New Website!

It's been awhile! I'm still in the book reviewing game and a tad bit more serious about it. I'd love it if you'd come to see me. I can be found at destinytwilliams.com

Destiny (Black, Femme, and Bookish)

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Finals Blues and Reading Aptitudes

I so did not realize I haven't posted here since January. I've always been bad at updating my blogs, but four months? But I have an excuse now. I'm almost finished with my second semester of college (Well technically third but I withdrew from the actual second). I'm telling you sometimes I thought I wouldn't make it through. But I have and Finals are next week.


So you know what that means right? I have more free time depending on how my schedule looks this summer! I started a BookTube at the beginning of the year and I want to start back with that as well. I'll be posting some of the filmed reviews here as well, but I'll still post my traditional reviews.

Although I haven't been blogging, I have been reading! I've discovered some authors that I can't wait to read more from. Some of the include Charlotte Stein, Cara McKenna, Jess Michaels, and Megan McCarffety. I really love Ms. Stein's works. I mean I've read like three books by her already.

So yeah expect to see me back in a bit. I can't wait!

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Midnight Secretary by Ohmi Tomu Series Review

It was by complete accident that I decided to read this. I was buying some manga online and I came across the first volume of Midnight Secretary. I didn't even read this one first. I read the first two volumes of Happy Marriage first.

But after I read the first volume I was figuratively dying for more. I didn't have any more money left to purchase the next volumes so I sought out the next chapters online. I went through eleven chapters that way.

Today I bought the last six volumes and I've just finished the last four.

I'm not sure why I got so invested in the story. But let me see if I can break it down.

1. It has vampires.

My interest in a subpar story will raise by 30% (Completely false number btw. There's no conclusive data on this subject) and I'll be more likely to stick the story out. The vampires in this story aren't revolutionary or anything. And in fact with the tablet substitutes and the surprise in the last chapter it actually reminded me of Twilight. That's not a diss but yeah. The vampires are completely standard. But it is interesting that there's no chance of half vampires between a human and vamp. No it's either one or the other.

2. It has romance.

Now you guys know I love a good romance. Hell I love in any form I can get. (Except romcoms for some odd reason.) I wrote on FB that this manga reminds me of the boss/secretary romance trope that you see in Western romance novels. In fact the first chapter reminded me of Happy Marriage what with the office setting. But of course with the boss being a vampire revealed in the first chapter it kind of subverts the traditional trope. I really loved what the mangaka did with this. I loved Kaya's dedication to her work. I mean she is really seriously about her work. Get it girl!

3. Brooding hero

I'll be honest and tell you I have a thing for broody heroes. It seriously started officially with Mr. Rochester though I think I may be hard wired to like the asshole. He was an asshole. And he was standoffish. I liked that Kaya realized that. But in so many situations she couldn't help but love him because of his faults.

4. Complicated relationships

The way Kaya thought about her relationship with him. I clearly remember her thinking: Am I doing this as his secretary? Or as his lover? Oh my good I hate and love relationships like that. I've been in a relationship like that when you don't know exactly what you are to the other person. And I hated it. But I feel it is so realistic to portray in fiction and especially in this day and age.

So I think this is why I fell in love with this series. Seriously. I haven't really read a lot of josei but my expectations are high with this series as a complete introduction. I've ordered the mangaka's next available series in English. I can't wait to tear into it.

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Two Josei Manga Reviews

Well I've already read five manga. I've reviewed three of them but I'm only post two here. The first review is for the first volume of Happy Marriage by Maki Enjouji

Happy Marriage?!, Vol. 1 by Maki Enjouji

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I didn't remember but I had read the first two chapters of this somewhere. I decided to buy this today and I really enjoyed it. I'm interested to see how the protagonists relationship will develop. It does sort of remind me of Butterflies, Flowers with the boss of the girl formerly being the servant except this time it was another family member. I liked Butterflies, Flowers but as of now I haven't finished it. I liked this volume. Didn't really love it but it was nice.



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The second is Midnight Secretary by Tomu Ohmi


Midnight Secretary, Vol. 1 by Tomu Ohmi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Now even though I glanced at the blurb I didn't not know one of the characters was a vampire. (How dense can you be Dee?) But let's say I was pleasantly surprised. I'm a sucker for vampire stories. (Fangbanger?)

