I posted in late January that I would be returning to the blog, but it’s taken me 5 months to come up with something to write. Mind you, I was busy with school–that home stretch right before college begins is actually pretty busy, yes–but my hiatus was partly due to this nest of emotions I’ve been in.

I’m growing up.

It seems as if my mind is rebelling against me, insisting that since I’ve entered the age of adulthood I’m obligated to deal with an onslaught of feelings, which exploded out of nowhere a few weeks ago and refuse to be quelled. These days I just feel…sad.

I’m not depressed–that I know for sure. In fact, it’s probably inaccurate to describe my mood as sad; a better word would be bittersweet. It’s the feeling I get right after finishing a good book series, one I’ve been following since its beginning. I’m happy, because I loved the books and I love that the characters get their happy endings, but I’m also upset because it’s the end, it’s a goodbye, and goodbyes always leave my heart aching.

Of course, I’m like this these days because it’s slowly hitting me that I’m heading to college. I’m moving. I’m leaving my home, and soon enough I’m going to be an adult with my own real-world problems. This marks the end of my childhood.

It’s such a scary feeling.

So this is why I haven’t been able to post all this time. I’ve been thinking too much–of all the things I never got to do in my childhood, of all the things that I won’t be able to do anymore now as an adult. I think of my future and my dreams. I think about that big gap in my life that I’ve always struggled to fill, and I think about the deep questions in life: why am I here? What am I supposed to do now?

It’s really not an excuse for my absence, since I’ve been pretty much only lounging around at home these weeks. I’m sorry, I should have known better.

But enough of this mopey talk. I’ll have plenty of opportunity to discuss it with y’all in the future. For now, I want to discuss my plans for this summer. After all, since I have these few months off to do whatever I want, I should make plans, right?

My summer resolutions, divided into three areas (all starting with H, funnily enough):

Health

My health has never been a huge priority for me. My mom took care of me these past 18 years–feeding me, nursing me whenever I fell ill, and so on. But since I won’t have her to rely on when I head to college, I should start caring for myself. So I’m hoping to:

1. Start exercising. Perhaps I won’t go to the extremes of working out in a gym, but I should at least jog in the park in my backyard, right?
2. Drink more water. This is actually a serious problem for me. I’ve always been a little dehydrated (hence why my hair falls easily and I get more zits than I should), so recently I downloaded this Android app called Water Your Body. It lets me record the amount of water I drink every day and sends out reminders whenever I’m falling behind schedule. So far it’s been pretty helpful, though I still haven’t made it to my daily goal quite yet.
3. Floss more often, haha. I neglect it far too often. :)
4. Take care of my skin (aka pimples, the bane of a teenager’s existence). That means actually using these skin care products that I have lying somewhere in my drawers…
5. Learn how to do makeup! That’s right, I’ve been going around high school as a plain Jane these past four years. Whenever I’ve had to go to a formal event, I’ve always had my mom or a friend help me out, but I really should learn to do it on my own. Any beginner advice?

Hobbies

Because it’s summer!

1. Update my iTunes. My songs haven’t been updated in, like, 4 years. Plus, music tastes change.
2. Write more often. Write in my blog, write more short stories, write that novel idea that’s been simmering in my head for a while…
3. Learn kpop dances. Haha, I will explain this on a later date.
4. Finish up with my farewell/graduation gifts for my closest friends. I’ve been making gifts for my friends to show my appreciation for having their friendship. My gifts target things they’re known to obsess over, and so far that’s included origami/crafts, kpop, and karaoke. It’s pretty fun. :)
5. My Disney art project. Because I like sketching, and I like animated movies.

Home (or rather, moving my home)

1. Pack for college. Cue tears.
2. Learn how to cook. Because I can’t eat dining hall food all the time…

It’s a pretty long list, and I only have about 2 months to do it all. Wish me luck, guys!

It’s been almost two years since I bid adieu to you, uncertain if I would ever return.

