WHAT I'VE BEEN READING | WRAP UP

Hello everybody! How is everyone doing? We have left Biannual Bibliothon behind as well as BookTubeAThon! It feels unreal to be honest, having two of the most amazing times of the year pass. But what's gone is gone and I'm here to tell you all about the books I've read in the month of July and so far in August! I will also link the reviews I have for any of these books, you can click on the titles to see them. Shall we begin, then?

So, the first book I've finished in the month of July was Morning Star by Pierce Brown. I've already talked about how much I adore this series and you can hear more about my thoughts on it in my spoiler-free Red Rising Series Review! I am quite proud of that one :)

Next was Zen In The Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. I started reading this book months ago but for some reason, I didn't finish until last month. It's a great book for anyone who's interested in writing and literature. While I was reading it, all I could think was that I wanted to sit and talk about literature while sipping a cup of coffee with Mr Bradbury. His thoughts on writing are so inspiring and encouraging.

Then I picked up A Study In Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. (You can see my Goodreads review.) I had major issues with the translation in this one, unfortunately. But looking past the translation, it was an enjoyable story and I'd most likely continue with the series in the future!

Even though I finished the fourth one at the beginning of August and read other books in between, we're gonna talk about these next ones all together as they are part of the series. The series that I'm talking about is The Mortal Instruments, City of Ashes (#2), City of Glass (#3) and City of Fallen Angels (#4), to be precise. I have been marathoning this series for a couple months now and I enjoy them SO much. I know there is a lot of controversy around this series and I acknowledge that they're not the best literary work ever. I've also heard that the other series of Cassandra Clare are much better than TMI and that she has grown so much as a writer but honestly, I absolutely love The Mortal Instruments no matter what anyone thinks about it. I love this world and these characters a lot and not to mention that I am utterly and hopelessly in love with Jace Wayland. I am currently reading City of Lost Souls and after finishing that I will start reading The Infernal Devices trilogy. I've been advised by multiple people to read the trilogy before City of Heavenly Fire as it spoils the ending of TID. I'm just hoping that COLS won't drop a huge cliffhanger so that I won't be miserable until I can finally read COHF... Fingers crossed. You can also go over my Goodreads page to see all my updates as I was reading these books. You'll see that I was in a shook, devastated and in love state the whole time.

Then, as a part of my Bibliothon reading challenge, I picked up Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. It was my predicted five-star read and didn't disappoint. It was such an interesting and enjoyable book. As it's told in a completely different format, it made the reading experience very unique, I would highly recommend it. I'll be sure to pick Gemina up in the near future. I'm just hesitant to do so right now as the third book Obsidio hasn't been translated and waiting for translations is a miserable journey which I am unfortunately very familiar with.

The morning after the Bibliothon ended, I finished The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis which is the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia. To be completely honest with you, I think that I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I hadn't seen the movies a million times and loved them. I usually love middle grade but this one felt too childish for my taste. Even though I will definitely read the rest, I plan on getting my hands on the English copies as well because I believe that they will enhance the reading experience a lot more.

Then I marathoned the entire Darkest Minds trilogy by Alexandra Bracken. You've probably heard of the movie adaptation that hit the theatres on 3rd of August. And as you can relate, I had to read the books before seeing it. I wanted to love the series and that is exactly what happened. I loved every page and I bonded with the characters -only to have my heart torn apart, obviously. It reminded me why I loved dystopian as a genre. Also, I've just posted a spoiler-filled movie review for it, you can check it out here.

And my most recent read is Multiversum by Leonardo Patrignani. I've had the whole trilogy sitting on my shelves for as long as I can remember. A couple of days ago, I finished City of Fallen Angels and devastated, I started browsing through my shelves to keep me going until I got my copy of the next book which I'm thankfully reading at the moment. I decided to pick this up and it let me down so hard. I ended up giving it two out of five stars. The premise sounds really cool, it's about these two characters who share a telepathic connection. They've been communicating telepathically for years but the catch is that they live in parallel universes. And one of them is dead in the other's world. So we follow them as they're trying to find each other and save the world. But the execution was very poorly done. It was tolerable, to say the least. I speed read the entire thing and I think I'm gonna see if the next two are any better just because I happen to own them. But I would definitely NOT recommend them. It has the same vibe as The Edge of Forever by Melissa E. Hurts and Alienated by Melissa Landers. If you're not a fan of them, just don't bother reading this.

And those are all the books I've read so far for the last couple of months! I hope you enjoyed this quick wrap up. Let me know if you've read any of these books or plan on reading them, I would love to know! Thanks for stopping by and I will see you next time!

