"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I decided that I'm going to change up Waiting on Wednesday. Instead of doing one every week, I'm just going to do one once a month and feature all the books coming out the next month that I'm salivating for.

Here are the books that I'm waiting for in December!

Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill

Goodreads

Seventeen year-old Britta Flannery is at ease only in the woods with her dagger and bow. She spends her days tracking criminals alongside her father, the legendary bounty hunter for the King of Malam—that is, until her father is murdered. Now outcast and alone and having no rights to her father’s land or inheritance, she seeks refuge where she feels most safe: the Ever Woods. When Britta is caught poaching by the royal guard, instead of facing the noose she is offered a deal: her freedom in exchange for her father’s killer.

However, it’s not so simple.

The alleged killer is none other than Cohen McKay, her father’s former apprentice. The only friend she’s ever known. The boy she once loved who broke her heart. She must go on a dangerous quest in a world of warring kingdoms, mad kings, and dark magic to find the real killer. But Britta wields more power than she knows. And soon she will learn what has always made her different will make her a daunting and dangerous force.

This is the only one in December that I'm really looking forward to. I'm kind of curious about Black Moon by Romina Russell just because I read the first two, but I kind of hated them.

What books are you looking forward to in December?

Top Ten Tuesday (#67)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish!

This week's topic is a Holiday Gift Guide. I'm going to share ten bookish things to get for the book lover in your life!

Every book lover in your life needs a handy tote bag to haul their books around in. Your favorite bookworm will be the hippest person at the bookstore with an Evie Seo tote bag on their shoulder.

A candle that smells like their #1 book boyfriend (or girlfriend or general favorite bookish character) would be a fantastic gift for the book nerd on your Christmas list.

A coffee mug would be a wonderful gift for someone who needs fuel to stay up all night finishing that unputdownable book.

Also, coffee/tea to put in said mug would be a lovely gift.

Alternatively, for the bookworm who doesn't have time to sit still, you could always get a travel mug!

For the person who likes to get really comfy when they read, this throw pillow might be a nice gift.

Let them show their bookish pride with a phone case or...

...a laptop/ipad skin!

For the clairvoyant in your life who happens to like YA books, this Raven Cycle tarot card set would be a fun gift.

And finally, if you know someone who wants to slather themselves with soap that smells like their favorite book boyfriend (or girlfriend), this soap would be a fantastic choice. Or if soap isn't their thing, there's also chapstick.

What kinds of goodies would you get for the book lover in your life?

Review: Fear the Drowning Deep by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Fear the Drowning Deep by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Publication Date: October 11th, 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Edelweiss

Format: eARC

Pages: 304

Add it on Goodreads!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Witch’s apprentice Bridey Corkill has hated the ocean ever since she watched her granddad dive in and drown with a smile on his face. So when a dead girl rolls in with the tide in the summer of 1913, sixteen-year-old Bridey suspects that whatever compelled her granddad to leap into the sea has made its return to the Isle of Man.

Soon, villagers are vanishing in the night, but no one shares Bridey’s suspicions about the sea. No one but the island’s witch, who isn’t as frightening as she first appears, and the handsome dark-haired lad Bridey rescues from a grim and watery fate. The cause of the deep gashes in Fynn’s stomach and his lost memories are, like the recent disappearances, a mystery well-guarded by the sea. In exchange for saving his life, Fynn teaches Bridey to master her fear of the water — stealing her heart in the process.

Now, Bridey must work with the Isle’s eccentric witch and the boy she isn’t sure she can trust — because if she can’t uncover the truth about the ancient evil in the water, everyone she loves will walk into the sea, never to return.

Fear the Drowning Deep is a real gem of a book. It is a fascinating mix of history and fantasy, taking place in the early 1900's on the Isle of Man, which has become the hunting grounds of a sea monster that has been luring villagers to their watery deaths.

This story is mainly about Bridey Corkill and her relationship with the sea. She has hated the sea ever since she saw her Grandpa drown in it. Since then she won't go near it or eat anything from it. This seems a bit complicated seeing as they are a village whose livelihoods depend on the sea.

She is the only one who really seems to know what's going on with the sea. She becomes kind of a social pariah when she tries to tell people, they think she's crazy. Paired with the fact that she's apprenticed to the village 'witch', there are a lot of whispers about her. I respect that she doesn't let that bother her. She cares more about the well-being of the people whispering about her than she cares about their whispers.

