ANNOUNCEMENT: Hear Ye!

Hear ye! (Well, read ye.) Today we have an announcement & we’re going to make it short and sweet!

Basically to rephrase what Paul at The Galaxial Word (his blog is awesome, go check it out!) said right here, we (the two of us + Paul) were thinking about possibly creating some sort of blogger collab/blog tour thing!

So here’s the dealio: if you’re interested in joining our random collab fest, feel free to drop us (or Paul) a comment and – if you have one – a topic idea! ^-^

~ Thanks for coming by ~

Sarah & Faith

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We’re The Sorting Hat: Rip It Or Ship It (Part 1)

Helloooooo everyone! Today, we become the Sorting Hat ;)

This week, we are participating in one of the more popular, recent tags… RIP IT OR SHIP IT! We decided to put in our favourite and most despised characters on paper, where we cut them up (the names NOT the characters, though we may have liked to haha – no murderous thoughts indeed) and took turns (alternating) to randomly draw them.

We now present to you our reactions to our character combinations… at times cute or simply strange and others… just flat out disturbing. We hope you enjoy as we play matchmaker, putting our Sorting Hat abilities to the test and introducing poor characters to their very own doom (or their future fiance(e)s)! 

Disclaimer: Sarah blames Faith for most of these 😉


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White Pine Wednesdays: Delusion Road

Hello world!

Now that you have recovered from our April Fool’s post, we are back to our regularly scheduled (and well written 😉 ) posts!

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This week, I’ll be reviewing Delusion Road… which is actually harder than it sounds. Trying to type this out reminds me of something Paul once said (I can’t find the post right now): it wasn’t a terrible book, it was just… meh. Forgettable. It was enjoyable enough that I finished it without feeling like I was slogging/obliged to read it, but at the same time, it was missing that thing that would have me rate it higher.

It was a solid book all round: even though it was filled with cliches (just look at that summary: I dare you not to roll your eyes). However, it was solid: especially with the character development. Even if the plot was sort of boring, the character arcs (and how they grew) were very interesting. I didn’t hate any characters (which surprises me) as they all had something to add. If anything, the occasional predictability made it comfortable.

This is the kind of book that you have to read in a certain mood, otherwise it feels really meh. I enjoyed the easy style of writing and plot, but it was missing something essential. (The mean, sarcastic person in me says “originality”.)

Even so, I would rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

~ Sarah

(And I’m really sorry about the short review, but balancing procrastination, building a crane out of popsicles and an English-cum-media assignment/presentation – due on Friday, but assigned on Tuesday – is stressing me out)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White Pine Wednesdays: The Outside Circle

Howdy peeps XD


Today, I will completely disappoint Paul (nothing really funny here, sorry) and post a “boring” review. Whilst it may not be the most “rainbows and sunshine” of reviews, this book still shines a light – on some of Canada’s more shaded issues.
My sixth review will be over the very first graphic novel nominee this year (the very first and very only, actually).

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Book Review: My True Love Gave to Me

 

Have you ever wanted to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s in the middle of March?! Never fear, here’s the closest thing you’ll get to do just that!

Note: Faith is the only person who posts a holiday book review in springtime. Feel free to take plenty of screenshots because this is probably an exclusive absurdity that you’ll never see anywhere else.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Seriously, winter is now non-existent and THIS is the kind of book review you’re bringing us? You betcha. (Unless you live in the southern hemisphere in which winter is actually ARRIVING – geography is so weird it makes my brain spin every time I try to think about it… but it’s simultaneously awesome. I just can’t imagine having Christmas while becoming fried into a crisp under the sun!) Welcome to a slightly shameless couple-month-old book review. Let’s go! 😀 Continue reading

Which Wednesday: Fairy Tale Edition

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(WARNING- In this week’s Which Wednesday, you will find: plenty of casual intergalactic bickering between Sarah and Faith. If you are not a fan, I would steer clear from those parts. Get ready for a journey through space. Blog space. It’s going to get brutal. But I assure you, it’s all friendly things.)


