Writing With a Formula?

Note: Please don't read this post if you want massive spoilers for The Unexpected Everything, Since You've Been Gone, Second Chance Summer, or any of Rick Riordan's novels.

I just finished The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson, and although I found myself grinning happily during many parts and satisfied enough with the ending, something was tugging at me as I went to rate it 5 stars on Goodreads. Which lead me to staring at the computer screen for about 5 minutes, then marking it as read, but not giving it a rating. 

I had suspected what was going to happen right around the middle, but I had shoved that thought away in hopes that it wouldn't actually happen. But it did, and after I finished, I thought about the three books of hers that I had read, and I realized that each of fit into a formula. 

This is the formula: A shy but pretty girl finds herself without anything to do during the summer. She finds a cute, nice guy and they start hanging out. Something drastic happens, and the girl breaks up with the guy, and they get back together at the end. 

See, when I first read Since You've Been Gone, my first Matson book, I thought that the story was brilliant. But after finishing The Unexpected Everything, I was expecting the breakup to happen, that it wasn't as good as before. In fact, the moment Andie stepped into Clark's house the day the breakup happened, I already knew what was going to happen.

Another author who uses a formula is Rick Riordan. Riordan's novels are classified as  "middle grade" which is somewhat of an excuse for its simplicity, but as I grew older, I started realizing that a formula was, in fact, present. Wanna know it? A teen who doesn't know anything about the mythical world accidentally stumbles into one (minus Trials of Apollo, which I've only read like 50 pages of) and they have to go on a quest to save the world. Somehow, they luck out and save the world without dying. Yay!!

I'm not saying that using a formula is bad, as Morgan Matson and Rick Riordan are two of my favorite authors ever. However, I do appreciate an author who goes out of their typical comfort zone and writes something different (Marie Lu, Rainbow Rowell). But seriously, is using a formula the best case? Let me know down below!

Reviewing Every Book You Read

I tend to do blogging sprints: sometimes I will post like 3 times a week, others I won't post for WEEKS. And this has caused a slight problem: reviewing every single book you read. Some of you might not think this is a big problem, but the thing, I haven't reviewed some books that I read during the summer. Yep. I've tried to get myself motivated, but the thing is I've read those books so long ago that I basically forgot what I thought about them. I've created the graphics and EVERYTHING, but it's the fact that I'm incredibly lazy. No, it's not that I hate book blogging, or I would have quit a long time ago, I just get easily distracted. My focus period is about 20 minutes, MAX.

One of the main problems is just the amount of links that go into the blog posts. I really hate links. I had this period in which I would link EVERY SINGLE ONE of the author's social media, and that took so long, oh my god. I used to also link the books to Amazon, but I soon got too lazy. Also, Amazon books are overpriced ._.

Sometimes it's just...I don't know what to say. Some books leave you with so many feels that you don't know where to start. Sometimes I get insecure and will think to myself: ugh, you're such a bad blogger. 

Lately, I've just been...not writing those reviews. Reviews are hard to write, and my focus of 2016: stop forcing myself to do the things I don't want to do. That will just lead me to become depressed (summer 2015) and frustrated. I was so depressed during the summer because I literally spent the entire summer watching shitty videos and laughing at them when I really wanted to blog, review my math notes, etc, but I literally just spent my entire summer on YouTube...and now I really regret discovering YouTube but now we're off topic so I'm just going to end it here.

I'm really curious to know...what's your opinion on reviewing every book you read? Let's discuss!

Booktubing VS Book Blogging & Why I Will Never Booktube...Yet

Booktube. It's been getting pretty popular these days. Why? I dunno, maybe that you can actually see personality and actually know who's making these videos, whereas in book blogging, you're more behind the scenes, and being secretive. Which is the better deal? Booktubing or Book Blogging? 

I love watching videos, I'll tell you that. I'm subscribed to a crap ton of booktubers, while I only follow a few book bloggers. But what makes us really enjoy booktube videos better than blog posts? 
One of the reasons is visual interpretation. You get to actually see the booktuber talk and hold up books and fangirl and whatnot, whereas in blogging, you have to resort to images from Goodreads/Instagram, and ASLKDF;AKSJL;FLKASD;JF; J OMFG is probably the best thing you'll get to fangirling. 

Another reason why I love watching booktube is that it's more interactive. Most booktubers have various sorts of social medias to interact with their viewers/subscribers. Yes, we do have social media, but it's just not the same, because some of us don't show our faces while using social media, so we feel less connected with our followers. 