I think what I liked most about this is that the guy has started to crave her blood and hers only! Yay! But I don't like that he's a jerk. I used to love the jerky heroes but as I age I have less patience for them. It doesn't stop me from reading but it annoys me like you wouldn't believe.

Definitely going to continue with this series.



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And I really enjoyed these. I mean after reading the first volume of Happy Marriage I went on a manga buying spree haha. I love these!

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2015 Manga/Graphic Novel Challenge

And I also read manga. I've never read anything that has been classified as graphic novel. (I'm being technical here. I usually read manga but nothing that is independent on its own.) I want to get back to my animanga roots so I'm signing up for this challenge. I'm doing the Modern Age level. One comic to read and review a month. Wish me luck!

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2015 Contemporary Reading Challenge Sign Up

Hi guys. You know I read romance right? Well I want to stretch my wings a bit. (Not much but normally I read historical and more often YA.) So I've decided to sign up for this challenge. I'm doing the 1st base level and trying to read 1-5 books. (I'm leaning towards 5. I know have books that fit this challenge and this will force me to read them. :P) So here's the badge.

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Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian Mini Review

Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Natalie reminds me a lot of myself. And that made me uncomfortable but understanding. I was extremely judgmental when I was her age and I regret that I slut shamed one of my close friends. But I grew up and in this story Natalie does too.

I liked Spencer a lot. I felt like she was Natalie's foil in a lot of ways. She was very woman positive but in a different way from Natalie and Ms. Bee. She didn't think that women need to be perfect to be accepted. Natalie's view is my view these days.

This was an extremely enjoyable book. It flew through the reading of it. I'm definitely going to keep my eye for more stuff from this author.



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Really enjoyed this book. I think I'm going to check out the List by this author.

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#scandal by Sarah Ockler review (Spoilers)

#scandal by Sarah Ockler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The title of this book is what drew me in initially. I mean a hashtag? Come on wouldn't you pick that up? But the whole concept of the book is what made me keep reading. I love books that take on our virtual culture. I remember I was reading a post on themillions.com In it they were talking about how books (particularly literary fiction) were slow to include things that are commonplace in our lives now. You know like Twitter, Facebook, texting, sexting, cyberbulling and all that.

But I've noticed that genre fiction book (Romance in my case since I'm most familiar with that genre) had embraced it.

I read the reviews on here and I have to agree that while romance is a part of this story it's not really one. I feel like this book was more a study on modern teenagers in this decade you know?

I thought at first that I knew who the culprit was behind Lucy's smear campaign and I ended up being right it was (view spoiler)[ Griff. I mean I suspected her a hundred pages in. When Lucy confronts her I could understand her reasoning. Who doesn't hate being the third wheel in a friendship. (hide spoiler)] But I liked the moral of this story. It was really well done.

Four stars. I really enjoyed this book. Didn't quite love it though.



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Like I said I really like the author's take on cyberbulling. I wouldn't necessarily call this a straight out romance though. More like a romantic subplot.

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Mad Girl's Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson Review

Mad Girl's Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this biography right up to the very end. I felt like it blamed Hughes for Sylvia's death. Look the biographer may know more about the situation from the letters and the archives but at the end of the day they know the same amount about Hughes and Plath's relationship as I do: nothing. Those two know what went down in their relationship. Of course you have recollection from third party sources but serious it was their relationship. And seeing as it's a biographer's job to be impartial (It should be anyway) that last bit really upset me.

But for the most part this was a well written biography. I like that it focused on the early years. I really enjoyed it up until the end.



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I guess going by the subtitle I should have known Hughes wouldn't come out smelling like roses but I did not pay attention to that. A really nice biography but not as impartial as biographer should be. At least with the end of the book and the afterword.

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A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger Review + A Little Brief Note

I haven't been updating much about the Fifty Days of Grey. I haven't forgotten about but I've take a little break. I intend to get back to it next year though so look out for the posts.

I just finished a book though. I've been in a young adult mood lately. I went to the library for the first time in months to check out some books. This is one of them.