Find me on: 

Instagram: ezgidamlacaliskan

Twitter: RowenDiantha

Goodreads: Ezgi Damla Çalışkan

THE DARKEST MINDS MOVIE REVIEW

Hello, fellow Psi kids! I hope everyone's having a wonderful day and I hope that you all went to see the new Darkest Minds movie! If you haven't, I would highly advise you to read the books first as one does and then go support the movie. Also, this review will contain major spoilers for the movie and the first book. The spoilers concerning the second and third books -that are called Never Fade and In The Afterlight will be forewarned throughout the review. So, if you haven't read or seen the Darkest Minds, I'm gonna have to recommend leaving now and coming back once you do so. And for those of you who have read and seen it, let's dive into the review!

First of all, let's talk about the highlights because if I start ranting -I mean not ranting but complaining passionately, maybe- we're gonna be here for a while. The biggest highlight of the movie was undoubtedly Chubs. I loved him so much, everything he said was pure gold. 

"I've officially become my grandma."

He was so well done that I could even look past the fact that they made him a Green. Of course, this was after I freaked out at the cinema when they said he was Green. Well, thinking about it, him being a Blue didn't play an extravagant role in the books, so I guess that's fine? But overall, he was amazing. Exactly like I imagined him to be, sarcasm and everything.

Since we started off with the characters, let's talk about Zu. I really loved the casting for Zu. I appreciated that they included the yellow gloves but, I really wish that she had her notepad that she uses to communicate with the others. And the fact that she constantly saved the day with her fully-controlled powers bothered me. Because in the books, she is quite scared to use them and she messes with the electricity when she's anxious etc. She was not very developed as a character in the movie.

The lack of mention of Thurmond? Not okay. In the books, Ruby's time at Thurmond plays a major role in who she is and why she does what she does. It is one of the largest and oldest camps in the USA and it has an infamous reputation. It's also the camp where Clancy was treated and his photographs were all over it. Considering the fact that it has such a fundamental influence, and also that it was one of the plot points in the last book, I think it should've been more touched upon. They could've added a couple more scenes to address it, not much. One of them being in the dorm room that Ruby stays with all the girls and the other being a simple dialogue shared between the Betty crew. Liam and Chubs were really shocked to find out that Ruby had spent six whole years in Thurmond, they could've at least mentioned that.

Speaking of Thurmond, I do understand why they left Sam out. It reminded me of the girl who gave Katniss the Mockingjay pin and didn't make the movie. (I've read The Hunger Games years ago though and she might not have given her the pin, but I do remember that a girl existed in the books.) Having her in the movie would add a lot to the story because she's the third person that Ruby erased herself from. It would've made her past a lot more tragic than it is shown in the movie since they didn't spend much time in Thurmond and quickly had her escape with Cate.

I wanted to see more scenes with Clancy. I wanted the audience to fall in love with him, and then have their love crush to pieces. I wanted to see more of his madness and his fake sweetness. I was very confused when he showed Ruby his time at Thurmond. Because he cannot stand other people seeing his vulnerability and weakness and I'm pretty sure him helplessly screaming on an operation table counts as vulnerable. I wanted to see Ruby breaking his walls for a moment and seeing through his memories without his will.

*SPOILERS FOR NEVER FADE AND IN THE AFTERLIGHT: 

We had to see his mother -not knowing it's his mother at the time though, just as a woman- begging him so that we'd have a build up for future plotlines. Lillian Gray plays an important role in the next books as the person who finds the cure and all that. Overall, that was pretty important.

*BACK TO SAFE ZONE*

I found that the portrayal of Ruby's powers was wrong and overrated. She wasn't even able to control one single person without touching them let alone a few in the books. And now she can suddenly control a dozen soldiers at once? I'm not buying that, especially after all those lacking training sessions and also previously witnessing her not using them in order to protect others. It was clear that she wasn't as powerful as Clancy but why though? The audience who had not read the books saw two Orange kids, controlling multiple people at once, getting in each others' minds, doing very similar things with their powers and yet we don't really see why Ruby is not capable of stopping Clancy as he controls Liam. They didn't limit Ruby's powers logically. Also, why didn't Clancy stop Ruby as she took control of the pilot? She was making eye contact long enough for him interfere. It just didn't make any sense to me, at all. She was supposed to be a lot less in control of her strength.

About the powers, glowing eyes were so stupid and didn't make any sense either? I mean, when she tripped and Rob caught her, Cate and Rob could perfectly see her eyes going orange, meaning she's using her powers and yet she got away with looking into his mind. Like, what? I just don't understand, it was so unnecessary and confusing. Also, I hated that Liam casually used his powers to do stuff. Just hand the freaking sandwich normally, don't hold Ruby back with your telekinesis when she's trying to go. I can handle the dancing bit where he pulls her in but I did not like the other parts at all. And by this, I don't mean him throwing the tree to block the road. I'm talking about the casual moments in which he could avoid using his powers. It bothers me because, for these kids, their powers may be an inevitable part of their lives but they've always been repressed because of them. Their first instinct wouldn't be to use them in a normal situation.

