Wattpad Spotlight: The Last Virgin Standing

I have decided to start this new thing called Wattpad Spotlight. Every once in awhile, I will do a short review of a book on Wattpad that I think deserves to be looked at. Since it's hard to find really good ones on Watttpad, I've decided to help with that and give some exposure :) Please tell me if you like this, and if I should do more. 

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Title: The Last Virgin Standing 
Author: laughterandjynx (Real name: Tiffany Huynh) 
My Rating: 4 Stars

"It didn't mean anything to me."
"But it meant everything to me." 

Synopsis (From Wattpad): 

Charlotte Summers is the last virgin in her school; a school where taking virginity is a sport. The sport has five main contenders: Tyler Bradshaw, the mysterious bad boy; Alec Jennings, the all-star athlete; Ian Jameson, the cocky rich guy; Beckett Cartwright, the renowned genius; and Lucas Chandler, her best friend. With all these guys determined to win the title of the Virginator, will Charlotte make it out alive with her virginity?

Review (Spoiler free): 

I had gotten into this book (I don't know if I call it book or story, so book it is) because one of my closest friends. Throughout school, she would always be on her phone, and I always knew that she was on Wattpad, but it wasn't until last Thursday that she got me and my other great friend to read The Last Virgin Standing. When I heard the title, my eyebrows rose up on instinct, I swear. She told me what the book was about and I had read the synopsis afterwards. The premise intrigued me, but the way my friend talked and squealed about it was the main indicator that I should read. And man, I am so happy that I did. 

The 42 chapters flew by! I had started to read the book Thursday afternoon, and finished Saturday morning. I have so many things to talk about, but I don't know which to start with.

First I'll talk about all of the cheesy lines. Now before you completely dismiss this, I must say that the cheesiness was a big part of why I loved the book. There was one character in particular that had the cheesiest pick up lines that made me laugh out loud to myself in class. Not kidding you here. I laughed so hard in 1st period at one point that I accidentally slammed my head on my desk... The five guys who are vying for her virginity have their own loveable aspects of themself that also make you laugh. 

Another amazing thing about this book, is the fact that the ending is something totally unexpected. When it happened, my mind was going through denial, my breathing got heavier, and I started to say "No. No. No." over and over again. And these twists weren't only at the end. There were so many times that my jaw dropped for a good 5 minutes. It even started to hurt. Something that I said to my friends abut the book constantly was "THE FEELS!" It was used anytime I squealed, kicked my feet, and/or groaned from the cutest moments. 

The only reason that my rating for TLVS is 4 stars and not 5 stars is because of the main character and the errors in writing. There were times where I wanted to wring the neck of Charlotte. I didn't hate her, of course! I only mildly became annoyed and frustrated with her. It's obviously a bad sign when the main character is not your favorite person, but I promise it comes in phases. The errors in writing were more of a nuisance and not a full out problem. However, it did become an issue when her errors would get me confused as to what happened or who said what. At those times, I would just have to take a moment and figure out what she meant. 

Small Rant (WARNING: Spoilers!!!!!)": 

*Sigh* I have some more reason of resentment that I want to talk about. This will be short, I promise. 

1) Luke so did not have to die. This was the biggest part that I was in denial about. It was so fricking sad when he died too. Leaving a message for Charlotte right when the crash happened!? And also when he was giving her his version of a blessing for her to happy!? The moment he was being selfless!!! Ugh... this is still a sore topic between me and the other people who have been effected by this mass of emotions. 

Also, did you notice that the cover of the book only has 4 guys behind her and not 5? SNEAKY! Me and my friend have a version of the story that is "The REAL ending of The Last Virgin Standing. The one where Luke lives and we have a happy ending and there are 5 guys on the cover instead of 4 and all 5 guys take a picture with her at Graduation." It's our denial version a.k.a. the REAL VERSION IN OUR HEADS.

2) I wanted her to end up with Alec. No, I do not care that he is a child –which is crazy since I have no idea how he was able to keep this from everybody from their school. Out of Luke and the Top Four, Alec was the sweetest one by far. Well, to me anyways, He took her to the batting cages!! They were the golden couple anytime that she went to his games! It was perfect! And then everyone had to ruin it. Liz, because she brought Maddy to Alec's house. Alec, because he knocked Liz up and didn't tell Charlotte about it. Charlotte, because she couldn't accept that Alec was a dad. Even after it was clear that Charlotte and Alec weren't going to happen, I still held on to that hope. In my dreams, that is how it ended. 

