NICOLE'S REVIEW: The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

Title: The Fill-In Boyfriend

Author: Kasie West

Publication Date: May 5 2015

Publishing House:  HarperTeen

ISBN: 9780062336385

Summary: 

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend - two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that she can win back to real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favour and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party - three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

Out of all the contemporary books Kasie West has published, this has got to be my least favourite. Why? Maybe because the character is boy obsessed? She's more concerned with appearances which makes her come off as really shallow. And don't get me started on her obsession with social media and the validation of strangers. The number of likes your photo on Instagram or that picture you tweeted of your hipster coffee does not make you.

These are the characters I cannot relate to. I just can't wrap my mind around not ditching people who aren't good for you or for being too concerned about what other people think. I'm super chill, I don't get worked up over boys and what people think. I don't find myself losing sleep over tossing toxic people to the curb or for not being on top of the social hierarchy. I couldn't relate to the obsession with social media too. I'm known to delete photos on Instagram though, not because of the number of likes but because of the overall quality of the photo. (Sometimes I don't because I'm lazy and I have way too much nail ideas.)

So maybe this is why as I was reading the book I found that it contained way too much unnecessary drama. Also the whole fake boyfriend trope isn't really my thing. I hate it with a vengeance. And Gia's friends - all I have to say is what kind of friends are they? I'd insert a few cuss words here but I'm not allowed to swear. Pffffff.

That's not to say the book was a total disappointment. I did finish it in one go and while the romance wasn't the best, it wasn't the worst too. After reading The Distance Between Us and On the Fence though, I kind of expected more from Kasie. I did notice that there was more character development in this book seeing as how Gia goes from shallow, flighty popular girl to someone more mature. Not perfect, never perfect, but way better than how she was at the beginning. And as for the fill-in boyfriend? Cute. He's probably my favourite out of this cast of characters. Different from the type you normally find in contemporary novels.

Overall, in my opinion, this isn't one of Kasie's best works. A bit of a let-down but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on her books. If you want to try her contemporary books may I suggest The Distance Between Us? That one was so cute I find myself reaching for it from time to time when I'm in need of fluff in my life.

Thank you to Harper for an advanced copy of this book.

Rating: 

 

                         

NICOLE'S REVIEW + Novel Nails #25 : A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

Title: A Little Something Different

Author: Sandy Hall

Format Acquired: Paperback

Publication Date: August 26 2014

Publishing House:  Swoon Reads

ISBN: 97812500161454

Source of Copy: Gifted

Summary: 

Lea and Gabe are in the same writing class. They get the same culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is a little aloof, Gabe is shy, and it looks like they are never going to work things out.

But something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at the local Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV series. The bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes Lea and GAbe were meant to be together.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

Seriously, guys, I have not read anything as cute as this book. It's told in fourteen different points of view, none of them in our lead characters' voices. You would think that it would be incredibly confusing, but it's not. This book was an absolute blessing, I was craving a light, fluffy contemporary to read -because it was almost Valentine's Day - when this fell into my lap. It had been collecting dust on my bookshelf for some time and I thought I'd save it from its misery. 

I find that I need to repeat that this book so disgustingly cute. We get to see Gabe and Lea's love story through the eyes of the different people they come across in their everyday life. Friends, teachers, the bus driver, the baristas at Starbucks and even a squirrel and a bench. How fun is that? Gabe in particular is crazy adorable, and so awkward it made my heart melt. I loved his conversations with his friends and the way he pined over Lea and got so flustered when they engaged in conversations. I just wanted to smush their faces together. 

You know what's unfair though? That this did not happen to me in the four years I was in college. I bounced from clique to clique because I'm picky with my friends, met a lot of new people which was fun, but not once did I meet a guy who gave me the butterflies. Obviously, I was meant for greater things like fictional boys. 

Anyway, another thing that I like is that despite being awkwardly cute characters, Lea and Gabe don't fit into any pre-designed molds. Gabe is an athlete, a sort of jock, and he has his own issues - like the trauma he suffered from his car crash. Lea is not your average bookish, good girl type, she parties and has a penchant for stalking Gabe. (I feel for her, I used to do this in college too) They are the recipe for ultimate cuteness. It's insane! I couldn't put this book down mainly because I couldn't wait for them to get together and every time something got in their way it was just SO. FRUSTRATING. Just kiss already!

In a nutshell, this book is basically the epitome of CUTE. Really, the next time someone asks me to gift them something cutesy I am so giving them this book. Read this if you're looking for something light and fluffy and oh so very romantic with a different writing style. For an added bonus, it has the POVs of a bench and a squirrel.