A lot has happened in two years. I’ve grown (marginally) taller, I’ve gained a bit of weight, I’ve gotten contacts, and my entire wardrobe has probably changed. I’ve also gained and lost a boyfriend, earned National Merit Semifinalist, applied to eight colleges (and heard back from zip so far), and had my heart broken (not by the ex-boyfriend, but by my closest friends).

I was thinking about returning here for the past few weeks, but I couldn’t do it quite yet. I needed to be prepared. I needed to be ready to come in with guns blazing, reviews publishing every few days. But after the events of the past few days (see “heart broken” section of previous paragraph) I decided that I couldn’t do that. Long story short: right now I feel incredibly alone in the universe.

I know there are people who have my back: a couple of friends, some neutral parties, and my parents of course. But knowing that does nothing to soothe this feeling of loneliness. Coming back to this blog, and actually writing about how I feel, does.

So yesterday I decided to return. But I couldn’t simply write about books anymore; I wanted the freedom to express whatever I was feeling whenever.

Hence, you may notice the change of blog title, from “Fiction Fervor” to “Literali.”

“Literali” describes me pretty well for various reasons. One, I’m a pretty literal person. I take things at face-value, and that means I’m often oblivious to the subtleties of body language. Two, the prefix litera- (as in “literature”) means “letter,” or “written,” and that connects the word to reading and writing, both of which I love. Three, by spelling “literally” with an i, I can include my last name Li. (Gasp, you finally know my last name! I really hope you aren’t a stalker.) And four, it begins with my favorite letter, L–which begins words like “love,” “life,” “laugh,” “literature,” “library,” and both my first and last names.

There are a few other changes to the blog: I’ve made a new blog button and I’ve updated my “about” page. I’ve also deleted my review policy page in a reflection of my decision not to review books that authors and publishers send me.

That’s right–I won’t review books others give me. I’ll only review books I come across myself, or request myself in NetGalley or Edelweiss. So if you’re an author or a publisher, please remove my email address from your list; you won’t be getting an acceptance from me anytime soon.

I’m hoping that in the future you’ll see posts not only of reviews of YA books, but also of reviews of classics and TV shows and movies and whatever else I want to talk about. I want y’all to see the real me. If you don’t want to see that, that’s okay, just unsubscribe. But I’m really hoping you’ll stay on, because it’s nice to have some stranger’s input into my life. It’s nice to see a new perspective.

So I guess, since I’m starting anew, I should introduce myself once again:

Hi. I’m a Chinese-American high school senior living in New Orleans, Louisiana. My personality type is INTJ, I hate horror books and movies, and I sometimes have the strangest fantastical dreams. I’m a workaholic and a bit OCD, but I easily get stressed and worried and I care far too much about others’ opinions. I struggle with upholding my Christian beliefs and I often wish I was the heroine in fantasy novels. I’m trying to figure out my life, and my favorite color is blue. You?

Oh, and my name’s Linda.

I’ve decided to stop blogging.

I’ve spent many days considering the pros and cons, but I finally made the decision yesterday that I just couldn’t dedicate the time that this blog–and y’all–deserved.

I started the blog for one reason: to share my love of books. At the time, I didn’t consider the work involved in doing this. I had just thought, hey, having my own blog is cool. But if I had known that having posts a few times a week was so difficult to manage, I don’t think I would have started the blog.

I go to school five days a week from 8:00 to 3:30. Then I have extracurriculars from 3:30 to 5:00. And then I have homework, and I have to read Harry Potter in Chinese to my parents, and throw in dinner, and since I’m a high school student, you KNOW that there’s some procrastinating somewhere in there. So by the time I finish, it’s 10 or 11 or 12 or maybe even 1 or 2, and I’m just exhausted and can only think of sleep. Maybe I could do it on the weekends, but I have church and fellowship and more homework and sometimes competitions. It’s an endless cycle. I can never find time to read a book or fit in a review. Even if I did, it would be a sloppy review and you guys just don’t deserve that.

