Nikki Reads and Reviews

Welcome to Nikki Reads! This is the sideblog were I talk about all of the books I read and films or tv shows that I watch. There will be formal reviews as well as small updates or any thoughts I have as I read/watch things. I hope you guys enjoy reading my reviews, and maybe you'll even find new things to read or watch! This blog is not spoiler free. I will be talking about significant aspects of the books or media that I review.

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Books I Want to Read in April

I didn’t have a great reading month last month, and to be honest it’s probably because of IT. Great story but it demands a lot of emotion and time from the reader. I don’t know how this month is going to go so I’m not putting a lot on the list cuz who knows? I might be in a book slump after I finally finish IT.

Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden A List of Cages by Robin Roe

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March Wrap Up

I didn’t feel necessarily book-slumpy this month, but it certainly didn’t help that I was trying to finish IT and wasn’t really sure what I wanted to read when I wasn’t reading that. Therefore I did not have the best month as far as reading goes, but it could have definitely been worse.

I still haven’t finished IT though. I will finish it in April dammit.

Dracula by Bram Stoker Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu Hunter’s Heart by J.D. Tyler Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

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March Book Haul

I bought a lot of books this month, and I don’t really feel bad about that. Project Five isn’t really working out for me since I read quite a bit from the library so I’m reading and reading but they’re not books I own so I’m not supposed to buy any new books, and I’m done with that. I will try to moderate my book buying but I won’t be doing Project Five anymore.

Physical Books: Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs Missing You by Harlan Coben How To Be a Bawse by Lilly Singh Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone - Illustrated edition by J.K. Rowling The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich Trust Me, I’m Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh All the Truth That’s In Me by Julie Berry Binti by Nnedi Okorafor Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan Dracula - Puffin Classics edition by Bram Stoker Fairest by Marissa Meyer Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Ebooks: A Criminal Defense by William L. Meyers Jr.

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Gemina by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

★★★★★

Ohmygosh this series keeps getting better and better!

I loved the new setting of a jump station; there are more things to play with like gravity and the fact that there are ships that our characters can hide in or use, and there are different problems for our characters could go through. 

I was a little sad that we didn’t have Ezra and Kady to follow around anymore because I love them, but the new characters were good. I really liked their banter with one another, although I have to say that it took me awhile to get behind them as a couple. If you’ve read the book you know why. 

Ella was my absolute favourite of the new characters. She was such a sassy little hacker. I loved her witty banter with both Nik and Hanna, not to mention the fact that she was physically disabled but still such a boon to their success. She had great computer skills, and would have been an amazing ally to Kady, if she’d made it.

I really loved the fact that our three characters worked together to basically dessimate this squad of professional killers that have come into their home. They were assholes and they underestimated our guys and they paid for it dearly.

The whole bridge to two dimensions thing was pretty far out although, it was also really cool. And kinda broke my heart as we followed our heroes through everything.

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xXx: Return of Xander Cage

★★★★☆

This action packed, awesome sequel was directed by D.J. Caruso. It stars Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu, Ruby Rose, Nina Dobrev, Ice Cube, and Samuel L. Jackson.

THIS WAS FUCKING AWESOME. We watched it in IMAX 3D and it was so cool. I was beyond ready to get Xander back as xXx because the first one was so fantastic. 

I definitely was disappointed and annoyed that we repeated the whole “The things I’m gonna do for my country” thing because well, it’s gross. Women are not things, and I don’t enjoy the fact that it’s in there to make Xander look super cool and like a stud. It’s not needed.

The actions scenes were awesome, and very much in line with what we know of the xXx program, because the stunts are insane. I really enjoyed the first stunt that starts the movie off, because it was cool and hilarious. He stole that item so everyone could watch the football game and not miss anything.

The new characters we were introduced to were amazing. The ladies were my favourites honestly. Ruby and Deepika are such badass ladies and just, loves of my life now. We finally have female xXx agents and I was so ready for it. Donnie Yen was utterly fantastic as always; this man is just such a great actor and stuntman. Kris Wu was adorable in my opinion, and I wanted to keep him in my pocket.

I feel like the focus on how great these new characters are kind of diminished how badass Xander is in his own right. He kind of took a backseat because we had to show that these characters were just as crazy and dangerous as he was. Like I still enjoyed all of the stunts and such with everyone, but I do feel like Xander suffered a little. 

