A Raconteur’s Story

Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts

I've been very busy with school works for the past week and I'm currently still in the midst of finishing school projects. But one thing's for sure, I did read all the books included on my first reading list—that's why I'm bringing you a new one to read with me.

*THIS POST WAS UPDATED ON 9/25/15

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1. The Girl With All The Gifts (M.R. Carey)

This is probably my very first anticipated book ever. I have been wondering about this book since I started my reading list. I was so stoked to see it on stands in my local bookstore and I immediately picked this book up. This is a Science Fiction novel set in an apocalyptic world full of zombies. (That is indeed, all I know about this novel haha!)

UPDATE: This has been my MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS out of all the books that I have previously bought this year and I'm happy to say that this one, didn't fail me at all.

First of all, I liked that the author kept a reasonable amount of characters and the way the relationship between the reader and the characters grew is extremely superb! Carey made a very well-paced book and the manner of writing just takes my breath away.

The thing that I hate about it though, is how smart Caroline thinks and speaks. My fear (whilst reading this book) is to be left alone without a dictionary by my side and the ending. I wanted more out of it. It seems to be abruptly finished but the main context was still, amazing.

This follows a girl named Melanie along with 3 other people who was with her whilst surviving the apocalyptic universe. I don't really want to spoil much about this one, so I'm just going to leave it at that.

PS. I HATE THE CASTING OF THIS MOVIE!! HDSNXEUIF

I was thinking of Halle Berry as Justineau but heck, the people casted was oddly FAR FROM WHAT THE BOOK DESCRIBED THEM TO BE. I hope they change it. I really hope they do. lol. {4.5/5}

2. Girl Online (Z. Sugg & S. Curham)

I've read reviews of this one. I thought that this was something to really look forward to, so I was previously contemplating on buying the physical copy of this book but thankfully, I stopped myself. The reviews said that this book was kind of a cliché. I instantly remembered Gossip Girl when I read the synopsis that said—"Penny has a secret.

Under the alias, GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever."

UPDATE: I'm incredibly proud of Zoe for making this book go globally-known but I was still dumbfounded by the news that this was ghostwritten. I don't know what to believe in this case but let's just dive into my thoughts about this book, shall we?

This is about a girl named Penny; who runs an anonymous blog called Girl Online. She has a wonderful gay best friend who is living right next door. An opportunity came up in their family business and she and her family went to New York to plan an event. She then met this guy named Noah and fell for him during her stay in Brooklyn and when she got back to England, a huge wave of problems faced her way. (I was about to add spoilers but, uhhh.) This book is a mix of every cliché thing that you could ever think of. a) mean girls way of serving vengeance; b) long distance relationships (that we all know that never lasted long); c) Christmas in New York; d) best friend who conveniently lives right next door; e) a popular guy not noticing you at first (but ends up liking you when you already have someone); f) a regina george; g) nosy twins who had a change of heart; h) totally predictable; i) guys in chevy trucks; j) recording songs for someone and giving it to them as a gift; k) gossip girl–esque plot & there's probably more.

The way of writing kind of bores me at but this book, this book, is a very light read. I managed to read this in less than a day and I'm proud of it haha! If you're looking for a book to read after those psychological thriller ones, go ahead and read Girl Online. :) {2/5}

3. We Were Liars (E. Lockhart)

Another anticipated book! I'm excited for this one right here and I can't even contain myself. I have previously read E. Lockhart's short stories and I do hope that this one is slightly better than the last. I literally have nothing to talk about this book. (And you shouldn't search things about this one because you would probably get spoiled.)

UPDATE: I have been anticipating this book for a while now and I'm incredibly sad to tell you that I didn't enjoy the way towards the end of the book. This book is terrifyingly real. It consists of problems that are currently happening in this modern world of ours. It highlights the manner of living of a greedy man and how people just think about money.

Let's talk about the plot first.

This book made me think—a lot. I certainly have no idea about 85% of what's going on throughout the whole book and the author did a great job with it. Her writing consists of metaphors and little odd things that makes you re-read the line once again. I quote from page 5; "My father put a last suitecase into the backseat of the Mercedes (he was leaving Mummy with only the Saab), and started the engine.

Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed."—WTF right? Lockhart's going Flynn on me for a second there.

There are several clues from the 1-4 parts of the book that only made sense in the 5th part. I hardly even noticed the crumbles of the possible plot twists. We all know that the protagonist isn't the most reliable source ever; and hence the name of the book—too. I don't know what to believe in and I don't understand why this book made it hard for me to see the rainbow after the rain.

The protagonist is also suffering from selective amnesia. She tends to remember some of the memories that had happened in the course of the whole book through the help of the Liars—a group of 4. 3 Sinclairs and a guy named Gat—the representation of Heathcliff in this story. (Refer to Wuthering Heights) Everything happened every summer in the Sinclair's private island in Massachusetts, USA.

I want to stop there because I don't want to spoil you just yet. If you haven't read the book, stop here. Continue on if you have. Every information here is reliable—or maybe I'm lying?...jk

- SPOILERS -

The ending.

The word "funeral" made me step back a little bit from the book. I don't even realize that things would've end this way. Out of every word said in this book, the 5th part, "Truth"; made the most sense to me. I thought that Gat hit her hard on the skull during the night she was found halfway underwater. I thought that Liberty (and other children) were the one's dead and they killed their own grandma off—and I'm also pretty sure that you guys don't understand what I'm saying right now. But I am, also surprised with the ending.