I knew I had to give something up. I can’t balance sleep and food and church and my grades and extracurriculars and Chinese and SAT/ACT prep and a blog. And considering that two of the above are essential to life, one deals with my core beliefs, and four might determine my future, the only thing I could really take off the list was my blog.

So I’m sorry. I’ve done a crappy job maintaining this blog, and I wish it didn’t have to come down to this, but I don’t want to let you guys down, hoping that I’d come up with a new review soon.

Will I ever come back to the blog, after all this craziness ends? Maybe, maybe not. If I do pursue my dream of becoming a doctor, I might not even have the chance to come back to this until I’m in my 30s. I might look back occasionally and say, hey, remember that time when I started a book blog? And I’ll read my old reviews and smile and laugh, especially for the oldest ones when I had no clue how to review books. And this blog will become a good memory to me.

But in the meantime, I can’t hold onto this blog. I’ll still occasionally review books exclusively on Goodreads, but beyond that, I’m afraid I can’t do any more.

So thanks, guys, for sticking with me these past few years. I guess this is a goodbye, then.

P.S. If you ever want to talk books with me, feel free to send me a message on Goodreads or email me. I’d be happy to chat. :)

Teasers, Deleted Scenes, Excerpts & Extras

Love Kelley Armstrong’s Darkness Rising series? You’ll be excited to hear that you can now view the trailer for the last book in the series, The Rising, and read the first four chapters on USA Today. Check it out!

Read the first chapter of Dark Triumph, Robin LaFevers’s sequel to Grave Mercy in the His Fair Assassin series, on Scribd!

Cassandra Clare has revealed two unidentified snippets–one here and another here–from one of her Shadowhunters series, a snippet from City of Heavenly Fire, and a snippet from Clockwork Princess. Also, check out the trailer for Clockwork Princess here and the first chapter here!

Title, Cover & Book Deal Reveals

As a die-hard fan of the Harry Potter series, it gives me mixed feelings to tell you guys that the series is getting new covers. Oh yeah. Check out the new cover of the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, below.

source: The Wall Street Journal

Margaret Stohl, co-author of the bestselling Caster Chronicles (the first book of which was recently adapted into a movie!), is starting on a new franchise. Check out the animated cover of her next book, Icons, out May 7, below.

source: EW’s Shelf Life

Infinityglass, the third book in Myra McEntire’s Hourglass series, has a wicked awesome cover flaunting New Orleans culture. Check it out below. Out July 9.

source: author’s blog

The third volume of Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamers series, featuring If I Die, Never to Sleep, and Before I Wake, will be out this fall. Check out the golden beauty below.

source: author’s blog

Defiance‘s cover was stunning. And now, Deception‘s cover is alluring. Pencil in August 27 on your calendars, guys, because you’ll want to get the next installment in C.J. Redwine’s Defiance series as soon as possible.

source: YA Books Central

The last book of the Fire and Thorns trilogy by Rae Carson will be released on August 27. Are you as excited as I am about The Bitter Kingdom?

source: author’s blog

September 3 is the day, guys–the day Sweet Legacy, the final book in Tera Lynn Childs’s Medusa Girls trilogy, is released. Can you get even more excited?

source: author’s blog

Check out the cover of Thornhill, sequel to Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock. Out September 9.

source: Mundie Moms

Egyptian gods and more abound in Kiersten White’s next book, titled The Chaos of Stars, out September 10. Pre-order it now!

source: Epic Reads

Check out the cover of Robin Wasserman’s upcoming thriller, out September 10. Mark down the release date of The Waking Dark!

source: Mundie Moms

Holly Black’s upcoming book, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, now has a cover! Check it out and pre-order the book, out September 17.

source: author’s blog

Check out the cover of the second installment in Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle below and mark down September 17. You don’t want to miss The Dream Thieves‘s release date!

source: author’s blog

The cover of Gretchen McNeil’s next thriller, 3:59, has been revealed! Out September 17.

source: Me, My Shelf, and I

Like faery hunters? Then you’ll love The Falconer by Elizabeth May, out September 19. Check out its stunning cover below.

