Hello there you guys,
it’s been a while and a lot has happened since I’ve written a blog post. I hope you’re all healthy, are wearing your masks in public spaces and protecting each other.
Here’s to a better 2021, let’s get that vaccination in and hug friends again once this damn pandemic is over. Don’t lose hope. Escape into books, do things with your hands. I’ve actually started knitting and crocheting, if you want to see my journey on that, check out my Instagram account.
Until next year.
Good evening from Germany! So, it’s been quite some time since my last post and I did promise you guys to make the follow up post for the book edition of my most anticipated releases. It’s a bit late, but at least I’m writing it now.
(Disclaimer: all descriptions and cover pictures are taken from goodreads.)
Anyway, I’ll keep this short, these are the books that I’m most interested in this year:
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (January 30th, 2020)
Description:
Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”
Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother’s tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.
The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu (March 3rd, 2020)
Description:
Two siblings. Two brilliant talents. But only one Mozart.
Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has just one wish–to be remembered forever. But even as she delights audiences with her masterful playing, she has little hope she’ll ever become the acclaimed composer she longs to be. She is a young woman in 18th century Europe, and that means composing is forbidden to her. She will perform only until she reaches a marriageable age–her tyrannical father has made that much clear.
And as Nannerl’s hope grows dimmer with each passing year, the talents of her beloved younger brother, Wolfgang, only seem to shine brighter. His brilliance begins to eclipse her own, until one day a mysterious stranger from a magical land appears with an irresistible offer. He has the power to make her wish come true–but his help may cost her everything.
In her first work of historical fiction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu spins a lush, lyrically-told story of music, magic, and the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister.
Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore (January 14th, 2020)
Description:
Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicion turns toward Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves.
Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes seal to Rosella Oliva’s feet, making her dance uncontrollably. They draw her toward a boy who knows the dancing fever’s history better than anyone: Emil, whose family was blamed for the fever five hundred years ago. But there’s more to what happened in 1518 than even Emil knows, and discovering the truth may decide whether Rosella survives the red shoes.
With McLemore’s signature lush prose, Dark and Deepest Red pairs the forbidding magic of a fairy tale with a modern story of passion and betrayal.
Loveless by Alice Oseman (July 9th, 2020)
Desciption:
The fourth novel from the phenomenally talented Alice Oseman – one of the most authentic and talked-about voices in contemporary YA.
Georgia feels loveless – in the romantic sense, anyway. She’s eighteen, never been in a relationship, or even had a crush on a single person in her whole life. She thinks she’s an anomaly, people call her weird, and she feels a little broken. But she still adores romance – weddings, fan fiction, and happily ever afters. She knows she’ll find her person one day … right?
After a disastrous summer, Georgia is now at university, hundreds of miles from home. She is more determined than ever to find love – and her annoying roommate, Rooney, is a bit of a love expert, so perhaps she can help.
But maybe Georgia just doesn’t feel that way about guys. Or girls. Or anyone at all. Maybe that’s okay. Maybe she can find happiness without falling in love. And maybe Rooney is a little more loveless than she first appears.
LOVELESS is a journey of identity, self-acceptance, and finding out how many different types of love there really are. And that no one is really loveless after all.
As you can see, two of the four books have already been released (and I haven’t bought them yet. Shame on me.) Are you interested in these books, or even already read one?
Happy new year and happy (late) wednesday! It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me. [Insert speech about how it’s been last year, when I last talked to you guys. Ha ha.]
Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something a little different than what you read in the middle of the year – if you hear from me at all – I know I’ve been very absent the past 15 months or so, probably more. So let’s dive into my most anticipated music releases happening this year!
The ones I’m most excited about are:
Anti-Flag with 20/20 Vision, set to be released on January 17th, so on Friday! I’ve already preordered it and am waiting (im)patiently for it to arrive. I need some more punk in my life. So far it’s safe to say, that Anti-Flag will take the cake this year. No matter how much I love Metal (especially prog, folk and symphonic) and some other amazing genres, like Industrial or Alt/Indie, Punk will always be my home and something that manages to make me feel better, no matter how dark and dusty the day might seem.