My favorite out of all the characters is definitely Johnny. He was funny all throughout the book and his appearance made everything seem a little bit better than usual. I picture Gat as Avan (from Victorious) while reading this book and he is just the one and only character that I would imagine looking like in person. Lol!

This has been the longest book review I've ever done so far and it's all worth it. And did you enjoy the book? Or it was just, 'okay'? :) {2.5/5}

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"What? You're stopping with 3 books?!" Nope. I'm not done yet; Let me introduce—

I was huge Potterhead when I was 11. I failed to finish the whole series, so I'm going to challenge myself into finishing the whole series whilst reading other books.

For the first part of the side quest, I will be reading—

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling)

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)

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To wrap everything up, reading the Potterhead Side Quest is still optional :) This is a little book club of ours and I'll be glad to hear that you guys are reading stuff as well.

I updated the previous Reading List! I have included my reviews in there, so It would be easier for you to see my thoughts about those books. Thank you so much for reading my post and I'll see you on the next one! :)

Find me on Goodreads!

Today, I have a lip and cheek tint review for you. I think that these can only be bought in the Philippines so.. I kinda feel bad for not doing an 'international-bought product' but I feel like there's a need for more reviews regarding local products so that Filipinos will be encouraged to try them out. So, here it goes!

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Let's check out the packaging first.. shall we?

Each product comes with a box that's 4.1 inches long which states the name, shade, description, ingredients, directions, some warnings and storage. It's simple yet, pretty.

The ingredients listed :

Water, Glycerin, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Triethanolamine, PEG-40 Castor Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum, Tetrasodium EDTA, BHT, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben.

The product itself is inside a clear tube that includes a wand for easier application and this thing is very light and travel friendly. For ₱90.00 each with 11 grams of product, it's very affordable and worth for its price.

There are three shades available for purchase; named Stargazer, Cinnamon and Hibiscus. Take a look at the swatches I made below :)

As you can see, the two main colors are probably Stargazer and Cinnamon; and it got mixed up to make a hybrid named Hibiscus. All of the colors are very pretty and all of them smells the same. Its scent is sweet as if it was made with sugar.

The product is very blendable—it doesn't dry up too quickly. It gives you enough time to blend the color evenly across the apples of your cheeks. It has a bit of a flaw; you kind of need to build up the amount of product for the shade to show through. (like the ones on my swatches) But if you ask me, I like it that way because you are able to match the amount of product with your own liking and mix and match them, too.

The product is versatile. It can be used as a lip tint or a cheek tint. I personally use it for the cheeks because it tends to give me a really natural look that came from within. Another downside of the product is that it doesn't last long. The color fades in time so you need to apply it once in a while.

Its perfect for everyday use and it's clearly safe. If you came across a Natasha agent, I recommend you to check this out for yourselves. :)

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That's all for now! I'm kind of contemplating about the Iron Suit Project :/ because the file seems to be kind of weird... but I'm going to fix the problem when I can find the time and I'll let you know about it as soon as it gets fixed. I'm also thinking about doing youtube for quite a while now. Mmm.. we'll never know. Maybe you'll just see me posting a bunch of things on there haha :) We'll see.. We'll see :)

Helloooooo! I'm back with another review. This time, it's a real make-up.

This is the Work The Colour Eyeshadow Trio in Choc Chip from Collection Cosmetics. I'm not really aware of this brand before. I kind of just shopped for neutral shadows and this came on the screen on Lazada PH. It's about ₱ 249 / £3.19 and you might say it's pretty cheap--and that's what I thought before. It's only 3g of product and has dimensions of 6.4x4.2x1.4x. I don't have any regrets on buying this thing in fact, this is very handy when it comes to traveling.

A cute little palette which includes 2 powder eyeshadows and a cream base or highlighter. As shown on the picture above, it includes a double ended applicator in plastic case packaging. Don't get me wrong, it might look a little bit cheap, but the material used was good.

This product is truly unexpected. I've had this thing for a year now and I think I just used it a few times (because I'm saving it for when I'm traveling) but I finally laid my eyes onto it to see its potential.

The 2 shades are soo creamy. It glides on perfectly on top of your lids--with or without the base. It's blendable and not too shimmery. The two colors work well together and works well with other products too. As for the base/highlighter, I'd use it both for it's purposes. It looks better as a highlighter though.

I did a little look with this palette annndd the picture doesn't show much but I hope you see a bit of a dark edge on both of my outer corners. I used the cream as a base and highlighter for my brow bone and I used the lightest shade between the two and added it on top of my lids and grabbed a blending brush and added the darkest color onto the end part of the lid like when you're adding your winged eyeliner and I added some into the outer crease too.

It might not look well on the photo I've taken (1. I don't have anyone to take a photo of me; and 2. I forgot to take a picture on a great lighting)

But I swear, that this thing is very pigmented and looks good on anyone.

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I hope that you enjoyed that review and leave a comment below and tell me what you think! :D

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And guys, I'm going back to school tomorrow just to let you know :) but I will surely post more (because it is part of my resolutions so.. yeah)

See ya!