Fairy-tale retellings are all the rage: from Cinderella to Beauty and the Beast, every reader has (literally) read them all. The original ‘clichés’, the only thing that save these retellings are the originality of the characters and the world-building. As easy as it sounds, it’s harder than you think… how do you keep a reader’s interest if they already know the plot? In this week’s duo edition of Which Wednesday, we’re going to be comparing Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis. When we first read about these two books, we couldn’t NOT compare them: they’re so similar, they’re almost twins… but not quite. Soon, you’ll find out why.

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A Fangirling Friday in February

Hey there! 🙂

What you are about to witness are two average teenage girls doing what they do best: fangirling.

Sarah: It was a cold and windy Wednesday, here in Canada. It was snowing outside, a bio lab was due the next day, and I was stressed. To blow away some time, I checked my Indigo subscription. Under the ‘Books you may like’ tab, I saw the book that would kill my motivation, shatter my drive and utterly wreck the last question of that bio lab. (RIP #8). So I decided to share the great news…

Faith: Basically, I was sitting at the computer when Sarah sent me something along the lines of “HEY GUESS WHAT?”. So naturally, I went to check it out to read the excerpt and… BAM. I was done. It was all over. I couldn’t concentrate on anything for the rest of my life.  THE END.

It snuck up on me without my noticing. It was a sly shadow in the night. All I could ever hope for. My life’s need. It’s The Hidden Oracle (Book 1 of The Apollo Trials) by Rick Riordan. If you aren’t up to speed with what these books are going to be about, we’re here to keep you updated! (You might’ve read about a hint of this in our Book Fangirling Award post but here’s the real deal.)


I feel as if I’m in a trial more than Apollo because all this waiting is testing my patience. (That was a Faith pun, guys. Sarah is on trial for attack Faith after a few hidden puns. Don’t need no oracle to tell you that Sarah is a repeat offender 😉 ).

The Hidden Oracle is the start of another series that reveals yet another angle to the on-going story at Camp Half-blood. Last time, we were blown away at the idea that there could be… TWO camps. This time, however, we are facing something a little different: Apollo has been punished and he is visiting Camp Half-Blood… as a teenager.  WHAT?! AHH, the awkwardness and the angst! You know, just all the good times we cherish. So Apollo is going to be a powerless human? He’s going to be working side-by-side with the crew of the Argo 2? He’s going to be meeting his own teen children? That’s right… Uh, probably. We think. We mean, what’s a Rick Riordan book without a few extremely (and possible fatal excited eyes family reunions?)

This book is everything that we’ve ever wanted. We’re going to get reunited with characters that we know and love and we get to see how Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter are doing in the aftermath of the Battle of Olympus. I (Sarah) am personally hoping for a Caleo moment (since, you know, we were cheated out of the last one) and extremely adorable Percabeth moments. It never gets old ;). Best of all, there will be more lame, I mean great, jokes and lines via Leo and Percy!! Rick Riordan humour is magnificent… I (Faith) love that they’re sandwiched between even the most intense of scenes. That’s WHY I love them… it’s amazing comic relief but the bizarrity of actually making a JOKE when you’re about it DIE is almost like a joke within itself. They’re cheating death with puns. (It’s unfair how much they get to cheat on their tests while I’m struggling fair and square through my test of waiting ever so patiently for this book.)

Basically, we are EXCITED for this book. But excited just does not draw the line. We are uncharacteristically hysterically enthusiastic for the release of this book. We are massively, crazily obsessed. This post, if you have read thus far, is the culmination of all the feelings we have exhausted with each other. Strangely, it doesn’t get old, but that’s just us.

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Expected Publication: May 3rd 2016 by Disney-Hyperion

If you feel intrigued, then get excited with us and make sure you mark it down on your Goodreads too! Get ready, because on May 3rd, The Hidden Oracle will be coming out of hiding! 😀

~ Sarah & Faith

New Year, New Beginnings!

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Hello, dear glorious readers! It’s us, Sarah and Faith at Sublime Reads  

Happy New Year! It’s been a wonderful six months since we’ve been introduced to the world of book blogging and from it, we have had so many new experiences! That being said, there’s always room for improvement. So, we’ve written down some of our goals and then by the end of 2016, we’re planning to reflect on them. You know that they say that New Year’s resolutions are never actually seen through until the end: but this year, we’re determined to accomplish these tasks, or at least try our best!

