Book: Eleanor And Park

There are some books that everyone you know is reading and in love with. Eleanor and Park is one of those books.  You can't go on Tumblr without seeing a quote or fan art from/do to with this book.
This was one book I had no choice but to read.
And after reading it I see now why everyone is so in love with it. It is the kind of book that steals our hearts and makes us stop.
In this book I found so many much needed lessons. and saw things in life more clearly.
Trying to find a place to start when talking about how good this book is...is almost impossible.
 Eleanor. Lets start off with her. I think the best way for me to put it was that she was thing that made this book. The reason I say that is without her none of the wonderful things would have come into play.
Now I will not go in to to much detail in because it might spoil the book. But I feel like Eleanor's story had so many things to teach us. The first being never judge a book by its cover. Or in this case a person by their clothes.
The next it told us was that everyone is fighting their own battle so don't be so fast to jump on them. You never truly know what is going on.  And it reminded us just how many teens boys and girls have hard family lives.  It's something that we hear about all the time but very few of us ever do anything about.
The last thing I love about Eleanor is that she is not a girl who thinks she isn't beautiful but really she is. She is beautiful in the natural everyday way. She is beautiful with her imperfections. And I love that.  When the rest of the world is telling girls to be little sticks here is a girl who falls madly in love and is beautiful just not in the way that girls online or in adds are.

Alright that went on a little long but there is so much to still I want to say on Eleanor.
Anyway on to Park. I love him because compared to Eleanor he lives life pretty normal but there are still some small things in his life that pop up.
What I love most about Park was here was a guy in YA that was real. He felt human. He thought at many points like a teenage guy does. And I loved it!
Another thing I loved about this book was the love story. How it was not a right away thing. How it was slow and awkward and natural. How it was open and fragile at times.
This is a book that I feel everyone should read because it is breathe taking and beautiful. Please take the time to read it.

( YA- 15 and up - Swearing and some fighting and abuse.)

Stars: * * *  * 4.9               LEVEl: As Sad As It Is Hopeful
 
I had to share this beautiful art.

Book: Sapphire Blue

I was so happy to get my hands on this book! I loved the first one so much! If you have not read this first book stop reading this review and get it! Ruby Red is the first book that have truly loved since harry potter and The Narnia series. It was everything a book should be.
With this book I was very hopeful that it would be as good as the first. But I was also very worried that this book would be a huge let down. As I said this is the first book I have really felt that MAGIC spark.
 And I am proud to say that this book was just as good. Some how it is just the right mix of everything. Something that I love in this book is how that is not all about the love story. The love story is just kinda there. Which was nice because I have a guy friend ( who also blogs here from time to time) also read this book and liked that about it. It is so nice to read a book about that is about the story and not just the love story. Is it to much to ask of YA to be about the story and to have a good hero at the same time? Most of the time yes it is to much. But this book gives me just what I am missing. And believe me it is such a nice feeling. I like the love stories and all. But there is nothing quite so good as a book with a good story and flow to it. And that is something that this book has. I feel like anyone would read these books and like them. There is a reason that these are international best sellers.
Reading the book I have to say I really like Gwen. There is a very fine line to walk in YA when it comes to the main character. And though Gwen might not be the most original I still really liked her. She has a very normal way of looking at things. And she is very funny too.
And I love how with this book I never see what is going to happen next. The flow to it was so different from the other books I read.
There is just something so magical about the book.  If you have not read this series it is the only series that I think all my readers should good a chance.

( YA-  13 and up )

Stars: * * * *  4. 4                                                   LEVEL: Almost - not quite Harry Potter magic

Book: Sideshow of Merit

I was really looking forward to reading this book.  The Story sounded really interesting.
But sadly this was not something that I can say I really liked or enjoyed reading.
 For me the book had it's good points when you looked hard enough. It was not terrible and I'm sure that  author did put a lot of time into it. The best way to start off the review was is by saying that had i not been reviewing this I would have stopped reading it all together.  However that being said I could not read a book that I did not like the main characters, and that had so much choppy writing. First off though the book is said to be YA I disagree with this. In many ways. I think this is more new adult myself. But I will hold it up to other YA while writing the review.
 I do had a very hard time with the gay love story in this book because it felt so... out of place. Like the writer was not sure about the love story. Which lead to me being unsure about it.
Now let me stated I gay love straight love to me it's love. I enjoy reading "gay" YA books and when i find a good one I love it.  But in this book it felt like it was done as a trick.  A cop out.
That bothered me. THis is not some trend in YA books. And just because you have a gay love story in it does mean that it will sell. And I think that the lack of going over many of the problems that they would have faced at that time in history being gay and such topics as abuse and etc.
I feel that if you are trying to have that as a key part in your story you have to write about. I would much rather have a write stated their thoughts on these matters than not say anything at all.  Because why are we reading about if not to learn something. Even if we don't agree with it.
So than add to this the fact that the book was slow moving and had choppy writing.
After reading up on Nicole I really do hope that her next book is better. And I would be more than willing to give her a second chance.  I also hope that next time her book is put in the right age group.

( YA NEW adult - 17 and up)

Stars: * 1.8                                 LEVEL: Better Luck Next Time



I was given a copy of the book by the publisher. This did not in anyway effect my review or thoughts on the book

Update:2009 to 2013 - 5 years of blogging !

In november of 2009 a 12 year old girl sat down at her father's 10 year old mac that was out dated and took forever to load. She sat down and thought to herself " i'm going to start the blog". She went on google and entered the word  Blog. She waited  her toes freezing in the cold novmeber night. Snow was falling swiftly and softly outside. Adding to the cold.
Her family could not pay to heat this part of the house in the winter. Still something was telling her that starting a blog was the right thing to do.  She felt she share with other young readers the wonders she had found in books. And to help them find the diamonds in the rough, that she had been so lucky to find. 
When google finally loaded the first thing that came up was bloodspot.com. She clicked, and from that day on she has been known as DaydreamerN. 



That is the true story of how this blog was started.  5 years of blogging this month! THough I have not always done my best. And there are many times when I almost stopped all together. I didn'tand that is because of my wonderful readers! Books have always been a huge part of my life and have been my first love. But it is you guys that kept me going. And pushed me to do even better.
 And in honor of how far it has come since that day, I have opened a new wordpress blog under the same name. THis does not mean any changes for the blog spot followers. This is me and the bloggers at Daydreamern"s reviews adding to our userfriendly ways. Adding the new wordpress blog our way of giving our wordpress followers an easier way to follow us. We will still work hard on making this blog the best we can.
There will be some changes for our bloodspot readers. I will be doing some hardware up dates on the MOVIES and BOOKS pages on the blog.  We are doing our best to make sure that it goes smoothly and that the finished pages are more user-friendly.  We will be sharing the new pages with all of you the 13 of november so be sure to come and take a look.
Thank you all for being the readers we could have asked for! Your comments keep us going and fill our days with joy!

Everyone at daydreamerN