GEEKY CHIQUITAS: May 2015

Book in Review: Eve Brenner: Zombie Girl (The Zombie Girl Saga #1)

Title: Eve Brenner: Zombie Girl (The Zombie Girl Saga #1)
Author: A. Giacomi
Publisher: Permuted Press
Publication Date: January 25, 2015
Pages: 277 pages

Summary (via Goodreads):
Eve used to be an ordinary girl, from an ordinary town, with ordinary dreams, but her dreams rapidly turn into nightmares when one grave mistake leaves her a little less than human and a lot less average.

Eve’s not quite the same girl she used to be. She desperately clings to her humanity as new desires, new abilities, and new urges take over with each passing day.

Eve Brenner: Zombie Girl is a tale that takes you on an emotional and terrifying journey as Eve struggles to cope with her new life and find a cure for her strange illness before time runs out. She desperately clings to her humanity as she tries to control the monster she knows is lurking inside her.

Turns out living was the easy part.

One of my 2015 blog resolutions is to read a book from a different genre. I usually read YA Contemporary, so this book was definitely an eye opener. Plus, I actually enjoyed it.

This book is told in multiple POVs which really helped me understand it better. I could see how Eve is trying her best to really fit in and act normal despite her difference. I really liked it especially because it keeps me entertained and it never failed to keep me anticipating through out all the events. Those aspects are really important for me since it's hard to finish a book if you don't even care about the story line.

I think this is more of a fantasy with some horror elements mixed into it. A. Giacomi was able to make a story that is realistic even with a plot like this. Her story about the origin of the Azrael Virus was really creative and unique. All in all, the book is cleverly written.

There were only two things that I particularly think could be better, first was the ending, I was hoping for something more original and less predictable. Everything in the book was fast paced in a good way except for the ending. Next are the details. I felt that the totality of the book made sense, but whenever something is described, it's as if I am left hanging and wanting to know a bit more. It was very straight forward, and that left no room for any building ups.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. It didn't disappoint. If you are like me who wants to try reading different book genres then this book can be for you!

4:18 PM
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Blog Tour: Kissing in America by Margo Rabb

2015 publiation

Title: Kissing in America

Author: Margo Rabb

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: May 26th 2015

Pages: 400 pages, Hardcover

Synopsis:

I loved romances because when you opened the first page, you knew the story would end well. Your heart wouldn't be broken. I loved that security, that guaranteed love.

In real life, you never knew the ending. I hated that.

Sixteen-year-old Eva has never been in love. But when she meets Will, everything changes. With him, her grief over her father's death fades, and she can escape from her difficult relationship with her mother. Then, without any warning, Will picks up and moves to California. So Eva—with the help of her best friend, Annie—concocts a plan to travel across the country to see him again. As they leave New York City for the first time and road-trip across America, they encounter cowboys, kudzu, and tiny towns without stoplights. Along the way, Eva and Annie learn the truth about love and all its complexities.

Book Links:

Goodreads

Amazon paperback

Barnes & Noble (B&N)

Bookdepository

iTunes

Kobo

When I started reading this book, I thought it would be a cute, lighthearted love story that would be quick and easy to read. Instead of this, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there's actually so much more to it than that. It's a story of friendship, feminism, loss, and all kinds of love.

I admit that for more than 3/4 of the book, I was frustrated with Eva, the main character and with the plot in general. I thought it was silly that someone would go all across the country to chase after one guy or that Eva thought that romance would be able to take away her grief for the death of her father. In fact, I was ready to quit about half-way through but decided to stick it out because I have heard so many good things about this book, and I'm very happy that I kept on reading.

Our main character loves romance novels and believes that her life will play out just like one. She goes all the way to California from New York just for a guy. I admit it sounds like a senseless idea, but I grew to understand that Eva is someone who is desperate and naive. She's reeling from the loss of her father and seeking escape from her overbearing mother who ignore that their father ever even existed. Maybe even then it's not a rational decision, but a bit more understandable one.

