Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass Review| It's Carenza B

Hello!
So if you didn't read my birthday book haul, then you won't know that I bought Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. Anyway, 2 months later I finally got round to picking it up and reading it. I instantly fell in love, it was a brilliant read and had me hooked from the start. I think I finished it about a month ago*, which isn't as fast as I would usually read a book. I have even pushed Harry Potter to one side so I can read this series, and I'm glad I did. If you haven't read it, then I urge you to do so as it is a bloody good read! So without further a do, here is my review!

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram then you'll know I want to start a book review series, this post is kind of a trial post to see if you guys like it. Also I want to clarify that this review will be as spoil free as I can make it.

* I read this in October and planned to put it up in November/December, but I became super busy so I had to push it back to January so in real fact when this goes up it will have been around 3 months since I read it*

Cover Design

So it seems only right to start with the cover as that is the first thing you see when picking up a book, now I know it's wrong to judge a book by its cover but this cover is beautiful! Just look at it! The title is embossed with silver lettering, and the blue glow around the girl on the cover. I love how it is on a white background as it makes the title stand out and go "look at me!". Overall, I rate the cover 5/5.

Blurb

Not only is the front cover beyond beautiful, the blurb is too! It's the same girl as the front but from the back. Instead of being dressed in combat gear she is dressed in this beautiful dress. I love the pale blue tint to the image and how it makes her look like she is glowing.

Plot

OMG, the plot. How do I even began to describe the plot without ruining it?? The plot follows the life of Celaena Sardothien, an 18 year old assassin in the fictional kingdom of Adarlan. After a year in a slave camp, Celaena finds herself in front of the prince who offers her freedom by competing to become the Kings assassin. As the only female in the competition, she finds herself up against an assortment of criminals. During her time in the palace Celaena becomes close with the Captain of the royal Guard, Chaol and the crown prince, Dorian. As she makes her way through the competition, several fellow criminals are mysteriously wind up being killed in the most brutal way. Celaena must now survive the attacks and the competition. Not only must she survive being attacked, she must figure out who her heart belongs to and pick one of two dashing men who care about her deeply.

Characters 

 In a Throne of Glass there are lots of lovable characters that you meet and get to know as the books go on. I am going to tell you some of my favourites and some I think you need to know about. Obviously, I have to talk about Celaena. Celaena, in my opinion, is the queen of bad-asses. I absolutely love her, in a competition dominated by men she manages to shine and overcome them. There have been lots of traumas in her past that have made her who she is and this adds to her personality. Although she finds the competition hard and hates the idea of working for the king, she manages to persevere in order to gain her freedom. I love books with strong female characters and this has easily become one of my fave book series ever. She doesn't let anything stop her and works for what she wants not what others want.

The next character I want to talk about is Chaol Westfall, he is the Captain of the Kings guard and is really young for his position. Throughout the book you learn reasons why he is the Captain and things about his past. At first I wasn't to keen on him and saw him as a bit of a thug, but you soon come to realise that he cares deeply for Celaena and Dorian, who I will talk about next. You also learn that he works well with Celaena even though they fight a lot at first, he takes great interest in her training throughout the competition.

Next we have Dorian Havilliard, Crown Prince of Ardalan. Again, like Chaol I wasn't wowed over by him, seeing him as an arrogant prince. At the beginning of the book you learn that Dorian is a bit of a player with the ladies and has a reputation for it.But as you get to know him, you discover that he's actually a kind person. Unlike his little brother, he is a lot more docile and also takes part in Official Court based things. Like Chaol, he also cares for Celaena and does have romantic feelings for her.

Finally I am going to talk about Princess Nehemia from Ellywe. Nehemia is a strong-willed person who refuses to let people look down on her. While staying in the castle, she pretends she can't speak the native language and speaks in her own native language. Luckily Celaena speaks Nehemia's natural language and the two become friends. I love Nehemia as she supports Celaena and speaks her mind openly.

