Stolen Songbird Book Review

It's book review time! Since I'm really excited to share this book with everyone, let's get right to it, shall we?

Stolen Songbird
The Malediction Trilogy #1
Danielle L. Jensen

Summary Without Spoilers

Cecile is a teenage country girl who is on her way to the city to live with her mother to become a world-class singer. However, on her way she is kidnapped and sold to trolls, whom, until this point, she thought were just a fairy tale. They believe if she is married to their prince, Tristan, a 500 year old curse will be broken. If you click on the photo of the cover above, you'll be sent to the Goodreads page where you can get a more detailed summary.

My Thoughts

The Cover: At first I wasn't crazy impressed with the cover. A headless torso of a girl on the cover of a YA book is overdone. However, they did a great job of tying in the cover with the story. She wears a green dress for the wedding, the glass rose has significance, and the background gives a great image of what Trollus (the underground world of the trolls) looks like.

The Premise: The idea isn't very unique, let's be honest. Being thrown into a world you don't know and you end up being the "chosen one" or something. It also reminded me a bit of Beauty and the Beast. However, this premise kind of goes along with the territory of the fantasy genre. So if you aren't into that sort of thing, then maybe this isn't the genre for you.
There were also some political and social issues in the world of Trollus which are discovered through the story that made it very relate-able to our world. However, some of these social issues and such seem to been popular in novels - especially YA Fantasty/Science-Fiction - right now, so I could kind of see where it was going. This didn't bother me much, however.

The Characters: I loved them! Cecile was strong and determined but also compassionate. She fights to escape Trollus but learns to love those around her and makes her own choices. Her character isn't super unique, you could probably find her in other books as well. However, she's still loveable. I also really enjoyed Tristan. At first Cecile thought he was arrogant, which I guess he was, but I thought he was hilarious right away. He also has some interesting twists to his character which brought him some depth. He was my favorite in the story. The supporting characters were great too and made things interesting.

The World: So cool! I loved the underground world of Trollus with the mines and caves and gardens. Unless it's the movie Frozen, trolls aren't done in pop culture very often unless they are the villain, so this was fun to read about. It made this novel a bit more unique.
What did bother me is how I felt like trolls were a bit too much like humans. They looked a lot like humans, which is fine because then you're not going much into the "gross that seems like beastiality" when you get to the love story. Yet, they didn't seem "troll-like" enough, if that makes sense. Personality-wise I could see it, but not always. Especially Tristan. He was basically just a super good looking human. The story sometimes reminded me of Beauty and the Beast, except the beast was really attractive according to human standards. Not all of the trolls were this way, but some were and it bothered me. Not enough for me to not enjoy the book though.

The Love Story: Super cute! It's wasn't quite "insta-love" the way other fantasy/YA novels are, which is really refreshing. (There was a little, but not the way others are.) There also wasn't a love triangle. There was a slight hint of one, and I can see where in future novels there could be one, but I'm hoping the author doesn't take that route. Cecile really had to grow into her feelings for Tristan and she also had some big choices to make in regards to her relationship with him. I, however, loved Tristan right away.

Overall Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. I loved the world, the trolls, the love story, and it kept my interest the whole time. The day I finished it I read well over 100 pages because I couldn't put it down. It was very fairy tale-esque and it was a cool twist because of the trolls and some of the political/social issues thrown in. However, some of it was a bit predictable and not outrageously unique. (But what is, really?) Yet, these things didn't bother me much but does prevent this book from getting a full five stars.

I'm giving it 4 stars - and I can't wait for the next one in this trilogy!

If you like fairy tales/fantasy, young adult, and romance, you'll enjoy this book! It comes out APRIL 1st! Click the links below if you would like to pre-order it.

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Half.com

If you would like to see all of my reading adventures, you can add me on Goodreads.

Note: I received Stolen Songbird as an eARC book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm also linking up with Meg for Mingle Monday today! You can link up here.

Fearlessness

Quotes are beautiful things.  I often find when I’m in a place of mental or emotional state that is difficult to explain to my best friend, or even myself that somewhere out there is a quote from someone that seems to accurately describe what I am unable to put into words myself.