*Sigh, again* I have so much that I wanted to talk about, but I feel like I would be here forever typing it and I really need to finish my homework. If you have any opinions about this book, comment down below please :) Do you like that she ended up with Tyler? Did you want her to end up Luke? OR someone else? Or Alec, like me? 

Write you later,

         Akiko

REVIEW: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
My Rating: 5 Stars

"For the two of us, home isn't a place. It is a person. And we are finally home." 

Synopsis (From Goodreads): 

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. 

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Review (Spoiler free): 

HIAAIVNRUBWDJ. This book had me going through feels that required me to put the book down, breathe, and contemplate on what I read. Ok yes, I do agree the premise of this book make it sound like a sappy chick lit that doesn't deserve a place on your bookshelf, or like something that is worth the effort to read. But trust me when I say that this book is the total opposite of that. By the first few chapters, the characters' dialogue and thoughts had me literally laughing out loud.

The setting also adds so much to the charm of this story. It's practically guaranteed that anyone who reads a word about the Notre-Dame, or Point Zéro, or any of the other places Anna and her group of friends visit will have an urge and want to visit Paris. The most romantic city in the world. 

I love the fact that it is set in a different city of the world. Since Anna is American, it's pretty cool to watch her figure out how to do anything that won't insult Parisians. Of course, in the beginning when she talks about things she thought of Paris, almost all of them stereotypes, it was a bit annoying. (Who seriously didn't know that oui was spelled o-u-i and not w-e-e???) But you don't even notice it because of the great plot and characters. 

THE CHARACTERS! Étienne St. Clair! Anna Oliphant! St. Clair is like the foreign and British guy that I always fantasize about. The relationships between all five of the best friends were great. They were honest and real and hilarious. St. Clair, Anna, Mer, Josh, and Rashmi were a perfect combination of giggles and jaw-dropping moments. It was a perfect relationship to tie throughout the book –especially all of the group's fights. 

And last but not least, the romance was wonderfully made. It pulled my heart in all the right places, made me squeal at Anna-Étienne moments (Annaeine? Étienna?), and made me wish for a relationship that was at least half as passionate. How they talked to each other about everything is what I loved most. 

This book is an easy 5 stars. If you like cute Chick Lit.s, contemporary novels, or really... any books, this book is a great read. 

"I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul." 

Spoiler Discussions!! (WARNING: Obvious Spoiler Alerts!):

There isn't much that I wanted to rant about, but here we go. 

Firstly, THE ENDING. Yeah that's right, I'm going to start with the ending. I thought it was a perfect ending to a perfect book. It was sweet how St. Clair overcame his fear of heights so that he could confess how he felt to Anna. It was beautiful how they were at the top of Paris. It was cute when he said "I love you" and when he admitted he inadvertently became her physics partner. And I love the fact that they will only be a twenty-minute train ride away from each other when they go off to college. I could read the last few pages over and over again and not get bored of it. I loved the last chapter, the one where Anna and St. Clair are left alone in Anna's room. Since the majority of the book wasn't scenes of them together as a couple, I'm thankful Stephanie Perkins gave us one chapter where the two of them are all lovey-dovey and real couple. I totally vote for extra scenes from Stephanie about their relationship! *Raises hand* I just *sigh* love them together, and it makes my heart melt just thinking about them. 

Secondly and lastly, the reason they didn't get together in the first place -_-. Though I didn't like how long it took them to end up together, I guess it is more dramatic this way. I wanted Ellie gone a loooooong time ago. St. Clair even admitted that he liked Anna from day 1, so why in the heck would he wait so long to break up with her!? Oh yeah... he didn't want to be alone. Which is dumb since Anna was always there. His little, secretive ways to say sounded like he might as well whispered it to a ladybug in America. At least to Anna it was. If I were her, I'd be so confused at the mixed signals St. Clair sends. He tells me I'm beautiful. He sleeps in the same bed as me. And then he doesn't talk about it or talk to me for a month. I'd be pretty annoyed. But seriously. When Anna confronted him on her accepting he wasn't going to break up with Ellie, but him getting mad when she talks to Dave, I whooped in favor of Anna. Because it's true. He had no right to get angry when Anna was dealing with his problem of breaking up. 

That's all I can think about right now, but there will probably be more later. My brain takes awhile to remember everything. In the meantime, tell me what you thought! Did you like this book as much as me, or was it like "Ehh,"? 