A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is my second Kody Keplinger and I enjoyed just as much as I did the first.

She writes family drama really well. I think that's one of the reasons I enjoy them so much. I empathized with Whitley a lot during this book esp. with the father thing. I didn't have the exact same situation as she did but I felt myself nodding along with her when she was describing her relationship with her father. Luckily I had a very present mother unlike she did but it hurts to know that your parent doesn't care.

And I agree with someone who said it was felt like Greg took to long to come around. But it was a good climax.

And strangely I didn't find the dating the stepbrother thing too weird. Maybe I've been watching too much Clueless.



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The Duff by Kody Keplinger Review

The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had heard about this book awhile back. I finally decided to buy it a few months ago.

What prompted me to read it now was a post on ONTD. I read about the casting of it. My internal monologue was like: "Don't I have that book? Yes you definitely have that book. Should I read it? Yes you should definitely read it."

I started it on Saturday night. I really liked it. Bianca is a nice narrator though she did kinda get on my nerves. She's abrasive but that's how she was written. She's a pretty realistic teenage narrator.

Her relationship with her friends is what really sold me on this book. I looked the little bit on how she became friends with Casey and esp. with Jessica. I've made a lot of my friends similar ways and it really touched me.

I thought her relationship with her parents was really well done too. I mean haven't we all held something in because we didn't know to approach the other person? I mean hell I still do that.

And Wesley. Alright I'm going to admit I was rooting for her to end up with him. My ideal type is cocky. But I'm glad that he mended his ways. And I like that they bonded over their family lives.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading more from the author.



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Darling Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt Review

Darling Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I started reading this book this morning. Now I want to say that this is not the first book I've picked up over the past six weeks but it was the one that kept my attention. I think that says a lot about Ms. Hoyt's work.

I'm not particularly attached to either the hero or the heroine. I read Duke of Midnight with Artemis. I enjoyed her story more what with the plain companion and the duke and the like.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book. I really loved the bits with Daff and Indio. I think they were the best. I liked the reveal of his background.

With saying that I didn't quite love this book. It was nice to read but I didn't love it like I did with some of Ms. Hoyt's other work. It's a nice addition but it didn't quite have that POP! I'm excited to read the next Maiden Lane series.

And I like the snippets of Asa. I am dying to read his story.

Three stars. Entertaining story but lacking in that POP.



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Fifty Days of Grey: Chapters 13-14

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Things have been kind of hectic in my life. Lots of confusion but good stuff too.

But I've resumed reading FSOG.

I don't remember much about the beginning of Chapter 13. I started it a few weeks ago. I do know that Ana and Christian are discussing the terms of their contract.

But I want to talk about what really made me think about this chapter.

Ana says she wants a relationship with Christian but he doesn't want that. He can't do that. She doesn't know what to call him. Would he be her boyfriend in this type of relationship?

As a certified member of Gen Y I feel like these questions have occurred to many of us at one time. Ambiguous relationships. It’s complicated. Friend with benefits. You know what I’m talking about.
I can understand where Ana is coming from. You don’t want to lose the guy but you aren’t satisfied with the relationship as it is. Yet you don’t want to lose them either. Conundrum.

In the next chapter Ana continues to think about this as her father comes for her graduation. When Kate introduces Christian she introduces him as Ana’s boyfriend and my god I would be mortified. But everything goes smoothly because Christian can charm anyone it seems.

At the end of the chapter Ana tells Christian she wants more. He says he doesn’t know how do it and she agrees that she doesn’t know much about relationships either but they’re going to try.
I like the ending of the chapter but I’m also skeptical. Can you really make someone settle if they don’t want to? There are numerous disastrous results saying that you can’t. Many have tried but only a few have succeeded. Perhaps Ana will be on?

And those ladies and gentlemen are my thoughts on these chapters. I’m enjoying this book more than I thought I would and I’m having fun analyzing the chapters. Future English major here what what!

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Fifty Days of Grey: Chapters 7-11

Now yesterday I had a problem. See I had made notes for chapters 10 and 11 which I had just read of the book. But somehow I was missing chapters 7-9...

I talked about chapters 5 and 6 in the vlog I posted but where did the entries about 7-9 go?