           

                               

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

Here's a set inspired by this insanely adorable book. For more details and the materials used head on over to my nail art blog. Enjoy guys!

                      

[GIVEAWAY] NICOLE'S REVIEW + Novel Nails #24: Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

Title: Falling into Place

Author: Amy Zhang

Format Acquired: Paperback

Publication Date: September 9 2014

Publishing House:  Greenwillow Books

ISBN: 978006236788

Source of Copy: Fully Booked

Summary: 

Inertia, force, mass, gravity, velocity, acceleration...cause and effect. Liz Emerson doesn't understand any of it. But I do. I understand how we fall. Where we fall. Why we fall. I understand her sadness and loneliness and silence, her shattered heart. It doesn't have to be this way, does it? It wasn't always this way was it?

Stay alive, Liz Emerson, stay alive.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

I never really expected to like this book, I don’t really do well with books tackling suicide but I have to give credit where it’s due. Amy Zhang’s Falling into Place is an incredibly heartfelt and poignant story written in a nonlinear fashion that tells the story of one Liz Emerson’s life - the small seemingly inconsequential instances and the heartbreaking events that led to her decision to kill herself.

There is no doubt that I love this book despite the fact that I am not a fan of the main character. Which is surprising because Liz Emerson is NOT in the least bit likable. I get that she’s got her issues and she’s got a lot to deal with, depression is no laughing matter, but I never really understood her. I never really GOT her. I felt for her, I really did but she was just really unlikable and mean and a general b-word I just couldn’t! It was hard because she was a terrible person who was doing crappy things to people and ruining lives and bullying, bullying, and bullying. But she continued to do what she did despite the fact that she admitted to being a horrible human being and continued feeling sorry for herself. Rinse, lather repeat.

I may not like Liz Emerson but I have to admit that Amy Zhang crafts incredibly realistic characters. And Liz, despite all her negative points had the potential to be something more. Julia and Kennie were also very strong secondary characters and it was fascinating to see how they affected and influenced Liz and vice versa. Then there’s the boy who’s been crushing on Liz from afar, Liam. His story was quite surprising since he was a victim of Liz’s scheming and yet he managed to find it in himself to forgive her, to understand her.

There’s an air of suspense to this book, like as if at any given moment everything could come crashing down. Zhang’s book is a definite recommend although if you’re in the market for something light and fun this isn’t it. Falling into Place is like a slap to the face, a reminder of how the littlest of actions can cause a ripple that results in a tidal wave and because of this book I feel like I should be better. Could be better. Will be better.

Rating: 

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

Here's a set inspired by the book. For more pictures and details on the mani visit my nail art blog HERE.

                         

It's giveaway time! Good luck to everyone joining and I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! Thank you also to the awesome people over at Fully Booked for making this happen. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:

1. The contest is open to Philippine residents only and will be shipped by Nicole via Xend. Likewise, The Twins Read will not be held liable for any lost / damaged packages.

2. You must be 13 years old and above to join. Please ask your parent/guardian to join the giveaway for you, if you aren't.

3. If you only use ONE account to do all these tasks and enter under different names, they will still only constitute as ONE entry. 

4. If the winner does not respond to messages via Facebook, or e-mail within 48 hours, The Twins Read has the right to choose another legible winner.

NICOLE'S REVIEW + Novel Nails #20: Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Title: Winterspell

Author: Claire Legrand

Format Acquired: Hardcover

Publication Date: September 30 2014

Publishing House:  Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 9781442465985

Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked

Summary: 

New York City, 1899, Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-perfect daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, and her father is abducted - by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they're to surive Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets - and a need she can't define. With the dangerous, seductive fairy queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won't leave Cane unscathed - if she leaves at all.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review:

I know this book got a lot of rather low ratings over on goodreads, and while normally that would dissuade me from buying a book I was feeling rather adventurous and thought why the hell not? Luckily I didn't hate the book and that little issue with the statue that a lot of people commented on? I found that I was oddly okay with it. It was a good looking statue.

It's not easy leading a double life. On one hand Clara is the mayor's daughter; prim, proper and perfect as can be on the other she's training to fight under the odd Drosselmeyer's tutelage. Little does she know that she's going to be putting all the skills she's learned to the test when strange creatures enter her home and abduct her father on Christmas eve forcing her to put her trust in Nicholas as they travel to the lands of Cane to save her father.