Write you later, 

         Akiko

REVIEW: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Title: The Maze Runner
Author: James Dashner
My Rating: 3.5 Stars

"WICKED is good" 

Synopsis (From Goodreads):

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Everything is going to change.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run.

Review (Spoiler free): 

Starting this book was a very difficult task for me. This book didn't get overly interesting for me until about half way through, so almost 200 pages in. I had heard a lot of good things about this book, but also bad. So obviously I wanted to find out for myself. 

Within the first chapter I had already started to find Thomas, the character, very annoying. He would always ask questions when the answer was obvious, go places he wasn't supposed to go as if the rules didn't apply to him, and then get angry when he was denied the knowledge he wanted to know. Knowledge, I might add, that everybody else didn't get to know when they had been there a long time. Now of course I understand his want to know stuff, especially from coming out of a Box with no memories, but there gets to be certain line where it goes from curious to just annoying. 

Thomas always seemed to change his mind in everything too. He would go from not liking somebody to wanting them to leave him alone. The one guy that tried to be his friend was shut out at times! 

But anyway, before I start to accidentally write about spoilers, I will say other things about the book.

Overall, I thought the book was pretty good! I gave the book 4 stars on Goodreads because it was between 3 and 4, and also I didn't have the heart to give it 3 stars. But on here, I'm giving it 3.5 stars out of 5. My favorite characters were without a doubt Minho and Teresa. And I think my reasoning behind is that they told it like it was. When Thomas was being annoying, Minho and Teresa set him straight, but also in a way to make him feel better :) *Cough* Especially after what Chuck did *Cough* 

Now I would recommend this book if you can plow through a bunch of question asking in the beginning and/or if you like confusing realms.  

Spoiler Discussions!!! (WARNING: Will contain spoilers, so only if you have READ THE BOOK!):

Okie dokie. Firstly, stuff in the maze. How did you imagine the Grievers? With the way James Dashner described them, it was very hard for me to imagine anything with flesh and metal on it's body. I imagined a gigantic slug with claws, pincers, etc. sticking out of it's body for the majority of the book. It was hard to incorporate flesh into all of that machinery. 

Secondly, the characters! Like I said, Thomas was annoying and my favorites were Teresa and Minho. But my least favorite character was easily Gally. Oh Gally... the person that yelled at them all, threatened Thomas and  jumped into a living Griever. It was crazy to see him at the end of the book, the Creators controlling the things he was doing. And by that, I men Chuck. :( Poor Chuck. I felt really bad for him. Practically the only Glader that we read about wondering about parents ad the like. I wasn't expecting the knife being hurled at Thomas, and I surely wasn't expecting Chuck to throw himself in front of Thomas. Chuck didn't even get to finish his sentence! We'll never know what he was going to say! Now a part of the annoying-ness I groaned abut in Thomas had to have been when he was distraught over Chuck. Don't get me wrong, I was melancholy that he was gone, but Thomas kept on beating up himself for the promise he broke to Chuck: the promise that he will bring Chuck back to his parents. This is where I loved Teresa. When Thomas was going through this, Teresa was the one to tell him to stop. That it wasn't his fault. And she's right, it wasn't.  

Thirdly, the Creators and how the Gladers got out of the Maze. It is incredibly weird to think that scientists went through so much trouble ti find out which kids were smart enough to help them. The maze is many miles long. That is a ginormous maze to build!! Not to mention there has to be some type of protective covering overhead—for the sky. It just now reminds me of the arena in Hunger Games... The description of the outside world, with all of the hideous people because of The Flare, was disconcerting. It was a strange comparison too. Because I imagined the Glade for more than 300 pages, with it's giant walls and strong ivy, it was weird to think of the Gladers in a different environment. There was a short description of what happened to the outside world, but it was a little confusing. That will probably become more clear in the other books. 

Lastly! The Epilogue!! Yes, that's right. The Epilogue has it's own paragraph. Why? Because it implies a lot of bombshells and jaw droppers. And also because I love how this epilogue was done. It was discrete and the twists were not directly said. My personal favorite to introduce stuff.

"Oddly enough, seeing them this way, thinking all is well, has been the hardest thing for me to observe." So this clearly means that the people that rescued Thomas and the others were planned. THEY ARE NOT FRIENDLIES! They all feel safe, but it's FAKE! 

"The subjects will be allowed one full night's sleep before Stage 2 implements." This is probably the second book right? The Scorch Trials? 

