As a YA addict, I love a good romance to fangirl over. If done right, It will make the book that much better for me. If done terribly, i'll probably dismiss the novel as cheesy. So without further ado here are my top five things I hate when it comes to romance and five things I like. 

My Dislikes

1. Insta-Love. This is my all time, I can't even deal, this is too terrible, why is this even happening pet peeve. I hate it. Insta-love is so boring, so unrealistic. It honestly sucks. I like feeling invested in a romance. I want to ship it, I want to be excited for the characters when they go on a first date. But that's not going to happen if they met and .5 seconds later they are madly in love. Now, Insta-attraction is okay. When two characters meet, think the other is cute. Talk, maybe even go out. Insta-Love is when they meet and they're heat skips beats, and they feel like the met the one after exchanging one sentence.It just happens too fast making the romance underdeveloped and pretty much just a story point, instead of being a highlight or even focal point.
2. Underdeveloped Romance. This always makes me sad, because i'll be all invested, fangirling over a couple and the author will put the relationship on the back burner and they never move forward. They get stuck in this one stage until the author is ready to pick up the romance again. I get why sometimes it happens. Especially when the plot is really cray, but it's still frustrating.
3. When Its too cheesy. There's a fine line between being cute and being cheesy. I guess it can be pretty hard to discern because one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to romance when everything feels like it's overdone.  It's okay if you travel to cheesy land every once in a while, but please don't make a permanent residence. 
4. Bad Communication. This makes for such a frustrating read. Romeo and Juliet is a perfect example. If they were less hasty and were able to communicate better then maybe they wouldn't have died. Or Insurgent. I mean could Tris and Tobias have worse communication skills. Literally one of the most frustrating books. All I wanted was for them to be happy, but no, they were hell bent on not talking to each other. 
5. Overdependent Characters. I always dislike when strong characters, typically girls, fall in love and suddenly they become all dependent and damsel in distress-y. Or when characters get put into relationships because they feel like they can't have too strong of a character. (Glee is a perfect example. Whenever one of the girls is doing well, they always need to have a man. No matter how strong, how independent they always get shoved with a guy.It's annoying). 

My Favorite Aspects

1. Hate at first sight. Not really. I love when characters at first don't really like each other, but then see the good in each other and fall in love. This is part of why I LOVE Mara Dyer and Noah Shaw. It just adds dimension to the relationship.
2. Love Triangles. I have a love hate relationship with this, but honestly it adds so much to the book as well as suspense and crazy shipping and yeah...
3. Best Friends to Boyfriend/Girlfriend.  I think this is so cute. If done well, this can be super cute and just amazing. I love how this happens in The Body Finder. It so cute, I can't even deal.
4. When it's NOT the focal point. As much as I love romance, I love when it's not the entire plot. I like when it's a part of the plot but not the most important thing. 
5. Funny + Love. I love when characters are put into funny situations, or they're just funny people. It makes the romance cuter and much more shipworthy. 

Infinity Dreams Award

Wow! Another award! This is really cool. I know that I was nominated a while ago, but It seems like I finally have the time to do this post. First I want to give a bunch of thanks to the awesome, talented and lovely Cecil for nominating me for this. You should definitely check her out, her blog is pretty cool, if I do say so myself (if I do say so myself, if I do say so myself. I'm sorry I couldn't help it)

The Rules

1. Thank and Follow the blog that has nominated you. 
2. Tell us 11 facts about you. 
3. Answer the questions that were set up for you. 
4. Nominate 11 and make your questions for them.

Now that that's done, here are some random, and not the least bit interesting facts about me.

1. Whenever I really like a song I will play it nonstop until I don't like it anymore or just tire of hearing it over and over again. For some reason I tend to brainwash myself into hating a song that I love because I literally will play it 24/7. If I really like a song then I won't get tired of it or hate it, but that's really rare. 
2. My favorite animal was a Cheetah until I got made fun of the fact that my name is Giselle which sounds like Gazelle which cheetahs eat... Yeah, elementary school was a sad time.
3. My favorite poet is Pablo Neruda. Some time ago I finally received my very own copy of his love poems after "borrowing" my sister's copy. His writing is just beautiful. My favorite line I think is "“Te amo sin saber cómo, ni cuándo, ni de dónde, Te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo. Así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera," which roughly translates to, "I love you without knowing how, nor when, nor where. I love you directly without problems or pride. This is how I love You because I don't know any other way to love" 
4. I have a panic disorder. This fact is a little bit of a downer but maybe someone reading this will be able to relate and thus feel less alone. That's the thing about these things, no matter how many other people may suffer from it, you always feel alone and isolated. My panic attacks aren't' crazy bad, and thankfully my sister is a psychologist and has helped a little bit. But the thing is they suck and I hate it, but I deal with it. I deal with it and survive the episodes. There are exercises, breathing relaxation, progressive muscle relaxation the helps prevent it.
5. When I'm done with university my plan is to travel for one year (coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas). I don't have a set plan, but I really want to go to London, Amsterdam, Dublin, Berlin, Peru, Chile, Australia, New York, Alaska, China, India, etc I guess we'll have to wait and see for this one. 
6. I LOVE Ferris Wheels. If I see one I'm probably going to go on it. I really want to go on the one In London (is it?) I love being able to look down and see this giant panorama of where ever I am. I love it. The sight's are so beautiful.
7. I cry a lot during movies and books. I just finished watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part two and I was blubbering like a baby every single time someone died. I mean like sobbing into my pillow type of moments...Yeah it's bad sometimes. I just am so connected to the characters and the story,
8. My favorite band of all time is Coldplay. I love them so much. I have all of their songs, know the words to about 90% of their songs. I love their music. 
9. My top five book crushes are Will Herondale from the Infernal Devices, Noah Shaw from the Mara Dyer Trilogy, and Adam from If I stay, Charlie from Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Neville from Harry Potter ( I mean did you see him in the last movie??? Plus he's so adorable and sweet)
10. I'm a pack rat. I have papers and books from kindergarten that I have in a drawer. I have so many things put away that I will never use and probably have forgotten about yet I refuse to throw things away.
11. I have been dared to get a pixie cut by the end of my senior year of high school. We shall see how this ends. Personally I can't picture myself with a pixie cut but my friends seem quite determined to get me to do it. And maybe I will, who knows.