Clara starts of a little wimpy but it was great to see her grow as a character as the book progressed. I also liked how Legrand explored Clara's sexuality in the book because while it's obvious that she had a thing for Nicholas I'm also pretty sure she was into Anise which makes her bisexual. I haven't seen a lot of LGBT characters in fantasy so this was a surprise.

Okay, so about that statue issue. Clara might have had a thing going on for a good looking statue and maybe that might be uncomfortable for people because it is an inanimate object, I couldn't blame her. As I said, dude was hunky and turned out to be Nicholas. No big surprise there. His relationship with Clara was kind of rocky at first and he might be a little crazy but thank goodness he managed to fix himself and their relationship.

I also liked how deliciously dark the book actually was. There's a lot of misery and death and depravity and a whole bunch of sick and crazy people in it. Also drugs and a faery war. And the world building was quite detailed and highly imaginative. 

Truthfully, I'm not that familiar with the Nutcracker story so I don't know how true this stayed to the original and what aspects of it Legrand kept in this retelling. What I can say is that I liked the story and I'm glad that this book ended well and is a stand alone.

Rating: 

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

Finally! Another Novel Nails feature. I did this set a few weeks back and you can find it on my Tumblr in case anyone is interested. I'll place the links down below.

The cover was way too pretty to pass so I thought I'd do a set inspired by it. 

Nail polish used:
OPI Haven't the Foggiest
OPI Miss You-niverse

The pretty book.

I made a gradient using the purple and silver on three nails.

Close up of the hand drawn art. A raven, thorns and the gate (I have no idea what it is) on the cover.

Added a few jewels too.

The thumb.

Hope you like this set and if you want to check out my Instagram click HERE. For my Tumble, HERE.

                         

[BLOG TOUR] NICOLE'S REVIEW: Love is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Title: Love is the Drug

Author: Alaya Dawn Johnson

Format Acquired: ARC

Publication Date: September 30 2014

Publishing House:  Arthur A. Levine Books

ISBN: 0545417813

Source of Copy: Pinoy Book Tours

Summary: 

Emily Bird was raised not to ask questions. She has perfect hair, the perfect boyfriend, and a perfect Ivy-league future. But a chance meeting with Roosevelt David, a homeland security agent, at a party for Washington DC's elite leads to Bird waking up in a hospital, days later, with no memory of the end of the night.

Meanwhile, the world has fallen apart: A deadly flu virus is sweeping the nation, forcing quarantines, curfews, even martial law. And Roosevelt is certain that Bird knows something. Something about the virus - something about her parents' top secret scientific work - something she shouldn't know.

The only one bird can trust is Coffee, a quiet, outsider genius who deals drugs to their classmates and is a firm believer in conspiracy theories. And he believes in Bird. But as Bird and Coffee dig deeper into what really happened that night, Bird finds that she might know more than she remembers. And what she knows could unleash the biggest government scandal in US history.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

I've been meaning to get into the Summer Prince ever since I purchased a copy last year but I could never bring myself to read it. I don't know why. Lucky for me, PBT was planning on touring Love is the Drug and I thought, why not? 

Emily strives to be the perfect daughter the way her mother raised her. Everything was routinary until she woke up after a party with her memory in fragments and the world in shambles. A deadly virus is spreading and it's all quarantines and curfews and martial law and this creeper named David Roosevelt who insists Bird knows more than she lets on about her parents and their top secret government work. The only one she can trust is Coffee, drug dealer, genius chemist and the guy who calls her out on her bull and rips blinders off her eyes. But as Bird and Coffee try to unravel the events of that fateful night, they both start to realize that those conspiracy theories Coffee believes in might not be theories at all.

Truthfully, Love is the Drug is incredibly hard to rate. I'm fluctuating between a 3 and a 3.5 as I type. I mean I enjoyed this book, seeing as how my co-blogger and I are fans of conspiracy theories. And Johnson wrote this in such a way that it was actually believable and I really wouldn't be surprised if this happens. 

Aside from that, Love is the Drug focuses on Bird and the relationships she has with the people around her. How she's constantly trying to prove herself to her parents, to figure out her way in life. She doesn't want to disappoint them but that means giving up on what she wants because anything worth doing should not be done in half measures. She's trying to make sense of these in between trying to regain her memories and figuring out what the creepy Roosevelt wants from her. 

Bird is a likable heroine. She's not the best and yeah, she let herself get dragged around like a good little girl by her parents and her jerk ex-boyfriend, and she's constantly fighting herself over who she wants to be and who she's supposed to be but when she managed to find her backbone and decided to just be Bird, it was a moment to behold. I mean it's not exactly the easiest thing in the world to navigate through all the angst and drama of high school when the world threatens to crumble around you and succumb to a deadly virus.