Besides Bridey's relationship with the sea, I loved her relationship with her family. It's so refreshing to see a whole, fully functional family in YA. Bridey has both of her parents and three sisters, all of whom are actually present in her life. I love how caring and supportive they are of each other. 

I kind of thought that the romance in this book was going to be a love triangle in the beginning. It seems like there are two love interests in the beginning, but one of them totally gets dropped like a hot potato.

I liked the romance in this book. It was maybe a little bit cheesy, but I thought that Fynn and Bridey were cute together. I liked how much they trusted each other and cared about each other.

The rest of the relationships in this book are refreshing too. Bridey has two good friends and they have their ups and downs, but overall, they have strong friendships that I enjoyed. I also enjoyed the relationship that Bridey formed with Morag, the village witch that she's apprenticed to. Bridey seemed so rude to her in the beginning, but by the end they work together so well!

I loved the setting of this book. I had never heard of the Isle of Man before reading this book. It sounds lovely. I loved all the Manx terms/words included in the book. I loved the customs and superstitions. I loved what this setting added to this story.

If I was going to say I had any problems with this book, I think my main problem would be the open ending of this book. I personally kind of hate open endings. The other thing I thought was that the climax was maybe not as climactic as I was hoping it would be. But that could also be attributed to the fact that it took me like three weeks to read this book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The setting was amazing, the relationships were amazing, the story was amazing. I would highly recommend this book if you like a little history and a little fantasy!

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Top Ten Tuesday (#66)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish!

This week's topic is all about things we're thankful for!

I'm just gonna go with five things that I'm thankful for. Because I want to write about meaningful things and just getting to five was hard.

First I want to say that I'm thankful for this platform that I have to talk about books on. I love being able to discuss books, even if it's sometimes just to myself. I'm at a standstill with my sister because I swear she has been reading Prodigy by Marie Lu for like SIX MONTHS! Come on, girl! I can't talk to her about it if she isn't going to ever finish it!

I'm thankful for the friends that I've made since I started blogging. Notably: Mariam (@mariamthekid), Brittany (@bbookrambles), Raneem (@raneemkankan), and Alyssa (@Alyssa_Susanna). 

I am thankful for the dude my mom is currently seeing. He has offered to fly my sister and I to Indiana in January as a gift to my mom. This is super exciting because I wasn't able to go with my grandma when she went to visit in August. I haven't been to see her since last September, but she did come home for Christmas last year. Either way, it's been awhile.

I'm thankful for my sister. She and I are so close now that we're older. It feels like just yesterday that I was trying to assert my authority (given to my by my dad who was working late for awhile) over her by dragging her down the hall by her ankles while she clung to a recliner that also got dragged down the hall because she wouldn't go to bed at a decent hour since my dad wasn't there to make her. She's always so excited to drive four hours to come see me and then she gets here and she buys my groceries, cooks for me, and does my dishes. I would be so lost without her.

And finally, I am thankful for my cat. He's kind of an ass, but he puts up with a lot of my crap. I really can't say I blame him for being an ass. I mean, I did dress him up as a mermaid. And a dinosaur. And almost a lobster. I'm thankful that I could finally wear the BF down so he would let me have a cat. I'm thankful for the guy at my work who fetched me the free kitten. I'm thankful for the free vet clinic that fixed his hernia (and him) for free.

What are some things you're thankful for this year?

Review: Wrecked by Maria Padian

Wrecked by Maria Padian

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

Publication Date: October 4th, 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Netgalley

Format: eARC

Pages: 368

Add it on Goodreads!!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Everyone has heard a different version of what happened that night at MacCallum College. Haley was already in bed when her roommate, Jenny, arrived home shell-shocked from the wild Conundrum House party. Richard heard his housemate Jordan brag about the cute freshman he hooked up with. When Jenny formally accuses Jordan of rape, Haley and Richard find themselves pushed onto opposite sides of the school’s investigation. But conflicting interests fueling conflicting versions of the story may make bringing the truth to light nearly impossible--especially when reputations, relationships, and whole futures are riding on the verdict.

After an out-of-character night of college partying, Jenny James accuses Jordan Bockus of rape. She files a complaint with their college in hopes of settling the matter more quietly than if she were to go to the police. The story is told from the points of view of Haley, Jenny's former soccer star roommate, and Richard, a housemate of the accused. There are also little excerpts before (or after? I read an eARC, it's hard to tell) each chapter with details about the night of the rape.