One of the best quotes I’ve come across recently has been one that has opened my eyes to see things differently.  This quote talks about fear and the different kind we’re faced with constantly mentions something that I’m particularly fantastic at doing, procrastination.

“A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. “Never leave that till tomorrow”, he said, “Which you could do today.” This is the man who discovered electricity. You’d think more of us would listen to what he had to say. I don’t know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I’d say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure. Fear of pain. Fear of rejection. Sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you’re wrong? What if you make a mistake you can’t undo? Whatever it is we’re afraid of, one thing holds true: that by the time the pain of not doing the thing gets worse than the fear of doing it, it can feel like we’re carrying around a giant tumor.”

Meredith Grey - 'If Tomorrow Never Comes'

(Grey’s Anatomy: Season 1, Episode 6)

As much as I’d like to say that I’ve been living fearlessly the last couple of months this quote has told me otherwise.  Just last week I was struck with a terrible funk.  One of those things where there’s nothing I want to do except sleep, wander aimlessly around the internets and watch TV.  Absolutely nothing productive comes out of me when I’m in this funk.  It’s like my entire body shuts down and I can’t function.

Fear of failure.

Fear of pain.

Fear of rejection.

I’ve been in this funk many times before and I realized what was happening by day three.  It might have been all of the recorded TV shows I managed to work my way through or the amount of dust that I see start forming on top of my textbooks as they lay untouched; I knew.  In one of my long sessions of wandering the internets I found myself on Tumblr looking at gifs and quotes from Grey’s Anatomy and when I found this particular quote, it started to all make sense.

These funks I’ve been in before have been a reaction of fear.  There’s the fear of failing that’s constantly lingering in my head whether it be failing that civics exam in senior year or failing at being sociable at the homecoming football game where we defeated the college we had been waiting weeks to play.  The fear of rejection has always went hand in hand with the fear of failing though I would like to think I’ve some what overcome the rejection thoughts in my head.  By far the one that will always shut me down in a heartbeat is the fear of pain.
The most powerful part of this quote is the ending bit. "Whatever it is we're afraid of, one thing holds true: that by the time the pain of not doing the thing gets worse than the fear of doing it, it can feel like we're carrying around a giant tumor."
In the past when I’ve entered these funks it would take me weeks and occasionally months to get out of it. The time that passed while I was in this funk made everything pile up and when I did get out of the funk I was faced with a huge mountain to take care of because I had shut down for so long. There was a point in high school where I was so behind on school work I was being told that I wasn’t going to graduate.  Being told that made things even worse and had it not been for one teacher to sit me down and break down the barrier and tell me I could do it I probably would have let that mountain win.

I’m thinking that my idea of “fearless” needs to be changed.  Instead of thinking of fearlessness as not letting any fear affect my actions and mentality, fearlessness should be recognizing my fears and working at overcoming them to make myself a better person.  I can be brave, courageous, ballsy, spunky or whatever adjectives that describe fearlessness; I can be all those things while facing my fears. Deep down inside I don’t think any of us are completely fearless.

What do you think it means to be fearless?

Jess is Kansas born and raised who has no shame calling “glitter” a color.  As a hospitality student Jess believes a smile can change a person’s day and can be found rambling on her blog, Procrastination Ramblings while also pinning her life away on Pinterest.  Feel free to contact Jess by e-mailing her at thegreenrecipebox@gmail.com.

Want to sponsor and/or do a guest post? Check out my Work With Me page and/or email me at lovewokemeupthismorning@gmail.com

A Manifesto- Part 1: I Believe

All year, I have been getting Cake For Breakfast. Each Monday I receive an email with a writing prompt which is supposed to help me figure out what I want in life, how I view the world, etc. It's been pretty awesome and I've really been enjoying writing out all of my thoughts.

This week, the prompt was a bit different and it caused me to think a lot more than I have in the past. We were supposed to write a manifesto.

According to the Merriam-Webster website, a manifesto is "a written statement that describes the policies, goals, and opinions of a person or group."

Ashley, (the creator of Cake for Breakfast) had us write our manifesto in five parts.

1) I Believe

2) I Want to Live in a World...

3) Here's What I Know for Sure...

4) Your piece of advice you want to share with the world.

5) A one sentence mini-manifesto.

