Book Review: Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore

Even though I strongly believe you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, I kind of literally do that exact thing when I'm picking my next book to read. I really appreciate it when a book has a nicely designed cover, or the paper feels very nice or the fonts and typography look pretty. Secondhand Souls instantly caught my eye when I saw it on a stand in the bookstore a few months ago. It's bright pink and the cover illustration is a perfect combination of creepy and cute! And to make it even more amazing, I only just found out that it glows in the dark!

But enough about the aesthetics.. did the amazing outside actually match the contents? The simple answer to that is: YES. so what is this book about?

It seems like only yesterday that Charlie Asher took on a very dirty job—collecting souls and keeping the Forces of Darkness at bay. The new gig came with the Big Book of the Dead and a host of other oddities: creatures under the streets, an evil trinity of ravenlike Celtic death goddesses, and one very bad Underworld dude attempting to conquer humanity. Along with a cohort of other oddballs, Charlie faced off against these denizens of darkness—and met his own end. But thanks to Audrey, his Buddhist-nun boo, his soul is still alive . . . inside a fourteen-inch-high body made from lunchmeat and spare animal parts. Waiting for Audrey to find him a suitable new body to play host, Charlie has squirreled himself away from everyone, including his adorable seven-year-old daughter, Sophie, who enjoys dressing up like a princess, playing with her glitter ponies, and—being the Luminatus—spouting off about her power over the Underworld and her dominion over Death.

Just when Charlie and company thought the world was safe, some really freaky stuff hits San Francisco. People are dying, but their souls are not being collected. Someone—or something—is stealing them and no one knows where they are going, or why, but it has something to do with that big orange bridge. Then there's the Taser-wielding banshee keening about doom who's suddenly appeared while Sophie's guardian hellhounds, Alvin and Mohammed, have mysteriously vanished.

Charlie is just as flummoxed as everyone else. To get to the bottom of this abomination, he and a motley crew of heroes will band together: the seven-foot-tall, two-hundred-and-seventy-five-pounds-of-lean-heartache Death Merchant Minty Fresh; the retired policeman-turned-bookseller Alphonse Rivera; the lunatic Emperor of San Francisco and his dogs, Bummer and Lazarus; Mike Sullivan, a bridge painter in love with a ghost; a gentle French-speaking janitor named Jean-Pierre Baptiste; and former Goth girl Lily Darquewillow Elventhing Severo, now a part-time suicide hotline counselor.

With little Sophie babbling about the coming battle for the very soul of humankind, time is definitely not on their side. . . .

(source)

I only later found out this book is actually a sequel to 'A Dirty Job'. The books was mentioned on the cover, but there was no mention anywhere that it was the prequel to Secondhand Souls. I was a little bummed about finding out about this too late because I would've preferred reading the other book first. I also kind of felt the end was a little rushed and that there easily could've been another 200 pages. I would've liked to read more about other ghost's stories. The last bit of criticism I have is the fact that Sophie, the character pictured on the cover, really wasn't as big of a character as I think she should've been.

But all this aside, I think the story was wonderfully written and I had a hard time putting it down. I loved how in the story, our bodies were truly more considered as vessels. How in the end, all that truly matters is the soul. I also loved the mix of fantasy and reality and there were plenty of laugh out loud moments. Moore has a very modern and fresh way of writing. i really enjoyed this book and can't wait to get my hands on A Dirty Job, which I heard a lot of people liked better than this book.

I give this book an 8 out of 10!

Cute Claws: Blackheart Beauty Polish

For christmas I got some awesome new nail polish and I was dying to try them. What was keeping me from trying them was the fact I had to remove my glitter nail polish which is always a pain. I've tried so many tricks that are supposed to make it easier, but it still always ends in endless rubbing until it finally comes off. Yet, I'm glad I did it because I love these colours!

The brand of these nail polishes is Blackheart Beauty and it's available at Hot Topic. I always get so many compliments on my nails whenever I wear one of their colours. So far I only have 4, but they're definitely all in my favourites. The first one I tried was this shiny purple. It's one of my favourite purple polishes I've ever had. It's a perfect deep, cool toned purple with a super shiny finish (for me it's the shinier the better!). I only needed two layers to make it completely opaque. Even just one layer covers your nails well, but it was still a little patchy so I added another layer later one. As a base and top coat I used my favourite Sally Hansen base + top coat. A good base and top coat will prevent this polish (or any polish) from chipping. Whenever I use the coats I really just wait until the polish has 'grown out' until I remove it and do something else.

