when they are then captured by the Fae including Mark Blackthorn. Mark tries to get a message to his family through Simon. The Shadowhunters escape in time for the wedding. Simon and Isabelle attend the wedding together, but Simon decides not to tell the family that he saw Mark as he can see they are happy. I loved this story, again for the emotions. I was also super happy that Isabelle and Simon were back together. 

The Fiery Trial by Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson

In this story, Simon and Clary are asked to be witnesses at Emma and Julian's Parabati ceremony. They are invited to have tea with Jem, Magnus and Catarina but it turns out it is water from Lake Lyn. They both have hallucinations about saving each other from drowning. When they come to they learn they were put through the Fiery Trial and it reveals they are ideal Parabati. They can become Parabati after Simon ascends. They attend Emma and Julian's Parabati ceremony. This was one of my favourite stories as we got to see Simon and Clary become close again. We also got to see Emma and Julian again which made me really happy. 

 Born To An Endless Night by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

This story starts in the Shadowhunter Academy with Simon and the others finding a warlock baby (that is blue) abandoned. Simon goes to find Magnus and ends up walking in on him and Alec. Magnus takes the baby, but is reluctant to keep it permanently. Meanwhile, the Lightwoods and Clary, Jace and Simon think that they are keeping it. Magnus finds the idea of parenthood overwhelming but with help from Alec, they decide to keep the baby and call it Max after Alec's dead brother. The ending of the story was so cute!! Magnus telling his son that one day it would be just them and calling him a blueberry! This was my favourite story and I want more stories with Magnus and Alec as parents.

Angels Twice Descending by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman 

This is the final story and the most emotional. Simon and the others are ready to ascend. So far everything is going good. Simon goes up and drinks from the cup. He unlocks all of his memories and joins all the other Shadowhunter's who have ascended. George goes to drink but ends up dying because he is not a proper Shadowhunter and his body can't with stand it. My heart honestly broke when George died as I was not expecting any character deaths. It was so sweet how Simon chose his Shadowhunter last name to be Lovelace after George.

Overall I gave Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy 5/5 stars. I loved all the stories and was so happy to be back in this world again. I can't wait to read more about Simon as a Shadowhunter.
Love,
Carenza x  

Classics for December| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?

As you already know, I past my Goodreads reading challenge for 2016. I never thought that I would read 50 books and I am slowly approaching 60. But, almost all of these books have been fantasy. While I am a huge fantasy lover, sometimes I need a break. Sometimes I need to challenge myself through my reading.

So as you've probably guessed from the title, I am challenging myself to read only classics in December for my personal reading. I will still have some other books that are not classics to read, but they are for class and I can't neglect my studies. So I have picked 5 books that I consider to be classics/ more adult than what I usually read.

The first book I have chosen is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. I have owned these books for around 6 or 7 years and I still haven't read them. I love the TV series Sherlock, so I thought it was about time I picked up the book. I have  read one story from the Sherlock Holmes universe and that is The Speckled Band when I was in primary school. It was what inspired me to buy the books, or I should say that my family bought me the books.

The next book I want to read in December is The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick. I started to watch the TV story and I really liked it. While this technically isn't a classic, it is an "adult" book and I have really wanted to read it. I am curious to see how it differs from the TV series.

The next book I want to read is Demelza by Winston Graham. I know that this technically isn't a classic, but it is more adult than I would usually read. I keep on reading inside my comfort zone and it's time I branched out. You guys know I love the TV series and I really enjoyed the first book in the series.

I also want to read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I have owned this book for over a year and I think it is time I read it. I've never read an Emily Bronte novel. I don't know much about the story but I am really looking forward to reading it.

Finally, I want to read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Not only do I want to read this, I have to read it for class. This is the motivation I have needed. I have listened to the Big Finish audio version of this and I liked that, so I figured I should pick up the book.