Finally, booktube is usually done on YouTube, which is has a large platform of viewers. Therefore, people are more likely to stumble upon a booktube video, rather than stumble upon a website about books. I mean, who's going to search "The Winner's Book Thief" on Google? No one. We bloggers have to find different ways to increase our views and followers. Some good ways are Twitter, BlogLovin, and Goodreads. Just so you know :D 

However, booktube does have its cons. If you really want to increase your audience, a good quality camera and tripod do cost a lot of money. Not to mention a fancy lens. It takes a big commitment to buying those things. In book blogging, all you need is a computer, website, and a creative mind. 

It takes lots of time to get ready to film a video, time to edit it, and time to upload it. Dude, I could have finished two rough drafts of a blog post by the time one video uploads itself onto YouTube. Talk about wasting time!

Book bloggers are more behind the scenes, not showing their faces in profile pictures (usually), not giving too much of their lives on the internet, while in booktube, you should look good on camera. Heck, if I was wearing pajamas while typing this post, you wouldn't know, but if you were wearing pajamas on screen...that might been seen as weird. No judgment though. And for the record, I'm not wearing pajamas while typing this. Just so you know.

Which is better?  
Ehhh, honestly depends on your approach. As a book blogger, I'm hella scared to show my face on the internet, but...

Finally-
I'm going to recommend you some booktubers, if you don't know where to start. Seven, to be specific. A few are quite well known in the booktube community, a few, not so much. 


Jesse from jessethereader: Jesse is so adorable, and we have similar book tastes. Also, his videos are hilarious, and pun-tastic...

Jenny from Jellafy: Jenny has this sarcastic tone that's so funny, and she reads a lot of historical fiction, which is something I rarely reach for, so if I need a rec, I'll go to her. She's also really underrated, which is bad, because her videos are really well done.

Regan from PeruseProject: Regan...is the queen of derp faces. I mean, seriously. Also, this girl has really good fashion taste and historical fiction recs. 

  

Yep. Derp faces on fleek. Like usual. 

Sophia from The Book Basement: Sophia used to be a book blogger as well, apparently. I discovered her because she was chosen to be one of the people who read the clues for The Blood of Olympus release thingy? Yeah, remember? Yeah. I found out she had a blog, and she inspired me to create on of my own. Also, she's so amazing and smart and supa supa nice and I love her glasses. Also, she's underrated so go subscribeeeee. OH AND SHE LOVES IMAGINE DRAGONS <3333333

Maureen from MaureenKeavy: Maureen reads so quickly, and she reads a variety of books, and loves Morgan Matson and is underrated, go subscribe. Also she's really sweet and yeah. 

Catriona from The Little Book Owl: Catriona, or Caz also reads a variety of books, and was technically the first booktuber I ever discovered. I love her accent so so SO much. 

Finally, save the best for last...

Christine from PolandBananasBooks: Christine has INFECTIOUS energy, and she's so amazing. And she loves Percy aksdkjf;aksd;falksd;flkja;sdlkjf;lkj and she makes a variety of vids and her sketches/comedy videos are absolutely HILARIOUS and she makes things so unique and I just love her so so so much. She's also the mother of booktubing, which makes her even more fab :D

♡ Beatrice

Jocelyn Fray, An Ember in the Ashes #2, and Riders cover

HELLOOOO!
Today I wanted to discuss:
~Jocelyn Fray TV Show casting
~An Ember in the Ashes #2
~Veronica Rossi's new book, Riders' cover

So let's start! So much to talk about, so little space? Room? Idk.
ABC Family has casted Clary's mother, Jocelyn Fray, and she is omfg PERFECT. <3 I can't even.

 

I think if they dye her hair a bit more red, she's going to be perfect.

Her name is Maxin Roy, btws. 

Her IMDb:  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0747114/

Some Quick Facts:

~She was born in Canada

~She's in her 40's

~She's also a producer!

Comment your opinions down below too!

SABAA TAHIR IS WRITING AN EMBER IN THE ASHES BOOK 2!!!!!

When I saw this on Goodreads and Twitter and Tumblr and EVERYWHERE, I literally screamed. 

LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS ISH:

Actually, I think we should all be VERY proud. We fandom family have convinced Penguin to write another book. That's a pretty good accomplishment. *pats back*

I can't WAIT to see the cover, and especially when more info comes out. Also, be sure to look out for my An Ember in the Ashes book review, coming soon! (more like 5 days XD)

FINALLY, last but certainly not least:

The Riders novel by Veronica Rossi has a cover. It's absolutely amazing. You all know I'm a big fan of Veronica Rossi, so when I hear she's writing FOUR books in this series: 

That was me. Sort of. 

Anyways, here's the GORGEOUS cover: 

omfg it's amazing and the fire is just amazing and SQUEALLINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!

*fangirling*

Synopsis: 

For eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake, nothing but death can keep him from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.
Recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.
They fail.
Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.
But will anyone believe him?

I think it's like a fantasy,  and I just can't wait!!

~Beatrice