Don't ask me because I don't know either. But a quick google search tells me these are the chapters where the sex does down...ah yes I remember.

My thoughts on these chapters are that I like them. Christian shows her his red room. Then he figures out she's a virgin so he decides he's going to introduce her to sex.

These chapters are like the majority of romance novels. A little steamy but nothing in particular sticks out in my mind. I thought it was sexy though no doubt.

And then I believe chapter 9 ends with Mrs. Grey appearing and then we are caught up with my notes.

Chapter 10

My initial notes:

So this chapter sheds light on Christian's background. We get to meet his mother. She seems sweet. But what really interested me was Christian's introduction to the BDSM lifestyle. His mother's friend introduced him too. Now see Christian just sort of tells this like there's nothing wrong with this picture. But Ana calls it out for what it is: sexual abuse. This makes me think of men that have been abused by women. There are some people that think men can't be abused so I was surprised that Ana picked up on that fact. Kudo Ms. James


I really want to talk about this for a moment. I wasn't expecting to see this in this book. I've heard so much about how controlling Christian is. But I'm surprised no one has talked about this. Sexual abuse on males is touchy subject. It reminds me of when female teachers abuse their male students. I see a lot of commenters (mostly males) say that's the dream life. It reminds me of how Chris Brown doesn't recognize that his first sexual experience was actually rape. So it was an enlightening surprise to see that Ana recognize that what happened to Christian was abuse. I was pleased to read that.


Chapter 11

Initial notes:

So the next chapter opens with the contract. The full fucking contract. Let me tell you I usually like when documents are transcribed in fiction (weird I know) but my eyes were glazing over. But it was kinda shocking. Ana's reaction was my reaction. I can be shy but submissive? Bitch please. But like her I'm still eerily drawn to it.
The emails were much more fun to read. I wrote on GR that it annoyed me when he calls her baby. But apparently if it's prefixed by laters I'm all good. Something about that is cute to me.


I really thought the contract part could have been left out. I don't think I need to see the thing in full. It would have been fine with a summary by Ana. But I really enjoyed the emails by Christian and Ana. Ana comments that sometimes Christian seems his age. He does seem more mature at the beginning but I love the little glimpses that show him as a normal twenty-something man. Those are my favorite. I also like when it says laters baby but I don't like when calls baby by itself. I know it's such a trifle to be picky about but I am so whatevs.

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Currently Reading Week of Sept. 14, 2014

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Fifty Days of Grey: Chapters 3 and 4

So chapter 3 picks up with the photoshoot. I guess it's pretty standard since the only reference I have on photoshoots are ANTM. But Christian asks Ana out for coffee.

So what I'm getting from this chapter is that Grey gets all in her business and I like that she's sorta offended by this. She doesn't tell him to stop asking or anything but I'll give her points for recognizing this. And she is very persistent about labeling him a control freak.

Ana is clumsy of course and she nearly gets ran over by a cyclist. So she ends up in his arms and she DESPERATELY wants him to kiss her.

But he doesn't. He tells her he doesn't do the girlfriend thing. She takes this to mean that he doesn't want HER for a girlfriend. So she leaves angrily and broods over that.

She dreams about him and then the scenes cut to her taking her English exams. After that she returns home where Kate announces she has a package. Inside are first editions of Tess of the D'Ubervilles. Now I would be excited by something like that and she is but there is a cryptic note along with it. She's rightly frustrated.

So she, Kate, the regular photographer, and Jose celebrate their final exams. Ana gets drunk. Sloppily drunk and drunk dials Christian. He demands to know where is she and Ana is like haha no. She excuses herself to go outside and Jose follows a little later. Jose forces kisses on her and Christian shows up in the nick of time. Stare off. Christian is going to take her home but the girl faints.

So my thoughts on these chapters are is that I so don't like how controlling Christian is. Like even the MC realizes it. It hasn't overwhelmed me just yet.

And it's been awhile since I read Twilight but I don't recall Bella being so...snarky? I mean I vaguly that she was supposed to be sarcastic. I was fifteen when I first read Twilight but over the years Bella began to annoy me. Ana doesn't annoy me at this point but there are twenty more chapters to read.