source: Goodreads

Jocelyn Davies revealed the cover of her third book in A Beautiful Dark series, A Radiant Sky. Out September 24.

source: author’s blog

Check out the cover of Resist, sequel to Breathe by Sarah Crossan, out October 8.

source: author’s Twitter

If you liked the cover of For Darkness Shows the Stars, you’ll like the cover of its companion novel even more. Check out Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund below, out October 15.

source: Epic Reads

You’ll be blown away when you see the cover of Lauren Kate’s first book after the Fallen series. Behold, Teardrop, out October 22!

source: author’s blog

We don’t have the cover yet, but I’m sure you’ll all be excited to know that the release date of the final book in Veronica Roth’s #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy is October 22!

source: Divergent Facebook page

Check out the cover of The Shadowhunter’s Codex, a guide book to Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunters series (The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices). Out October 29.

source: MTV Hollywood Crush

Blackout, the upcoming thriller from Robison Wells, author of Variant, is coming out in October. Are you ready to battle a mysterious virus?

source: Epic Reads

Michelle Zink, author of the Prophecy of the Sisters series, revealed the cover of her next novel. This Wicked Game is set in New Orleans (*fist pump*) and features lots of voodoo goodness. Out in November.

source: author’s blog

Jackson Pearce’s fourth fairytale retelling, this time of  “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Anderson, has its own delightful cover now. Get Cold Spell on November 5!

source: author’s blog

The literary genius (well, in my opinion) Richelle Mead will be out with another Bloodlines book on November 19 of this year–The Fiery Heart. Check out the (NOT FINALIZED) cover below:

source: Bookish

Andrea Cremer is coming back with another Nightshade novel! This time focusing on Adne, Ren’s sister, this newest installment will be published in December 2013. Add Snakeroot to your to-read list!

source: Bookish

Lauren DeStefano, author of the bestselling Chemical Garden trilogy, has signed on with Simon & Schuster to write yet another utopian series, titled The Internment Chronicles! The first book, Perfect Ruin, will be out in spring 2014. Here’s the description:

On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where fifteen-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan’s older brother Lex was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in her best friend, Pen, and her betrothed, Basil.

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder–betrothed to the victim–but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lie at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find–or who she will lose.

Movie Madness

Delirium by Lauren Oliver has been optioned by Fox! (Please note that this is a TV adaptation, NOT a movie.) And Emma Roberts, Nancy Drew star, will be playing the main character, Lena Holoway, paired with the charming Daren Kagasoff playing the lead male, while Billy Campbell will be playing the antagonist, Thomas Fineman.

Julie Kagawa’s untitled series–the first book of which hasn’t even been WRITTEN yet–has been picked up by Universal. Considering that the first book won’t be out until 2015, I’m going to say that was pretty quick, eh? All we know about the series right now is that it is “set in a present-day coastal town where mythical creatures hide amongst us cloaked as humans.”

There’s been a huge onslaught of news about the upcoming Vampire Academy movie, as I’m sure that all of y’all are excited about. Here are the latest.

Dan Waters (Heathers) announced screenwriter

Mark Waters (Mean Girls) announced director

Three cast members announced: Zoey Deutch (Beautiful Creatures) for Rose Hathaway, Lucy Fry for Lissa Dragomir, and Danila Kozlovsky for Dimitri Belikov

Film to be titled Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters

Weinstein Company (Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook) to distribute the movie in the U.S.

Release date announced: set your calendars for February 14, 2014

series: Legacy of Tril, #1
author: Heather Brewer
publisher: Dial (Penguin)
release date: June 19, 2012
tags: young adult · high fantasy · romance

Soulbound left me reeling. I was pulled in by the promising premise, but the immature characters, the less-than-exciting romance, and the numerous plot holes unfortunately made this book fall short of my expectations.