1. What phone do you have?

For a long time I had a basic phone. Just for text. But this past Monday I got a Samsung galaxy s4 mini which means I can now use the Internet and blog from my phone. Which is what I'm doing right now actually.

2. Black or white? 

Black. Black just goes with every thing and looks bad ass. 

3. Go-to winter outfit.

A sweater cuz us cold with a skirt because I live in southern California and knee high socks because I'm obsessed

4. Favourite clothing shop.

Forever 21.  I love the clothes and styles they have. It so fun to go and  create outfits with different style clothes

5. What social media app do you use the most?

tumblr!!!!!! I love tumblr. Tumblr is life.

6. Would you like to be somebody else for a day? Who? (yes, I've copied that one).

Hermione Granger because she's badass, smart, and kind.

7. Do you prefer drawing or colouring?

coloring. I can't draw well so I just end up frustrated.
8. Do you like exotic food? If yes, what type
10. How long have you been blogging?
11. Favourite book and why.

I live all food as long as it's vegetarian friendly but I love Chinese food.
9. What's your favourite city you've ever been.

Monteverde. It'd so beautiful and they have amazing coffee.

Since June. I finally just did it and I love it.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. It's a beautiful and heart wrenching story. It's really good and something everyone should read.

My questions.

1. Strange reading habit?

2. Who would be your book best friend and why? 

3. The perfect day would consist of...

4. What's one embarrassing moment from school? 

5. What's something that always makes you happy?

6. If your life was a musical what would be a theme song?

7. What did you want want  when you were a kid.

8. 2015 goals?

9. What would be your patronus.

10. What does your life look like in 20 years

11. Who is your idol and why?

I nominate!

1. A Day in Bookland
2. The Collection of Knowledge 
3. Holly, Quills and Ivy
4. Another Serendipity 
5. Marianne Says...
6. Downright Dystopian 
7. The Book of Jules 
8. Katie's Great Perhaps 
9. Books by J
10. Pretty Little Pages
11. Girl in The Woods

Blogotber: The Evolution of Mara Dyer Book Review

Title: The Evolution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Number of Pages: 527

The Basics : Mara never thought it could get worse, but she is proved wrong and things go from bad to worse. After finding out that Jude, her ex-boyfriend is alive she is committed to a mental institute. Mara soon realizes that the things that she thought were just in her head are not, she learns more about her past, and most importantly she learns more about her strange, powerful, and very dangerous abilities with the help of her boyfriend Noah Shaw. 

My Musings:

 After reading The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer I found myself in shock and couldn't wait to read the second book in the trilogy. So once I got my hands on The Evolution of Mara Dyer, I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. I wanted to know what would happen to Mara now that her ex-boyfriend is now back from the dead, as well as what would happen with her and the handsome, mysterious Noah Shaw. As I held the book in my hands I began to prepare myself for the craziness Mara and Noah might uncover.
      As soon as I finished the first page I was hooked. I loved how creepy and enigmatic the book was. Right away you find yourself on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what’s going on with Mara. Is she really crazy? Is she possessed? Or is something more going on? The weird mental patients and the crazy things that Jude did left me both creeped out and worried for Mara and Noah. The author did a fantastic job writing the book without giving anything away. I was left guessing and grasping for anything that could answer one of my many questions.
     I loved how the author took the time to develop other characters. I loved Jamie and his funny sarcasm and witty comments; he definitely lightened the mood throughout the whole book. Jamie was a great character and I loved having him back as Mara’s close friends. He definitely added some sass to this book, which I loved. Daniel, Mara’s older brother quickly became one of my favorite characters second only to the ever passionate Noah Shaw. I loved how Daniel was still able to be that annoying older brother, quipping jokes at Mara, and was also was able to be sweet and sensitive to Mara’s situation.
     Though the creepy factor was high throughout the whole book there were no shortages of Noah and Mara moment, or any witty quotes form Noah. I really liked how Noah was constantly there for Mara, and how he did everything he could for her. I personally found it a little annoying how dependent Mara was on Noah in the beginning of the novel, but as I got further in Mara became more independent. I didn't think it was possible to love Noah more than I did in the last book, but I do!
     I clearly loved the romance factor of the book. It was honestly on point. The only thing that bothered me was, like I mentioned, Mara's dependence on Noah, but at the same time I understand because she herself is unraveling.
     The last chapters were wild! There was a crazy twist that I never saw coming. And by the end of the book I was in a big state of shock, and I couldn't believe what had happened. This book will leave you breathless, shocked and sad.

Rating:

Waiting on Wednesday

Release Date: November 4th 2014
Book: The Retribution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkins

The Basics:Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told. There is.
She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead. She should.
She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance. She will now.
Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer’s story. Retribution has arrived