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Thoughts about Wallbanger by Alice Clayton

So I finished reading Wallbanger yesterday. I absolutely loved it. My review wasn't very substantial so I'm not posting it here.

But I was thinking about the fact that the book is categorized as erotica. I mean it has sex in it but it's not like the other erotica I've read (Which admittedly is about two or three). The focus in this story was more the growing relationship between Caroline and Simon. I think it's more like a romance than an erotica. Hell perhaps erotic romance? The sex didn't seem to take up a substantial portion of the story. I feel like Caroline regaining her O was more of a subplot to the romance.

I would categorize Wallbanger as chick lit as well. It reminds me of the genre and I definitely think it's a romantic comedy.

I think way too much about labels.

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Fifty Days of Fifty Shades of Grey

Ok I'm not sure on the whole fifty days but that title is catchy no?

Since I don't live under a rock I've heard about Fifty Shades. I will be honest and say I judged this book hard. It seemed to go against my sensibilities. As a girl familiar with fandom it was an unspoken rule that you didn't publish fanfiction.

But one day I happened to start doing some digging. A very good link I rec is the Fifty Shades page. It has more information about the background of the book. It was after reading these links that I started to question my biases. I had judged the book before even reading it. I hadn't given it a fair a chance.

So that's what I'm doing now.

Here's the plan. I'm going to read a chapter (perhaps a day, maybe every two days it depends) and tell you my thoughts on it. Simple right?

Thoughts: Chapter 1

So the story opens with Anastasia complaining about her friend being sick. This is a little bitchy I admit but understandable. The story then fast forwards to Grey House. There are two blonde secretaries. Then Mr. Grey comes in. Tiny sparks. I honestly expected him to come in with flames or something but I digress. So he comes and she starts interviewing him. From what I've read online I expected Anastasia to be a weeping flower but she's kinda snarky which I like. No negative thoughts on Christian yet. He talks a lot about control for obvious reasons. Interview ends.

So so far the book seems pretty routine. I expected mis-spellings and just awfulness. It's not so bad so far.

I might have chapters 2 and 3 later on depending on how I feel. And a banner. I downloaded some brushes I'm dying to use.

Thoughts: Chapter 2

The major thing that I noticed about the beginning of this chapter is how short and choppy the scenes are. The scene will shift to her working and then like a paragraph later will switch again. That's a bit unnecessary and it really distracts from the story.

I don't really have a lot of thoughts on Kate. She's just sort of there. She's not really present. Jose seems nice. I was interested in Ana's background when she mentioned she had taken her stepfather's name. I wonder if the book will go more into that? I find that very interesting.

So while she's working Mr. Grey arrives. She notices that his hands are manicured and the only thing I could think is that this guy is so metrosexual. But I guess it makes sense that he cares about his image. He does like control after all.

And the last thing I noticed was what he bought. Cable wires, masking tape, ropes...oh yeah that's foreshadowing baby.

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Currently Reading Video

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Two Reviews and a Video

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The first thing that I really noticed was that I read the first few chapters. The time just seemed to fly by.

I really liked Cinder and I thought Iko was so cute. I liked Prince Kai and I found myself mildly annoyed with Adri and Pearl.

Story wise I thought it was good. The plot moved a really good pace. I liked the way things unfurled.

But what really had me fascinated was the worldbuilding. I'm a sucker for it. The whole world is so fascinating. I mean cyborgs, androids, and aliens? The moon as a planet? Count me in!

I really liked this book and I'm excited to read more.



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The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I had heard about this book even before I could grasp what an enigma Sylvia Plath was. I knew the book was about mental illness. But I put off reading it until now.

I feel that Esther as a narrator is very blank. She has personality but it's diminished. When I was going through my own illness I felt blank inside so I could relate.

I related to this book but the wow factor wasn't here for me. With her poems I feel there's so much talent but this book while good just didn't do for me. I feel if she had written another book then maybe her skills could have grown. I very much prefer.her poems and even her journals. I feel like this book is missing passion.



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I finally have my internet back and I have access to my Nook books now that I have a tablet though I kinda wish I would have bought a tablet in the first place. My poor Kobo is going unused.

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