Let's take a moment to talk about the Reds. I actually liked seeing them used as brainwashed maniac soldiers -that they are, as mentioned in the Jamboree Project- if you leave the fire-spitting mouths bit out. Seriously what were they thinking? I found the scene where the doctor who classified Ruby as Green getting burned in a chamber so unnecessary. Instead of that, they could've put another scene that could be useful as I've mentioned before. I'd rather see Clancy's plans for the Jamboree project and how mad and psychopathic he is instead of just letting the Red kids out like wild dogs. That part could've been kept vague for further reference and a mystery to explore in the next movie.

I'm gonna stop ranting soon I swear, but first I need to talk about Ruby and Liam's relationship. In the book, they had so much more scenes together. Even though there was a quick attraction, there was room for building up. They shared more intimate moments and their dynamic was beautiful all while being very laid back and casual. I loved how in the book Liam called her darlin and how great they were together. In the movie, however, even though there was chemistry, it lacked. For the entirety of the movie, there weren't any casual touches, any simple dialogues shared to show the beauty of their relationship and then in the end, Ruby comes into Liam's room at the Children's League -not to mention how stupid it was for Liam to not turn his head to see who came- and hugs him in a very casual way. Don't get me wrong, I am all for casual lovers moments in movies (see Hiccup and Astrid in HTTYD2 for the best portrayal I've seen of a healthy and beautiful relationship) when the touches aren't sexual but comforting. But with Liam and Ruby, we didn't get to explore their relationship well enough to accept that this is their normal now. I love Liam so much and I ship them a lot in the books so it was pretty disappointing to see the movie lacking that.

I loved the scene at the end when Liam left the League as Ruby watched with tears. I really loved the keychain addition and Liam having it on his backpack too, it was very sweet. I also loved seeing Watership Down and that quote being said once again at the end as Liam was running into the woods. It made me so happy to see that book included as someone who read the books prior to the movie.

The scenes where Ruby erases herself were done so well.

Last but not least, let's take a look at the last scene. Ruby stands on a platform, facing approximately a hundred kids, paints her forehead and raises her hand. What does that even mean and more importantly, there aren't as many children saved by the League as we see in the movie? It's just one of those parts of it that didn't make sense to me. They might've as well ended with Liam running or cutting to Ruby seeing a door opening to a sparring room or something, referencing to the next movie and her new routine with the League. I don't know. Anything but that.

I mean, what is this?

Overall, how ironic it may sound after all the negative thoughts that are listed above, I did enjoy the movie. It wasn't a bad adaptation. Its biggest problem was that it felt rushed. It would be a lot better if there was at least half an hour more. It would easily make the time to explore relationships, show Thurmond and add more scenes with Clancy, even give Zu a scene with notepad communication. Also, I've heard that Alexandra Bracken had a cameo?! I totally missed that, I need to watch it again and catch it!

Aaand that concludes my review for the Darkest Minds movie! I hope you guys enjoyed it, let me know in the comments below if you agree with any of my opinions, I'd love to hear what you thought of it. But that's all for now, thanks for stopping by and I will see you next time!

Find me on: 

Instagram: ezgidamlacaliskan

Twitter: RowenDiantha

Goodreads: Ezgi Damla Çalışkan

TELL ME A STORY | BIBIB 2018

Hello fellow readers, I am coming at you with the day three of Blogger Challenges and I am sooo excited! Today's all about writing a story where minimum five characters from at least four different books -or TV shows, movies, folklore- come together. Basically, they are giving us a creative safe space to write fanfiction. ;)

Me seeing the third day's challenge being announced.

Before getting into it, here is today's host saidthestory and a quick disclaimer: I am not a native English speaker and this is one of my very first attempts in writing a story in a language other than Turkish. Though I consider myself a pretty decent writer in my mother tongue, I'm unfortunately not that confident in English so, having said that, please do excuse any unacceptable butchery of literature. I try to edit the errors wherever I see them. And I would really appreciate the feedback. Thank you in advance and without further ado, I'll leave you to it!

______________________________________________________________________

Kady looked around, her blue eyes staring cautiously, trying to find something to say in order to break the nerve wrecking silence. This was by far the strangest crew she'd ever encountered with. Captain Boll had sent her on a mission to leak into the enemy ship and find the documents that were stolen six days ago. This was, of course, after she tried every way to access those files from the main network at the Jump Station. The ship that they were up against was not like any other. It was equipped with the newest pieces of technology and due to recent events, Kady didn't have the resources that were necessary to get the job done. When she unwillingly admitted that she needed to connect from the main ship for it to work, Boll started working on recruiting a team of professionals from all across the galaxy. When she shared this information with Kady, however, the young girl definitely wasn't expecting to be working with a bunch of assassins, especially the ones with... Well, superpowers.