The plot is nothing all that special, but the ending and the execution definitely made it worthwhile. In the end, everything that should have happened happened. Eva comes out of this story as a more mature person, one on the road to recovery. And as she matured, so she did her mother and everyone else in this book. It was good to see a book that shows that the greatest love is not romantic love but a parent to their child. A book that shows so much justified development.

All in all, I really liked this book and thought that it was one of the best ones I'e read so far. There were some things that are unrealistic, but it's easy to forget and ignore that because of the hopeful and sweet ending. You may need to reflect on it after to understand it better, but when you do you'll realize that it is in fact a great book. If you want to read something sweet an easy yet meaningful, this is the book for you.

Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran

Made in the USA by Demi Lovato

Right There by Ariana Grande

Human by Cher Lloyd

Hold On for Dear Love by Bridgit Mendler

Sweet Despair by Cher Lloyd

The Love Club by Lorde

Popular Song by Mika

Flashlight by Jessie J

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Margo Rabb's stories have been published in The Atlantic Monthly, Zoetrope: All Story, Seventeen, Best New American Voices, New Stories from the South, New England Review, One Story, and elsewhere, and have been broadcast on National Public Radio. She received grand prize in the Zoetrope short story contest, first prize in The Atlantic Monthly fiction contest, first prize in the American Fiction contest, and a PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Award. She grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and two children. A complete list of her published work can be found here.

Author Links:

Website

Goodreads

Blog

Twitter

Praise:

“Wonderful . . . Margo Rabb has created nothing less than a women’s map of American mythologies, navigating from Emily Dickinson to Barbara Cartland, from the cowboys of the rodeos to the makeup studios of Hollywood, and from the bottom of the Atlantic to the spacious skies of the USA.” — E. Lockhart, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars

“A wonderful novel about friendship, love, travel, life, hope, poetry, intelligence and the inner lives of girls. Margo Rabb writes with compassion and clarity about lives that are worth telling, journeys that need to be taken, peace that needs to be reached. I loved it.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray Love

“That Margo Rabb can write a story so gorgeous, funny, and joyous that is also unsentimental and honest is a testament to her skill and to her heart. I loved everything about Eva and the supporting cast in this beautiful novel.” — Sara Zarr, author of The Lucy Variations

“Rabb eloquently gets grief right in this compassionate, perceptive, and poignant story, deftly leavened with irreverent humor, of a girl in conflict with her mother. Wise, inspiring, and ultimately uplifting-not to be missed.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“With a full cast of multidimensional characters, this novel explores the complex nature of relationships and the many faces of grief and love with equal parts humor and poignancy.” — School Library Journal

“A smart teen’s novel. [The] characters are authentic and complex. Rabb knows the perfect point to interject humor to diffuse a potentially devastating situation—a leavening of sorts to the reality that death and love inexplicitly alter the landscape of a person’s life.” — Booklist (starred review)

“In this indelible coming-of-age story, Rabb seamlessly weaves together multiple narratives. Sprinkled with the poetry Eva reads and writes, this story makes for a hilarious, thought-provoking, wrenching, and joyful quest.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Humor and depth . . . Often entertainingly snarky” — The Horn Book

“It is a marvel and I love every word of it: the carefully structured plot, the memorable characters, the wholly apposite style and tone. It is funny, sad, wistful, wise, and altogether memorable.” — Michael Cart

If you'd like to follow the tour, click on the banner above. This displays the full list of the blog tour schedule. Hope you like the book as much as I did! :)

2:42 PM
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Book in Review: Endgame: The Calling by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton

2014 publication

Title: Endgame: The Calling

Author: James Frey, Nils Johnson-Shelton

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: October 7th, 2014

Pages: Hardcover, 477 pages

Summary (via Goodreads):

Twelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created humanity and gave us rules to live by. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilizations to mine it for them. When they had what they needed, they left. But before they left, they told us someday they would come back, and when they did, a game would be played. A game that would determine our future.

This is Endgame.