Opinion

As you can probably tell, I love this book and am currently reading the fourth one in the series. I am actually sad that I have caught up with the series as now I have to wait ages to read the last two books and the prequel novellas. The reason I love this story is that Celaena started of bad and chose to take part in the competition for her own benefits rather than others. I feel that a lot of books like this start with something happening to the protagonist and this forces them to become involved in the magical/ dystopian world they live in. I love the idea behind the series as well, which is basically a retelling of Cinderella but instead of being sweet and innocent, Cinderella is an assassin. Also you have some truly vile characters in this book who are out for their own gain.

I highly recommend that you guys read this series as I think it's amazing and I wouldn't be reviewing it if I didn't like it. Please let me know if you like this type of post and want more like this for my Book Review Monday series. As I said at the beginning this is a trial post so I would find it super helpful if I was given some critical/ constructive feedback. Don't forget to follow my blog and follow me on Twitter and Instagram (@itscarenzab), I have started posting daily book themed posts which need some love. If you have any post requests or business inquires please email me at itscarenzab@gmail.com
Carenza x     

Book Haul 2016| It's Carenza B

Hello!

So while I was on holiday over the Christmas Break, there were lots of sales in lots of book shops and this means I spent more money on more books. Its got to the point were I have had to ban myself from buying any new books for a while because my bookshelf is full. This is going to be so hard as there are loads of new books coming out that I am going to have to get myself, but anyway I bought too many books and I thought I'd share it with you.

The first series I picked up is the Percy Jackson series which consists of 5 books but as I already had the first book I plan to give the brand new copy to a charity shop at some point. I loved the first book and have had it for about 2 years. The series follows a boy called Percy Jackson who has had a troubled upbringing. When his maths teacher attacks him and turns into a strange creature it is revealed that he is the son of Poseidon Greek God of the Sea. The series follows his various adventures and dangers he encounters with his friends. This set should have cost me £34.95 from the Works but in their sale it cost me £10.00!   

The next series I picked up from the Works is a series I had never heard of but it had a sticker on saying perfect for fans of Divergent and the Hunger Games. It is the Legend series by Marie Lu, the series follows a boy called Day and a girl called June. Day is 15 years old and is the country's most wanted criminal and June is a prodigy who scored a perfect 1500 on the Trial to see who can enter the army. June's first mission is to track down Day after he killed her brother. I got this as part of a 2 for £10 deal at the Works.

The next Series I picked up was The Maze Runner series, now if you have read my Birthday Book Haul, which you can read here, you will know that I already have the first book in this series but when I saw that the series had been reduced from £31.96 to £9.99 I couldn't resist. Now many of you will probably have seen the movies but this is what I have gathered the series is about. The series follows a boy called Thomas who wakes up in a mysterious place called The Glade with no memory other than his name, he then meets some other people in this mysterious place and they have to try and escape. I want to read the series before I see the movies so this series is very high on my growing TBR pile.

The next series I got was The Wolves of Mercy Falls series by by Maggie Stiefvater. The series follows two people. a human girl called Grace and a wolf boy called Sam. After Sam saves Grace from the Wolves, Grace begins to watch out for "Her Wolf". One day Sam turns up at Grace's house after being shot. Grace nurses him back to health and allows him to stay in her room. The two soon fall in love and begin to search for a cure for Sam. I got this as part of a 2 for £10 deal along with the Legend Series from the Works.

The next two books I got are Harry Potter themed. I saw both of these in WH Smiths and bought one and waited to get the other.

The first book I got was the official Harry Potter Colouring Book. After seeing this book all over Bookstagram, I knew I had to pick it up. You guys know I love Harry Potter so this book was a self explanatory purchase.

The other book I got was the new Illustrated Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Holy crap, these illustrations are amazing. I posted on my Instagram that I love this book and included a snippet of some of the images. I got this on Amazon after seeing that it would cost half the amount that they were selling it in WH Smiths.

The next two books were books that I got for Christmas from my parents.

The first book I got was called Street Photography Now. If you haven't read my Best of Bits'n'Bobs 2015, which you can read here, then you won't know that I have been loving Photography. I have been enjoying picking this up and flicking through it. I love taking quirky photos and this has really opened my eye.