Boll had gathered a team that would help her get on the enemy ship and protect her as she accessed the stolen files. Kady didn't understand how serious the situation was until she saw the recruit list. She knew the mission wasn't a child's play, however, she certainly did not think that it would require such professional help.

LEXA

And yet, here she was, in the control centre of a small scout ship -Lexa- with eight people -not including AIDAN, who wouldn't be considered a person anyway- who were all contemplating each other's moves. Kady looked at all of them with caution for a solid five minutes before saying anything. There is nothing to be worried about, she said to herself. The second floor of Lexa was carrying the staff and the security units. Captain chose these people to help and accompany me.

"THE AWKWARD SILENCE OF THE SITUATION HAS BEEN A MATTER OF DISCOMFORT FOR FIVE MINUTES AND THIRTY-TWO SECONDS," said AIDAN, communicating directly with Kady through the private channel. "YOU SHOULD SAY SOMETHiNG."

Apparently, that was the push that Kady needed. The young girl pulled her freshly dyed pink hair out of her face and cleared her throat.

"Welcome aboard, recruits of Lexa. My name is Kady Grant and as you may know, I am the head of this operation." She glanced at her data tablet to see the latest update sent by AIDAN. "We are currently on our pre-set course and according to the calculations done by the AI of the ship, we are expected to reach our destination in about two hours. In the meanwhile, I thought we could exchange names." She had a subtle proud look on her face, with a sense of accomplishment. She already knew the names on the list but the documents did not authorize any visuals of the recruits so the names were faceless, for now. She could have easily hacked her way into the system to take a look at the photos, but Boll had specifically asked her not to since it could cause intergalactic problems.

After a brief moment of mutual hesitation, a carefree voice filled the control centre.

"If no one's going to start the meet and greet session, I volunteer."

Kady looked up from her data tablet to see a dark-skinned, tall boy, smiling sheepishly to the rest of the crew. His grey eyes looked playful, not with a disturbing cunning spark, but with that of an enthusiastic child. To his left, was a young girl in a scarlet red suit. The girl turned her clever green eyes to the boy, finally pulling her glare off of the others. "Go for it, Jes," she said.

So those are the Crows, and that is Jesper, thought Kady. The Dregs had agreed to send three of their members for the mission; Nina Zenik and Inej Ghafa along with Jesper Fahey. Their specialities are listed as below:

Date: 02/02/76

From: Boll, S. Cpt.

To    : Grant, K. 

Nina Zenik, Grisha

Member of the Dregs. Able to heal or corrupt one's body with her powers. Engagement is not advised. Chances of having the advantage are higher in hand to hand combat.

_______________________________________

Jesper Fahey, Sharpshooter

Member of the Dregs. Skilled with a revolver. Can be impulsive but is very good in hand to hand combat. Does not pose an unusual threat but should be awared of.

_______________________________________

Inej Ghafa, Spider

Member of the Dregs. Otherwise known as the Wraith. She is a master spy and is extremely skilled with knives. Do not engage in a hand to hand combat. I repeat, do not engage.

Kady 's eyes lingered a little while longer on the girl in all black clothing and worn, elastic flats. She seemed like the quiet type but as cliche as that sounds, quiet ones were to be cautious of and the girl -who she assumed to be Inej Ghafa looked like no exception. Inej turned her dark brown eyes to Kady as if she realised what was crossing the girl's mind.

Jesper cleared his throat with the intention of getting the attention of the rest of the crew members. A team of five was sitting across the Crows. They were some of the core members of Operation Norta (a name that Kady won't be mentioning since it's supposedly a classified information) and four of them were ranked as deadly soldiers in Boll's list. Kady's observations suggested that the fifth one, whose power is some sort of high intelligence, should be the elderly woman sitting on the very right of her team; closer to the control board. She was also the one that looked the most normal among the five of them.

Upon Jesper's call, the only member who didn't previously bother to look at him raised her silver head and revealed ice cold, jet black eyes that reminded Kady of the void their ship was flowing in. The young girl hid the fact that she was creeped out by this young woman behind her emotionless glare. Jesper, however, didn't move a muscle on his face and continued, "My name is Jesper Fahey, not to be too dramatic, but I was recruited because of my unearthly skills as a sharpshooter." He smirked and added, "Also, I have a merchling back home, desperately waiting for my return so, sorry ladies and gents. This one's taken." Nina rolled her eyes as Inej smiled softly. Kady couldn't help but smile too, Fahey's laid-back personality reminded her of Ezra.

Nina put a charming smile on her face, "My turn!"

***

After the meet and greet session, the gloomy, boring air in the centre cleared away. Cal, the black-haired, muscled burner from Operation Norta, showed an unexpected interest in the artificial intelligence mechanism and his bright amber eyes observed eagerly as AIDAN's neutral voice talked from the main speakers.