The only thing I don't like about Blackheart Beauty polishes is the brush. It's very thin which makes it very hard to get a clean, even application. But obviously you can always clean up after with a Q-tip dipped in some remover.

The other polish I got was this top coat with pink glitter that glows in the dark! I put it over a teal base colour from the Avon Speed Dry line. Please ignore my short nails.. I broke about 7 of them because of the cold and figured I'd just cut them all short :( It's cute and applies really nicely, and it DOES glow in the dark, but it's not really my colour. I really only tend to wear red, pinks, purples or nudes. But if you are into cooler colours, I definitely recommend this one!

Removing either one of the polishes was no problem at all and the wear was great (but again, use a proper base and top coat). I will definitely be wearing the purple often and save the glow in the dark one for special (dark) occasions.

Review: Kawaii Box!

Back in December I woke up to an email from the lovely Twinkie Chan telling me I had won her Kawaii Box giveaway! I was super exited, sent her my info right away and a month later right before my birthday (which is this Sunday!) I got my box of goodies in the mail :) what a great early birthday present! Kawaii Box is a monthly kawaii subscription box with items from Japan and Korea with 10 to 12 handpicked super cute items every month. Now let's see what was in this month's box...

The moment I opened the box I already couldn't stop squealing. So much cuteness! I really like how they have custom shipping boxes and tissue paper and a cute Thank You card with the box's contents on it (which I didn't read because I wanted everything to be a surprise)

The first thing I thought was love at first sight.. nail things! You guys know I love my nails, and I've been putting more effort into them lately. Unfortunately over the past few days I broke five nails which bummed me out because I wanted them to look nice for my birthday... But now I have these adorable fake nails!! Normally my nails would be way too long to wear these, but for once they're short now so I can actually try them! I will definitely share pictures once I do. I also adore the cat nail clippers and nail stickers.

Next were these food items. I'm really not sure if these noodles will taste like noodles or candy, because the card says 'Candy DIY kit'. Should be interesting... Also how delicious does the waffle squishy look? Unfortunately it got a bit damaged during its journey here (did they try to eat some of the 'chocolate' at customs??)

Stationery!! You can't go wrong with that. This owl notebook reminds me of the owls on my make up bag. The dog pen is kinda weird in a cute way and I can never resist a nice roll of washi tape :)

Some sweet goodies! This coin purse is definitely one of my favourite items. I'm the 'coin lady'. Any coins my boyfriend gets he gives to me, resulting in my wallet getting really fat. Now I can put them in here! The lollipop is a little towel which I will probably never use because it looks so stinkin' cute.

And last but certainly not least... THESE STICKERS! Chubby animals and food? Chubby animal food? Pandas? Eeep! These are seriously the cutest. I just want to frame this sticker sheet and hang it on my wall. This is the kind of stuff I live for.

All in all I LOVE my Kawaii Box! Mystery boxes can be hit or miss and sometimes you get stuck with a bunch of stuff you'll never use or give away, but I can honestly say I will probably use 90% of this box (10% being the lollipop which will just go and look cute somewhere). Thank you so much to Twinkie Chan and Kawaii Box for letting me try out this box. I highly recommend getting one at least once, or sending it to a friend as a gift! Prices start at only $17,30 and shipping is free!

Oh and the Kawaii Box is cat approved.

Book Review: Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Let me start off this review by saying this: if you don't own this book already, run to your bookstore or open up amazon and get it RIGHT NOW.

Got it? Okay good. Now go read it. Trust me, it won't take long. You'll blaze through it within a day, but then I suggest you don't and take lots of dance, tea, cuddle and netflix breaks to make it last a little longer. It's really that good and will put you in a good, positive mood to start this new year off right!

This book has been on display at every bookstore I've visited in the past few weeks, and normally when books are consistently being shoved in my face I tend to not want to read them (same happened with Hunger Games, but then I gave in and loved it and stayed up until 4 in the morning to finish the series). The main reason why I did put it on my 'to read' list is because I found out that mental illness was an important theme and most importantly that it was about living with mental illness but still being positive and kicking ass at life! Plus there's an overly excited raccoon with glittery confetti on the cover. I was sold.