Usually, the writing prompts have just a couple of questions and take about ten minutes to complete. This week... I have a lot to think about and I'll probably be working on it all week. However, I did get started on the "I Believe" part, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Although, I will admit, as I was writing this I totally felt like Elder Price and was singing the song "I Believe" in my head the entire time. Even thought I'm not a Mormon.

If you have no idea what song I'm talking about, it's from the musical The Book of Mormon and you can see the Tony performance by clicking here.

Anyways.

... Jesus gives unconditional love, grace, mercy, freedom, and new beginnings every day

... family is a gift

... family can extend beyond blood

... stories can tell the truth and expand our imagination

... the arts feed us just as much as food

... in puppy and kitty kisses

... in laughter

... in tears

...in measuring life in love

... loving God means loving others

... in snow days

... in coffee shops

... in being kind to those who serve (ex. your waiter)

... Internet friends can be just as close as "real life" friends

... in taking a day off

... in changing your life when the time comes

... in being honest

... in traveling

... in expanding your horizons and getting out of your comfort zone

... sometimes you just have to let it go

... in romance

... in learning new things

... sometimes it's okay to just stay at home and watch TV/Netflix with family and a good book

... in fairy tales, even if they look different than we first imagine

...  sometimes life is hard, but that doesn't meant it's not beautiful

... in faith and hope and trust

... we are all broken, but loved.

What do you believe?

Am I An Introvert?

Another weekend has come and gone. St. Patricks weekend in fact - a major holiday here in the Chicagoland area. Particularly here on the South side.

In true Chicago fashion, there was a large array of events I could go to. There were at least two parades, watching the Chicago river turn green, and I was invited to two parties for Saturday night. Both of these parties I really wanted to go to. One was hosted by my sister's friends. I don't know them extremely well, but they are really fun and I know my sister wants me to get to know them better. The other one was hosted by a friend of mine from college, but it was a little bit further away. A friend of mine from high school had made plans to have a Sex and the City marathon on Saturday, so I invited her to come with me to the one my sister's friends were hosting. That way, I was closer to home and I would have at least one friend by my side in case the party went sour.

She and I hung out, watched Carrie and her friends have misadventures with the men of New York, made commentary about the 90's fashion, and had a good time. After, we went to dinner and I had a fantastic margarita. Having a more Mexican drink might be strange for an Irish holiday - but I feel like as there was some sort of alcohol it's okay.

By the time we were done it was time to party it up. However... as we drove back to my house we both complained about how tired we were, then ultimately decided to call it a night.

Lame.

Although in my defense, I think I'm coming down with a cold. All day Sunday I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was take a nap.

Yet, I can't help but find it strange I decided to turn down two parties so I could stay at home and watch a BBC show with my mom. I love socializing! I love people! I love making new friends!

But lately, when I have the opportunity to go out and do something, I back out. I'm tired. I don't feel like driving that far. I need to be up early the next morning. An excuse always seems to be ready for me to use.

What is up with me? I become sad when I feel as though I don't do anything and I don't have many friends. I talk about wanting to do new things and meet new people and experience life. Yet, more often than not I end up at home with a book and a TV show to watch even when I have the opportunity to go out.

This is my usual view. My dog, laptop, book, iPad, TV show. The one on the screen right now is Game of Thrones.

It completely baffles me. This isn't the person I always claim to be. Don't get me wrong - I love reading and BBC movies and TV shows. (Obviously.) However, I also genuinely enjoy being out of the house and seeing people.

So why don't I do it?

The next morning, a close friend who was in town for the weekend and I met up for coffee before church and I lamented to her about this problem. She told me "Maybe you should come out as an introvert. You should take the Meyers-Briggs test again."

A what?

No. No. Me? An introvert? No way.

I do get my energy from people. I love seeing people and being in a crowd. When I went to New York my favorite place was Times Square.

Now, I know there is more introvert to me than most people realize. Years ago when I took the official Meyers Briggs personality test and I saw the details of my results, while I am an extrovert, there are times I'm pretty borderline. Which made sense to me. However... being a homebody has never been a way I have described myself. Yet... here I am.

(For the record- there is nothing wrong with introverted-ness and staying at home. It's just never been me.)