The friendly elderly woman, Ada, had her nose stuck in Lexa's users guide handbook. She was turning page after page, absorbing every word. Kady was surprised to find out that Ada had not worked with spaceships until now. She couldn't understand why Captain Boll had her recruited if she wasn't going to be of any help. Farley warned her not to be quick to judge. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a red bandana buff that covered her neck and heavy-looking military boots. And she was right, Ada quickly learned everything about the ship, shocking pretty much everybody on board, except for her teammates.

Evangeline, the silver-headed girl who gave death glares to everyone around her, was talking to Inej about knife balance. It was an odd pairing but the two seemed to be getting along quite well. This surprised Eve's team the most as they were not used to seeing her be actually nice to others. Evangeline even offered Inej to create a customized dagger for her. She had the power to manipulate metal. Inej's face lighted up with a gentle smile.

Mare, otherwise known as the Little Lightning Girl, was chatting with Nina. She had a distant attitude, it was clear that she didn't really enjoy the company of people. But, Nina's irresistible charm somehow pierced through her walls and before she realized, they were invested in a conversation about their powers.

Kady was content with the way both teams came together, not effortlessly, but quickly. AIDAN turned up the volume of the speakers to address the whole crew and to inform them about their current position. However, the announce was interrupted by a strong concussion that shuddered the deck. AIDAN's voice faded away as the control panel lighted up with red alarms. Everyone's faces darkened as they prepared for an attack. Kady tried reaching AIDAN to find out what on earth was going on while Ada took over the control panel. A moment later, the AI told them that a meteor had damaged the headquarters and that the autopilot wouldn't work until the AI could renew itself. Kady immediately connected to her data tablet to help AIDAN recover. Ada steered the ship that was going out of course manually and Mare asked her to check if the engines worked properly.

Farley spotted another meteor rapidly approaching. After Ada had steered Lexa out of the meteor's reach, her eyes caught the sight of a spiralling vortex.

"Uhm, guys?" she said.

Everyone turned their heads to see what she was looking at, only to raise their eyebrows in awe.

"Oh, no. No, no, no..." muttered Kady. The wormhole was too close, they couldn't make a manual turn that fast. "AIDAN, change the course, right now!"

Silence.

"AIDAN!"

But the AI had shot down.

A sigh. "Okay, people, buckle up."

***

Meanwhile in TINOS

"Sir, there is an unknown spacecraft approaching."

Darrow was in the meeting room with Sevro, Cassius and Victra when a private knocked on the door to report. They looked at the private, at each other, and rushed to the headquarters to communicate with the ship. Mustang was already there with Orion, who was in charge of the fleet.

"This is TINOS speaking. Identify yourselves," said Orion with a firm voice.

A static noise covered the room.

"I repeat, this is TINOS. Identify yourselves or we will open fire."

"... TINOS, this is LEXA. DO NOT SHOOT. I repeat, do not shoot. My name is Kady Grant. Our ship got dragged into a wormhole and we're experiencing critical damage. I ask permission to engage."

Orion turned her eyes to Darrow, waiting for an order. Darrow was unsure, he looked at his friends to get their opinion.

"Bloodydamn. No way. Darrow, they might be sent from the Satellite Lords," said Sevro.

Mustang was clearly examining the possible outcomes in her head. Her golden eyes narrowed. You could almost hear the wheels turning as she thought.

"It could be a trap, but on the other hand, what kind of a name is Kady Grant?" she murmured. Then she turned to others in approval, stating the results.

Darrow hesitantly confirmed while Sevro looked at him like he'd lost his bloodydamn mind. "Outrageous."

"LEXA, this is TINOS. Permission is granted."

______________________________________________________________________

Character Bibliography:

• Kady Grant // Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
• AIDAN // Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
• Mare Barrow // Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• Tiberias "Cal" Calore // Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• Diana Farley // Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• Evangeline Samos // Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• Ada Wallace // Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• Inej Ghafa // Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Nina Zenik // Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Jesper Fahey // Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Darrow of Lykos // Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• Sevro au Barca // Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• Victra au Julii // Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• Mustang // Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• Orion // Red Rising by Pierce Brown

*I do not own anything. All characters belong to the authors above.*

The relationships between the characters of the same world may or may not be made up. What I mean is that they could really be friends, or they could be enemies, or they could be dead. No spoilers. This is only my imagination!

And thus ends today's challenge. I've had so much fun writing this, I loved having these characters together. I finished reading Illuminae yesterday so pat on the back. I'm in such a Sci-Fi kick right now. If I hadn't finished it then, the story would probably be a lot different :) I really hope you guys enjoyed it, I sure did and I am so proud of myself for the story itself and keeping track of the challenges so far! I really wanted Victra and Evangeline to meet too, but I guess that's the story of another time. Or Cal and Cassius... "No, the honour is mine." coming to the cinemas, with Fire Lord Zuko as a cameo. 😂

Anyways, thanks for stopping by and I will see you next time!