So that concludes the books I want to read in the month of December. Have you read any of these books? If you have, let me know what you thought of them.
Love,
Carenza x

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them Movie Review| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
As I'm sure most of you know, the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie and script came out on November 18th. It's safe to say that the Potterheads went a little bit mad over having a new Harry Potter movie. I went and saw it on the 20th and I have fallen in love with the Fantastic Beasts universe. Like my last movie review, I will split it into sections: Non-Spoiler Thoughts, Poster Review, Outline of the plot, Character Chat and Opinions, which I am going to merge into one section. This post will contain spoilers, so if you have not seen the Movie or read the script, please do not read this post! Go watch the movie and then come and read this.

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

When I saw the trailer for this movie, I had very low standards. I loved the Harry Potter movies and was skeptical that they would be of the same standard. While I was happy to have more in this universe, I felt that turning Fantastic Beasts into a movie was stretching it a bit. Also in my head, Newt was an old man and was from the 1600's not the 1920's. 

But once I had saw the movie, my thoughts changed. I really enjoyed it. I feel as though it's appropriate for all ages. You can watch it if you haven't read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies (which you should!). I found it interesting how it showed the wizarding world in a different era and a different country. I gave it 5/5 stars and am hoping that I can go and see it again.

Poster Review

 I know there is more than one version of the poster, but I would have to say that this is my favourite. It shows Newt (Eddie Redmayne) in the American Ministry of Magic,  the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA). I love the design of MACUSA, it fits very nicely with the 1920's period. It also shows how big and grand America is compared to Britain.

I thought I should show you how pretty the script is. The dust jacket is a matte navy blue with gold details. I love the 1920's style of the gold details (in case you can't tell, I love the 1920's style in general). But under the dust jacket is this super cute detail of a Niffler! I love this so much! I can't put into words how much I love it!
Also, the inside of the book is just as beautiful. To break up the scenes, we have pictures of the different creatures. This is the prettiest script I own.

Plot Overview

The year is 1926, and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

This summary was taken from Google

J.K. Rowling's screenwriting debut is captured in this exciting hardcover edition of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplay. 

When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone…

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. Featuring a cast of remarkable characters, this is epic, adventure-packed storytelling at its very best. 

Whether an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, this is a perfect addition to any reader's bookshelf.

This summary was taken from Goodreads and is the description for the script.

Character Chat and Opinions

This section is going to be split up into 4 sections which are going to be: Newt and his creatures, Supporting Characters, The Wizarding World and the production and plot- this section will contain spoilers, you have been warned.

Newt and His Creatures

Newt is now one of my favourite characters that J K Rowling has created. I love his enthusiasm for his creatures. It was nice seeing a wizard who had left Hogwarts and getting a sense of the world from an adults perspective. His devotion to his creatures was the main reason I fell for his character. He cared about them and would do anything to protect them. He seemed to be a wizard who cared about creatures more than magic. He also had other great qualities. I liked seeing a wizard who was unafraid to mingle with the muggles (or No-Maj) and wasn't afraid to show them the Wizarding World. It was nice seeing a main character who was a Hufflepuff. I feel as though Hufflepuffs get a bad rep in the fandom. I personally don't see being a Hufflepuff as anything bad, Hufflepuff is often referred to as "the duff house" or "the house for everyone else". I think that being loyal is a good quality and we see that in Newt.

My favourite thing about this film were the creatures. I loved every single one of them. But by far my favourite was the Niffler (I think the whole fandom has fallen for the Niffler). I want every single piece of Niffler Merch I can get my hands on. I loved the wide variety of creatures that Newt had. To me, it was like he had a creature to represent the elements and nature itself. For example, Pickett is part of a tree. The animation of the creatures was beyond amazing and I was blown away by the quality. I also think that almost all the creatures have animals that they are based off. For example, I've seen this a lot on Twitter that Puggles (which are baby Echidnas) are Nifflers, here's a photo to show you the similarity. I'm linking an article from the Express that talks about the similarity between the two creatures.  

Left: A baby Echidna, Right: Niffler 

Newt's case was a truly amazing edition to the film. I guess it's like Hermione's bag in Book 7 and has an undetectable extension charm. It was a really nice way to look after the beasts. I also really liked how Newt had a little house in there so he could be close to his creatures, but also he would just have to jump in and he'd be able to check on the beasts. I really hope they add this set to the Warner Bros Studio Tour as I could spend all day exploring it. 