The book's overall pacing was good. A little slow and slightly confusing when it started but easily overcome once you've reached the scene where Bird wakes up from her drug-induced coma. Some parts were a little predictable but that didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the story.

The book is a standalone, the ending was wrapped up a little too nicely. All the T's crossed and the I's dotted but that was okay too. Now I'm off to dust off my copy of The Summer Prince because Johnson's writing has me intrigued.

Rating: 

                        

[Blog Tour] NICOLE'S REVIEW: Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

Title: Plus One
Author: Elizabeth Fama
Format Acquired: ARC

Publication Date: April 8 2014

Publishing House: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

ISBN: 9780374360078
Source of Copy: Blog Tour

Summary:

Sol Le Coeur is a Smudge - a night dweller in an America rigidly divided between people who wake, live and work during the hours of darkness and those known as Rays who live and work during the daylight. Impulsive, passionate, and brave, Sol deliberately injures herself in order to gain admission to a hospital, where she plans to kidnap her newborn niece - a Ray - in order to bring the baby to visit her dying grandfather. By violating the day-night curfew, Sol is committing a serious crime, and when the kidnap attempt goes awry, it starts a chain of events that will put Sol in mortal danger, uncover a government conspiracy to manipulate the Smudge population, and throw her together with D'Arcy Benoit, the Ray medical apprentice who first treats her, then helps her outrun the authorities - and with whom she is fated to fall impossibly and irrevocably in love.

Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights - and a compelling, rapid-fire romantic adventure story.

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review:

Sol Le Coeur is resigned to her fate, working at the factory and flunking school. She's classified as a Smudge, and in an America divided into Night and Day it means that she lives, reads, works and basically comes alive during the night. She's fine with that. What she isn't okay with is her grandfather dying without ever seeing his granddaughter. So brave, impulsive Sol hatches a crazy plan that involves maiming herself, getting dragged to a hospital then snatching her brother's baby. Her plans are derailed when the Ray - it's what the day people are called - who treats her reports her to the authorities. That same Ray, named D'arcy, helps Sol run from the authorities and they find themselves uncovering a government plot to control the Smudge population and the conspiracies start to unravel.

I've never actually read Elizabeth Fama's other work, Monstrous Beauty, but I do own a copy of the book. (Hello, book hoarder.) So I was eager to start on Plus One. 

I liked Fama's characters. Sol is good-hearted, if a bit rash and naive. The plan she made up to steal her brother's baby wasn't exactly well thought of and I wasn't so keen on the way she was so cavalier about caring for the kid. It's a baby. You don't run around with a baby stuck inside your shirt. But I get that Sol was desperate and fueled by the love she had for her grandfather.

D'arcy is a Ray and the one who treats Sol when she accidentally-on-purpose maims herself as a way to get into the hospital. I liked the romance between the two, it was slow and well developed. I'm not gonna say anything more for fear of spoilers but D'arcy and Sol do belong together. There was a huge amount of uncertainty on whether their relationship would ever go somewhere because of the rules set in pace by their government. Ray and Smudge relationships are rare and it kept me on the edge because I was totally cheering for them.

I also enjoyed Fama's writing. She takes time with her world building and while I wasn't that keen on the plot seeing as how it revolved around babies - swapping babies, kidnapping babies - I was overall okay with it. I was able to predict some of the things that happened but that in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the book.

I'd recommend it to fans of dystopia. Oh I know, there is an abundance of YA dystopia out there and most of them blend into one another but this book manages to stand out somehow so give this pretty a chance.

Rating:

       

                           

NICOLE'S REVIEW: Acid by Emma Pass

Title: ACID
Author: Emma Pass
Format Acquired: Hardcover

Publication Date: March 11 2014

Publishing House: Delacorte Press

ISBN: 9780385743877
Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked

Summary:

The year is 2113.

In Jenna Strong's world, ACID, the most brutal police force in history, rule supreme. No throwaway comment or whispered dissent goes unnoticed - or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a horrendous crime she struggles to remember. But Jenna's violent prison time has taught her how to survive by any means necessary.

When a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, Jenna must use her strength, speed, and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID and uncover the truth about what happened on that terrible night two years ago. They have taken her life, her freedom, and her true memories away from her. How can she reclaim anything when she doesn't know who to trust?