The next book I got is a book I have got every year for the last 10 years, and this is the Doctor Who annual. I come from a family of Doctor Who lovers and am not gonna deny that I love the show. I have a huge section of my bookshelves but to be honest I don't mind as I love the show so much. My favourite Doctor (from the revival) is David Tennant and my favourite companion is Catherine Tate who played Donna Noble.

Finally the last two books I got are from the Throne of Glass Series.

The first book is the 4th book in the series and is called Queen of Shadows. As I plan to review the series in my new feature called Book Review Monday, I will not be going in to detail about the series. My Throne of Glass Review should be going up on the 22nd January, so keep your eyes peeled.

The next book is the prequel to the series and is a series of novellas. It is called The Assassins Blade and features 5 stories pre- Throne of Glass. I am really looking forward to it and have been informed that I will cry while reading it. I love the cover for this series and can't wait for the other two books to come out.

I would also like to add that I got Girl Online On Tour by Zoe Sugg (aka Zoella) and I posted a photo of it on my Instagram, but when I was getting it down to move some books near it I damaged it. It isn't major but it is annoying as I have only had it for 5 days. But hey ho, I can still read it. If you would like me to review it please let me know.

So those were the books I got at the end of last year/ the beginning of this year. If you enjoyed this post, let me know by leaving me a comment. In case you hadn't noticed I am moving away from beauty blogging to book blogging. I will still be posting beauty related posts but from now on expect more book themed posts. Don't forget to follow my blog by clicking the follow button and you can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itscarenzab. If you have any post requests or business based questions, please feel free to email me at itscarenzab@gmail.com.

Carenza x   

Best of Books 2015| It's Carenza B

Hello!
Welcome to the second post in a series I'm calling "Best of", in which I look back at things that I loved in 2015. This one is all about books and which were my favourite books of this year. Since the start of this year I have read so many new books and re-read old favourites, but somehow I managed narrow it down to my top 5 books/ series of 2015. Enjoy!

These books are in no particular order other than when I grabbed them of my shelf to take there photos.

First we have Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, I read this in July after seeing so many book-tubers hype it and it rightly deserves the hype. The story takes place in a fictional world of Norta, were the people are divided by class- your either a common Red like Mare or a powerful Silver like Prince Tiberias (who is called Cal). Without giving too much away, in the society the Silvers have special powers and when pressured it is revealed that Mare has powers. The book follows her journey about learning to control her powers and surviving in the royal palace. I can't wait to read the second book, Glass Sword when it comes out this year.

 Next we have a classic, around the end of  July I started to re-read the Harry Potter series. I don't think I need to explain the plot of Harry Potter and if you don't know it, go read it. I grew up reading and listening to the books and waiting for the films to come out. We had this rule in my house hold that I wasn't allowed to watch the movie until I had read the book, I ended up seeing the last three movies in the cinema and having to watch the rest on DVD. I love Harry Potter and I have lots of fond memories about it. I tend to re-read it at least once a year to refresh my mind and I find that every time I read it I learn something new.

Next we have a very hyped up book and that is The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire by Dan Howell and Phil Lester aka danisnotonfire and amazingphil. This book was massively hyped up in the YouTube world and in my opinion, the hype was unnecessary. Don't get me wrong I liked the book but it wasn't my favourite book I read in 2015. There are bits that are funny and there are loads of pictures, it is basically another part of the world of Dan and Phil.

The next series I want to talk about is the Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Sthol, this was the first series I started book blogging about. I love it, it follows the story of Ethan Wate, a seemingly normal boy and a girl called Lena Duchannes. Lena is the niece of the towns reclusive and when she arrives at Gatlin School, things start going weird. It turns out that she is a witch (Caster) and on her 16th birthday she will claimed for the light or the dark. The series follows their relationship and how they overcome everything in their path. This is probably my second favourite series of the year.   

And finally we have my favourite series of the year which was the Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J Mass. This is beyond superb. The series follows an assassin called Celaena Sardothien in the Kingdom of Adarlan. She is summoned to the palace to take place in a competition to become the Royal Assassin. The story follows her journey through the competition and her getting used to her freedom. I don't want to give too much away as I plan to review the book, which should be going up at the end of this month.    