Supporting Characters

 As you've probably guessed, I love Newt, but I also loved our supporting characters. I'm only going to talk about 3 and they are Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstien and Queenie Goldstien.

Jacob Kowalski definitely added the humor to this film (I'm going to talk humor in a separate point). It was nice that they included a No Maj. I loved seeing his awe at the magical world and his eagerness to help his new friends. I love seeing qualities like that in characters. I'm interested to see where his story goes after he lost his memory of the wizarding world. Jacob was played by Dan Fogler.

Tina Goldstien was another character I loved. Her determination to help MACUSA was a really strong part of her character. I loved that she was also really loyal to Newt, her sister Queenie and Credence. I would like to see more of her and learn more about her job in MACUSA. I really liked her relationship with her sister and that you could see she was the big sister.  Tina was played by Katherine Waterston.

Queenie Goldstien also added humor to the film, because of her ability to read peoples minds. She had a way of making characters feel awkward when she saw their thoughts. I liked how she was able to use here ability to help the group when she needed it. My favourite thing about her was her relationship with Jacob. I could sense that they really cared for each other and that she was sad that he lost his memories. Queenie was played by Alison Sudol.

The Wizarding World

Like I said at the start of my review, I loved seeing the Wizarding World in a different time era. It was nice to go into a story and know that the villein wasn't going to be Voldemort. It was nice to visit this world we know so well through the Harry Potter books but in a different era. I really liked how they fitted the theme of World War One in with the Wizarding World. Newt served on the Eastern Front with dragons. It was also interesting seeing how they showed the Wizarding World struggling with the Great Depression. I liked how they were threatened with persecutions from the muggles and how it tied in with what was happening at history at that time. 

I also really loved seeing the Wizarding World in a different country. We've spent so much time in Britain that it was nice seeing the Wizarding Community in America. Although the different eras makes it hard to compare the two at the same time, I loved seeing how the American Magical Community was run. I could sense that MACUSA was very different to the Ministry of Magic. To me it felt a lot stricter but also a lot grander than M.O.M. 

Production and Plot

Like I've already said, I loved the humor in this film. I feel as though it was a lot more humorous than the Harry Potter. There were moments where you were supposed to laugh (the Niffler being caught stealing) and subtle moments ( Jacob). I really liked the humor and I hope we get more humor in the next film (s).

While I am no film expert, I do appreciate good cinematography. The quality of this film was amazing. The animation and special effects were fantastic. The way it was filmed was really nice and it it flowed really well. I just love the quality of this film and I can't put it into words because I'm not a film expert.

I didn't see Credence (Ezra Miller) being the Obscurus (is that how you spell it?). I had expected it to be the little sister, but J K Rowling always has a surprise up her sleeve. I did feel genuinely sorry for his character and I found it odd how Graves (Colin Farrell) was interested in him.

I was shocked by the ending. I didn't see Grindelwald (Johnny Deep) being involved as much as he was. I know we got the announcement that we will see the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in this series, but I didn't expect to see him in the first film. I also which he didn't have to replace Graves' character as I really liked Graves. Also, I'm not that bothered by Johnny Deep playing Grindelwald. I know a lot of the fandom were angry when it was announced that Deep was going to be in the franchise, but it doesn't bother me that much.

I'm excited to see where they take the story. At first I was unsure if I wanted 5 Fantastic Beasts movies, but now I know I want more from this era. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the next film!

So that concludes my very long review of Fantastic Beasts review, let me know what your thoughts were.
Love,
Carenza x

Book Review Monday- Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
For this Book Review Monday, I am going to be reviewing Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs. This is a companion novel to the Miss Peregrines universe which came out in September. It is a collection of ten short stories. This book is mentioned in the Miss Peregrines series as a book full of Peculiar stories for Peculiar children. Like all my other reviews, it will follow the set layout, except there will be no character chat.

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs- Contains Spoilers

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book. I gave it 5/5 stars and read it in a couple of days. I read it straight after finishing Library of Souls (the final book in the series). I don't think I've said on here that I wasn't the hugest fan of Library of Souls, but this book restored my faith in the Miss Peregrines universe. You can read this book even if you haven't read the Miss Peregrines series, but I highly recommend you read the Miss Peregrines series.