Breaking Benjamin with Aurora, set to be released on January 24th, that’s just a week after Anti-Flag and I am *pumped*. These guys have been guarding my ears from bad music, since I discovered where my heart laid, and that pop music was barely something I could deal with, most of the time. They also held me company, when I first fell into the depression hole. Here’s to my emo guys! Bring me new food (aka music). Continue reading “My most anticipated releases in 2020 – Music Edition”
Helloooo!
Halloween is over, November started and we’re slowly inching towards winter. This means that the Sims-a-thon Number 2 has ended and I’m here to quickly share the books I read!
As you can see I read 4 Mangas! Which is the first time my eyes ever locked onto the pages of a Manga without losing interest within seconds. Without the readathon, I probably wouldn’t have started reading Mangas anytime soon, even though I’ve been wanting to pick up Citrus ever since my boyfriend told me the story was really good and I saw that I actually liked the artwork. Anyway. Here’s my stats and which book helped me complete which challange!
Create a sim: 5 points. Citrus #1
Build a house: 2 of 3 points, since I had already read 1/3 before the readathon. MacBest
Perfect the layout: 2 points. Citrus #2
Interior design: 2 points. Citrus #3
Fall in love: 3 points. After Hours #1
Total Books: 4.75
Total Pages: 947
Total Points: 14!
That’s it from me for today, I just finished my homework and will get back to reading! See you all in the next post. Be happy and healthy, everyone. Bye!
This will be quite hard to write, as the possibility of this being very public and seen by a lot of people exists, and I have still not recovered from what has been going on the past year. I’ll keep it as short and understandable as possible, but please understand that I will not give out more detail about this; than I am about to type right now. If I ever do feel like specifying, then I will do so myself. Any comprehension issues I’m happy to answer, though! Let’s start with the “easy, normal” stuff. I got into my first relationship at the beginning of 2018. We had a wonderful time then, it ended just a short three months after. There’s really not much more to say about it. I drifted farther into depression and suicidal thoughts than ever before. It got… bad. Like, really bad. Looking back, I don’t know how I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Am I ashamed? No. Do I struggle laying this out without any point of protecting myself? Yeah, sort of. But I’ve started working on it, I’m taking medication, I’m going to therapy, I have a wonderful, loving boyfriend who is my rock when I need him. Before you ask, we got together just over a year ago. We both study computer science, but he’s almost done – whereas I basically am just starting.
University has been hard, really hard. It got worse after failing exams. I lost my hope and trust in being smart enough to get through it all. I lost energy and happiness due to depression. Struggled to just keep myself somewhat presentable, and act as if I was still a functioning human being. Inside… nothing was working. Continue reading “Where I’ve been and what happened (TW: depression, suicidal thoughts)”
Hey there everyone!
It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me but my life has been crashing in at a lot of edges and I was busy holding it together, while fixing what had to be fixed. I’m actually still debating whether or not I should make a blogpost about the last year (yeah, that’s how long it took, just to make plans for getting my sh*t together). Tell me your thoughts about if I should or not, if you’d like! If you want more private info before “voting”, just let me know as well. You can simply comment or message me on Twitter/Instagram (both @jasmine_lexa). Ps: I deleted my previous private Twitter and changed it over to my second one; if anyone was wondering about the name change.
Anyway, let’s get into the actual post. As none of you would know, I’m not really a gamer, but I’ve always loved playing Sims as a kid, so when I saw that there was a readathon being created just around exactly that game – I freaked out. It got me back into wanting to blog, actually. Besides having more brain capacity for everything that wasn’t fixing my messy life. The readathon has been created by a bunch of lovely bookish people, but I stumbled upon this over at Lauren’s blog. Continue reading “Sims-a-thon #2 (but my first)”
It’s been way too long since my last blog post but university, exams and organisatory problems got in the way, which had me feeling unmotivated and uninspired to read, let alone sit down and write a blog post. However, I’m missing you guys and writing all my thoughts about books and music down! (Peek my Travel the World page here, I’ve been traveling around Germany a little. If anyone wants to see pictures, leave a comment below!)
Alright, enough rambling, onto the Award which I’ve been nominated for (two?) years ago. (I’m terrible at keeping up with awards and tags, please have mercy *hides*.)
A gigantic thank you to Lauren over at Wonderless Reviews for awarding me with the Mystery Blogger Award. I’m sorry about how long it took me to write this. You’re the best! The Tag was created by Okoto Enigma. (Check her out if you want to read about fashion, lifestyle, travel and beauty.)
