A Quarrel Called by Shannon Wendtland Blog Tour

       

I'm lucky enough to be able to do participate in the A Quarrel Called blog tour. Check out the other stops on the tour.

Title: A Quarrel Called
Author: Shannon Wendtland
Publisher: a Crossed Arrows Title
Release Date: June 20th 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Goodreads | Amazon |
Synopsis: "The Sage, The Guardian, The Lantern, The Light – together we four are Stewards of the Plane, a Quarrel.

G. is the Guardian; he’s developed a strong protective instinct and a kickass sword of light that can chase away the baddies like nobody’s business.

Sam is the Lantern; his dreams shed light on possible futures – he’s always had dreams, but now he sees where we’re going and how far, and it scares the crap out of him.

Tara is the Sage; as our resident mystic, she can commune with the Akashic records: the big data warehouse in the sky. She can get information on anywhere, anywhen, if only she can learn to ask the right questions.

And me, I’m Melody, I’m the Light. I can channel the earth’s energy and according to Gramps, I can stabilize a vortex. It’s a good thing, too, or else we would be in a lot of trouble.

Before the summer started, we were a bunch of normal teenagers getting ready for our senior year in high school. By the time summer was over, we’d fought and won battles, lost friends and saved the world (except for that time when we made it worse).

This is our story. We wrote it all down; that way when it happens to you, when you're called to be a Steward of the Plane - a member of a quarrel, you'll know what to do.

**This book is told in first person from four alternating character viewpoints."

A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Pages: 416
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
Publication Date: 05-05-2015
Average Rating: 4.30
Add to Goodreads
Synopsis: "When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever"

Twenty One Pilots Book Tag

Twenty One Pilots is one of my favorite bands and guess what Lefty from the Left Handed Book Lover created a tag and I'm so excited to be able to do it. Here is the Twenty One Pilots Book Tag

The Pantaloon-A Book Set in A Different Period

"You have learned

way too soon;

you should never trust pantaloons"

Clockwork Angel
This is the book that got me addicted Cassandra Clare. I love everything about this book and series. Cassandra Clare's writing really drags you into the world. The characters make reading this series so much more enjoyable and the romance is like the topping on the cake. Clockwork Princess' ending is just perfect.

Addicted with a Pen: A series you wish that had more books

"I'm only at it again as an addict with a pen."

Fabelhaven

It seems just like yesterday that I was finishing the last book to this series. It actually has been six years since I read any Brandon Mull books. I just remember wanting more and wanting my ship to happen. Bandon Mull should make a spin off series where the characters are older and then my ship can happen. I actually just really want more of this world.

Ride- A Book that took a long time to finish

"I'm falling so I'm taking my time on my ride

Into the Wild
It took me a month to finish this book and that's all I have to say.

House of Gold-A book with gold on the cover
"She asked me, 'Son, when I grow old,

Will you buy me a house of gold?

And when your father turns to stone,

Will you take care of me?'

I will make you queen of everything you see,

I'll put you on the map,

I'll cure you of disease."

Clockwork Prince

This is the second book in the Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare. I love this series and need to reread and experience Will Herondale all over again.

Tear In My Heart - A book that has a really great romance

"She's the tear in my heart, I'm alive,

She's the tear in my heart, I'm on fire,

She's the tear in my heart, Take me higher,

Than I've ever been."

Throne of Glass
Do I have to say anything about this? It is Sarah J. Maas that's all being stated.

Ode To Sleep - A book that you stayed up all night reading

"I'll stay awake,

'Cause the dark's not taking prisoners tonight."

Champion

I loved this series and I really need to re-read it soon. I stayed up about two hours passed the time I should be sleeping to wake up for school in the morning. I really want more of this world and series. Just to know the Day and June happened. I have yet to read the Young Elites, but I hope to get to my hands on this within the year. 

Fake You Out - A book with an ending you didn't see coming

"And I'll fall down

And I'll break down

And I'll fake you out

All I wanna"

Allegiant
All I have to say is why?

Not Today - A book you keep putting off reading

"Heard you say, 'not today,'

Tore the curtains down, windows open now, make a sound,

Heard your voice, 'there's no choice,'

Tore the curtains down, windows open now, make a noise."

Lady Midnight

I need to read this. I been putting it off for months now and I feel so bad. I love Cassandra Clare and all of her books. I absolutely can't wait to continue to reading about this world. I heard fantastic things about the book. I have no clue why I haven't read this book yet, maybe I don't want to wait for the next book?