For ten thousand years the lines have existed in secret. The 12 original lines of humanity. Each had to have a Player prepared at all times. They have trained generation after generation after generation. In weapons, languages, history, tactics, disguise assassination. Together the players are everything: strong, kind, ruthless, loyal, smart, stupid, ugly, lustful, mean, fickle, beautiful, calculating, lazy, exuberant, weak. They are good and evil. Like you. Like all.

This is Endgame.

When the game starts, the players will have to find three keys. The keys are somewhere on earth. The only rule of their Endgame is that there are no rules. Whoever finds the keys first wins the game. Endgame: The Calling is about the hunt for the first key. And just as it tells the story of the hunt for a hidden key, written into the book is a puzzle. It invites readers to play their own Endgame and to try to solve the puzzle. Whoever does will open a case filled with gold. Alongside the puzzle will be a revolutionary mobile game built by Google’s Niantic Labs that will allow you to play a real-world version of Endgame where you can join one of the lines and do battle with people around you.

Will exuberance beat strength? Stupidity top kindness? Laziness thwart beauty? Will the winner be good or evil? There is only one way to find out.

Play.
Survive.
Solve.
People of Earth.
Endgame has begun.

I have seen this book a lot whenever I go to bookstores and every time I do, I feel the strong urge to buy it, but for some reason, I never did. Until one night, midnight, in a sleepy haze, I decided to get it as an e-book. And I'm glad I did.

My initial thought when I read the summary was "Um, is this gonna be like The Hunger Games?", but after reading the book, I can honestly say that this was nothing like it. Let me also say that this book is definitely not for everyone. It's a bit too brutal for some people and the fact that there are so many characters and perspectives might not be enjoyable for some.

I was actually hoping that this book would be less objective of who it wanted the reader to want to win, if that made any sense. I wanted it to make you utterly confused as to who was gonna win, who you wanted to win, who deserved to win, so in that prospect the book failed. But, the book did not fail to make you sympathize with every single Player. It's like as soon as you got into their head, no matter how much you loathe them, you'll sympathize with them.

The plot of this book seems familiar, and yet strangely alien at the same time. It's a common story being rewritten and turned into something completely different. I did enjoy reading this book. I've been reading a lot of romance YA stuff that I didn't realize how much I actually missed stuff like this. The world building was great. The characters were amazing. The writing suited the story perfectly. Even though you could tell who was gonna win, there were still a lot of twists and surprises here, mainly with who dies and who doesn't. It was also able to capture the suddenness of death. How it could happen so quickly that you almost wouldn't register it, and then it hits you and you're left there standing, stunned at this sudden development. The ending of the book. Oh my God, the ending. I was a jumble of emotions, it was fantastically horrible and predictably surprising.

Despite the heavy plot, the book was surprisingly easy to read. The writing was simple, rather straight to the point. It was blunt, but had that subtlety and suspense to it that such a book needs. I was worried that because there would be 12 (maybe even 13) complex characters that you were supposed to relate to, this book would be a mess, I would be stressed out trying to find out who was who and what in the world was even happening, but that didn't happen. The writing was clean, I know every single one of the characters, and I could really connect to all of them. I know them all. I was actually rooting for one of the Players to win. Unfortunately, they didn't and they actually died which was a big blow, one that I certainly didn't expect.

The author was not afraid to kill off, or severely injure his characters. In fact, I get the feeling that he kinda likes doing so. That's not a bad thing though. I also love how even though there is a love triangle, that wasn't what the book revolved around, and it contributed to plot in some way. The characters are all strong, smart. They all have their special talents. They're all different although they're fighting for the same thing. All in all, this is a great book that isn't for everyone. If you want a unique book that is adventurous and challenging, but a bit brutal, give Endgame a try.

1:18 PM
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DIY Lip Scrubs! ♡

2015 diys

Another DIY! YAY!

Because of our Pinterest addiction lately, we thought of making some lip scrubs. If your lips have been dry for a while now, we now have the perfect solution for you. Again, the ingredients are very simple and most can be found at home. If you're interested in making one then here are the steps!