Cover Design 

Firstly, ignore the Zazu Tsum Tsum. This photo is taken for my Instagram. Secondly, how beautiful is this cover? When I first saw the cover, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. But once I saw it in person, I fell in love. The tree (if it can be called a tree) has pictures from each story weaved in. I really like how detailed and intricate it is. 

Plot

Before Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales. 

Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The origins of the first ymbryne. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar—known to hide information about the peculiar world—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series. Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar.

This plot overview is taken from Goodreads. The average rating on Goodreads is 4.21/5 and is taken 3629 ratings.

Opinion

I've already said that I loved this book and that it restored my faith in the series. I hope we get more books like this from the Miss Peregrines world. I love how it doesn't spoil the series and that it immerses you in the series.

The book is told through different voices, but the writing style is still very similar. It is told as though Millard is writing footnotes in the book. I really liked the footnotes that Millard's character added.

My favourite stories from the book were:

• The fork tongued princess
• The woman who befriended ghost
• The pigeons of Saint Paul
• The girl who could tame nightmares

I really liked the illustrations in this book. Before each story, there was a picture of something to do with the story. They were made from wood carvings that were printed and then put in the books.

So that was my review of Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs. Leave a comment saying what your favourite story in the book was.

Love,

Carenza x

  

October Update 2016| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
It's that time of  the month were I update you on how my life is going and how I am doing with my New Years Resolutions. Before I get into this post, I wanted to ask if you guys find these posts interesting. Do you like them being monthly? Or would you prefer them to be seasonally? I really enjoy writing them but I feel as though they don't go with any of the other posts on her. I'm debating changing them to seasonal posts in 2017.

1) Be more organised i.e. more tidy
I feel as though I was quite successful at being organised in October. I kept on top of my school work, as well as my reading schedule and my social media accounts. Some times it can be quite stressful having more than one form of social media, but I love being creative so I do it for fun. Again, like last months update, I used my bullet journal to keep on top of my work. It is really helpful and I think I am going to make a blog post on it in the new year. I also think I was quite tidy in October. I have found that I find it hard to work in a messy environment so I have been keeping my room quite tidy.

2) Be more confident
If I'm honest, I'm not sure how my confidence was in October. I feel as though I've been more confident at college and have been participating more in class. I feel that wanting to be confident is something quite important and can be seen as wanting to inflate our ego. I want to be more confident so I can have fun and talk to people and not feel bad about it. That's why I put this on this list.

3) To get fit and feel happy with my body i.e. drink more water
Yet again this one failed. Spectacularly. As I am a full time student, I spend most of my day sat down in class. I then come home to sit at my desk and revise. Then I have tea, sat down. And I watch TV, yes you guessed it- sat down. I'm finding it very hard to fit exercise time into my busy schedule and as we are so close to the end of the year, I see no point in trying to improve it. It is going to be something I try to prioritize in the new year.

4) Study more often
I feel as though I got better at this one in October. As I have started to get more work, I have been spending more of my time working. I do revision everyday of the week except Friday, and even then I spend my day reading books for class. I try to spend more time working as any time I'm not working, makes me feel bad.

5) Do more of what makes me HAPPY
I feel as though this one took a back slide in October. I still spent time doing things that made me happy, but at one point I really started to enjoy revising. That is a sentence I never thought I'd say. I've had fun writing all 16 posts I put up on here in October as well as finding time to read, which I always find fun. I've also been talking to my family more and have been really enjoying spending time with them.

6) Write and read more
I didn't do as much writing as I would have liked to have done in October, but I did read 6 books and 3 short stories last month. I have been really getting into reading recently, more than I have in the past few months. I find that I am really looking forward to the time when I can read.

So that is it for this update, I hope you liked it.
Love,
Carenza x

How to Bookworm #2- Time Management| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
Welcome to the second post in my How to Bookworm series, if you want to read the first post in the series, you can click here. This post is all about time management and I am going to include a quick break down of the three topics I am going to talk about:

• How to fit reading time in
• How to fit writing time in
• How to manage more than one form of social media

So without further ado, let's get in to the post.

