Hello everyone,

I hope you've all had a great day today. I'm about to go to sleep but wanted to give my thoughts on Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins.

Before I begin this review you should know a) I didn't finish the book (as the title of this post suggests) and b) I do love Stephanie Perkins' writing—Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door were both charming reads.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Isla and the Happily Ever After. Oh my gosh, reading this book was so frustrating I couldn't get through all of it. Here are the notes I took while reading...

1. Thought Josh was Max for some reason...? Wow, my memory is great.

2. I really like Kurt!

3. Wait a minute... Josh, Isla's crush of 3 years who Isla has obsessively stalked, likes her back? What is this?

4. Don't mean to drag on poor Isla, but does she have a life outside of Josh?

5. THIS BOOK IS TOO HEART FLUTTERING.

6. How is Isla the top student at this competitive boarding school? She literally spends all her time thinking about Josh.

7. WOW THIS RELATIONSHIP ESCALATED FAST.

8. Isla claims to be this shy, timid girl, yet she wasn't too shy with Josh on their first date.

9. Is everyone in this book extremely attractive and wildly talented or brilliant?

10. Debating if I should give up on reading this book...

11. "When it's Josh looking at me... I don't mind..." what?

12. What even is book? Fairy dust and rainbow sparkles? Where is the substance?

So it's safe to say I was not the biggest fan of this book. There was just too much fluff, and the characters were such boring, privileged little twats.

Again, I know many people absolutely loved this book, so I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade but this just wasn't my taste.

Thanks for reading!

mel

P.S. I always pronounce "Isla" as "Iz-la".

Hello everyone, I'm back!

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, today I will be reviewing Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

This review will contain spoilers, but I'll begin with a basic review of the book.

In short, I absolutely loved this book! I finished within a few days—Cath is such a relatable character. Even though I would say I'm extremely different from her, there were so many moments I saw my past self in her. The characters in this book are all quite wonderful and lovable, and it was nice to take a break from all the dramatic books I've been reading and read something fun.

If you love contemporary books like me, I highly recommend this one; it's one that I really enjoyed reading. Now onto the spoiler section!

SPOILERS BELOW

a. Dialing 911 into my phone and holding my finger over call is totally something I'd do while walking back home alone.

b. Cath (and a lot of the characters in this book) seems to have unhealthy conflict resolutions—she literally just pretends like nothing happened instead of addressing the issue, something I did a lot as a kid.

c. Wow, Nick is freaking annoying.

d. Abel is annoying too.

e. I really like Reagan; she was one of my favorite characters.

f. I've never been a fan of fan fiction, but its interesting to see Rowell's take on Harry Potter with Simon and Baz. 

g. What even was that ending though? I thought part of the book was missing or something... There was a good chapter or two that I still needed to get some closure.

h. What an amazing professor!

This was just a quick list--I didn't take notes while reading (which I should), so I'm probably leaving out a lot of details. But have no fear, I'm currently reading Isla and the Happily Ever After, and I will be sure to keep track of my thoughts.

That's all for this quick book review—see you tomorrow!

mel

Surprise, it's me! (Actually, this is a scheduled post but it still counts right?)

I haven't been doing much of anything these days which leaves me time to get back into one my favorite pastimes: reading. I used to be quite the avid reader and then school started getting busier and I started to get addicted to YouTube instead.

But this month has been different—I actually finished two books, and I'm working on the third (Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell)! Both of these books I'm reviewing today happen to be the finales to their respective trilogies.

This review is going to be very quick and incomplete; it only contains one spoiler, which I've labeled for your convenience.

The first is The Midnight Star by Marie Lu. I can't remember if I reviewed The Young Elites or The Rose Society, which are the first and second books of this trilogy.

I forgot most of the details from the first two books going into this third book, so I didn't know what was happening and who was who most of the time. A few notes about this trilogy as a whole:

a. I love that the main character is an antihero; it makes her so much more interesting. Granted, I don't really like her (she's really extra) but that's a minor detail.

b. Now that I think about it, I don't really like any of the characters in this book...

c. SPOILER ALERT! I wonder if Enzo did truly love Adelina... I was disappointed when he said the name of some other girl. But I do like Magiano, so it's all good.

d. This book got really confusing and complicated near the end, but I really liked how it ended.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this series; it's very interesting, and the setting it takes place in is so cool. But the characters were kind of bland; none of them were very likable, in my opinion.

The second book I read was The Black Key by Amy Ewing. I definitely remember reviewing the first book, The Jewel, but not the second.

