Little Librocubicularist

If I were to be totally honest, For Darkness Shows the Stars is better than Across a Star-Swept Sea, but only a little. I really love both books, but there's just something missing with Across a Star-Swept Sea.

Across a Star-Swept Sea started with Persis Blake's term paper which basically sums up what happened in the past and how the war broke out. Just like with For Darkness Shows the Stars, I have struggled getting a good grasp on the history of New Pacifica. Luddites and Posts are out of the picture, and are replaced by Aristos and Regs. They are the same, just called differently in the two books. It was like a whole new whirlwind of information all over again and sometimes, its hard to keep up. But despite that, I really appreciate how Ms. Peterfreund created this idea of having a world where Reduced people exist as a repercussion of man's desire for perfection.

Setting aside my inability to fully absorb New Pacifica's history, the rest of Across a Star-Swept Sea is just as marvelous as I thought it would be. The moment I read the blurb, I knew I was hooked. Who wouldn't be if your heroine is a famous aristocrat disguised as mysterious spy called the Wild Poppy who rescues reduced and enslaved aristos from the other island? It was fast-paced and a lot more adventurous than For Darkness Shows the Stars. There was a lot more thrill and action in this one, and it really showcased how kick-ass and smart the heroine could be.

Although it was evident that Persis and Justen's blooming relationship was not the main focus of the story, the subtle romance still captured my interest. It was the slow and steady kind of relationship-building, and it was clear that the reason for the attraction was not just because of the physical attribute. Somehow, Justen Helo was able to like Persis despite her facade. And I love how Diana Peterfreud ended their story (or the whole book in general).

I don't really like to compare, but I can't help it. :) Another great distinction between the FDSTS and AASSS is how different their worlds are. As far as I remember, we have a gloomy and lifeless aura in FDSTS. In Across a Star-Swept Sea, there are two islands, Galatea and Albion. Galatea is chaotic, while Albion is full of life, eccentricities, and colors. And with the difference in the worlds, also comes the difference in kind of lead. Persis is your ideal hero - expressly courageous, smart, caring and loving, while Elliot is the meek kind. All these leads up to my main point concerning the cover of the book. Across a Star-Swept Sea's cover really depicted Persis and her personality. Although I have favored the cover of FDSTS over this, I believe that Across a Star-Swept Sea's cover fitted the book and the story perfectly.

*whew*

The world-building, the turn of events, the characters... it was just wonderful. I love this book, maybe not as much as For Darkness Shows the Stars, but still. I'm not exactly sure why. But maybe because I was a little less engaged and engrossed with Across A Star-Swept Sea. But it was still awesome!

PS: I wish there was a Reduction 101 or something that explains the whole thing about the history, the reduction etc... It would make everything easier for those troubled readers like me who aren't really *shrugs* you know. :)

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Warning: This book might make you cry. :)

NA is sort of a guilty pleasure for me. I try to steer myself away because they're all just the same, broken girl or broken boy with issues in the past who found each other and lived happily ever after. But whenever I read one, I end up liking it (sometimes) :) And When It Rains is one of those NAs that has made a small dent in my steel heart.

The first half of the book is your typical NA stuff - troubled past, strong attraction/tension between the main characters, hot and sweet moments etc... It really didn't stand out. Same old, same old. Nothing really new. So even though I haven't finished reading the book yet, I was ready to give it a maximum of three stars already. And if the cliche continues, I'm probably going to lower it down to two. But the other half of the book just shook my being (lol!). It was soooo sad and bittersweet, and anyone who has a very soft and sensitive heart probably would be bawling their eyes out over the events that took place. All my thoughts about three stars were thrown out of the window because of that. This probably proves just weird my brain is for loving extremely sad and depressing moments.

The ending mildly shattered my whole new adoration for the book. It was just.. *sigh* *okay* *sigh* why? It could have ended sadly or a little open-ended. I would love it if it ended like that. But no... Kate had to go on with her life, and live a happily ever after. Okay! It's down to three stars again.