How to fit reading time in

So before I start this section, I am going to recommend a very good video I watched which is all about reading with a busy schedule. I am going to use one point from this video and the rest are my own, here is the video. It's from emmmabooks channel.

• Audiobooks will be your best friend- emmmabooks

I couldn't agree with this more, but after watching Emma's video I downloaded an app she recommend. This app is called Overdrive and it allows you to read eBooks and listen to audiobooks that are in your libraries catalog. All you do is download the app and use your library card to sign in. Then you download whatever book you are interested in (I downloaded Shiver by Maggie Stievfater) and then read/listen to your hearts content. With audiobooks, you can borrow them for 30 days and after the 30 days is over, all you have to do is borrow them again. 

While this section sounds like an ad for Overdrive (I promise you I'm not being sponsored to say this), Overdrive has really helped me with my reading.  I have now started listening to audiobooks on the way to college. My point is that audiobooks allow you to read when you don't have the time to  physically pick up a book. I know quite a few people who say that they wouldn't be able to read so much without audiobooks. It wasn't until recently that I decided to pick up audiobooks as I thought it wasn't a proper way to read. So when you don't have time to physically pick up a book, plug yourself into your phone and listen to an audiobook.

• Plan reading time    

Again, I believe that this is really important. I know what it's like to have a lot of work to do and have no time for reading. I know what it's like to sit and watch your TBR pile grow bigger. So my tip to you is to plan reading time. Say your at school or work from 9am till 4pm and it takes you an hour to get home. If you have space, take a book or listen to an audiobook. Once your home, maybe you want to do an hours work, so then for the rest of the evening you'll have time to read. 

I know it's hard to fit reading time in when you have so much to priorities. I manage my reading time by bullet journaling. If you want a whole separate post on my bullet journal, then let me know. I don't use mine in the conventional way, I don't spend ages making it pretty, I use it as a useful tool that keeps me on task. I split the page into the days of the week and I write down what I am going to do each day. This way I can see what time I have for reading or writing. So most nights, I like to do two hours of work, have tea, watch some tv and then go to bed. My aim is to be in bed between 9 and 10, then I have more time for reading. Some days, I don't have class until the evening so I'll use my frees to do my work and it means I'll have more time to read. It's all about finding a schedule or a method that works for you, but my tip is to plan a head.

How to fit writing time in

I know that this is incredibly similar to the last point but I think these methods can be applied very differently for writing.

• Plan writing time, don't force yourself to write

If writing is something you are interested in, then you need to find time to write. But unlike reading, you can't force yourself to write. You need to be inspired to write. So my tip for you is to set one day a week aside for writing. Even if on that day you only manage to write for an hour, that is still an accomplishment. For me, I do a lot of writing because I write this blog and while this isn't the style I want to spend all my time writing, it is writing time I get and it allows me to practice. I would love to be able to spend all day writing fantasy novels or steampunk rebellions, but sadly I don't have the time to. So when I am writing these posts (which I love doing and nothing is going to make me stop writing them), I think about how I can apply this time to my other writing. I have learnt to spread my time equally between my studies (which must always come first), my blog and my "personal" writing.

How to manage more than one form of social media

As you guys know, I have more than one form of social media. I have my blog (obviously), but I also have my bookstagram (shameless self promo, follow me on Instagram @itscarenzab). I love doing both, but with my studies and my personal life, sometimes managing more than one form of social media can be stressful.

• Prioritize one social media account on one day, the other another day    

I tend to focus on one of my social media accounts on one day and that will be the only one I focus on. So I will write a blog post on one day and then the next day I will take instagram photos. It's very rare that I will do more than one social media based thing in one day. Both of my main social media accounts are very photo based so I tend to take photos on different days. But I am not against using a photo taken for Instagram on here. Why? Because taking multiple photos of the same thing fills up my memory space and I want that space clear for other photos. If I want to talk about a book on Instagram and then talk about it on here, I use the same photo to tie them together.  

• You guessed it! More planning!