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RESOLUTION #1: Be more consistent.

S: I think that means posting to a schedule… or at least regularly. When it comes to book reviews, there are so many I want to write… but I never get around to doing them.

F: Oh stars. This one, is sometimes hard. There’s school work, then there’s extracurricular activities, then there’s parents who tell you to do stuff and trying to get an adequate amount of sleep. Time management is just a tool in life that we’ll have to master.

I should also point out that at times, I Google encouragements for motivation because when your name is Faith, often times people will tell you to “just have FAITH in yourself!” (They consequently believe that they are the most ingenious person to have ever walked on Earth… trust me. Or should I say, have faith in me. I’ve heard it more times than I’ve procrastinated.)

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RESOLUTION #2: Comment more.

S: This might just be me, but I feel really shy when commenting on other people’s blogs. It’s even worse when the posts I want to talk about are old. 😥 So this year, I want to be more outgoing and I want to participate even more XD

F: Commenting is a pretty big part of blogging because it helps give feedback and it just gives you a nice fuzzy feeling to know that people are actually reading your stuff, no matter what it is. Of course, it also helps you to engage in the blogosphere so this year, I’m going to try to read and comment more on other blogs.

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RESOLUTION #3: Carpe Diem

S: We should definitely seize any bookish opportunities in 2016. That includes going to book festivals and asking for ARCs 😉 (No ARC envy though… that’s what we’re leaving in 2015)

F: Basically, we’re going to take more initiative to just do more. More bookish things and activities. Such as updating (and remembering) our Goodreads account more and especially, our Instagram account. (Yikes, we should definitely do something about that!!)

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RESOLUTION #4 Quality, not Quantity

S: Cutting back on the books we read isn’t necessarily bad… as long as the books we read are interesting and diverse. We should probably branch out to other genres 😀

F: This is exactly what I’ve learned from book reviewing. Before, I would try to read more so that I could review more… instead, I’ve realized that reading less material doesn’t mean reviewing less. It means taking the time to review more on the books that you have read! 🙂

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RESOLUTION #5: Branch out.

S: I have yet to review a middle grade novel… or a manga. Although, I swear, that will change!

F: In terms of trees and branches, we’re practically still a sapling. Luckily for us, trees are always growing! As for me, I was thinking about reviewing the occasional Korean drama and more book-related movies and DIYs! Just a more diverse array of blog posts. (But don’t worry, we’ll focus first on the book reviews!)

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RESOLUTION #6: Find the right design for us.

S: We need to find a theme and a look that we like. And we need to figure out our aesthetic. Something with watercolours….

F: Although our blog is ever-changing, we’re going to try to find a style that suits the both of us, and one that you will also hopefully enjoy!

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RESOLUTION #7: Refine our writing.

S: While our skills, whether it be critical thinking or just English in general, have improved, there’s still a long way to go 😀

F: We’re always trying to find ways to streamline my writing. But sometimes it’s a STRUGGLE. Usually I know what I’m trying to say, but don’t know how to say it. Then, I try to find a balance between finding my own voice while generally improving my English skills. It’s a pain when you’re done and you’re still dissatisfied with your writing… I guess I’ll also have to appreciate my own work more!

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RESOLUTION #8: Give back to our followers.

S: We recently reached over a 100 followers, which is quite amazing. We really don’t deserve you guys, so thank you to everyone ❤ Your support means the world to us!

F: To be honest, it’s easy to be envious of others’ follows but I’ve really recognized that their followers exist because of their hard work and effort that they’ve put into their blogs! This year, we would just like to take the time to appreciate everything we have achieved through book blogging and it’s really thanks to you. 🙂 It never gets old seeing a nice comment or getting a new follow, which really encourages us to write more! In the future, we would love to do a giveaway… one day it will happen. Thanks for a great six months of blogging!


 

If any of our resolutions apply to you, comment below! We’d love to hear about your new goals.

We’ll see you in the new year! 🙂

Book Review: This is What Happy Looks Like

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This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Published on April 2nd 2013 by Headline
Genre: Contemporary, romance, YA
404 pgs

Goodreads Summary:

If fate sent you an email, would you answer? 

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O’Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie’s Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media’s spotlight at all costs? Continue reading