In total, When It Rains is a heart-tearing book about love, loss, and letting go. It was mostly good. I enjoyed reading it, especially the sad parts of the book. So there! Another NA on the list :)

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This Song Will Save Your Life tells a story of a young girl named Elise who has been drowned by her issues and insecurities of having no friends and never fitting in. This caused her to change and reinvent herself into someone like them, but her attempts were unsuccessful. Driven by frustration and sorrow, she thinks of a better way of solving her problems. And with that, she ends up with an even more scarring life experience to carry on her shoulders. But fate stepped in as she accidentally stumbles into the best underground party in the world that made her experience new things, and eventually changed her life.

This book tackles not only the usual inequalities of the hierarchical high school world, but also issues about bullying and it's severe effects to those who people involved. We've heard that a few time before, but what makes this book a stand out for me is that Elise, although she wants to become like everybody else, refuses to listen to the kind of music popular today. It's the one thing she's not willing to let go or change. That was the beam of light in the darkness that surrounds Elise, which became even brighter when she discovers her love for DJing.

Speaking of Elise, there were times that I really had been exasperated with her behavior and her choices. Maybe because I have never felt what she felt, but still, I got irked sometimes. But most of the times, I do get why she acts that way. So for the most part, Leila Sales has created relatable Elise. The other characters, especially Vicks and Mel, were pretty awesome as well. They were their own, exploding with personality and individuality. But I don't want to talk about Char, or Pippa, or Emily. The other characters felt like small extras in a big film due.

For the plot, it was okay. I still have mixed feelings for it. I liked it in general, but I'm not sure if I liked some of the little things that happened on the sidelines. I am still a little skeptical with the ending because of what happened to Elise at school, what happened to Alex, or even Pippa or Char. There were a lot of loose ends that I feel were essential for Elise's characters growth, and even for the satisfaction of the readers.

But all in all Leila Sales has delivered something good. A good coming-of-age stories for those who feel like they don't belong. Plus, the title and cover is amazing!

There are quite a few tutorials on how to change the layout of your BookLikes blog. I figured it's good to have them all in one post, and I'd like to thank all who put a lot of work into making them so others can enjoy BookLikes. 

Let's start with the customization blogs posted by BookLikes: 

• Edit Your Design Theme With HTML on BookLikes 
• Your Blog on BookLikes - Custom-Made

Tutorials made by BookLikers for BookLikers: 

• Litchick's Easy Tips for Customization
• Litchick's How to Change Your Followers/Following to Something Fun
• AnHeC's How to Move/change your Followers/Following conters
• Jane's How to Customize your BookLikes Blog using CSS
• Jane's Customizing your BookLikes Blog Pt.2
• ThreeRs' Blog about Fonts
• AnHeC's How to change font colour (text, link, comment section)
• AnHeC's Background for Search Bar

Note: All links open in a new window and take you to the original posts and their creators. Leave comments, likes and reblog the hell out of them so others can see it too :) 

If you are a from goodreads, you'll probably know the current issues with the site that people are buzzing about - the new policy, the unannounced removal of reviews, etc... Honestly, I 'm not really directly affected by that because (1) I think I don't write offensive reviews to the extent that I verbally harass the author, and (2) my reviews are fine and intact as of the moment. But what if I were one of those people whose reviews were deleted. I would probably be outraged as well and ditch the site.

And that's where BOOKLIKES comes in.

I haven't heard of booklikes before. But due to the unfortunate happenings on goodreads, I have been seeing a lot of readers and bloggers moving to this site. So, I decided to check it out and join in the fun.

So far, I'm really liking everything I see here. It has a cooler look than goodreads, and it's like a three-in-one thing -  you have a shelf, a blog and a timeline. It's like tumblr, facebook and goodreads/shelfari combined into one awesome site. I haven't been long enough to see how everything works. But so far, so good.

I think I'm going to like it here.