Posted on by susannevalenti · 10 Comments

The infinite playlist: songs for favourite OTPs tag 🎼

  

Thank you Tanazmasaba for picking me to do your new tag 😍 this is a really fun one and I’ll do my best to do it justice! 

So, the idea behind this tag is to make a list of your favourite books and what songs make you think of them. I can’t promise that my choices will make much sense to anyone else but I’ll give this a go lol

  1. Harry Potter – With a little help from my friends by The Beetles For me this is fairly self explanatory, Harry, Ron and Hermione forever 😍
  2. The Hunger Games – Killing in the Name of by Rage Against the Machine If Katniss’ mantra isn’t ‘f**k you, I won’t do what you tell me’ then I’m not sure what else it would be 
  3. Twilight – Halo by Beyoncé  I think the words pretty much encompass Bella and Edward’s relationship for me, for example ‘It’s like I’ve been awakened, Every Rule I had you breakin’, It’s the risk that I’m takin’, I ain’t never gonna shut you out!’ 
  4. Blood Red Road – 8 Mile by Eminem This song is all about struggle and trying to achieve something that seems out of reach without ever giving up which sums up these books about as well as the blurb
  5. Throne of Glass – Roxanne the Moulin Rouge version because it’s badass Okay so this one has nothing to do with lyrics but the feeling of the song is so gritty and raw and I just love it. 
  6. Divergent – Numb by Linkin Park It’s the lyrics again for this one, basically the whole song but here’s the chorus I case you don’t know it ‘I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there, become so tired, so much more aware, I’m becoming this, all I want to do, is be more like me and be less like you’ 
  7. Game of Thrones – Bad Blood by Taylor Swift I’m fairly sure that this covers the relationships between the Starks and the Lannisters and just about everyone else in the books too ‘now we’ve got problems, and I don’t think we can solve them, you made a really deep cut, and baby now we got bad blood’ ha 😂
  8. Prince of Thornes – Cry me a River by Justin Timberlake It’s not really the song in general but that ‘cry me a river’ I-couldn’t-give-crap-about-you attitude part of it really makes me think of this book because Jorg is such a sadist a-hole. (In the best possible way) 

That’s my lot lol here are my nominations for the tag but if this catches your eye and I haven’t tagged you then please do it and let me know!

Magini – books

Notyourmommasbookreviews 

KimsiangLim 

Xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 22 Comments

Happily ever after or end of world disaster?

I have noticed recently that a lot of books don’t have happy ending anymore. Even when they do there is often a bitter-sweet element to them. This got me wondering, what do I prefer? All in all I’d have to say happily ever after (at least for the main characters) I love the struggle and grief that takes place in stories of every kind but in the end I want my main characters to be happy. (And ideally in love). Is it wrong that I feel an ache when finishing a book if I’m leaving my characters unhappy? Personally I can only really make peace with a story if I know that they’re okay. What do you think?

Here are some examples of some of the most popular of each: **spoilers**

   
Harry Potter

So Harry, Ron and Hermione made it and they were pretty happy in the long term ☺️ but boy did I sob when I read the chapter where Harry went to give himself up – I really didn’t trust that she wouldn’t do it for a little while there!

  
Twilight

I actually think the movie gave a more satisfying ending than the book because I always wanted to know what would happen if they took on the volturi but in the end I was just hugely relieved that they all survived! If any one of them had died their soulmate would have been cursed to an eternity spent alone and I couldn’t deal with that!

  
The Hunger Games

The ending of The Hunger Games series did make me really sad when I read it but despite Katniss’ personal journey kinda ending up being for nothing, they did change the world for the better (possibly lol) and even if they didn’t I still enjoyed it (though she should have ended up with Gale in my opinion) 

  
Divergent

Oh wait yes you are Four. I hated the ending to this series. I hate Caleb, he should have died so hard. I personally didn’t even understand why she died, it wasn’t at all necessary. At least then I could have made peace with it. And did I mention that I hate Caleb?