Have I changed though? Do I need to start seeing myself differently?

Part of what I think my problem is, is that when living in Missouri I didn't have a whole lot of friends. Therefore, I spent a lot of time at home by myself. Therefore, I'm just in the habit of it and in a rut now.

But is that really it? Am I just gradually weaning myself away from the hermit-esque lifestyle I had been living?

Or am I just thinking far too much about this and need to get over it?

Different Bloggers, Different Faiths

Tash, over at One Broke Girl, is hosting Different Bloggers, Different Faiths every Friday up until Easter. Basically, each week features a different blogger and they answer questions about their faith. My turn is today! 

Head on over to her blog to check it out (http://1brokegirl-tash.blogspot.com/2014/03/different-bloggers-different-faiths_14.html) and I hope you all have a great weekend!

The 5 Stages of Winter

There hasn't been a more appropriate winter than this one for the movie Frozen to have come out in theatres. (And DVD next week AND it's already on iTunes!!!!) In all honesty, it has made this long, cold, and snowy winter bearable. I just keep reminding myself that it's Elsa letting go and having fun with her powers. I can be on board with that. I also read the book Winters Tale which was basically 700+ pages of talking about how magical and romantic winter can be. So... it's been find with me for the most part.

However... we all have to admit this Polar Vortex we've been in since Christmas is a bit ridiculous. I mean... there has only been one state in all of the USA that hasn't had some form of snow. (I'm giving Florida the evil eye right now.) I've found everyone has had a mixture of reactions and gone through a few somewhat familiar phases with their feelings about winter.

Denial
"We're Chicago people! This is nothing! It's just a cold spell and we'll be fine. Just put on a hat. Whatever. Toughen up son!"

Anger
I HATE THIS SNOW AND THE COLD AND EVERYTHING! I CAN'T DRIVE MY CAR, TRAFFIC IS AWFUL, AND THE SNOW ISN'T EVEN PRETTY ANYMORE I WANT SUMMER BACK RIGHT NOW!

Bargaining
Well... at least it's pretty to look at. The first day. Maybe this will mean we'll have a good spring and summer. Besides, it's January. We can deal with January. By the time March comes we'll have spring again if we behave and deal with it now.

Depression
Spring will never come. It's the middle of March and we just got several inches of more snow and ice. It's eternal winter and I give up. Just let me hide in my house under the blankets in the darkness for the rest of eternity and drown in my tears and hot chocolate.

Acceptance
Yup. It's winter. A lot of snow. But... that's how it is. Heck, it even snows in April sometimes here in Chicago. This is just the reality of living here. Spring and summer will come eventually in their own time, and when it gets outrageously hot and humid in July we'll be begging for the cold again. Besides - we can build snow men!

How have you all been dealing with eternal winter? What stage are you in?

Today's Love Sighting: 
We had a new student today who is the younger sibling of another student - and he was so excited to introduce his litter sister to everyone!

Weight Loss Wednesday with Tash

Hi, I’m Tash from One Broke Girl. I’m a 20 something living in Western Australia. I live in such a beautiful state, although there’s not much to do here. I live about 5 minutes drive to the beach and only 2 minutes to two excellent shopping malls (lets be practical here people – shopping matters).

When I first started out on my journey of weight loss on June 28^th, 2013 all I could see was the road ahead and how far away my goal looked. Losing 116 pounds was a daunting task and I wasn't looking forward to it. However, I learnt early on to set yourself little goals and celebrate when you achieve them.

Like in the first two weeks when I lost 4 pounds, gosh I was so excited I just had to get someone to take a photo of me. I then set myself small 10 pound increment goals. I found it really easy to look at reaching another 10 pounds than looking at my overall goal and being like, well I still have 50 pounds to lose.

I have now lost over 80 pounds. To help keep the motivation alive I take regular progress photos, I also have a F I T board on Pinterest where I go if I am lacking the inspiration to keep going.

I’ve also started focusing on getting fit rather than losing weight. Because you can still be skinny and unfit. Working out gives me a sense of empowerment and in a way I become my own inspiration and motivation. If I can walk that 5 km then I can certainly aim for 6 km next time, or even a run.