So those were my top 5 books of 2015, leave a comment saying what your favourite books are and maybe we can all get some good recommendations. Don't forget to follow me on instagram and twitter @itscarenzab. You can also follow my blog by clicking follow, if you have any post requests please feel free to email me on my business email itscarenzab@gmail.com.

Carenza x 

Winter Recommendations 2015| It's Carenza B

Hello!
So as my summer recommendations is my most read post, I thought I would do one for Autumn/Winter to spice things up. Again like my summer one it will be split into 3 categories of beauty, books and bits'n'bobs.
Enjoy!

Beauty

The first winter recommendation I have for you is a scent and if you have read my October Favourites post you will already know how much I love the Glazed Apple range from the Body Shop. It is this lovely sharp Apple scent and is perfect for this time of year. I love how long this stays on for as I apply it at about 8 in the morning and I can still smell it at 10 in the evening.

Glazed Apple Body and Room Spray

Next is also a product I featured in my October Favourites, which is an eye-shadow palette from Sleek. It has my 3 go to gold eye-shadows for this time of year and the pigmentation is insane. The palette is called Vintage Romance and have really cute names. This palette also has some really pretty purples in it which I want to have a go at wearing.

Sleek Vintage Romance Palette

Meet in Madrid, Court in Cannes and Lust in LA

For Blusher I have two very similar shades I love wearing at this time of year and they are both from the drugstore. One is from Sleek and the other is from Bourjois, they're both a rose gold shade but the Sleek one is more coral toned than the Bourjois one. Both have amazing pigmentation but my favourite is the Sleek one.

Bourjois 33 Lilas D'or and Sleek Rose Gold

Again we have something from my October Favourites which is a lipstick from Sleek. It's the beautiful red toned purple and is perfect for this time of year. Sleek, in case you haven't guessed, is a brand I rate highly and I would recommend you get your hands on some Sleek makeup. The lipstick is in the colour Dare.

Next, we have something for your hands as they can get very dry at this time of year. It's the Body Shop Almond Hand and Nail Cream. It smells like marzipan and leaves your hands feeling really smooth. 

Almond Hand Cream 

For eyeliners I have two, one is drugstore and one is high-end. The first one I got from a glossy-box, it's a lot lighter than the high-end. The drugstore one is from the brand MeMeMe and it is in the shade Clay. The high-end one is from Urban Decay from their Naked on the Run palette last year, it's a miniature of one of their 24/7 Glide On eye pencil in Stag. It goes on a lot easier than the MeMeMe one and I have used it more than the drugstore one.

Top- MeMeMe in Clay
Bottom- Urban Decay in Stag

Left- MeMeMe
Right- Urban Decay

My favourite face mask at this time of year is the Sanctuary Spa 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask. This is the only face mask I use. At the slightly pricey cost of £10, this mask is the best I've tried. It literally warms your face and gives it the feeling like it's doing something. Although slightly scary when it comes out, there are noticeable results.

My two favourite nail colours are two dark purples. One is from Bourjois in the colour 34 violine hypnotique and the other is from Illamasqa which I picked up at TK Maxx in the colour Charisma. I prefer the Bourjois one as it is better quality, I wore them both for a week and the Illamasqa one chipped really badly. But they're both lovely colours.

Left- Bourjois
Right- Illamasqa

For hair-care, I love the Tresemme Moisture Rich Luxurious Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner in these massive bottles. They leave your hair feeling silky smooth for days. I had never tried anything from Tresemme before but now I will definitely be trying more.

Finally, we have a hair masque from a Swedish Brand called Maria Nilla. I received this in the September Glossybox and I have nearly used it all up. It is used to bring out your natural hair colour and make it better. I can tell this has been working for me as I have dyed my hair before and am letting it grow out, and the roots of my hair are a lot blonder than before.

Books

My first book Recommendation is a classic and is the Sherlock Holmes Series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I love Sherlock (the TV Series) and have dipped it and out of the books, but I feel like this time of year is perfect to start reading it.