I hope you guys enjoy this post. I had fun time making it. I'm so glad there is a Twenty-One Pilots book tag out there. I encourage you guys to go listen to them. Especially their new song for the Sucide Squad track, Heathens.  Remember keep looking for you Once Upon A Time.

An Open Letter to Authors

Dear Authors,

If you are reading this right now that means you actually clicked on my tweet. It still surprises me that I can post something and people actually read it, that I can connect to authors on a daily basis. You don't know who I am and probably never heard of my blog, but that's okay. I don't care if you know who I am because I know your books either mean the world to me or I still have to discover it. You guys work really hard every day to bring us wonderful books and I appreciate that so much. I wish you would know how much your books mean to me on or how much books mean to me in general. I can honestly say that your helped a girl who has very few friends find friends within your story. You helped a girl who had trouble finishing what she started finish something. You helped a girl who with anxiety and depression escaped her world and travel to another world. You helped a girl's imagination grow. You helped her find a community with people who loved reading just as much as does. You helped her discover book blogging. You helped her discover that she wanted to become an author just like you.  I'm 110% sure that I'm not the only one you helped.

Finding out that there is such a thing as a book blog was amazing not only can I connect with other people, but I can help out you authors. I can review your books and help someone else find out your book. It is a cool concept if you think about it, everyone in the bookish community helps each other out, even if we don't realize it.Anytime I speak to an author I always say I love being able you out because without you we wouldn't have a bookish community without you. I'm not sure how much you guys get thanked for writing, but thanks. Thanks for everything you have done and everything you will done.

From an avid reader,
Cheyenne
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I know this isn't a post that I normally would do, but I thought it was worth it. Also want to say thanks to the all the followers and bloggers out there. I love being able to have a chance to help someone find a new favorite book. If I can help someone discover reading and discover this world then its all worth it. I hope you guys enjoy reading this post I can't wait to see some reactions from this post. Thanks for reading, and remember keep searching for your Once Upon A Time.













        

Reviewing Books

      This topic of reviewing books has been rattling in my head for the past two weeks and I think its important that I talk about it because I do review books on a blog. I'm sure that many of you reading this post do the same. Also, I couldn't really find more posts about this topic and that was shocking. I'm not talking about how to structure a review because that's a different topic. What this post is all about is how frequent you post reviews, do you review every book, do you put bad reviews on your blog etc.

     I recently just posted a review on goodreads that was a DNF review. I'm personally weary about posting bad reviews or DNF reviews on my blog. Mostly, because I don't have much to say about the book and I don't want offend anyone. With these kind of the books, it is normally the same thing that I always throws me off; pacing, no character depth, no plot, or its just really confusing. At the same time I feel that as reviewers we shouldn't just not post the bad reviews, because reviews are suppose to help the author out. Of course there is always going to be those haters you will never like anything. As an author you have to expect to get critics on your writing. Reminding you, there is fine line between constructive criticism and being a jerk. I would never post a review bashing the author and saying how horrible they are. There's a simple fact, you can't please everyone's ta

   Another question I been thinking about how is how frequent do you post reviews? In theory you want to find a balance between discussion posts and reviews. So how do you know when you are posting too many reviews and not enough discussion posts or the other way around? Do you review every single book you read? I think eventually you would get a burned out from reviewing books. Should we asked ourselves questions before post a review? Like is the review something your proud of? Or is it just a filler post. Personally, I think everything you put out should be something you love.

   There is no right or wrong way to blog. You can give out tips and help others, but at the end of the day we are all different bloggers. I would really love to hear your thoughts about reviewing books. It's really interesting to see things from other people's point of views. Remember always keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.

The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Title: The Duff
Author: Kody Keplinger
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 01-13-2015
Publisher: Poppy
Ratings 3.88
Add to Goodreads
Synopsis: "Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper may not be the prettiest girl in her high school, but she has a loyal group of friends, a biting wit, and a spot-on BS detector. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. But things aren't so great at home and Bianca, desperate for a distraction, ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone"

When I first bought this book, I tried to read it, but I couldn't get into it. I think it was because I burned out from reading at the time. Over a year later I picked it up and finished it quickly and loved it. What would have made this book a five star book for me is the pacing is a little slow in the beginning and picks up around the fifth chapter. There was a lot of character development coming from the main character, Bianca. For me ,the whole point of story is to understand that everyone thinks badly about themselves.

This book is really real. I think a lot of people might feel that the plot line to be cheesy, especially in the synopsis. Yeah there are parts of the book where its super cheesy and overdone. For example, Bianca swears that she will never fall for Wesley, this basic sub-plot has been done over and over again. This works for the book because so many of the situations happen to people in real life. It deals with self-confidence, divorce, alcoholism. A teenager experiencing this can come to this book and build the connections with it. That will make the book mean so much more to the person.