What I Liked:

I liked the message that this book sent. After all the controversy of Jenny reporting her rape and the following investigation, the college hires someone to come in and talk about consent and the take away from that assembly is 'yes means yes'. I like that the speaker tried to spin it as asking for actual, verbal consent can make things more sexy.

I liked the relationship between Jenny and Haley. It felt real. They're not really friends, but in the aftermath of Jenny's assault, Haley wants to do her best to be there for her roommate. She's dealing with a recent career-ending soccer injury, her own classes, and her own problems, but she tries. She has a bit of a rough time with people constantly being in her room and being drawn into some family drama with Jenny. That seemed to kind of irritate her, but that felt real to me. She's supposed to be trying to heal. I can see where all of that would be frustrating, but I love that she still keeps trying to be a good and supportive friend.

Despite things that I found problematic with Richard, I liked the relationship he forms with Haley. They meet through math tutoring where Richard does his work-study and Haley seeks help with her math sets. They don't realize how connected they are with Haley being Jenny's counselor in the investigation and Richard being Jordan's. This probably means that they shouldn't be together right now and they know it, but they make it work and I thought they were cute together. I like how Haley is more of the tomboy type and Richard is more of the hopeless romantic type.

What I Didn't Like:

The one character that I liked the least is probably Carrie. She was so unlikable, but I wanted to like her. She is an important character. She's very feminist, she works the college's sexual assault hotline and takes Jenny's call when she's finally ready to report. She seems like she's really great and caring and supportive with Jenny and that's absolutely wonderful, but with everyone else she just comes off as kind of awful and I was really just sick of seeing her pop up everywhere in this book. And that's really not how I wanted to feel about her.

I didn't really love, but didn't really hate Richard. I feel like he probably learned a lot during the events of this book, but he is the type to use the word rape to describe overly enthusiastic sex and suggests that perhaps some women who report rape are actually experiencing morning after regret. Which is harmful because it leads people to not believe when someone reports their rape. I think he generally has harmful views, but his heart is kind of in the right place if that makes sense?

Overall, I think that this is an excellent book on rape culture. It comes at a good time with all of Donald Trump's disgusting comments and the recent release of Brock Turner after only 3 months of jail time. If you enjoyed books like What We Saw or All the Rage, I think you will enjoy this book as well.

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts on it?

Top Ten Tuesday (#65)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish!

This week's topic is about movies! So I'm doing top ten book to movie adaptations I want to see, but have yet to.

1. The 5th Wave

2. Me Before You

3. Allegiant

4. Mockingjay Part 2

5. Dark Places

6. The Scorch Trials

7. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

8. The Girl on the Train

9. The Jungle Book

(I've seen the Disney movie, but I want to see the live action adaptation that came out this year.)

10. How to be Single

(I saw this on a list of book to movie adaptations. I really want to see this movie, but I didn't know it was a book!)

What are some book to movie adaptations you have yet to see but want to?

Review: Seas by Colleen Oakes

Seas by Colleen Oakes

Wendy Darling #2

Publisher: Sparkpress

Publication Date: September 20th, 2016

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Source: Netgalley

Format: eARC

Pages: 274

Add it on Goodreads!

Summary (from Goodreads):

From the author of Queen of Hearts comes the much anticipated sequel to Wendy Darling.

Wendy Darling: Seas finds Wendy and Michael aboard the dreaded Sudden Night, a dangerous behemoth sailed by the infamous Captain Hook and his blood-thirsty crew. In this exotic world of mermaids, spies and pirate-feuds, Wendy finds herself struggling to keep her family above the waves. Hunted by the twisted boy who once stole her heart and struggling to survive in the whimsical Neverland sea, returning home to London now seems like a distant dream - and the betrayals have just begun. 

Will Wendy find shelter with Peter's greatest enemy, or is she a pawn in a much darker game, one that could forever alter not only her family's future, but also the soul of Neverland itself?

Likes:

I think the thing that I liked the most about this series is that Peter is the villain and the pirates are the 'heroes'. I liked learning about life aboard the Sudden Night and seeing Wendy and Michael create relationships with the different pirates. I feel like the only pirate that was actually scary was Smith, the first mate, and I think at a certain point in the book, it becomes all for show.