Next we have a modern book which I mentioned in my October Faves and it is The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire by Dan Howell and Phil Lester. You already I know how much I love this book so I won't go into detail.

Again we have another book you know how much I love and this is the Harry Potter Series, I've been banging on about this for ages you guys must be so bored of me mentioning it. I do genuinely love the series and have been re reading it for the 1000th time.

Finally, we have a book that I also mentioned in my October Faves, which is Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass. I am going to write a review on this and it will hopefully be going up soon. All I will say for now is that it is amazing and you need to read it.

Bits'n'Bobs

First in my Bits'n'Bobs category is bobble hats. I love hats, but I feel like hats don't love me as I have been struggling to find hats that fit me all my life. When I  was in Marks and Spencers recently and found these two hats that fit me I obviously had to get them. 

Next we have my beloved Miss Selfridges scarf which I think I mentioned in my October Faves. It's this massive checkered scarf that can act like a blanket on long car/ train journeys.

Obviously I had to put a candle in here, although not a Christmas scent I love this scent as it's really fresh and just lovely to burn. Don't worry, I'll be getting a Christmas scented one soon.

Next we have Christmas magazines, the ultimate way to get into the festive spirit is by reading them. I have a home and interiors one and a craft one. I love both equally.

Finally we have my well beloved jumper from Marks and Spencers, it's a deep red wine colour. It's super thick and warm, the sleeves are slightly cropped and it is quite a lose jumper but it still manages to keep you warm. I have been wearing this all the time and love it so much.

So those are my winter recommendations, I hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to follow my blog and follow me on my social media accounts (Instagram and Twitter @itscarenzab). If you have any Christmas suggestions email me on my business email itscarenzab@gmail,com. I had planned on doing blogmas, but unfortunately I don't have the time this year but I do have some Christmas post ideas floating round.

Love

Carenza x 

  

  

  

October Favourites 2015| It's Carenza B

Hello!
So here is my my very first favourite post! If you do not follow me on Twitter (@itscarenzab), you will not know that I had a bit of drama while writing my September Favourites. Basically, I wrote the entire post and for some reason it wouldn't save or let me upload it, so I refreshed the page and lost everything I wrote. I was so annoyed with myself, as I had spent ages writing it and it was gone. Anyway, here is my October Favourites and I hope you enjoy it!

Before I start writing, I would like to apologize for the not so great quality of my photos. As it's winter, the lighting isn't great and this means I have to use lights from my lamp and bulb. So I am sorry, but it turned out better than I planned as I used the flash for some of the photos.

Beauty

The first thing I have been loving in the month of October was the new Body Shop Foundation, I have a feeling that this is going to become a holy grail of mine. I am very pale and a lot of foundations, particularly from the Body Shop, are too dark and orange toned. Anyway, this new foundation is a perfect match, maybe even too pale for me. It applies wonderfully and doesn't look cakey, I would say that it's a matte foundation and that it isn't super glowy. I would recommend that you go and get it as it is an amazing product. It retails at £15 which is on the pricey side for a high street foundation but it's totally worth it.

Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation in Chelsea Porcelain 

Next, we have another Body Shop product but this time it's a scent rather than a makeup product. It is the Glazed Apple scent from the Christmas range. It's a sharp apple scent that stays for the whole day, I apply this once a day before I leave the house and when I go to bed at 9 or 10 o'clock I can still smell it. I have had this bottle for almost a year and its barely gone down. It's a really lovely scent for autumn and Christmas, I would recommend that you go and get it if you love apple scented things.

Body Shop Glazed Apple Room and Body Spray

Recently, I have discovered I have a love for gold eye-shadows and as much as I love my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, the eye-shadow palette I have been using lots recently is the Sleek Vintage Romance. I got this last Christmas as part of a gift set and never got round to using it till now.

My dirty but well- loved Sleek Palette

The plastic sheet of names

They all have super cute names like the purple one on the bottom row below the silver one is called A Vow in Venice, which is super cute. As you can tell the ones I have been using the most are the three gold ones.

