<a href=”http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/13575905/?claim=js3zpu7vs4d”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>
I have decided to do the deed and join Bloglovin.
So follow me on Bloglovin!
This is the big reveal of my new and exciting feature – Wattpad Wonders. This feature is going to showcase some of my favourite authors on Wattpad. I have been lucky enough to manage to interview a group of absolutely lovely and very talented Wattpad authors. Wattpad Wonders will occur on the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month starting with February. I can’t wait to share with you some great authors and stories on Wattpad.
The prompt for this month’s Teens Can Write, Too! blog chain is:
“What is something you feel is generally written well in fiction? What is something you feel is generally written poorly?”
I’m going to focus on what I think is generally is written poorly, because let’s be honest, complaining is so much more fun that complimenting. So let’s start with number one then, relationships in families. I don’t know about other teenagers out there, but at the moment my family are a huge part of my life, so why are families so badly represented in fiction? Probably because, actually having parents who care about what their kid is doing can be awfully inconvenient and such a hassle. Absolutely loads of charcraters in YA fiction are either orphans or have at least one parent missing, Let’s pause and think about that for a moment, you’ve got Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Clary Fray, Tessa Gray, Katniss Everdeen. Very few authors can actually be bothered to write about parent child relationships, because parents get in the way of adventures, right? Wrong. I completely understand that it is more difficult to have parents, because in real life parents stop teenagers from doing things they want to. But let’s think again shall we? Ron Weasley, Hermione Grainger, Annabeth Chase, Simon Lewis all have families and parents and they are somehow able to go on these adventures, so why can’t the main characters have parents too?
Number two is diversity. Now, before you all shout at me, I know there have been recent efforts and campaigns to promote diversity in YA novels, however I really as if it shouldn’t be something people should have to campaign for. Everyone should be able to open a book and see themselves reflexed in the main character. I am in the lucky position that actually there are a lot of main characters that look like me, however I know a lot of my friends aren’t in the same boat and they should be.
Voila! There we have it. I think I should stop there before I go off in a rant and start to sound like Scrooge even though I absolutely love YA novels.
Like this blog chain topic? Check out the rest of the posts throughout the month:
5th – http://whileishouldbedoingprecal.weebly.com/
6th – http://jasperlindell.blogspot.com/
7th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/ and http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/
8th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/
9th – https://ramblingsofaravis.wordpress.com/
10th – http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/
11th – http://kirabudge.weebly.com/
12th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/
13th – http://maralaurey.wordpress.com/
14th – http://dynamicramblings.wordpress.com/
15th – http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/
16th – https://horsfeathersblog.wordpress.com/
17th – http://www.juliathewritergirl.com/
18th – http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/
19th – https://gallopingfree.wordpress.com/
20th – http://www.alwaysopinionatedgirl.wordpress.com/
21st – https://deborahrocheleau.wordpress.com/
22nd – http://irisbloomsblog.wordpress.com/
23rd – https://clockworkdesires.wordpress.com/
24th – https://introspectioncreative.wordpress.com/
25th – http://wanderinginablur.blogspot.com/
26th – https://anotefromthenerd.wordpress.com/
27th – http://randommorbidinsanity.blogspot.com
28th – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/
29th – https://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.)
So without further ado, my book of the year is… (drumroll)
City of Heavenly Fire By Cassandra Clare!
I’m really late, sorry! So this is two days in one, it’s down to the final two books. Who do you think will win? Who do you want to win?
I am looking forward to nominating some of my favourite bloggers. The only challenge is figuring out if they’re from the UK like me! I hope you will all join in nominating some of your favourite bloggers.
Today I am proud to announce that the UKYA Book Blogger Awards Nominations are open!
Use the form below to nominate the bloggers that you love!
You can nominate up to three bloggers per category – choose wisely!
Nominations will stay open until 26th January. (That’s two weeks!)
Then the shortlist will be sorted and voting will begin on the 1st February.
Good luck to all the lovely bloggers!
Rites of Passage
By Joy N. Hensley
Print Length: 421 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (9 Sept. 2014)
Blurb: In this fast-paced, high-stakes debut novel, sixteen-year-old Sam McKenna discovers that becoming one of the first girls to attend a revered military academy means living with a target on her back. As Sam struggles to prove herself, she learns that a decades-old secret society is alive and active . . . and determined to force her out.
My Rating:
My Review:
| Rites of Passage Review
I have seen loads of really good reviews for this book, so when I received an Amazon voucher this was the first eBook I bought and consequently the first book I read in 2015. I haven’t read any other books like this about girls in the military and I loved the authenticity of it all, at the end I even found at that the author had been a girl at military school. The characters in this book are brilliant, albeit at times very annoying. The characters felt like real people, they were weak, flawed and not truly good or evil (except for some) which is such a refreshing chance. |
I’m still not sure who is going to win, but it’s getting rather exciting now. Which book do you want to win?
Sorry I’m a day late guys, but here’s my bracket, now narrowed down to the final 32.
alwaysopinionatedgirl 