You probably hate me for the amount of time I have spent talking about planning in this post, but planning is the most important tip I can give you. My point here is that your more likely to spend your time taking good quality instagram photos when there is good lighting than writing a blog post. As it's winter here in the UK, I tend to plan what photos I am going to take in advance so then I can take them on the weekend (because I'm not in college) or when there is good lighting and I have a free moment. When it comes to writing blog posts, I usually write them in the evenings a couple of days before there posted so I am not stressing about getting them ready in time (sometimes this doesn't always happen as life sometimes gets in the way).If you are going to take away one tip from this post, it is that planning is very important!  

So that concludes my second post in my How to Bookworm series, I hope you like it. If you have any tips that you think I missed, then please leave a comment.
Love,
Carenza x

Book Review Monday- A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
So it's been a while since I posted a Book Review on here but I've wanted to review the A Court of Thrones and Roses series (the first two books in the series) by Sarah J Maas for a while. I read these books back in July and words can't convey my love for this series. So as per usual, this review will follow the same style as my other book reviews.

ACOTAR and ACOMAF by Sarah J Maas- Contains Spoilers

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

Okay, you might want to prepare yourself for some fangirling in this post. I loved these books so much! They were what I needed after being in a reading slump for the first part of 2016. I had read all of the books in the Throne of Glass series that had been released at that point and was really looking forward to starting this series. When this (ACOMAF) came out in May, my twitter was filled with tweets about ACOMAF. If you love fantasy, then you need to read this series.

Cover Review 

Now you may notice that one is a paperback and the other is a hardback. I bought the paperback and my dad got me the hardback signed by a friend of his (his friend got it signed for me, they didn't sign it, Sarah signed it and it's my pride and joy) End of slightly long story

I love these covers so much, I love the hardback more and plan on getting more hardbacks in this series. I love the block colours and how the people are really detailed.

Plot

So I am going to be doing a very brief summary of the plot for the overall premise of the series and these summaries are from Goodreads

ACOTAR

Feyre is a huntress.

She thinks nothing of slaughtering a wolf to capture its prey. But, like all mortals, she fears what lingers mercilessly beyond the forest. And she will learn that taking the life of a magical creature comes at a high price...

Imprisoned in an enchanted court in her enemy's kingdom, Feyre is free to roam but forbidden to escape. Her captor's body bears the scars of fighting, and his face is always masked - but his piercing stare draws her ever closer. As Feyre's feeling for Tamlin begin to burn through every warning she's been told about his kind, an ancient, wicked shadow grows.

Feyre must find a way to break a spell, or lose her heart forever.

This was taken from Goodreads, the average rating on Goodreads is 4.3/5 stars and this is from 122,283 ratings.

ACOMAF

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.
With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.  

This was taken from Goodreads, the average rating on Goodreads is 4.74/5 and this is from 67,372 reviews.

Character Chat

So I am going to talk about 3 characters and they are Feyre, Tamlin and of course Rhysand (the fandom would kill me if I didn't talk about Rhys.

Feyre

I will be honest, at first I wasn't the hugest fan of Feyre. I found her too similar to Celaena/ Aelin at first. But I soon fell in love with her, she stood up to the powerful men in the world she lives and has too put up with so much from her family. I really enjoyed reading from only her perspective and I thought that she was a very strong character.

Tamlin

I really liked Tamlin at first, he was really nice in ACOTAR and he showed compassion towards Feyre. I felt that Tamlin and Feyre were a perfect couple and that there was no way Feyre could end up with anyone else. But in book two, I hated Tamlin. He was so controlling and needy. He just needs to chill, and I can't believe he would do those things to Feyre and Rhysand.

Rhysand

I love Rhysand! I want to get candles that smell like him and prints with him and Feyre on! I thought that Rhys wasn't as bad as he was painted to be in ACOTAR. I knew that he was doing these things to protect Feyre. His relationship with Feyre was perfect and I could read scenes about them all day.

Opinion

Like I have said countless times, I love this series. This book has such beautiful descriptions, amazing fight scenes and seriously steamy sex scenes. If you do not like graphic sex scenes, then I would advise that you don't read these books. But I loved the fantasy world they were set and loved the descriptions of the various courts. I am way too excited for the next book to come out, I'm not sure if this is the final book in the series as earlier this year we got some news that ACOTAR will be a 8 book series. 