Throughout our lives we grow and Bianca grows a lot, and becomes a better person in the end. In the beginning she's annoying and does blame all of her problems on someone else. I think deep down she is really afraid of falling in love and getting hurt. If she would have stayed this way throughout the book, I would have gone crazy. I also really enjoyed that we got to see the different side of Wesley, that wasn't shown in the school.

Overall, I had a fun time reading this book. It is a solid three star book. I'm sure as read more of Kody Keplinger that her books will get better and better. I would recommend this book to anyone because if you look over some of the flaws, then the message is worth it.  Have you read this book? What were your thoughts on it? Do you recommend any other of the author's books?A quick reminder is that I want to do a Q+A, and would love to see some of your questions. Remember always keeping searching for your Once Upon A Time.

25 Bookish Facts

         The whole concept of 25 Bookish Facts is to tell your followers 25 Bookish Facts about yourself. Since this is a fresh start to Once Upon A Time A Review, I thought this would be a perfect post to have on my blog. Let's jump right on in.

1. I used to hate reading books. I dreaded reading anything. In my old school they use to make you take these tests that told you what level of reading you should be at and I always got the lowest. That meant I couldn't check out any of the books that I really wanted to read. I was always stuck with Junie B. Jones and Magic Treehouse, which to be honest were amazing series to get kid into reading.
2. Several years later, I developed a problem with checking books out and never finishing them. It got so bad that my librarian refused to let check out any books without reading them first.  

3. Charlotte's Web was the first book I actually sat down and read the whole way through. After the ending, I was addicted to reading books. I wonder after all these years what I would think about this book now.

4. I used to be afraid of series and big chapter books. The books in this series aren't that big. It took me one month to finish the first book. I dedicate this series for getting be addict to reading series. Gosh I should reread this sometime.

5. During this time I hated Harry Potter because my only experience of the world was through the movies. I got to say I'm not a big fan of the movies, but out of the books I read they are far more superb.

6.  I love binge reading series. I mean who doesn't?

7. I disagree when people say Twilight is a love triangle. In Eclipse it clearly says that it was always Edward. The movie franchise just made it seem to be a love triangle to make more money.  

8. To go along with number with the whole Twilight thing fyi Jacob is a shape shifter not a werewolf. I have to say this all the time to my friends who haven't read the books.

9.  I don't read many stand-alones I prefer series.

10. I don't like short books because they don't last me. I read Breaking Dawn in three hours. I read the whole Divergent Trilogy in three days. I read the whole Percy Jackson series in a week. I'm not bragging here, but short books wouldn't even last me a day.

11. I'm really bad about updating my Goodread's status dealing with books.

12. I don't like To Kill Mocking Bird.

13. I don't like Romeo and Juliet.

14. I don't like the Mazerunner Series, but I love the movies.

15. I can't go to the library because I have to big of a fine.

16. I do not like the Percy Jackson movies they were a disgrace. Also the Divergent movie didn't put my favorite scene in the movie. Not all book to movie adaptions are horrible. The Fault in our Stars was great.

17. I watched the Twilight movie before I read the books. I did the same with If I Stay and I still haven't read that particular the book.

18.  I hate when people ask me what is your favorite book or author or series because that is an impossible question.

19. I used to hate using book marks because I'm really good at remembering where I leave off at, but my best friends mom got me some bookmarks and I been using them. I really want the magnetic ones.

20. I never stop in the middle of the chapter when I'm reading. I absolutely hate doing that. However there are a few occasions where I have to.

21. I get most of my reading down in the car. That's going to change since I will be driving soon.

22. I didn't really know how to read until second grade. Our school didn't really focus on reading until second grade. My parents bought me Dick and Jane and that's how I learned how to read.

23. I always used to make my mom read me Red Fish Blue Fish One Fish Two Fish by Dr.Suess. It goes  something like that.

24.I remember this one time where our teacher made us write simple sentences. All the kids, but me did this. I wrote a compound sentence. This isn't completely bookish.

25. My favorite book in a series is the last book. I also love cliffhangers too.

There you have it 25 Bookish Facts About Me.

I tag these three lovely bloggers.

Rachel@ Coffee&Calligraphy

Victoria@ Addlepates and Book Nerds

Cari and Haley@ My Addiction: Books

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. What's one thing that is interesting about you? Remember keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.