And lastly, the biggest shocker: "Group B's trial results were also most extraordinary." THERE IS A SECOND GROUP!? That means there is a second group that was in a maze... the same way as Thomas' group! Are the Creators crazy!? *sigh* The Epilogue alone makes me want to read the second book, but I'm probably going to have to wait. 

In the meantime, tell me what you thought of the book! Who was your favorite character? Least favorite? Did you love this book? Did you hate it? 

Write you later,

         Akiko

VAMPIRE DIARIES, Own Personal Hell

Ok, I swear this is the last post about a TV show before I finish and review Maze Runner. I cross my heart and hope not to die on the other side. ;)
So this was episode two of season 6 of the awesome series that is The Vampire Diaries. This show is just... hard to explain. Just trust me when I say that you should watch this. It never gets boring, there is always a twist at the end of every episode, and the characters are MEGA HOT. It's honestly one of the best shows out there.

Thing I want to talk about numero uno: Elena and her Heartbreaking Choice.
I hated that Elena wanted to go to such great lengths to erase the fact she loved Damon from her mind. Just no. It was sad to watch Alaric pick memories of Damon away from Elena and replace them with insignificant things. The time between the first episode and this one was a period of denial that she could do such a thing. I was convinced that she would chicken out at the last moment. But no, the Elena at the end was an Elena that didn't love Damon. It was also sad that all of her friends were on board to hide the truth from her. What happens when they bring Damon and Bonnie back and Elena is confused and hateful toward him?! If you ask me, there will most likely be some type of repercussion to altering her memory like that.

Numero dos: Stefan the Dick, according to Caroline and the World, and Enzo the Avenger.
I personally found the whole ordeal at dinner—between Stefan, Caroline, Ivy, and Enzo—to be hilarious. A little bit serious of course, since Enzo killed Ivy, but when he told Caroline not to make a scene and then stabbed Stefan in the hand with a fork was extremely gif worthy. I could see where Stefan was coming from when he decided to give up on chasing down leads to save Damon and Bonnie. But to Caroline's credit, she was really trying to bring back their friends. To find out that no one else was helping her with that, other than Enzo, would cause me to hate Stefan and cry in my car too. Especially if I realized that he didn't even listen to my voice mails. Though I would so not mind Enzo to go and punish Stefan for making me cry.

Last but not least, numero tres: Damon and Bonnie in their Own Personal Hell.
Damon and Bonnie are a hilarious couple to be stuck together in one repeating day. Most of the laughs that came out of me were during their scenes. But nevertheless, their situation is a puzzling one. It only brings questions that no one knows the answers to—a fact that became apparent when my dad kept on asking me questions while I was watching the episode on Hulu... Why would they be transported to the place and time out of all places and times? What did Bonnie's grandma do? Why is the day May 10, 1994? And probably the most biggest question of all: who is the person there with them? Who is the person that solved the crossword? And why in the world would they choose to solve the crossroad!? If you have theories, please comment!

Write you later,
         Akiko

RED BAND SOCIETY... HOMECOMING GAHHHH!

Damn... this show is getting intense.
Please don't hold this second blog post of the night and the second blog post about Red Band Society in 2 days against me. I can't help it if I'm obsessed and the feels are in my heart. Plus, I just got finished watching the recent episode, so the things I want to talk about are fresh in my mind.
Thing to talk about numero uno: Kara and the Homecoming Fiasco.
The fact that they even made a homecoming episode just days after my own caused me to give them major props. When Kara got ready and went to the dance with Emma- and Brittany as a chaperon-I was so not expecting what the dance was going to entail. Brittany made me laugh when she wore her hot pink dress and threatened leaving Kara when she was saying bitchy things to Emma. It made me like Brittany even more. Secondly, I can already see a bigger story line opening up with Emma and her eating disorder. When she pushed away her food I wanted to yell at her for being so dumb and shallow. Just because those girls raved about how she was sooooo skinny, does NOT mean it is a good thing. Props to Ciara Bravo for... well acting. And lastly, THAT KISS BETWEEN KARA AND LEO. I did not expect that either. I admit that it was very sweet, in a weird way, how Leo defended Kara in front of the whole school when everyone pitied them. Granted, it was by calling her a bitch and selfish, but to Kara that apparently meant the world. Still... the Kara at the end of the episode looks like she has stopped being overly mean and has stopped relying solely on material things.
Numero dos: Jordi and his mom. 
I absolutely hate how she just left him like that. And it wasn't even the first time! After saying that she was going to be there for him repeatedly, she still left him. When she sat down because he asked, I could see that all she wanted was to get away. Nurse Jackson's gut was right about her. She also couldn't have left at a more terrible time. Right when Jordi stopped "looking ok" and actually started showing signs of chemo, she got scared. It was a cowardly thing to do, and I hate her for it. But you know who said this would happen? JORDI. And who said that he was wrong and it was a good thing to have her around? EVERYONE ELSE. Apologies all around.
Well that's all I can think about right now, so if you liked reading these and weren't bored by how long it was, please let me know if I should write these more :)
Also THEORY: I think that Nurse Jackson was so against Jordi's mom about her leaving him because she herself can't have kids. She said that so many adults would love to have a kid like Jordi. My theory is that she can't have kids so she doesn't like Eva because she doesn't like the fact she would throw away the opportunity of being a mother.