I did also see Gibbons being alive from the very beginning - they’d already done it in State of the Union after all. Also we can’t get rid of the leader of this band of misfits. I can see the appeal of faking his own death since the xXx program has been liquidated and they tried to kill EVERYONE.

With the ending being what it was, we’re obviously going to get at least one other film after this, and I’m completely okay with that. I’m excited to see what happens with these characters since literally the whole world is against them now.

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Top Five Books I Felt Betrayed By

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme/tag hosted by Samantha where every week book readers across all platforms share their list of Top 5 books/characters/genres, etc. it all depends on the topic for that week. If you’d be interested in joining T5W you can find the group on Goodreads.

This week’s topic is about the books that stabbed us in the back, in one way or another. This could be little things that you really wanted to happen/not happen and the book went the other way, or things that changed your entire outlook on the novel or characters as a whole. They hurt us, and we’re gonna talk about them. These are in no order.

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

How could this novel not be on here when we’re talking about betrayals? The character betrayal is one thing, I always thought he would end up being evil, but how he betrays the characters and us readers is unforgivable. It's just infuriating because we were told over and over again that things were going to be okay, and they turned out to be so not okay.

2. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Here’s another one where I really should have seen the betrayal coming, but I didn’t. I really liked the character that ended up ripping my heart out over the other character option presented to us; I wanted to badly for the two of them to be awesome together, and then he just ruined everything. And honestly I was betrayed by Mare too. She should have been more cautious; she knows nothing about this world of politics and is just, blindly trusting and mistrusting people all over the place.

3. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

This was not a character betrayal (woo!) but a situation in which I felt betrayed. I had a set ending that I wanted to happen; it would have been utterly fantastic if it had ended that way, but it didn’t. The ending was nice, and I thought it was okay, but dammit my ending would have been awesome.

4. Soundless by Richelle Mead

This novel betrayed me before I even read it. I was super excited to get this in my Owlcrate subscription box, because the premise sounded great. Then I started hearing reviews and my expectations were lowered, a lot. And this book still managed to make me so angry. It’s not at all what it’s advertised as content-wise, and the representation within it, is almost nonexistent past names of characters, and a few descriptions.

5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

This book betrayed me left and right while I was reading it. Every few chapters someone was dying, or things were getting fucked up, characters I had loved were turning into assholes, not to mention all of the people I loved were dying. The ending was kind of sweet but totally not what I thought it would be as well. I just felt let down and betrayed on an emotional level.

And because that’s not enough, have a bonus entry:

6. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

This book... I’d like to set this book on fire. But I can’t, because my sister is reading the series to see why I’m still so pissed off at it. The characters I have loved throughout the series are acting entirely out of character, the plot just keeps getting weirder and even more weak as things go on, there is so much petty “I’m better than you because xyz”, and THEN, WE HAVE THE ENDING. Complete and total cop-out on Veronica’s part because I guarantee you she figured out how much a fuckup she did with our couple that she’d have no idea how to even begin to either fix what went on between them, or even deal with it in general. So we have the ending, and it is terrible.

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Most Anticipated Books and Films || Spring 2017

This is admittedly a bit late for me to put this up although, it’s not that far into March just yet. There are so many films that I am excited to see that are coming out in the next six months that I have no idea when I’ll have the time to see them! I’ll try my hardest to see them in a timely fashion and get a review up.

Books!

03/07 Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs This is not only an auto-buy for me, it’s one of my most anticipated books of the year. I love this series and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. We’ve ended up in Europe and I’m so excited to see new characters since we’ve been in America for the rest of the series.

03/14 Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde The premise of the novel sounds really cool and like a lot of fun. I’m always up for nerdy books, not to mention this has a neuro-diverse character which I don’t think I’ve ever read about, so I’m excited for that.

03/28 Radio Silence by Alice Oseman The synopsis for this is pretty vague in regards to telling the reader what to expect but, that’s strangely okay. I enjoy the vibe and mood thati get from what they do tell us, as well as the cover, so I’ll hopefully be reading this soon.

03/28 Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor I’m excited for this, you’re probably excited for this, everyone has so much hype for this book. I’ve already preordered my special UK edition and it will be arriving in the mail, and I’m so excited.

04/11 Unearthly Things by Michelle Gagnon The synopsis for this is giving me all the creepy vibes and I’m so ready to read it. I’m actually reading a novel right now that also involves a family with old money and a ton of secrets so I hope these might be similar.