Night by Elie Wisel

Title: Night

Author: Elie Wiesel

Pages: 115
Publisher: Hill and Wang
Release Date: January 16th 2006
Rating 4.28 Stars
Add to Goodreads
Synopsis: "Night is a work by Elie Wiesel about his experience with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944–1945, at the height of the Holocaust and toward the end of the Second World War. In just over 100 pages of sparse and fragmented narrative, Wiesel writes about the death of God and his own increasing disgust with humanity, reflected in the inversion of the father–child relationship as his father declines to a helpless state and Wiesel becomes his resentful teenage caregiver.

Penetrating and powerful, as personal as The Diary Of Anne Frank, Night awakens the shocking memory of evil at its absolute and carries with it the unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again"

  I didn't think I was going to enjoy reading Night. Most require school reading doesn't really work for me, I always struggle reading these kind of books. However, reading Night I was surprised on how much how I enjoyed it. It could because it was a memoir and I love reading memoirs. Or it could be the fact that the writing was really beautifully done. I have so much to discuss about this book and the way it made me feel.

 In a person's life, I believe there is always going to be a certain books that really hit you. That make you feel, think, and understand things. This book is one of those books. Just reading the description on the back of the book it's really hard to understand that something this horrific actually happened. That person's solution to solving one's problem is eliminating the inferior people. It makes me feel disgusted at mankind because they acted like they had no humanity. I don't want to say that it's sad because its beyond the point of the being sad.

 I mention this before, but his writing was really beautifully done. As I was reading this I had to literally remind myself that this actually happened to so many different people. I felt like we got a look on the inside where in the Diary of Anne Frank, it was more hopeful and happy. We never got to see how her life was in the concentration camp. I think it's very important for us to have a look from the inside and the outside. Everything flows together perfectly and we are getting a first hand encounter. That being said this is just Elie's story everyone went through some different.

 I have one scene burnt into my memory, it sticks out more than any other scene in the book. Elie and his family just arrived at the concentration camp. His little sister was wearing a red coat. When they got there they separated the males from the females, elderly, and young children. Eventually they got into lines and he saw his little sister with her red coat walk away from them forever. I assume that they ended up in the crematorium that day. Just thinking about him watching half of his family walk to their deaths is forever lodge into my mind.

  I highly recommend this book. I gave it four out of five stars. I feel like everyone should read this book. They need to understand the Holocaust, so we can prevent something like this from happening again. If you have read this book, please let me know your thoughts on it? If you have read any other WW2 book let me know so I can check it out. Remember keep searching for your Once Upon A Time.

In My Once Upon Time

     In My Once Upon A Time is going to be a monthly post, that will be a wrap up for my blog. I will be posting it on the fourth of every month. So in the month of May I read a total of three books. I been slumped with homework and my anxiety levels are through the roof, but despite all of this I manage to make a break through on blogging and writing. Both are which crucial to helping me relax and unwind from my hectic life. I have been watching Netflix instead of reading. Also when the post goes up I will be out of school until next year.

     My reading life hasn't existed at all for months. Though I'm proud to say I read Night by Elie Wiesel. This is a short memoir about young Jewish boy's life in concentration camps. I do plan on doing a review on it and that should be up in a couple days.  After Night I picked up The Duff and Seven Ways we Lie. Reviews for all three books will be coming your way. I do have the books that I want to read for this month already to go. These are the books that I will be for sure reading, but I will be probably reading more.

• Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
• The Start-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
• Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
• Storm Siren by Mary Weber
• Sanctuary Bay by Laura J. Burns a& Melinda Metz

  Writing has been becoming a major part of my everyday life. I'm took a Creative Writing course in where I wrote numerous things including a one act play and a narrative. My poetry skills have improved dramatically. Also if you haven't read my Writing Update post you will be proud to know that I should have 6,000 words in my first draft of my book!!! I'm so excited about making lead way with this draft. My major goal is to have it down before the end of the year. If you would like see some my poems let me know if that is something that would be enjoyed.

  Besides homework, the wonderful technology of Netflix has been taking up most of my life. I'm almost done Gilmore Girls and review of that show will be coming soon. I will also include my thoughts and hopes for the revival. I also want to do a Glee Review sometime soon. I re-started Supernatural and I also started watching Merlin which wasn't even on my Netflix Bucket list. I'm not really sure when reviews will come out for either of those shows considering that's a lot of tv, but I'm pretty good at binge watching. You should be looking out for a Deadpool and Fuller House review. I might do post of my favorite movies on Netflix or my most anticipated movies, comment below if that interests you. Orange of the New Black fans season 4 drops June 17th.