I’d love to know what you prefer 😊 xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 24 Comments

Unpopular opinions Book tag

I was tagged to do this by the wonderful KimsiangLim. I’m excited to do it but I always find something to like in everything so apologies in advance for that fact that my opinions are never harsh lol

So here goes:

1. A popular book or series that you didn’t like.

  

Ok so I’ll start off right away by saying I did actually like this lol. It’s only that within the first three chapters, I guessed what the twist would be. I then read the book eagerly to find out if I was wrong (I wasn’t) and was a little disappointed to find that I wasn’t at all surprised. This is just the way my mind works and the reason I don’t generally read thrillers but I did like the writing style and thought the characters were really well put together. It was just that with all the hype I had been hoping it would be the beginning of me reading this genre and it wasn’t…

2. A popular book or series that everyone else seems to hate but you love.

  

Twihard till I die. (The Twilight Saga)  I don’t get why everyone feels the need to hate on these books but I love them.

3. A love triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with (warn about spoilers) or an OTP that you don’t like. 

   

**Spoiler alert for anyone who has been living under a rock**

Gale was fitter, stronger, braver and actually suited Katniss. Fair enough she was never all that bothered on either of them but I always felt like everything with Peeta was forced on her through necessity and or guilt. And did I mention how fit Gale is? Because he’s so fit!

4. A popular book genre that you hardly ever reach for. 

Basically anything set in the present where normal things happen. I don’t know what you’d call those genres but I love historical fiction and my heart belongs to all thing fantasy and sci fi but there isn’t enough escapism in realism for me lol

5. A popular or beloved character that you do not like. 

  

Is she beloved? I have no idea but my gosh do I hate Catelyn Stark! In a good way because she’s written so well that I genuinely hate her passionately but it gets to the point where when I reach a chapter from her PoV in game of thrones and I won’t read on for days because I can’t bear to be in her company 

6. A popular author that you can’t seem to get into.

I genuinely can’t think of one. Maybe I’m lucky and have never come across one but it’s probably more likely that I just wiped any such incidents from my mind. 

7. A popular book trope that you’re tired of seeing. (Examples “lost princess” “corrupt ruler” “love triangle” etc.)

  

I’m not saying I dislike alien based books. I love them. What I hate is when there’s some mysterious stuff going on and it builds up so much and you’re all wtf?! But then it’s aliens in that annoying ‘we don’t have to explain anything now because it’s aliens’ way.  This sometimes applies to ghosts too. And it’s like oh we don’t have to have a logical reason for anything anymore and we can make up whatever rules we want because… Aliens. No sir. Just no. 

8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading.

I can honestly say I don’t have one and this is why; when Harry Potter was getting big I refused to read it because ‘it was popular’ there was a lot of hype about the release of the fourth book and I finally decided to give it a go and read a chapter.  The words ‘the boy who lived’ greeted me and I’ve never looked back. Then the Twilight books were ‘popular’ and I refused to read them. I even let someone tell me all the spoilers. Then I read them and loved them. So I vowed never to refuse something based on popularity again because funnily enough, it’s probably popular for a reason!

9. The saying goes “The book is always better than the movie or TV show adaptation” but what movie or TV show adaptation do you prefer to the book?

  
I enjoy them in such different ways that I find it really hard to say. I’d probably go with The Walking Dead because I love that show so much that I don’t read the graphic novels because I wouldn’t want to ruin the show (even though I know it differs massively anyway) if you don’t love this show yet you’re about to – seriously, watch it! 

My nomination is for anyone who wants to do it! Let me know if you do because I’d love to read your answers ☺️ xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 14 Comments

The creative blogger award 🏆

  
Thank you Laura for nominating me for this award 😍 Please check out her blog because it’s really great!

The blog rules:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog.
  2. Share 5 facts about yourself. 
  3. Nominate some bloggers and notify them of their nomination. 
  4. Keep the rules in your post so everyone knows what to do. 