 Find me on: 

Instagram: ezgidamlacaliskan

Twitter: RowenDiantha

Goodreads: Ezgi Damla Çalışkan

FAVOURITE SUMMER READS | BIBIB 2018

Hello hello hello! The second day of Bibliathon has arrived and today's challenge is hosted by artemisstarlite over on Instagram. It is basically all about the books that you associate with summer. I, personally, love to read fantasy during the summer because it is a large break from school and I have almost all the time in the world. I feel like summer is a great opportunity for me to get to big fat books that I usually wouldn't have the time to. But on the other hand, since it's such a bright and cheerful season, it's pretty convenient for contemporary too.

I'd say When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Manon is an amazing pick for summer time. It's a light-hearted story about two teenagers who find themselves in a pretty awkward situation, to say the least.

As for the other genre mentioned, despite the fact that I haven't read it yet, The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss fits perfectly. It is a giant monster of a book with 994 pages. You get the point I think...

Also, a fast-paced series would be a lot of fun to marathon all at once. I'm currently on the third book, City of Glass, of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare and I'm really enjoying reading them back to back.

Another very quick post... I hope you guys liked it. This year's challenges don't really feel like challenges (well, except for day three which I am super excited for.) They feel kind of rushed and not very thought upon, I guess. And repetitive. I don't mean to offend anyone, just something that I was thinking. I'm sure the hosts came up with the challenges they thought were great, I respect and appreciate that. Anyways, thanks for stopping by and I will see you next time.

 Find me on: 

Instagram: ezgidamlacaliskan

Twitter: RowenDiantha

Goodreads: Ezgi Damla Çalışkan

FAVOURITE VACATION SPOTS | BIBIB 2018

Hello everyone! It is currently very early in the morning, 05.53 am to be exact. I missed the first day of Summer'18 Biannual Bibliathon. I know, I'm horrible... I also know that I didn't share my TBR pile, but that's partly because I don't really have one that I'll stick to. I just wanted to make a quick post to make up for it! Head over to Evil Queen Books to find out more about today's, well yesterday's, challenge and let's dive in.

So the first vacation spot that I wanted to talk about is Adrasan, Antalya. It is the definition of comfort. It offers a peaceful isolation from everyday stress. The sea is breathtaking, clear and there are also bungalows nearby where you can stay instead of a hotel.

Next favourite spot goes to Paris! It definitely has a different atmosphere than Adrasan. When I think of Paris, I'd like to think about it in autumn. When the weather is ever changing and unreliable. I'd like to think about the rainy mornings I can spend reading with a cup of coffee, as cliché as that may sound.

For the last spot, I'm gonna cheat a little and name a place I've never been to: New Zealand. If you've read my previous posts, you'd know that it is my favourite place in the entire world. Just think about how spectacular it would be to read under a tree in Hobbiton... I'd like to be teleported right now, please.

I was serious about making it very quick :) I'm not used to writing this short. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this little post. I am now gonna go and work on other challenges! Thanks for stopping by and I will see you next time!

Find me on: 

Instagram: ezgidamlacaliskan

Twitter: RowenDiantha

Goodreads: Ezgi Damla Çalışkan

RED RISING SERIES REVIEW

Hello everyone! I am back with another series review. I've recently marathoned the second and third books in the Red Rising Trilogy and I completely and irreversibly fell in love with them. When I read the first book at the beginning of the year, I knew the series would quickly become an all-time favourite and it did not disappoint. I have a lot to say about these books (nothing negative though) so let's just dive right into the review!

Also, on a side note; I keep saying trilogy but there are more books in the series; Red Rising, Golden Son and Morning Star are part of the main trilogy. Iron Gold (released in January 2018) and Dark Age (coming up in 2019) are the 4th and 5th books. They will also be followed by an untitled 6th book.

Now that we got the intro out of the way, what are the books about? It is set in the future, centuries from our time. The Society is divided in a caste system where the Golds are on the top of the chain and the Reds are at the bottom. Reds are miners who live under the ground, their purpose is to mine helium-3 which is crucial for the atmosphere to be convenient for the survival of the mankind. But the Reds are deceived, the planets have been survivable for centuries and they are left to work under cruel conditions and to obey. Our main character is a Red named Darrow. He lives a fairly simple life in the mines of Mars until the unjust death of his wife. As a result of her death, he joins the rebellion which is called the Son of Ares. And the story takes off from there.

THE CASTE SYSTEM

Let's start with our beloved protagonist, Darrow. He, as a character is so well rounded. In the very beginning, he starts off as quite light-hearted, sassy and smart. As the story progresses, he becomes a skilled warrior, a revolutionary. He learns so much all throughout the books and he becomes a better person. The reckless teenage boy turns into a bright young man who is not afraid to question and who is also open to others' opinions. The character development is there for everyone to see and he is by far one of the best protagonists I have ever read about.