WHAT IS MYSTERY BLOGGER AWARD?
“Mystery Blogger Award” is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging; and they do it with so much love and passion. – Okoto Enigma
The rules:
3 things about myself:
Since it took me this long to actually write the post I’m leaving the nominations open instead of nominating. I hope that’s okay. Anyway, here’s to better months in the future in terms of blog posts!
Have a good day.
Hey guys!
It’s been a while since I’ve shared anything on here and I sort of have forgotten how to start and what to include in blog posts, so I’ll just write off the top of my head and share with you how amazing my first real festival was! This summer I’ve been to free of charge festivals like Ract! and KuRT. Then I spontaneously joined a group of friends to go to the Summer Breeze festival in southern Germany. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s one of the biggest metal festivals in Germany and I had tons of fun!
Here’s some impressions:
As you can see I got to meet annisokay and got the CD signed. I highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t yet! See below for their newest music video.
Here’s the bands I got to see over the course of the festival: Sirenia, annisokay, Saltatio Mortis, Beartooth, Alestorm, Feuerschwanz, Papa Roach, Carpenter Brut, Orden Ogan, j.b.o., Schandmaul, Behemoth, Powerwolf, Korpiklaani, Dirk Schneider and a few minutes of W.a.s.p. and Broken Teeth.
My highlights by far were annisokay, Beartooth, Carpenter Brut and Papa Roach. Sirenia, Powerwolf and Orden Ogan were a lot of fun as well. Dirk Schneider, W.a.s.p. and Broken Teeth didn’t cut it for me and I wouldn’t go to see any of them again but I saw a lot of other people having fun at their shows so if you like their records I’m sure you’d enjoy them live as well.
Have you been to a festival this year or maybe even Summer Breeze? Do you know any of these Bands? Let me know!
I think the hardest part about hurting is that it feels endless; like nothing will ever be right again and that you’ll always resemble a shattered version of yourself. On the flip side, happiness feels temporary, you’re expecting the good times to end. When you’re happy, truly happy, all the pain you’ve ever felt fades into nothing. You’re on top of the world, invincible, strong, it’s as if you could move not only mountains – but galaxies. Maybe this is why we suffer in silence, consumed by the expectation to not be okay. To look forward means ignoring the obstacles. To heal means welcoming happiness into your life before it has arrived. The possibility of getting hurt shouldn’t overshadow your chance to be happy.
Series Letters To The Lost (can be read as a standalone)
Genre YA, Contemporary, Romance
Expected Publication March 6th 2018
Edition eARC
ISBN 1681190141
From the author of Letters to the Lost comes a heart-wrenching story of two teens with big secrets and a love that could set them free.
Rev Fletcher is battling the demons of his past. But with loving adoptive parents by his side, he’s managed to keep them at bay…until he gets a letter from his abusive father and the trauma of his childhood comes hurtling back.
Emma Blue spends her time perfecting the computer game she built from scratch, rather than facing her parents’ crumbling marriage. She can solve any problem with the right code, but when an online troll’s harassment escalates, she’s truly afraid.
When Rev and Emma meet, they both long to lift the burden of their secrets and bond instantly over their shared turmoil. But when their situations turn dangerous, their trust in each other will be tested in ways they never expected. This must-read story will once again have readers falling for Brigid Kemmerer’s emotional storytelling.
Big thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Note: I have not read Letters To The Lost before picking this one up. Extra note: I plan on catching up with LTTL, because I *need* to know Declan’s story as well.
It’s always hard to think about where to start writing the review of a book, especially when you’ve read it over a long period of time. It might have taken me Dec ’17 all through to Feb ’18 to finish MTWCT, but that’s all due to university and exam season swallowing all of my free time. Even a night owl like me needs a bit of sleep, alongside squeezing in the gym and time with friends, reading came a bit short. Anywayyy, let’s get into the review, shall we?
PS: have your favorite payment method ready, because I bet you’ll pre-order this novel after finishing this review.
The first chapter throws you right into what Emma has to deal with; online harassment. Starting off this way, immediately picking up one of the issues that will wind themselves through the book, is a great way to grab my attention and make me keep reading. If you’re in a reading slump, MTWCT is a great way to pull you out of it! Continue reading “Review: More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer”
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