AKA Review ALL THE THINGS!

I want to get back into reviewing, but I'm SO far behind on reviews that it seems daunting. Whenever this happens it's time to cue the mini-reviews! Just some simple one-paragraph reviews of the books I've read in the last couple months. That way I don't feel like I'm buried in unwritten reviews and can get back to writing them!

This time I'm going to feature all of the books I've read since February that are sequels. Whether book two, end of a trilogy, etc. The rating for each book is in (parenthesis) next to the title and author name.

Prodigy & Champion, Marie Lu (4.5 flowers)

This series surprised me! I loved that it went in directions that you wouldn't expect, especially when it game to bad guys. Are the bad guys really bad? Are the good guys good? I still don't know! And that's how I like it. Also, I want to live in Antarctica now.

Perfect Lies, Kiersten White (4.5 flowers)

This book is like an episode of Law and Order before bed. Now... if you're me, that sounds like the perfect nighttime plan. Seriously. I love Law and Order before bed. And this book fit that bill perfectly. Full of mystery, a little bit of romance, some tense moments, but nothing that would scar me or even get my blood pumping very hard. A simple, easy, fun read.

Infinite, Jodi Meadows (5 flowers)

Holy crap. What can I say about this book except that IT IS AMAZING. I have adored this whole series, but this one really took the cake. There were certain things revealed that just... whoa. Blew my mind. I'm STILL processing them. And that ending! GAH! That ending gave me so many mixed emotions that my brain still feels backwards. If you haven't read this series, DO IT.


Split Second, Kasie West (5 flowers)

I have no idea why I like this series. I shouldn't. It's primarily a contemporary romance, which as you know I am NOT a fan of. And yet, I love this series. I guess that little paranormal flare is just enough to make it amazing. Or maybe I do like CR and just don't know it... regardless, even though there were moments in this book where I thought things like "Well that's convenient" it was immediately coupled with "But I don't care, because I LOVE IT!" This is another series that I see as primarily fluffy, but not without depth and intrigue. Plus I love the characters!

Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Laini Taylor (4 flowers)

Just finished this one yesterday. Honestly, I found this book pretty slow. Felt like not a lot happened. But also honestly, I didn't really care. The writing is beautiful. The characters are beautiful. The story is beautiful. So a little slowness couldn't hurt.

At first I was like "You're going to end there!? THERE?! Are there going to be four books in this 'trilogy'?!"

But then I was like "Oh. Okay. Actually. This is a super fantastical awesome ending. I am happy. And so is my imagination."

Okay. Fine. I'm biting the bullet. I'm posting pictures of me dressed as a weirdo. Mostly to explain my current absence. I am desperately trying to finish THREE costumes (one for me, two for other people) in the next two days. So.. fine. I might delete this post, but here I am dressed as fictional characters. I'll even post reference pictures for y'all.

What have I done?!

Lan Fan Reference Image. This is Fan-Art, and the black/silver is actually inverted. Mine is correct. ;)

This is Lan Fan. She was my first ever "official" cosplay. She comes from the anime, "Fullemtal Alchemist: Brotherhood" I made everything, including the robotic arm, which is made from thermally molded plastic.

River Song Reference Image

This was my second ever cosplay, and my first dress. This is River Song, from Dr. Who, who is my favorite fictional character of all time. Yes, even more than Enna. Not a lot more, but more. Honestly, I'm not very proud of this costume. It was my first time making a dress, and it turned out big and bulky and awkward. But it was fun. And I like that wig.

Crona Reference Image

I actually had a couple costumes in between River Song and Crona, but... I'm not quite sure I'm ready to share those yet. Crona was actually thrown together last minute just as a joke. My roommate dressed up as Ragnarok and I carried her around piggyback. But We were very popular at the convention!

Midna Reference Picture

Finally, here's Midna! This is probably the costume I'm now most well-known for, and she's definitely my favorite to wear (though it takes about 2 hours to put it all on). I've also won several awards for this costume. Pretty trophies. Midna is from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which is my favorite game of all time. I feel so pretty when I get to step into her skin.

All of the white detailing on the cloak and skirt was appliqued on. Which means every piece of that MONSTER design is SEWN on. Just the cloak took me nearly 50 hours. It's about 8-9 feet across and 6 feet tall. The heels that I wore in this costume made me about 6 feet tall as well. It's quite the feat to move around it.

So... there I am in all my nerdy glory. Now, back to sewing! I've got three Amestrian Military uniforms to finish before Saturday! Eeps!

*cough* Um. Hello. I'm not dead. Even though I apparently forgot about March. It was a whirlwind month. But even though I haven't been blogging, I have finished my student teaching, accepted the job of my dreams, and will be receiving my diploma in 3 weeks.  And believe it or not, I actually HAVE been reading during all that. A lot of reading, actually. I just don't have much time to write down my thoughts anymore.

Actually... the reason I don't have much time to blog, is because my cosplay hobby has kinda taken over my life. In a good way. I love it. But that brings me to to the topic of this post: my secret identity.

If you're new (ha! Why in the world would I have new readers?) then maybe you don't know this: I have a secret identity. In the almost seven years that I have been blogging I have NEVER shown my face on my blog. When I take pictures in public book-places I always cover my face with a book. It's my quirk.

This is in direct odds with my cosplay persona. Cosplay is all about showing yourself off, face included.

And hence my trouble. I REALLY want to share with you guys some of my cosplay pictures (even though I'm pretty sure most of you don't care, I'm just kinda proud of myself), but at the same time I've always been stupidly proud of having a "secret identity." Even though most of you who still read the blog I have met in person, and so it doesn't really matter.

Anyway... this post isn't really about anything. It's mostly to let you know that I'm alive, and I am THINKING about posting. And that's a good thing, right?