When I read the synopsis, I was expecting this book to be action-packed and full of romance. It isn’t. More than half of the book is spent on world-building and introducing characters. (And even the latter half doesn’t have the action and romance I was hoping for.) And–get this–Brewer didn’t even do a good job on world-building. I was left confused several times: why is the world of the Skilled kept secret from the Unskilled? What is the difference between Bound and Soulbound? Brewer didn’t explain anything, and I was left to figure things out myself.

Most of the characters felt one-dimensional to me. Even though Kaya is headstrong (which I like in heroines), she’s too self-conscious. Also, her reaction to her best friend Avery’s death felt too subdued, and although she wants to protect her parents from dying at the hands of the Zettai Council, she still sneaks around, training in self-defense against the rules. Very contradictory.

But she’s attracted to Trayton, a gorgeous goody-two-shoes to whom she’s Bound. (Personally, I think his preppy name suits him.) Trayton is too perfect to be real (and sometimes he acts like a jerk), and their insta-love is just too unrealistic for me to believe. Darius, on the other hand, is more on the grumpy side and shuns Kaya for the first half of the book. He’s much more realistic than Trayton, but I still don’t understand his actions and I definitely don’t know what’s up with his silver hair.

But the thing that upset me the most was the big shocking secret revealed in the last two pages of the book. The problem? Well, for me, it wasn’t shocking. I had made a prediction about the love triangle 40 pages into the book based on reader experience and the synopsis…and it came true. And to add insult to injury, the book leaves the reader stuck with that new revelation and absolutely no explanation following. (Yay, cliffies. Not.)

Despite my disappointment, I admit that the book wasn’t bad. It was entertaining at times, and I did want to continue reading.

So my review wrapped up in a pretty little bow? Soulbound was okay. I loved the idea and the world created, but the execution and the characters were less than satisfying. It was a good story, but just not good enough.

LINDA’S PAGE-BY-PAGE COMMENTARY

(Mild spoilers in this section. If you read it before you read the book, I highly doubt that you will understand anything that’s going on, but the book won’t be ruined for you. So continue at your own risk.)

upon receiving book: Wait, this cover is confusing…is the title Legacy of Tril or Soulbound?
pg. 15: Oh, sure, run TOWARD the cause of the screaming. Yeah, you’re not going to get killed or anything, I bet.
pg. 27: How original. Girl sacrifices herself to save her family. Dude, that only works in The Hunger Games.
pg. 31: WARNING, WARNING. POTENTIAL LOVE INTEREST AHEAD.
pg. 38: Hmm. Interesting. I’m going to make a prediction right now, based off the synopsis and this new turn of events.
pg. 55: Okay, with that entrance for Maddox, I’m guessing she’ll either turn out to be Kaya’s worst enemy or best friend. Which will it be, which will it be…
pg. 64: “Why had he looked so irritated with me? Was my company really that bad? Hmm…Maybe I had bad breath.” OH MY GOODNESS, I JUST DIED LAUGHING.
pg. 76: Wow. Can you be any MORE of a girl?
pg. 88: He’s not a Barron? Hmm. Maybe my prediction was wrong.
pg. 127: This girl is way too self-conscious.
pg. 157: I’m nearly halfway through this book, and nothing exciting has happened yet.
pg. 168: Pahaha. “Irresistible flirtatiousness.” I burst out laughing SO HARD when I saw that.
pg. 185: Wowww. I knew it. Pulling out the wounded-girl-in-the-love-interest’s-bedroom card, are we, Brewer?
pg. 190: That last paragraph. Pfffft. Could this book get any more unoriginal?
pg. 192: OH LAWLS IT JUST DID. Oh, Brewer, you pulled out the shirtless card…I’m just shocked that they haven’t kissed yet.
pg. 194: Huh. Maybe I was right about that previous prediction, guys.
pg. 207: Oh, wanted the guy to notice you. *snicker*
pg. 315: OH MAN, I JUST DIED.
pg. 342: Resisting the urge to strangle a fictional character. Stupid Trayton.
pg. 393: I KNEW IT.
pg. 394: Wow, way to leave us on a cliffie.