Nonstop action, irresistible psychological suspense, and strong, gritty writing propel the riveting story of JEnna's fight against the all-controlloing ACID. Seriously sinister stuff.

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review:

I have been waiting for this book since forever and you guys cannot imagine my excitement when the local bookstores started stocking this bad boy. It involved a little squealing followed by shrieking and fist pumps everywhere because FINALLY. 

So I have to admit, ACID isn't exactly what I expected. I mean it's a good book - fast paced, action-packed and reads like a movie. I had to shave off half a star because some things were just a little too far fetched and hard to believe.

ACID locked Jenna up in prison for the murder of her parents; a crime she struggles to remember. She's accepted her fate - endless days of prison duties and staying under the radar, away from groping hands and prying eyes, seeing as how she's the only girl in a prison full of convicts. But when a rebel group breaks her out, she's thrown for a loop and contending with things she doesn't really understand. Why her?

Jenna is strong character. She's a little brash and act-first-think-later but she's tough and she's got what it takes to survive out on the streets. Her life in prison ensured that she had an idea of how to take care of herself, how to fight and survive. Max, the poor boy she was unwittingly saddled with, is a good guy. He's different from other YA male love interests - he's more real, less domineering, he's not your knight in shining armor. He was more of the damsel in distress and it's refreshing to read books wherein the female heroine is actually more alpha than her intended. 

Like any typical dystopia, ACID has all the elements - oppressed society, power-hungry government and just a little hint of rebellion. It still is by far better than all the other dystopian books I've read this year. 

Looking for your next action-packed dystopia? Go no further. ACID is highly entertaining and reads like a movie with a little romance to boot. An added plus is that it seems to be a standalone despite the ending being a little open ended.

Rating:

    

                     

NICOLE'S REVIEW + Novel Nails #10: Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

Title: Of Beast and Beauty
Author: Stacey Jay
Format Acquired: Hardcover

Publication Date: July 23 2013

Publishing House: Delacorte Press

ISBN: 9780385743204
Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked

Summary:

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city's vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city's Banished people. second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan's enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra's sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review:

Of Beast and Beauty is one of those fairytale retellings that I actually like, next to Unhinged by A.G. Howard. 

Isra is a princess locked in a tower, blinded at birth by a fire and sees herself a freak, a monster; counting down the days till she becomes a willing sacrifice for the roses - can I just say that I totally love what Jay did with the roses? so cool - that provide her city with a dome of protection from the harsh outside world.

Gem is a beast, a Monstrous, with scales and claws supposedly tipped with poison. He needs the roses that Isra's people depend on and sneaks into the city in the dead of the night because his people are dying and desperately need the magic the roses give. But he gets caught and is forced to interact with Isra, a smooth skin, and the more they interact the more their view on each others change making them wonder if the things they were brought up to believe were true.

Stacey Jay's writing is beautiful, it's really lyrical but it didn't come off as pretentious and holier-than-thou. Her characters were wonderful and when they were sad, so was I. Happy? Frustrated? Angry? I was as well. In short, her characters were wonderfully crafted and I loved each and every one of them. 

Of Beauty and Beast starts off a little slow but it picks up along the way and I couldn't help but wish Gem and Isra would just get on with the kissing. It's mainly romance but somehow it just still enough for me. I wanted more, more, more, more. Because Gem and Isra are the bomb and they deserve a happily ever after. 

Since Isra is a princess in a trapped tower doesn't she resemble Rapunzel more? Kept in the dark and all that.

But anyway, Of Beast and Beauty is one retelling you don't want to miss. Action, evil roses with a taste for blood and a love that could change the world? YES PLEASE. Go read it now.

Rating:

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

Guys, I am so glad to be able to paint my nails again. After slaving over my thesis and everything, this feels so great. So anyway, I have a new nail shape, they're now like tiny claws and I love them.

Nails are obviously inspired by of Beast and Beauty and I hope you guys like them!

As for the colors, here's the list of nail polish I used.

Blue: OPI Incognito in Sausalito

Cream: Zoya Jacqueline

Red: China Glaze Salsa

It's not really obvious but the gradient I made doesn't have an opaque base coat. I just layered them over Zoya Anchor.

I tried to copy the city on my nails, hence the silhouette of buildings.

Shaped them into claws because Gem has claws.

Sorry, I kind of rushed on the clean-up since I was a little busy that day. I made these using red acrylic under China Glaze Salsa to make it seem like fire or orange scales which you guys will get if you've read the book. Hint hint. This pattern is on my thumb and pinkie plus my right hand.

You like? I hope you do.