The great characters are not limited to only Darrow, every single one of them is multidimensional, diverse and developed. Even the smallest characters have a role to play in the story. They have a depth to them and purposes of their own. The names aren't thrown randomly onto the pages just for the sake of filling space.

Speaking of characters, can we get a standing ovation for the incredibly well written female characters? They are ever present throughout the story, they are capable and strong. They kick ass and are also very diverse. Darrow is always very respectful of the women around him. He acknowledges them as his equals which is something I appreciate a lot in fiction.

Antagonists are as developed as the protagonists. The villains in this story are so complex, dark and fascinating to read about. From the corrupted Sovereign to the ruthless sociopaths and dictators, they have their own motifs and backstories that make the plot even more interesting.

Also, throughout the story, the characters go through a lot together and their relationships are tested along the way. They are clearly well thought of and have unique personalities which make the character dynamics so real and fun to read. The dialogues are well written, each conversation carries the story further and allows the reader to explore the characters more. They reflect the characters' personalities; if someone gave me a phrase said by one of the characters and wanted me to guess who it's from, I'm pretty confident that I can figure it out. It reminded me of Six of Crows -another all-time favourite- from this aspect (the riches of the cast and the individuality).

Before getting into the narration and the plot, I would like to give Sevro his own paragraph in this review. I think we should all be bloodydamn grateful to Pierce Brown for giving Sevro au Barca to the world. He is such an amazing character. He is as loyal as Samwise Gamgee. His character arc is so interesting and their relationship with Darrow is everything. I especially love the fact that they're constantly communicating. When there is a problem between them, they talk -or fight about it until it's solved. There isn't unnecessarily elongated angst just for the sake of having one in the story. Their friendship is the kind of material we need more of in literature. It's them against the world, ugh, bromance feels...

As a narrator, Darrow is constantly leaving the reader in the dark. He doesn't reveal all that he knows. This, however, doesn't make the story confusing or hard to follow but, on the contrary, makes it even more interesting and intriguing. For instance, let's say they're planning a battle strategy; we as readers don't witness the plan making, instead, we see the plan in action. This is a risky way to choose while narrating because it can easily become confusing and take away from the reading experience. But Pierce Brown handles it very well and even though at some point you start expecting there to be a twist that Darrow didn't mention, the plot doesn't fail to surprise and improve.

Speaking of plot twists, the books are full of them, big or small. There are so many jaw-dropping pieces of information, but also they're not shoved to the reader's face all of a sudden. It's in the casual dialogues, incorporated into the storyline and the more they reveal, the more pieces fall in together and once the bigger picture is complete, you realize how brilliantly plotted it all was. The plot overall is so good. Pacing is great, Pierce Brown gives the reader the time to recharge after a long, bloody battle with descriptions of scenery and battleships. The characters interact, long-awaited confrontations happen and relationships get explored.

The writing style is captivating, engaging and at the same time very beautiful and poetic. Also props to the translator and the publishing company. The books have their own weird vocabulary that I'm sure took a lot of work to translate. It was such a delightful reading experience.

Some Honorable Mentions:

• Another thing that I want to touch upon is how normal crying is in these books. Darrow isn't afraid to "hurt his fragile masculinity" by crying and expressing his emotions.
• The romance isn't the main focus of the story but it is also very well handled.
• Being from the LGBT+ community is completely normal in this world, in other words, homophobia doesn't exist and I love me some books where it doesn't exist.
• Pierce Brown breaks so many stereotypes in these books and I am living for it.
• Kavax, Pax, Mustang, Tactus, Ragnar, Deanna, Dancer, Fitchner, Theodora, Orion, Lorn, Roque, Cassius and especially Victra. I love reading about these characters so much. Every single one of them is amazing; the good, the bad.
• Betrayals and redemptions... Who doesn't love a good old redemption arc?

   Kavax au Telemanus                       Victra au Julii                               Mustang 

Moral values are ever present. Darrow is constantly questioning the morality of his actions. He always tries to do the right thing even though the world doesn't often let him do so. No one in this story is entirely black or white. Everyone's morally grey and have both good and evil in them. (Maybe some exceptions though, looking at you Adrius, you sociopath.) Darrow is someone who believes that everybody is worth saving. He persists in seeing the good in people and it doesn't make him stupid or too trusting, but it helps him be the person he wants to be when the odds are not in his favour. He is a precious cinnamon roll that needs to be protected.

This is the story of a revolution and while no revolution is won without blood or sacrifices, it doesn't back away from sending a strong message, pointing out how important it is to be able to build and not just destroy eyes shot.

On the other hand, this is also a story of friendship and love and growth, of learning to change and to embrace.

All these remind me of the Lord of the Rings in a way. It's not in the vibe you get while reading but it's in the ideas between the paragraphs. And this is probably the biggest compliment I have to offer to a book 😄.