  I'm currently obsessed with the artists Melanie Martinez and Twenty-One Piolets. I also been listening to a lot of classic rock such as the Beatles. If you guys want a post dedicated to my current favorite songs or a song recommendation post then let me know in the comments below.

 What are you current favorites for the month of May? Did you read any great books last month? What have you been watching on Netflix or t.v? Don't forget I am doing a Q+A and I would love to hear some questions so I can put together that post. As always if there is anything you want to see me do let me know in the comments or go to my Contact page and message me there. Remember keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.

-Cheyenne

Writing Update

    I started a writing blog last year, but I found it hard to run two blogs at the same time. Since I'm redoing my book blog I decided to combine the two together. I will be doing writing updates and tips throughout the month. Eventually I might settle on a certain day of the week. As the title states, this is a writing update.

    If you don't know, I'm writing the first draft to the book that I been meaning to write for two years now. I have started it multiple different times, but always ended up restarting this. I recently started to actually write the book, using the outline I made in December of last year. I'm so excited to be sitting down and writing an idea that has been in my brain for so long. It makes me feel so accomplished, and once I type those last few words I will be so proud of myself. Despite having more steps to complete after that, I can say that I wrote a book.

  I haven't come up with a title for the book yet. I do know that I want it to be a trilogy and I have been calling it The Goddess Warfare Series. It is a mythology based, but I'm putting my own twist on everything. I think that is all I'm going to say about the book right now. I'm currently at 4,200 words, but when this post goes live I'm hoping to be at 6,000 words. My plan is to be finished with the first draft by the end of this year and I hope this goal comes true and then go from there.

  The biggest thing I learned so far is that you need to push through writers block. The first chapter of my book is horrible, but I pushed through it. At the end of the first chapter, was when the ideas really started pumping out. I figured out on how I want to approach things in the coming chapters. If you have any questions or want to request me to do something please comment below. Remember always keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.

-Cheyenne

Netflix Bucket List Summer 2016

    With summer approaching soon, our days will be filled with reading, Netflix, friends, and summer jobs. That being said, there's so many shows out there that I want to watch and I decided to share my Netflix Bucket List. This list ,will have everything that I want to watch this summer on it. I will also include the episode I'm on, if I'm currently watching it, if I'm re-watching it, if I put the show on hold, or if it is a new show.

1. Gilmore Girls- Currently Watching S3:E16

2. Gossip Girl- On Hold S1:E7

3. The Vampire Diaries- Re-watching

4. The Orginals-Re-watching, On Hold at S2:E1

5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer-  Re-watching, On Hold S3:E21

6. Supernatuaral- Re-watching, On Hold S7:E1

7. Regin- New Show

8. Revenge- New Show

9. Once Upon A Time- Re-watching

10. Pretty Little Liars- Re-watching

11. Fosters- On Hold S3:E11

12. The 100- New Show

13. Agents of Shield- New Show

14. When Calls the Heart- New Show

I stopped myself from adding anymore shows on this list. I'm sure there's going to be more that I might watch, but for now this is everything. Have you guys watch any of these shows? What shows do you plan on watching on Netflix? Do you recommend any shows to watch? If you want me to do a review of any of these shows let me know. Remember keep looking for your once upon a time.

- Cheyenne

Introduction Post Again!?!

Hello, my name is Cheyenne, and welcome to my blog, Once Upon A Time A Review. I started this blog on Blogger, but soon moved to Wordpress because of difficulties I was having on here. It was just going to be a temporary fix, but it moved into a year and a few months. I feel like I improved a lot since then and I'm working on improving everyday. I'm really happy to be back on blogger. This is the last time I'm moving around my blog to a different platform.

I feel like this blog is going to be a fresh start for me; to show people that I'm serious about blogging. It's something that I will continue doing until I no longer have the desire to a read book. It's sort of like a place where I can show my creativity to the world. It will eventually show how far I came from that high school freshman. I hope to gain more experiences this year and make everything count.

Blogging isn't about the followers, or gaining arcs it's suppose to be fun. I'm not the type of person who cares a lot about having tons of followers, it would be nice, but not priority. I just want to show the world about the wonders of reading. If I could get someone who never read a book to read book or see someone find a new favorite, then everything would be worth it.

If you new sorry, I got serious for a moment. Welcome,I hope you have fun learning about me and my taste for books. I personally can't wait to make some great friends. I love chatting about books and doing discussions. Feel free to comment below. Remember keep looking for your once upon a time.

-Cheyenne