Option 1: Lush Inspired Lip Scrub

You will need:

Bowl

Measuring utensils: 1 tbsp and 1 tsp

1 teaspoon Olive Oil

1 tablespoon Honey

Optional: Food coloring of choice

Small containers

Optional: Petroleum Jelly

1 tablespoon sugar

Step 1:

Combine 1 tablespoon of honey and sugar in a small bowl.

Then, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of Petroleum Jelly and two to three drops of food coloring. Mix well.

Step 2:

Using your spoon, place the completed scrub inside the container. You can use a smaller spoon or a chopstick to help place it inside easier. Our scrub required two containers.

Step 3:

You're done! Just scrub it on your lips and feel extra moisturized!

Option 2: Vanilla Lip Scrub

This second scrub is based off of the first one, but we changed a couple of ingredients so that we could get this kinda vanilla-y and coconut-y scent while still being moisturizing.

We basically did everything that we did with the first scrub, aside from adding a little vanilla extract for scent. We also switched out the olive oil for coconut oil because coconut oil is very nourishing and smells really great, especially when it has that slight hint of vanilla. The amount of vanilla extract that you'll add depends on how strong you want your lip scrub to smell. We only added a little, around two drops, and it turned out really well, complementing the coconut smell. The portion of the coconut oil stays the same: 1tbsp because we don't want to deviate from the original recipe too much in fear of the scrub becoming too liquid-y. Also, we're telling you guys now not to make too much since a little goes a really long way with these scrubs. We already tried it out and it works well and laves your lips feeling great. They make you want to eat them too! :)

Hope you liked this DIY! If you ever had the chance to try them, don't forget to show us at twitter! (@GeekyChiquitas)

5:07 PM
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DIY Puffy Paint Bracelets

bracelets

Add some color to your life by trying out these puffy paint bracelets! It's super easy to make plus the materials are easy to find! You might even have them at home already.

Here's how to make them!

Materials You Need:

Multiple colors of puffy paint, string, ziplock (you can put paper inside for stability), toothpick and scissors

Option 1: Straight Lines

Step 1:

Draw a line and make it as straight as possible using a light-colored puffy paint. Make sure to place the line relatively in the middle so that you'll have space on both sides for the string and extra paint.

Step 2:

Place the string on the line.

Step 3:

Choose 2 or more colors then just draw vertical lines continuously in alternating colors.

Step 4:

Once you're done, clean any smears or imperfections in your work using a toothpick.

Step 5:

Drag your toothpick on both sides from top to bottom.

Step 6:

You're done! All you have to do is to let it dry for 24-48 hours untouched, and you can start wearing it.

Option 2: Circles

Do Steps 1&2

Step 3:

Pick out at least three colors and bear in mind that one of them will be used for the interlocking hearts and not the circles. After this start drawing the circles.

Step 4:

Clean any imperfections with the bracelet. Don't worry about there being a lot of mistakes because you can always fix them since the paint takes quite a long time to dry.

Step 5:

Use the last color of puffy paint and draw smaller dots on top of every circle.

Step 6:

Drag your toothpick down the middle of the bracelet, through the lines that the dots make. If there are any more imperfections just keep on fixing them with the toothpick, but don't forget to make sure that you take away any remaining paint on the toothpick so that you don't make a mess.

Step 7:

You're done! Don't forget to let it dry for 24-48 hours before using it.

Here's the final look!!

If you try these out, don't forget to tag us on twitter (@GeekyChiquitas)! We hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have fun making your own. :)

3:32 PM
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GCQ Travels: Bicol

audrey

We are in Bicol! Ok, not the three of us but Beryl and Auds. Kimi is currently in Taiwan which is why she couldn't come here. This vacation might be quite long, but we're planning to do a lot of things to make it really fun. We'll be blogging most of these things for you guys, but not all of the things that we will blog about will be about books. We might do a couple of DIYs or just fun experiences that we wanted to share with you.

Since we arrived here, we've already done a lot of things. We'll be sharing to you the highlights of our trip so far.