The series is considered a science fiction but it definitely has strong dystopian elements and a bit of fantasy. So, if you love The Hunger Games, I bet you'll love Red Rising too. I cannot recommend this series enough.

Aaand that concludes my very detailed but somehow spoiler-free review of the Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown. I hope you enjoyed it, thank you to anyone who read through all of it and I really hope that I was able to convince you to pick it up. Thanks for stopping by and I will see you next time! Or should I end appropriately? Per aspera, ad astra!

"Words are a weapon stronger than he knows. And songs are even greater. The words wake the mind. The melody wakes the heart. I come from a people of song and dance. I don't need him to tell me the power of words." 

-Darrow of Lykos

Find me on: 

Instagram: ezgidamlacaliskan

Twitter: RowenDiantha

Goodreads: Ezgi Damla Çalışkan

CURRENT FAVOURITES 2018

Hello everyone! It's been a hot minute since my last post. I don't even bother explaining now, you know the drill. I set out to write this blog post without having something planned out. I thought I'd just make a casual post about my current favourites since I've missed writing on here so much.

My mood throughout this post.

So, I'm on summer break, thank Eru, which leaves me with a lot of spare time in my hands. And as a wise man once said, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. And just like that she casually quoted Gandalf. Well, the past two days, I decided to binge Netflix with the time that was given to me... It was worth it though, returning to the topic of favourites; I watched the first season of Miraculous Tales of Lady Bug and Cat Noir. Yes, yes, the French animated TV show but hear me out you guys, it's so fun. In summary; it's about these two characters, Marinette and Adrien whose superhero alter egos are Lady Bug and Cat Noir. LB and CN are partners, they fight against Hawk Moth who wants to steal their powers. Show's target audience is children and it is quite childish. Each episode somewhat follows the same pattern of defeating the villains but what makes the show so lovable is the angst. Marinette and Adrien are so oblivious when it comes to each other's identities. Neither of them knows who the other really is. Marinette is head over heels in love with Adrien and Cat Noir constantly flirts with his lady Lady Bug. It's basically a love square featuring the same fricking couple and the whole fandom, which consists of teenagers and adults, is desperately waiting for the big reveal.
I created a Pinterest board for Miraculous and I've saved over 600 pins in less than two days. I'm completely obsessed with it and I'll leave some fan art and canon in hopes of tempting you to watch it. (Credit to the talented artists who made these awesome fan arts!)

In order, we have Marichat, Ladynoir, Ladrien and of course Adrienette.

This is one of my favourites.

Here, some internal screaming on my part.

Another thing I've been loving lately is Golden Son by Pierce Brown. I read Red Rising at the beginning of the year and even though I started reading the sequel immediately after that, I stopped like fifty pages in for whatever reason. It wasn't even a slump, I read a lot of books, just not Golden Son. I picked it up again recently and I can't wait to finish it. I knew I loved the book but I had forgotten how good it actually was. I'm very much enjoying my current read. I would love to make a series review but I haven't written any notes so I'm not sure about posting one here but I'll most likely do a short one over on Goodreads.

Back to TV shows, I started watching Deception and it's so good. It follows a magician called Cameron Black. In the pilot, Cameron's twin brother Jonathan (whose existence was a well-kept secret for magic show purposes and daddy issues) is framed of murder and sent to jail.

Look at my sweet cinnamon roll.

 Flash forward next year, Cameron and his team are trying to get him out meanwhile Cameron helps the FBI solve a crime. He's such a charming, quirky character to watch. The actor Jack Cuttmore-Scott also portraits the twin, Jonathan, whose personality is visibly different from Cam's. He does such a great job. 100% recommend!

Here is the sinnamon roll.

I thought I had more to talk about and here I am, staring at the screen for the past five minutes. Great.

Oh, I got one! Spotify Premium. I've been on free subscription for months but I couldn't resist getting the three-month Premium subscription for the limited time offer. I've been discovering so many great songs that I listen to on repeat, so here are some music recommendations!

• Supernova - Ansel Elgort
• yes girl - Bea Miller
• Broken Crown - Mumford & Sons
• Love Is Madness - Halsey ft. 30STM
• Demons - Jacob Lee
• Dream - Imagine Dragons
• Under Your Spell - The Sweeplings
• Mr Sandman - SYML
• Cringe // Stripped - Matt Maeson
• Burning Heart - Svrcina
• bellyache - Billie Eilish
• Temporary Bliss - The Cab
• Red - Beth Crowley

Please note that this list is as messy as this post...

So, that I guess concludes this little current favourites update. I hope you guys enjoyed me rambling about some of my recent loves. Thanks for stopping by and I will see you next time!

Find me on: 

Instagram: ezgidamlacaliskan

Twitter: RowenDiantha

Goodreads: Ezgi Damla Çalışkan