Five facts about me:

  1. I love The Walking Dead… Daryl Dixon rocks my world and that’s the way I like it! And I’m going to see him in February at WalkerStalker Con   
  2. I’m really into Studio Ghibli films and have a Totoro pillow on my couch ☺️  
  3. I love Dwayne Johnson. I think he’s pretty much everything that’s right with the world lol. And if you’ve seen the movie in this meme you’ll understand why…                           
  4. I’m a super Harry Potter fan (no duh) and I’ve been to visit the Warner Brothers studio in London which is undoubtably one of the best days out you’ll ever have. Yeah that’s the knight bus and yeah that’s a butter beer lol. 
  5.  I’m currently reading (and have nearly finished after a day and a half) Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas. Read this series. No, seriously, read it!   

My nominations:

Anne

Opher

Caroline

Ireadnovels

You don’t have to do it if you don’t want but if you do then have fun! 😊xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 37 Comments

1 month 303 followers and a husky who can’t read…

I am overwhelmed to say that after one month on here I have acquired an amazing 303 followers! Thank you guys so much for coming on this journey with me, I am really enjoying spending time getting to know you all through your own blogs and am so thrilled that you have taken the time to read mine 😍😍😍

I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to have a quick read of the blurb for my upcoming novel Chained. I have found it insanely difficult to write a blurb that I feels sums it up in the right way without giving too much away but hopefully I’ve managed it. I’d love to hear your feedback on it and what you think the book is about based on it 😊 so here goes…

Terrified of the contamination and the creatures it has created, humanity hides behind The Wall. No one knows what lies beyond the wasteland. Maya has never thought much about what might still be out there, lurking in the forgotten places. But when she’s thrust into the unknown, she is forced to question everything she has ever been told. Not everyone outside died, some of them became something… else. As her heart is torn in two, every choice she makes is harder than the last. What she discovers will change her forever. She knows she will probably die, but Maya has seen enough of death and she won’t let it have her without a fight. 

I hope you liked it, I asked my husky Koda to have a look but he can’t read ☺️

  

Posted on by susannevalenti · 14 Comments

Randy – the guy who always dies 😲

I have a special place in my heart for Randy (Randy Random is his full name). He or she turns up in every story, be it book or film and every time they die I cry ‘Randy nooo!’ (Ideally while kneeling in the rain with a camera zooming away from above my head but that’s not always possible).

  
Sometimes the main character will have to fight their way through a group of Randys, killing mercilessly until they find the big baddie. Once they reach the bad guy with a name they’ll pause, have a conversation or even a crash of conscience meaning they can’t bring themselves to pull the trigger. But no one ever cares about killing Randy!

  
At other times Randy will be helping the main character, only to be shot down next to them. They will probably earn themselves a line to mention their passing but will never be thought of again. 
Often Randy has no official name, no actual speech and no real description beyond perhaps male or female, dark or blonde. So I name them Randy and I salute them! 

  

Posted on by susannevalenti · 13 Comments

End of bookaphobia (it’s a real thing!) 😱

You know that great feeling when you’re in the flow of a book and you love the characters and plans are starting to fall together and they’re heading on their way to take down the bad guys but suddenly you think ‘Will they all make it?’ ‘Is someone I love about to die?’. And you realise that you don’t want to carry on reading just in case but at the same time somehow it’s four am and you have to get up in the morning but you can’t possibly sleep until you know!

  
And the words ‘Just one more chapter’ are said aloud even to an empty room or an unresponsive cat

  
So you tell yourself you’ll just read a few paragraphs of the next chapter to make sure everyone’s alright but the next chapter is about a different character (and always the one you like least)

  

So you either have to give up and head for a restless sleep, read the unwanted chapter (or chapters) or (and I know this is book blaspheme) skip to the character you’re on and just make sure they’re okay!

  
But sometimes they aren’t ok! And then there’s no way you can just go to sleep without finding out if it gets better somehow

  

Ok, so everything might have slowed down but you’re in it now and there’s a good chance that the answer you’ve been looking for is on next page….

  
What? You thought it had slowed down! You thought you were safe? Whyyy why?? 😭 So now you have to read to the end just to be sure that everyone really does make it and to know how they coped with everything that went wrong

  
But when you finally read to the end and the adrenaline/terror/excitement has all been used up (and you’re satisfied or not but either way it’s really over!) at least you can get your head down and get a good night’s sleep…

  
… Oh 

☺️ xoxo