Write you later,
         Akiko

Addressing How I Met Your Mother

Despite the fact How I Met Your Mother ended about a year ago, I still love this show. The 9 seasons that have been made have been a major part of my TV watching habits. I literally re-watch the episodes on Netflix when I get home from school. As I'm writing this post, HIMYM is on the TV right now. By the way, it's the episode where Robin an Kevin get together, they find out Nora doesn't like Ewoks, and Marshall has the whole environmentalist problem.
The last season of the show, which was Barney's wedding- and if you haven't see it, I won't spoil you about who he marries-, was definitely the best. Cristin Milioti was wonderful as The Mother, and hilarious obviously.  I love the stories of how everybody else met The Mother, and also how we saw her personality when we didn't even know her name yet. "I CALL THEM SUMBITCHES!" HIMYM fans out there, you know what I'm talking about ;) Aaaand now because I have taken forever to write this, I'm on another episode.....
How I Met Your Mother will always be one of my favorite shows. Honestly, I'm worried that I've seen every episode too many times that I'm going to be bored watching them. But the point of this post is that this show is one of the best shows out there. You can watch all the episodes more than once and not get bored. How do you know it's a good show? You laugh every time a funny part comes on even though you've seen it multiple times. Boom. Blog postered.

Write you later,
         Akiko

RED BAND SOCIETY GAHHH!

I can't express how much I love Kara and Nurse Jackson's relationship. Even just by themselves, I love them. Kara may be annoying and mean and stubborn all the time, but she offers a challenge to everyone.This opens things up for character development, duh. Nurse Jackson is also hilarious. The two make for a clash of characters that add to the show tremendously. Leo, Jordi, and Emma are the small love triangle, and Nurse Jackson and Kara are the feuding enemies. 

For real though, I'm so glad that they decided to make this show. I love the fact it's in a hospital, and yes it does sort of give TFIOS vibes, but that was unavoidable for me. 

If you haven't seen this show, then you need to get on top of things. Watch the first episode, and if you aren't hooked yet, then keep watching. You will be!

Write you later,

         Akiko

From the Very Start

Hello to anyone who sees this! I am currently trying to figure out how to write down my thoughts right now, because well I want to make this first blog post perfect. About a half hour before I made the decision to put my thoughts on the internet, I was going through two blogs: a YouTuber that I subscribed to, and one with a few giveaways and a super pretty layout. There was a post on the latter blog about getting the opportunity to read an ARC and review it honestly, and I thought to myself maybe I should put my thoughts out in a blog. I've already tried making Youtube videos, but those take up more time than I have. I'm a high school student with homework for God's sake.
I've also tried writing down some of my thoughts and awesome day events in a journal, but I get lazy and haven't written in my blue leather-bound journal in awhile. And so that brings me here. This is great typing practice, and I've always wanted to rant and talk and review things that I love. The only problem is I mostly don't have anyone to rant and talk and review things to. That is a major problem unless I want to rant to myself- alone in my room.
This blog will be about anything and everything I want it to be. Book reviews, books I want, books that I just bought. As you can see, books will be a major part of this blog. Although obviously I'm not just going to stop there since the blog is called "Obsessions of Life". And by 'of Life', I mean 'my Life'. I will also write about funny stories that happened in my day, you could be surprised by how many there are, dreams to travel in the future, food, TV shows, etc.
This is just an experiment, something that I did on a binge, but I will try to make this an interesting and fun time for me and anyone who reads. 

Write you later,
         Akiko