So that concludes my review of ACOTAR and ACOMAF, I hope you liked it and leave your thoughts in the comments.

Love,

Carenza x

October Favourites 2016| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
Firstly, I want to apologies for this post not being up yesterday. I've been really busy with college commitments and because it's winter here in the UK, the lighting has been really bad. Also, usually in my favourites I talk about three topics: Beauty, Books and Bits'n'Bobs. There will be no beauty in this one as I didn't have any beauty favourites.

Books

I have two favourite books of the month and the first one is Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs. This is a companion novel to the Miss Peregrine's series. This book restored my faith in the series. I haven't talked about it much on here, but I really didn't like the final book in the series (Library of Souls), but this book made me fall in love with his writing again. 5/5 stars from me. 

My other favourite book of the month was This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab. This is the first book in her Monster series and is a duology. I really loved this book, I plan on doing a book review on it at some point soon. I really liked the characters and the world it was set in. It was my second VE Schwab book and I can't wait to read more by her.

Bits'n'Bobs

I swear that every month this category gets bigger and bigger, but these last two months I am finding more and more new things I like.

The first thing is Halloween. I really like Halloween as you can have lots of different kinds of fun. You can watch horror films or decorate your house/ living space or just have fun getting in the spirit of the season. I really enjoyed carving pumpkins and have a whole blog post about my pumpkins, to have a look click here.

My next favourite is this Book of Grisha notebook I got in the September Fairyloot box, to read my review click here

I've started to use it to keep track of all my bookish thoughts and needs. I make lists of the books that are coming out each month and there are lists about books I want to get but haven't read. It's just a nice place to keep all my thoughts together and I will be buying more like this in the future. 

My next favourite has been Autumn. Autumn is my favourite season, I just love being able to wear jumpers and crunching on the leaves every morning. I love getting home and crawling into my Totoro onsie, I still do work but I can do it in my favourite onsie. 

I have two TV favourites, the first is The Fall. This is a BBC programme which I'm not going to explain as the explanation spoils it. But if you like murder mysteries like Broadchurch, then you will really love The Fall. I will say that it is aimed at older and mature people as some of the scenes are sexual and violent.

The other TV favourite is National Treasure. It's only got one season of four episodes but it's fantastic. It follows the story of a famous comedian who has some serious allegations of sexual assault put against him. It was a very interesting and moving show to watch. What was even better, was that you had no idea which way it was going to go right until the very end. 

 My final favourite is my new Harry Potter pop funko! It's Harry in his Tri-Wizard uniform holding his golden egg. Up until recently I believed this was exclusive to Forbidden Planet but I'm not to sure about that. He's just so cute and I love pop funkos so much!

So that concludes my October favourites, I am sorry that this post is a day late but recently I've not been very motivated to write these posts. I'm slowly trying to get back into the swing of it but college and life are a bit crazy at the moment so finding time to blog can be hard.

Love,

Carenza x 

Why I Love the Harry Potter Series| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
I am going to be talking about my love for Harry Potter in this blog post. If you've been following my blog or a while, then you will know that I love the Harry Potter series (the books more than the film obviously) and I wanted to share a few reasons why I love this series. I will admit now that Harry Potter is flawed and I plan on doing a blog post about it at some point. This post isn't me talking about how amazing Harry Potter is, it's about what it means to me and how it has played a huge part in my life.

1) It helped get me into reading

I was 6 years old when the final Harry Potter book came out and was still learning to read at that point in my life so it wasn't until I was 7 that I picked the books up. My family said that I wasn't allowed to watch the movies until I had read the books, so I started to read the books. I don't remember reading the first 3 books, but I have two very distinct memories of reading Goblet of Fire. The first is reading the very first chapter in my bedroom with my dad and asking him to explain stuff to me and the other was on a family holiday later that year, listening to the audiobook read by Stephen Fry. I genuinely think that these books got me into reading as a kid as it showed me how there were so many cool and magical worlds for to explore from the comforts of my home.