If you’re looking for lose weight, or get fit I suggest finding yourself a nice planner and start scheduling in your workout times like you would anything else, but don’t forget to be flexible with yourself. It’s easy to cancel a workout because you were running five minutes late and you give yourself the excuse that you already missed the start of your ‘appointment to work out’. No excuses, just do it!

If you want to hear more about my journey you should pop on over to my blog One Broke Girl or follow me on Instagram. I’d love to hear your success stories and journeys so please share!  

You can also find Tasha on the Internet on Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin!

Also, if you would like to guest post and/or be a sponsor, you can check out my Work With Me page or email me at lovewokemeupthismorning@gmail.com for more information.

The Difference Between Being Honest and Oversharing

Last week, I had written about 5 Things I Won't Blog About.  My first example was private family and friend business, and I felt like I should expand on this a bit more. Because there are definitely times when it's appropriate and okay to talk about what's going on in your life and with your family - but there are also times when it is not okay. I feel like this doesn't just apply to bloggers, but anyone who posts anything on the internet. Whether it's a blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc.

I'm a firm believer in being honest. It's okay to admit that you're not having the best day, or you're going through a hard time, or even if you had a great day or did something awesome. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, on the Internet, I feel like we over-share at times. This I feel like can be dangerous territory.

Here are some examples of what I personally feel are okay to share on the Internet, and examples of what is not okay. (Feel free to disagree with me, and there are also exceptions to every rule. Also, we're all guilty of some of these at least to an extent, including myself.)

Good:
Posting a couple of photos of you and your friends and what you did that weekend.

Bad:
Updating every couple hours of what you are doing every moment of every day and then also writing out detailed re-tellings of all of your conversations and all of the juicy gossip and all of the drama your friends are going through.

Possible Solution: 
If there is a conversation or an experience you and your friends went through that might relate to something you are writing about. (Example, a bunch of dating horror stories.) If you choose to use people's real names, be sure you have their permission. If you don't, make up fake names. That way you can share funny stories and such without revealing identities of people who might not want their business public.

Good:
A family tragedy has happened and you decide to share your own personal emotions about the situation and where you are at with it.

Bad:
Telling everyone about every argument your family is having about it, sharing how your mother is crying every two seconds, etc.

Possible Solution:
I feel like it's okay to talk about what you are personally going through as long as you are comfortable and you think the audience will be receptive. (You won't always have 100% of your audience receptive, so if there is negative feedback, are you ready for the backlash? Can you handle it?) It is NOT okay to share other people's grief and struggled, especially without their permission. If you really think you need to share that, be sure you talk to the other person first or have them tell it themselves. It's not your place to share other people's business.

Good:
"I'm having a rough day today."

Bad:
"EXPLETIVE EXPLETIVE EXPLETIVE EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE IS AWFUL AND I HATE THE WORLD!"

Possible Solution:
Again, I feel like it's okay to be honest. But no one likes a complainer. We all have things we're going through in life that we don't like. If you really need to vent or need someone to talk to, do it privately. Only your Internet friends will understand? That's okay! That's what private messages, gchat, email, etc. is for. The thing is, the internet is not your journal. If you need to process something or complain through writing, get a journal. That way, even if you do decide to put something on the Internet, at least you've had a way to get the venting and complaining out, and then you can take from those writings something worthwhile to publish.

Good:
Sharing a well thought out and respectful reason why you don't agree with someone or an article you read or anything else like that.

Bad:
Dissing other people in public/online. Even if it's passive-aggressive and you don't share names. In fact, sometimes that's even worse because it's annoying.

Possible Solution:
We don't always get along with everyone, and there are times we disagree. That's life. If there is a certain point someone talked about or an article you read or something which you don't agree with, you can share why you don't agree. That's okay. It's NOT okay to insult others, be disrespectful, and to sham someone in public. Again, if you need to vent, do it privately before you type something you regret. Remember- the Internet is forever. (Yes, even SnapChat.)

What are your thoughts? What are some other ways you can think of to differentiate between being honest and over-sharing? Do you agree/disagree with anything I mentioned?


Today's Love Sighting:

Everyday when I get home from work, I see my dog and my mom's dog at the window by the front door waiting. They do this for my mom too and it's so cute! They love seeing us come home! Then they nap at my feet while I blog.