My sweet boyfriend took note and got it for me for christmas and I started reading it right the next day while he was going nuts over his new videogame. I got halfway through super quick and then had to put it away, just to make it last longer. It's a very honest book. The humour is great and there's a good balance between being serious and silly. There's also small Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Star Wars etc. references thrown in there which made me relate to the writer even more. She is very random and always has the strangest thoughts in her head that she just HAS to share with the rest of the world.

A gratuitous picture of me looking furiously happy

What I also like is that the chapters are very short, so you can easily read one or two before bed, or on the bus to school. They're all like little mini stories about Jenny's life. Some are funny, some are serious, but they're all great. There's even some pictures here and there so illustrate her crazy thoughts and adventures.

The more 'serious' chapters helped me a lot. The writers gets super open and honest about her struggles. She talks about how she only feels 'accomplished' two or three days a month. All the other days it feels like she hasn't accomplished anything, even though she's get so many things done. I honestly thought I was the only one who felt like this. Every once in a while I feel like I can take on the world and are getting so much stuff done and I feel inspired and driven. But most days I feel the anxiety creeping up on me. I feel like I'm wasting my time on silly things. I feel unaccomplished. And I often wonder what I could do to change that. You see these lifes of all these 'shiny people' on social media who seem to have it all together. They look gorgeous, have the perfect relationship, the perfect food, work out, friends etc. etc. and you can't help but wonder: 'why can't I do all that?', but the truth is, you can't. These shiny people don't exist. They have their own struggles, their own 'behind the scenes'. You're merely looking at a highlight real of their life.

And then I look at Jenna Lawson. She has written two books, goes on book tours, has a career doing what she loves and a little family and still she has that feeling creeping up on her. I honestly think it never really goes away. It's what keeps you going, pushes you forward and keeps you from settling. At the same time, it's also about forming you own idea of succes. Succes is different for everyone. Some people might think it's fame and fortune, for me it's being able to make a phone call, going out by myself or even just getting out of bed in the morning. Succes for me is having someone to love and laugh with, to be able to spend time with those/do the things I love.

Anxiety and depression are no joke and can make you feel very isolated and alone, but this book makes sure to let you know you're not. There's thousands of people out there who understand. Who know. It's like a comfort blanket in book form. A comfort book. There's chapters in it you're going to want to read back whenever everything gets too much or you just need a laugh.

I recommend this book x100000 and also recommend to pass it on to anyone who could use some more insight regarding mental illness. Let's live this life furiously happy!

Recent Reads: YA and Modern Romance

Cup from Momiji

Hi everyone! Today I'll once again be sharing the books I've recently read. This time it's two young adult books (one of my all time favourite genres) and one that's more of a funny research essay kind of thing.

Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
My boyfriend  was actually the one who pointed this out to me. He really wanted to watch the movie of it so we went to see it at a theater downtown a few weeks ago. It was a great movie and especially Earl was hilarious. As usual though, the book is SO MUCH BETTER. Earl is even funnier. In short the story is about two guys who make movies together and a girl who has leukemia. The storyline is a little different from the movie. Thinking about it, there were some parts in the movie I really wish would've been in the book! In a way it's a funnier, more cynical and more down to earth version of The Fault in Our Stars if I were to compare it to anything (the movie of that completely ruined my love for the book, and it's the same case for Paper Towns. Ugh). It was a great, unpretentious and funny read that I would definitely recommend you put on your summer reading list!

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowel
I heard so much about this book that I simply felt like I was obliged to read it. Now, I'm obviously a little outside of the age group for YA readers, but usually it still works just fine. This was probably the first book I felt way too old to be reading it. It kinda felt like reading my diary when I was 12 years old and obsessing over every little thing my crushes were doing. It was just too much for me. Too cliché, too cutesy, too dramatic. Did it remind me of having my first crush? Yes it did. Would I have enjoyed this book 10 years ago? I most likely would have. But as a twenty something it was just too much..