I like how brave Wendy has to be in this book. She has to be brave with the pirates for Michael. She has to make some tough decisions when it comes to Michael's safety and how far she's willing to go to help Hook save Neverland.

I liked that there wasn't really any romance in this book. Wendy still thinks about and has feelings for Booth. But there is no love interest for her in this book. It was really REALLY weird, but I swear when I was reading this I kept expecting Wendy and Hook to get together. I'm glad that they didn't because that would be kinda wrong, but I feel like I'm just trained to expect romance in everything I read, I was just waiting for it.

The cliffhanger at the end makes my heart hurt. I need the last installment in this series. Like now.

Dislikes:

The biggest complaint I have about this book is that I didn't feel like it did a really great job of recapping what happened in the first book. I know that Wendy left Pan Island because Peter is an actual monster, but I don't remember much of anything else. I don't remember how the Darling children ended up in Neverland. I don't remember how she actually escaped Pan Island. I don't remember how Wendy and Michael got onto the Sudden Night. I don't really remember anything about Wendy's time on Pan Island.

I mean, there are a few mentions of things that happened in book one, but 90% of the mentions of book one events are Wendy remembering how Smith slit Kitoko's neck when they were looting one of Hook's caves or whatever.

Then for as dangerous as EVERYTHING is made out to be in this book, there seemed to be a distinct lack of actual danger. I can think of two events in this book that struck me as actually dangerous. The pirates on the Sudden Night were marshmallows and Peter barely makes an appearance.

I also didn't really feel like a whole lot happened in this book.

Overall, this wasn't a terribly exciting book. It was a decent sequel and I really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend this series if you are a big fan of Peter Pan. I am super excited to read the next book, Shadow, next year!

Have you read Stars, the first book in this series? Do you like Peter Pan retellings?

Top Ten Tuesday (#64)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish!

This week's topic is Ten Books I've Added to My TBR Lately!

1. Blue Tide by Jenna-Lynne Duncan

2. The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker

3. Aftercare Instructions by Bonnie Pipkin

4. Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh

5. Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis

6. Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman

7. Silver Stars by Michael Grant

8. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

9. The Valiant by Lesley Livingston

10. Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas

What are some books that you've added to your TBR lately?

Review: And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers

Publication Date: September 6th, 2016

Rating: 3 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Audiobook

Pages: 352

Add it on Goodreads!

Summary (from Goodreads):

A stunning, terrifying novel about a house the color of blood and the two sisters who are trapped there, by The Dead Houseauthor Dawn Kurtagich 

When Silla and Nori arrive at their aunt's home, it's immediately clear that the "blood manor" is cursed. The creaking of the house and the stillness of the woods surrounding them would be enough of a sign, but there are secrets too--the questions that Silla can't ignore: Who is the beautiful boy that's appeared from the woods? Who is the man that her little sister sees, but no one else? And why does it seem that, ever since they arrived, the trees have been creeping closer?


Filled with just as many twists and turns as The Dead House, and with achingly beautiful, chilling language that delivers haunting scenes, AND THE TREES CREPT IN is the perfect follow-up novel for master horror writer Dawn Kurtagich.

I downloaded the audiobook of AND THE TREES CREPT IN to listen to on the four hour drive to my dad's house for the weekend. I thought this would be a great book because I had heard some pretty good things about it and because it's fall, which is ideal for a creepy book!

I liked the beginning of this book. Fourteen-year-old Silla and her four-year-old sister, Nori, are leaving an abusive household to live with their strange aunt who lives alone in a huge old house in the middle of the woods. Seeing Silla and Nori explore the house and form a relationship with their aunt was interesting. Seeing how their aunt kind of slowly spiraled into insanity and locked herself in the attic was interesting.

But somehow everything went downhill from there for me. I am very much in the minority on this one, but I just didn't like this book that much. I was only like an hour and a half into this book and was certain it should nearly be over because it felt like Silla had been going on and on forever about how she felt like she was going crazy or something like that. But actually I had like 7 hours left in this book.

The middle of this book is just so boring and repetitive. Silla's always talking about how she feels like she's lost her mind or how they don't have any food. There's always scary noises inside the house that never turn into anything. I mean, I understand why now, but it would have been so much more interesting if there was actually something scary in the dark. Then there's the near constant mention of how the trees are closer and closer and closer and I just don't care anymore.