This book is extremely similar to The Hunger Games, minus the actual games and the love triangle. The main character is strikingly similar to Katniss; they could very well be the same person. I also see many parallels between other characters (i.e. Violet and Prim, Lucien and Cinna, etc.)

To me, this trilogy is just another run-of-the-mill YA fiction series (as was The Young Elites). However, the world it takes place in is very interesting; I often found myself imagining what my life would be like if I were to live in this world (which, thankfully, I don't). I often predicted what would happen, but nonetheless, I couldn't stop flipping the pages to see what would happen next. Again, the characters aren't lovable at all, but if you enjoy reading this genre, you would probably like this trilogy.

So that's the end of today's post! Hopefully more book reviews will be coming in the future. I'm almost done with Fangirl, so look forward to that review!

I'd love to hear what you thought of either of these books if you've read them. Thanks for reading!

mel

Hi everyone!

It has been a long time since I've written a book review. I haven't been reading leisurely for a very long time. However, while I'm traveling I have some time to relax and read. Today I'll be reviewing The White Rose by Amy Ewing, which is the second book in The Lone City series. 

I have a book review on the first book in the series here. This post will give you an overview on the series. 

This book was interesting and action-packed, but the characters are banal and unlikable. I still think this plot is interesting, but the book is not very well-written.

Overall, I do recommend reading this second book if you have read the first. I'm still a little unsure about this series as a whole. If you like dystopian novels, this would be a good read. But overall, I'm not ecstatic about the series.

I'll now be getting into the spoilers of the book, so don't read on if you haven't read the book!

Hi everyone!

Today I'll be reviewing the Derma Trouble Spot Patch kit from AC Dew. I got this product quite a long time ago when I was in South Korea. It costs about 20 USD and comes with 24 patches and a gel that is supposed to brighten the skin. The patches come in different sizes for different sized blemishes.

I had a whitehead on my upper lip area that I tested the patch on. I put it on for around 10 hours. The next morning when I took the patch off, the white head came off. The patch did leave a little mark where the blemish was after I took it off.

I like this product, but it doesn't remove the spot with no scar left behind. I think it is better to use a patch like this rather than popping the pimple. Make sure you don't take the patch off prematurely because it won't be effective. It's also better to use the patches on pimples that have whiteheads, as it wouldn't be too effective with cysts.

Overall, I don't think I would repurchase this product, although I liked it. I didn't feel like the cream it came with was that effective, and for 24 patches, 20 dollars for this product is not the best deal. However, I do really like the patches and will probably try some other patches from other brands.

Thanks for reading!

Overall, I give this BB cream 4 stars out of 5. I really like this BB cream; the only thing I dislike about it would be that it is not super long wearing for oily skin. Also, the little tube of BB cream lasts for a really, really long time. I've had it for over a year and used it almost every day and there still is product in the tube.

So that is my review for this BB cream. Thanks for reading!

The film will be blank but the photo will start to develop in a couple of minutes. The pictures are so cute and it's a lot of fun to take the photos. The camera is pretty easy to use once you read the directions and understand how to use it.

So I hope you guys enjoyed my little review on this camera. I didn't really go into detail with the instructions on how to set the camera up but if you'd like me to make a blog post about how to insert film and take photos, please leave a comment in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

So today I'll be reviewing another product by Innisfree today and it is called the Green Tea Mineral Mist. This mist is quite refreshing and feels very cool. I don't think it was too moisturizing or it made any difference to my skin. It was nice to use during the hot summer to cool down my face but I don't think it's very moisturizing or helpful for the skin. I would buy it again because it's quite inexpensive and I think it's very refreshing but it's not that effective.

Overall this product is nice and does not irritate my skin. It doesn't moisturize but I would still repurchase. When using this mist spray it on your face and then tap the mist into your skin. If you don't pat the product into your skin, the mist may dry out your skin instead of moisturizing it. So make sure to pat in the product for the best results.

Thank you so much for reading!

Hi everyone

Today I'll be doing a review on the Skinfood Omija Whitening Tea Toner. I haven't been using this toner to see results but it does remove dirt and makeup quite well. It claims to whiten the skin but I haven't noticed any changes. It has a nice fragrance that isn't too strong. I find that this toner can sting your skin if you use a more abrasive cleanser, but with a mild and gentle cleanser, this toner will work well with it. The toner also comes with this cheek sheet masks that you drench with toner and place over your face.

Overall, I like this toner as it removes dirt on my face and feels very refreshing. I also think the glass packaging is very cute. This toner was about 18 US dollars. I don't think I'll be repurchasing because it didn't do anything special for my skin. I didn't notice it whitening or brightening my face. (skin type: oily, acne prone, pigmentation)