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
You may know Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford from Parks and Recreation. He's a hilarious comedian and as it turns out, a writer too! Once again my boyfriend picked out this book to read, but then I kinda stole it from him when I didn't have anything else to read and got completely sucked in. This book compared love and romance in the old days to our new, modern, digital love world.It was very interesting, shocking and sometimes even sad. But then Aziz would throw in a joke here and there and you could laugh it off and not feel as bad as the pretty sad state this world is in. At least, that's my opinion. Yeah we have a lot of options now and can find our 'perfect match'. But maybe what we think we want, isn't really what we want or think we need. It's also a lot harder to commit yourself to someone, more fear that you're missing out. You browse through instagram and see all these other potential partners and wonder if you really made the 'perfect' choice. Cheating is easier, lying is, leading a double life is. But then again, I most likely never would've met my boyfriend if it weren't for the internet. So there's that. I definitely recommend reading this if you need something different from the usual fiction and fairy tales, or if you just want to laugh out loud while reading a book!

I think I'm done with reading YA fiction for a little bit now. I really want to read At The Water's Edge by Sara Gruen next. I loved Water For Elephants and Ape House so I'm sure I can't go wrong with that!

Review: Joico Color Intensity PINK hairdye

Since the place where I usually buy my pink Stargazer hairdye isn't around the corner anymore, I thought this would be a nice opportunity to try some other brands! I got this dye at the so called 'The Beauty Supply Centre', a place where you can buy professional/salon hairproducts. They had this Joico Color Intensity PINK creme hairdye, which I had never seen or heard of before and looked pretty interesting. For around $14 CAD I got this 118 ml tube. Let's see how it works for me shall we...

What I always do is I dilute my pink dye with conditioner because:
     1. it'll last me longer (and since I touch up my hair once a week that saves me a lot of money) and
     2. because the color on itself is usually way too dark and
     3. because one tube/bottle of the hairdye itself usually isn't even enough to dye my whole head of hair
So I did the same thing as usual: I dumped a lot of cheap conditioner in a tub and added a small squeeze of dye. which is usually enough. With this dye I only got a really pale pink though, which is pretty but not the kind of pink I wanted to go for. So I added more... and more.. and more... until I used over half of the tube and decided to stop before I would use it all up in one go. (you always want the mixture to be a bit darker than the colour you're going for)

Then I applied to mixture all over my hair and covered it with a showercap and left it on for about one hour. What I did notice was that it didn't stain my skin as bad as my usual dye, but I actually don't consider that to be a good thing because to me it feels like then the color won't stick to my hair as well either.

Eventually I rinsed my hair with luke warm water, let it air dry and styled it as usual with some moroccan oil and a straightener + heat protecting spray. And this is the finished result! Left in natural light, right with the light from our regular lamps.

It basically gave me the same result as my usual Stargazer dye, I just needed a lot more pink dye to get the color I wanted. I simply don't feel like spending $14 every other week. I don't know what it will look like after one wash, but I feel it will fade just as much as the Stargazer dye (which means touching it up every week if you want to keep it vibrant). Maybe if you just want some strands of pink hair this product is great, but other than that I wouldn't recommend it.

For next time I'm actually planning on ordering Jerome Russel Punky Colour in Flamingo Pink, since I was very impressed with the turquoise I had a few years ago (and it's only $9.39 on Amazon!). I'll do a review on that as well when I do :)

Katy Perry Oh, My! lashes review

Katy Perry Oh, My! lashes review

Since I tried fake lashes for the first time not too long ago I was excited enough about them to try out different kinds. Especially more dramatic ones! So when I saw the Katy Perry Oh, My! double effect lashes, I knew I had to get them! (I also wanted to get the Oh, Honey! ones but sadly they were sold out when I went to get them..)

When I put on the first one (which was surprisingly easy!) I feared they were going to be way too much! But oh was I wrong. They're so big and beautiful! Crazy Bambi eyes effect! 

Let me show you the magic of these lashes with this simple comparison...

(Sorry about it being webcam pics! My camera gave out after four pictures :c)

I felt so 'naked' and 'lashless' when I took them off again at the end of the day! (yes you an easily wear them for a couple of hours without getting annoyed!) These lashes make you feel so sexy. I have no other words to describe them. They're also perfect for moments when you have to pull off your most innocent, fluttery lashes look (like if you want someone to make you a cappuccino or maybe even a sandwich). Succes guaranteed. INSTANT SANDWICH DELIVERY LASHES.

No but seriously, I am very tempted now to get the whole set, let's just hope they'll be back in stock soon! Otherwise, you can also find them at numerous online shops. Just Google something along the lines of Katy Perry Eyelure lashes and I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.