Without the plastic name sheet

From left to right- Meet in Madrid; Court in Cannes; Lust in LA

Another plus is the mirror, although slightly dirty it is one of the largest I have. Overall this is one of the best eye-shadow palettes I own and I would recommend you get your hands on it. I don't know how much it costs as I got it in a set with a lipstick and a mascara.

We have another Sleek product, this time a lipstick. This lipstick is my new favourite lipstick of all time, it is a truly beautiful deep purple with red tones running through it. If you want to start wearing darker lipsticks but don't want to go straight in with the almost black toned purples this is the lipstick for you. The colour is called Dare and is a matte lipstick. Again, this lipstick is perfect for this time of year and I would say is an Autumn essential for beauty lovers.

Next in beauty we have a product from Lush, although it's not a bath-bomb it is from the skincare range which I feel deserves more recognition. The product I have been loving is Grease Lighting. This product is to be used on spots to dry the out, which sounds disgusting but it works really well. It contains witch hazel, which is really good for spots. For some reason this month I had a really bad break out and this product helped. Although over the £15 mark, I have had this for around a year and have barely used any of it, as a little goes a long way. It has a pump and you pump out a small bit, then apply it to the spot for a couple of days and wait for it to do its magic.

Lush's Grease Lighting

Finally, we have my new holy grail for applying foundation and concealer. It is a beauty blender that I got in the October Glossybox . It applies a lot nicer than a brush as it doesn't leave brush marks. However, it takes slightly longer than a brush does the final result is a lot better.

Books

The first book I read in October was The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire by Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (amazingphil). This book was massively hyped in the world of YouTube and to some extent it deserved this praise. It was an interesting book to read, finding out all the different things that were a part of the world of Dan and Phil. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading it and there were bits that made me laugh, the only issue with it is the price. I feel like its a tall order to ask there viewers to pay £17 for it. I do recommend you go get it if you love watching their videos, I just warn you that the book isn't cheap but then there are a lot of pages in it, it's hard back and there is lots of colour.

TABINOF front cover

Next, I read Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass. If you read my birthday book haul, you will have seen this book. It is brilliant, I'm in the middle of writing a book review for it. I don't want to give to much away but I recommend you get it and read it. The main character, Celaena is amazing. You'll fall in love with her straight away. I honestly can't wait to finish the series, I'm on the third book and it's definitely getting interesting. The cover design is beautiful and the story is as well.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass

Finally I started reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is one of my favourite books in the series, as you will know if you read my Harry Potter Tag post from Halloween. I don't need to go into detail as the story is well known. I love it and I really am enjoying re-reading this series.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Bits'n'bob

My first thing to come under the character of Bits'n'Bobs are Tsum Tsums from Japan. These are a thing that Disney started doing and OMG I love them. They are so cute! I collect the small ones and am loving them. Every month they bring out a different collection, like in September it was The Nightmare Before Christmas in time for Halloween.  I have some of the classic Disney characters and some of the collections. The small ones are £3 each and are about the size of your palm. They're filled with beans like bean bags and can be used as screen cleaners, but I have never used mine as screen cleaners.  

Look how cute they are!

Since taking this photo I have got 3 more- Jack Skeleton, Zero and one of the 3 children called Shock, Lock and something I can't remember.

Next I have been loving my scarf from Miss Selfridge, I got it in January in the sales for £16 and love it. It is huge and has this lovely red checkered pattern on it. It also has tassels on it and is the warmest scarf I own. I wear it most days and when I'm doing long journeys either in the car or on a train, I like to use it as a blanket to keep me warm.

Miss Selfridge Scarf

Finally, I have been loving Christmas Magazines. I am getting excited for Christmas way to early this year but I feel like I have got some good ideas for my blog for the festive period and am looking forward to sharing them with you.

Craft and Home-ware Christmas Magazines

So those were my October Favourites, I hope you enjoyed this post and that it has given you some inspiration for the future. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Twitter @itscarenzab. Also you can click follow on here to be informed when I post. For business related questions, email me at itscarenzab@gmail.com.

Love,

Carenza B 

x