05/02 The Black Witch by Laurie Forest This has magic and witches and probably everything I love that involves those two things. It seems to take place partly in a school setting which is something I love to read about as well. I’m just really looking forward to getting back into reading witch books, because I’ve been missing them.

05/09 Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy Oh boy guys. This book has not only a female main character, but they're bisexual as well. And they’re not being demonized? Sign me up right now please, I need this book.

05/16 The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich The summary for this sounds really interesting because there’s teenage espionage, high stakes, and I absolutely love the fact that the main motive is to get close to people and manipulate them into learning their secrets. Not to mention whichever boy she doesn’t pick apparently dies? Um, YES.

05/30 One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus This sounds so great. It harkens back to Breakfast Club with the types of people being in detention, except one of them ends up dying by the time detention is over. I love books and films that have kind of a “locked room” who-dun-it vibe. I’m really looking forward to it.

Films!

03/03 Logan It’s the end and I’m both sad and happy about it. Hugh has had a great run as Logan/Wolverine and I will forever love this character but, it’s time for something new. I know I’ll probably be crying the entire time.

03/10 Kong: Skull Island How could I not be looking forward to this? It’s Kong, and a plethora of other creatures who are trying to kill these idiots who came to the island in the first place.

03/24 Life We’ve found extraterrestrial life, and it honestly looks like some kind of bacteria. But it’s still trying to kill us. Probably because we’re terrible and violent on a whole. But anyways, it’s aliens in space trying to kill us, and some of my favorite actors are in it, so I’m looking forward to it.

04/14 Fate of the Furious Um, I’m trash for this series, obviously. I’m going to watch this although, I will be honest and say that I have no idea what the fuck is going on but, I’m gonna find out. Charlize is also in this, which is great because I love her.

04/14 The Lost City of Z This looks like a horror movie, which means I’m going to see it because I love those. This also has Charlie Hunnam in it, who I love and adore, so that’s a bonus. The trailer doesn’t tell us too much but I’m excited anyway.

05/05 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 I am literal trash for this franchise and these characters. I love them so much; they might be my favorite ensemble. I’m excited for the sequel as well because BABY GROOT, who’s utterly adorable in all honesty.

05/12 King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword This is all about Arthurian legends, which I am trash for. I watch a lot of films and tv series about them, even if they’re kinda bad, because there’s so much open for interpretation and I love seeing what people think happened.

05/19 Everything, Everything I enjoyed the book version of this, and I’m pretty excited to see it on the big screen, even though I’ll know what happens. I am excited to see if I end up crying at the film like I did in the book.

05/26 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Let’s behonest: I am also trash for this franchise and will watch however many films they make. I grew up watching these films and I’m going to see them to the end, because people don’t make enough pirate movies.

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Books I Want To Read in March

This month is a lot more relaxed than usual. I only have a few books that I know I’m going to read, everything else is super mood reading.

Finish IT by Stephen King

Hunter’s Heart by J.D. Tyler One Pink Line by Dina Silver Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan The Love That Spilt the World by Emily Henry Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

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February Wrap Up

This was a rather great reading month for me, even though I didn’t read exactly everything I set out to get done. I still enjoyed most of these novels, and I’m even starting to read my ebooks more, which is great because I have a lot of books on there.

Saga vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith Saga vol 2 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples Incantion by Alice Hoffman Saga vol 3 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples Saga vol 4 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples Saga vol 5 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead Nevernight by Jay Kristoff Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan Deliver Her by Patricia Perry Donovan

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February Book Haul

Physical Books: The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, via library book sale Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton, via library book sale Eternally Yours by Cate Tiernan, via library book sale Uprooted by Naomi Novik, via library book sale

Ebooks: The Line by J.D. Horn Only the Truth by Adam Croft 

Audiobooks: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw IT by Stephen King

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Diverseathon Wrap Up

This readathon did not go quite as I had planned. I had quite a few moments where I couldn’t read because I was doing family/friend things, which were great, don’t get me wrong, but didn’t leave me a lot of time to read as I was usually tired afterwards. That and work always seems to get busier when I have readathons going on. Nonetheless I am pretty happy with what I managed to read, even if I did finish only one book.