The main relationship in this book is about the love that Silla has for her little sister. Everything that Silla does in this book is for her sister. I love a good sister relationship and this book definitely delivered that.

The ending of this book really made up for how much the middle sucked. I didn't understand why anything was happening in this book until the big reveal at the end. I thought the big reveal was really interesting and loved how it brought everything together. I also loved that all of the predictions I made were wrong because at least this book wasn't predictable on top of being boring.

The best part of this audiobook was definitely the performance of it. The narrator was fantastic. Quite possibly my favorite narrator I've listened to so far. I would definitely listen to another audiobook by this narrator. I loved the sound effects in it as well. The creepy music and background whispers along with the narrator whispering and making sound effects really added to the eeriness of this audiobook and I really enjoyed listening to it.

Overall, I didn't love this book. But according to Goodreads, I'm very much in the minority on this one. If you like horror stories, you would probably enjoy this book. It kind of reminds me of the movie The Others with Nicole Kidman. If you liked that movie, you might like this book as well.

What's your favorite horror book? I need something that will actually make my pulse flutter.

October 2016 Wrap Up

Read: 

          

1. Nemesis by Anna Banks

-DNF

2. Wendy Darling: Seas by Colleen Oakes

3. Wrecked by Maria Padian

59/75

Crossover Book:

Fear the Drowning Deep by Sarah Glenn Marsh

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Book Haul:

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

-Trade

Everland by Wendy Spinale

-Trade

The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas

-Trade

Boss Babes Coloring Book

-From the Publisher

Roseblood by A.G. Howard

-From the Publisher

Replica by Lauren Oliver

-Purchase

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

-Purchase

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

-Trade

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Reviewed:

Dreamology by Lucy Keating

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

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In My Corner of the Blogosphere:

I talked about Japanese Internment Camps in America during WWII in my A Glimpse Back in Time post.

I highlighted some Boss Babes featured in the Boss Babes Coloring Book from Workman Pub!

I talked about which November books I'm looking forward to!

I featured a recipe for chili in my Book Nerd Bites post!

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Life:

Life has really been uneventful this month. I finally just got my credit card bill paid off (then promptly celebrated by probably spending too much money *CRINGE*).

I had a week at work where I worked so much that they kept sending me home early so I wouldn't get overtime. Which was nice and also lame. Nice because I didn't want to stay and work on the projects I would have had to work on and lame because I wanted the money!

I went to a haunted house with my sister and a few of her friends from work. I was definitely the chicken of the group and I think like 25% of the times I got scared was because the stuff hanging to separate rooms moved wrong. It was fun. Except it had the same theme as last year which was Circus of Fear so there were clowns and I could have done without that.

A bunch of people from my work run the haunted house in the town I work in now. So some people were telling me I should go. But they are like really into Halloween. They would probably pick on me while I'm going through it and I'm not about that life. Also, apparently when you leave, they have conveyor belt type thing with a coffin on it and you get into the coffin and theY PUSH YOU OUT! NO THANK YOU! I figure I'll spend plenty of time in a coffin someday, I'm not about to start now.

I guess really that's all that was exciting in my life this month. I borrowed all the seasons of The Walking Dead from a friend and I'm about to put myself through that hell so that will be fun.

That's all I've got for now about that.

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Looking Ahead:

So, if you didn't know this about me, I work in a distribution center. People order things off the internet and I pack it into boxes and ship it out. Things have been super slow lately because we've had a few bigger clients leave and summer/early fall is just plain slow in general. But starting on Black Friday we're going to start getting hit with all the Christmas orders. Black Friday won't be so bad. But Tuesday after Cyber Monday is when things are gonna get real.

So I don't think that I'm going to hit my reading goal for this year. I still have 16 books to go. And From Thanksgiving to Christmas is going to be busy at my work. Oh well.

This is what I would like to read in November:

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

Roseblood by A.G. Howard

Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken

Soulmated by Shaila Patel

After the Woods by Kim Savage

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Also, I think I'm gonna try to blog a little more lightly for the rest of the year. I kinda want to work on beefing up my posts for 2017 so I can try to be more ahead of the game in the future. Especially during times like right now where I'm like, "Ehhhhhhh," when I think about having to blog.

How did October go for you? Anything exciting happen in your life? Did you read your new favorite book?