2) Some characters taught me important life lessons

Characters like Hermione and Luna taught me various things throughout the books. Hermione taught me that it's okay to be smart and and "insufferable know-it-all" if it gets you the grades and gets you to where you need to be in life. She taught me that it's okay to be smart and fierce and independent, that looks aren't everything in life. Luna taught me that it's okay to be myself and that I should ignore what other people think of me. I feel like this is such an important thing to be told as a young child as through out our lives we are torn down for the things we love. That is something that should never have to happen, but it does and Luna taught us that it's okay to enjoy the things we do and be ourselves.

3) I can always find someone to talk to about Harry Potter

I am part of that generation that is the Harry Potter generation. The books and films have come out in my life time. This means that I can always find someone who knows of Harry Potter and I can talk to them about it. They may not be die hard fangirl like me, but I can still talk to them. It's something that can bring people together and start friendships.

So that concludes this very short post about why I love Harry Potter and what it means to me. I hope that you can relate to the points I made.
Love,
Carenza x

October Wrap Up and November TBR| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
So I had a pretty good reading month in October, I managed to read 9 of the 13 books/ short stories I wanted to read. So I'm hoping that this month I have another good reading month as I am on book 50 of my reading challenge so I should complete it.

October Wrap Up

The first thing I read in October was a short story I had to read for class and that was The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. I gave this 3/5 stars. Personally, I am not a fan of poetry and I found this hard to read.

The next book I read was the Fairyloot September book, which was Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter. I gave this 4/5 stars and you can read my review here. I really enjoyed this as it was something different from what I usually read.

The next short story I read was The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens. Again, I wasn't the hugest fan and I gave it 3/5 stars. It was hard to read as it is told through a conversation and you don't know who is saying what.

Then I finally finished Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs. I had started this in July and had decided it to put it down as I wasn't enjoying as much as the other two books. I gave this 3.5/5 stars because the ending saved it for me.

After Library of Souls, I read Tales of the Peculiar also by Ransom Riggs. This is a companion novel to the series and was probably my favourite book set in the world. I gave this 5/5 stars and I will be doing a book review for it very soon.

Then I read Testing the Echo by David Edgar for class. I gave this 3/5 stars as I found it very hard to follow and I wasn't that interested in the subject matter. I think it would be better to watch it than to read it.

Then I read the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. I really didn't enjoy this and ended up giving it 2/5 stars. I had expected it to be spooky like the film of the same title but it was really dull.

 Then I read Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. I gave this 4/5 stars as I really enjoyed it. Although it is classed as a YA novel, the content is definitely aimed at adults. It had lots of very detailed footnotes on most pages, which I thought was a nice addition. I can't wait for the other books in the series to come out.

 The final book I read was This Savage Song by VE Schwab. I loved this book so much and gave it 5/5 stars. I'm going to be writing a review on this at some point because I love it and I need to  talk about it.

November TBR

The first book I plan on reading is the book I am currently reading is Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas. I've read around 200 pages and it's slowly growing on me. I have found a lot of similarities between ACOMAF and this book.










The next two books I hope to read are the final books in the Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan. I really want to finish this series by the end of the year so I can start some of the other books by Rick Riordan.

The next book I want to read is the Book Thief by Markus Zusak. My best friend bought me this for my birthday and she has been nagging me to read it because she loved it so much.

Next, I want to read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I saw the movie and I really enjoyed it so I thought I would pick up the book to see how it was different from the movie.

I also I hope that I get to the October Fairyloot book Metaltown by Kristen Simmons. I'm looking forward to reading it as I haven't read much steampunk before.

Next I am hoping to read Winter's Snow by Carrie Hope Fletcher. This is a little companion novel from the same world as On the Other Side, my review is here. I won't talk about it as it spoils On the Other Side.

After that I hope to read An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld by Cassandra Clare. This book is finally available to people who don't live in America and I can't wait for my copy to arrive. My Cassandra Clare collection just keeps on growing, I just need to get my hands on the Tarot cards.

I also hope to read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I'm really excited yet slightly nervous for the release of the movie this month. I'm glad we're getting more from this world but I don't know how I feel about the five movie announcement and that Johnny Deep has a role in movie two.

Finally I hope I can read Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare. I have high hopes for this as I haven't read them in eBook form.
















So that concludes my October Wrap Up and November TBR, leave a comment about your wrap up and TBR.
Love,
Carenza x