The book that I read was If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan. It was a very ineresting book, I’ll give you that. I was thinking about the characters and plot of the novel quite a bit. I just didn’t quite love it. I gave it 3 stars.

I managed to read135 pages of The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and this book is so good. The writing is fantastic and I’m sucked into the story.

I got through 129 pages of More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera and I’m feeling so many emotions so far. I know this will probably make me cry.

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Books I Want To Read in February

Finish Nevernight by Jay Kristoff Finish The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Finish The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

IT by Stephen King Unicorns: The Myths, Legends, & Lore by Skye Alexander Incantation by Alice Hoffman The Love That Spilt the World by Emily Henry The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

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January Wrap Up

This was a really great reading month for me! I read ten books, which is an awesome start to the year, and I hope I can keep it up going forward.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Ash by Malinda Lo Replica by Lauren Oliver My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

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January Book Haul

Physical Books: IT by Stephen King History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera RoseBlood by A.G. Howard

Ebooks: Paper Princess by Erin Watt Palm Trees in the Snow by Luz Gabás The Trapped Girl by Robert Dugoni via Goodreads giveaway Her Final Breath by Robert Dugoni

Audiobooks: Good As Gone by Amy Gentry

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Penelope

★★★★☆

This utterly adorable, and possibly my new favourite rom-com was directed by Mark Palansky. It stars Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant, and Reese Witherspoon.

This movie was so sweet and adorable. The premise of the daughter of a witch being spurned by a man and then killing herself, therefore causing the witch to curse his family for generations that the first born girl would have the face of a pig until one of their own fell in love with her was fantastically whimsical. As far as curses go, his family honestly got off light. Until Penelope’s mother fakes her death because she doesn’t want anyone to know what her daughter looks like.

But anyways, back to our main character, the first born daughter of this family. I loved Penelope because she’s just so sweet and has such a bright soul, and honestly she is tired of her mother trying to find her a husband to break this curse of hers. Not that this is that much of a curse; Penelope looks fucking adorable with a pig nose.

Everyone else seems disgusted by her. Well, at least her potential suitors do, since they run whenever they see her. Her mother is hell bent on getting her a husband and breaking the curse, and I could tell her father loved his daughter in his own way, but had been told so many times it was his fault that he has a very abrupt personality.

Enter Johnny/Max, who gets wrapped up in this whole thing because he needs the money this sleazebag reporter and Edward (the latest potential suitor) are offering for a photo of her. He’s played by James McAvoy and is also super adorable in every way. He and Penelope get along great and he doesn’t actually seem to mind her little pig nose; he even smashes the camera containing the picture of her because he doesn’t want to exploit her. He’s however, not a high-born man and cannot break the curse, so he disappears from her life, even though he quite likes her.

There’s a bunch of other stuff that happens in the movie, but basically Penelope runs away from her overbearing family and ends up as a bit of a celebrity when her picture comes to light (that she sells to the papers herself.) Thanks to her mother and Edward’s father, she almost has to marry him as a last attempt to break the curse, but Penelope runs off and proclaims that she likes the way she looks, thus breaking the curse herself. I wish her parents had been actual parents and loved their daughter because none of this would have had to happen, but I digress.

This paves the way for her to move out of her parents house with the help of some new friends she’s made, become a teacher, and eventually find Johnny again, and they end up kissing. It was a fantastic end to a beautiful movie.

Penelope is all about loving yourself and not caring what anyone (even your parents!) think of how you dress, or the way you look. I utterly loved it.

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Diverseathon WTR

This readathon takes place between January 22 to January 29. It’s hosted by the amazing Christina, Simon, Joce, and Monica. You can find more info on discussions and such on the Diversathon twitter.

I’m so excited for this readathon because it promotes reading diverse books, which is one of my goals this year. Also it just seems awesome with the hosts and everything. There are no challenges although, there is an optional group book to read. 

These are the books I want to read: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

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Booknerd walking past a bookstore

Booknerd: I have self-control

Inside booknerds head: You should go in there

Booknerd: *slowly turns around*

Inside booknerds head: it's warmer inside and you're super cold

Booknerd: But I don't have time, I have things to do-

Inside booknerds head: shhhhhh

Booknerd: I have responsibilities-

Inside booknerds head: shhhhh those things are stupid

Booknerd: You make some valid points

Inside booknerds head: well it was actually just one-

Booknerd: shhhhhhh

*goes inside*