Raineedayze Reads: Ship It

One of the biggest things in my life is my love for many fandoms. I am a huge, unapologetic fangirl of many things (as if you couldn't tell) and I absolutely love reading about being a fangirl and sharing the fangirl experience with other people.

Ship It by Britta Lundin is NOT what I was expecting and unfortunately left this fangirl with a bad taste in her mouth.
  

 

Beautiful cover, not so beautiful story

The book is told in a dual-perspective, following superfan Claire, a Tumblr-famous slash-fic writer and Forest, the star of the show Demon Heart and the object of Claire's fanfics.

The fandom in this book is SUPER similar to the Supernatural fandom, and like many others have stated in their reviews, it seems like a lot of this story was lifted from a very real fan situation that happened regarding Destiel and Jensen Ackles.  (Also, let it be known that I adore Jensen Ackles and co.)

Synopsis

Essentially, Claire heads to a local convention where the stars of Demon Heart will be, and in a very "never meet your heroes" kind of way, asks a question during the panel regarding the homoerotic subtext of the main characters. Forest, denies any subtext and along with the showrunner, shoot it down. In order to fix this PR disaster, the Demon Heart publicist brings Claire along for the rest of the convention-circuit and drama ensues.

Also there is a super unhealthy love story in this book.

As always, if you have not read this book, avert your eyes for the paragraph between the lines!

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Tess and Claire's relationship is ridiculously unhealthy. Tess outs Claire to multiple people and pressures her to label herself, which made me super uncomfortable. Claire and Tess also argue ALL THE TIME, so I could never really root for them. Aside from a cute scene in a diner, they were probably better off Tumblr friends.

Claire also casually KIDNAPS JAMIE. And hacks his Twitter account, but it's okay because he is queerbaiting fans. Seriously. Claire was pulling a Misery situation and threatened Jamie because he refused to make her ship canon. Jamie was NOT a good guy but kidnapping him and stalking his old photos was too much.

Claire also writes fics about Rico and Forest using personal information Forest has shared with her. One of these insinuates Forest's father abused him and all she says is "I'm sorry." Forest forgives her and all is well. DUDE NO.

I kind of get the message the book was trying to say. That representation matters and everyone's opinions are valid. However, this book used so many awful ways to get there and it was just ridiculous.

The only redeeming things in this book: Caty (somewhat), Rico, and Claire's parents, although they were super one-dimensional.
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Overall, this book was just so bad. I gave it 2/5 stars. The writing style was nice, but the story was just terrible. The cover is so beautiful, but this book will not be on my shelves much longer I think.


Have you read Ship It? Let's chat about it!



Always, Raineedayze

Burgers and Jobs

These past two weeks have given Jonathan and I a little breathing room to get used to our new schedules. Jonathan just started a new job as a field engineer, so he's getting used to driving around town and doing a lot of active work as opposed to his job before, where he spent all day at a desk. 

As for myself, I've been spending the last couple of weeks taking care of the house and putting in job applications EVERYWHERE. It's been a pretty exhausting (and somewhat defeating) process, but I'm holding out hope, especially as in the city, new jobs open every day.

Last Friday, my aunt came to town and we were able to have dinner with her and her girlfriend. We tried out Chris Madrid's, a place here famous for their huge burgers. The restaurant actually closed down, but they are now running food truck.The food was fantastic, but the 100-degree heat was definitely no joke.

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The rest of the weekend was spent running only the absolutely necessary errands and taking naps. The combination of the heat, the exhaustion, and what I think is a minor bug, tuckered us out pretty badly. Hopefully, as we get used to the new schedule and I find something to take me out of the house, things will begin to pick back up. 

However, there has been some awesome stuff to happen! Jonathan actually picked me up a gorgeous digital drawing tablet and I am absolutely in LOVE with it. It's a Huion Inspiroy and I have been using it non-stop ever since I got it. As you guys know, I've been wanting to up my digital art game and this definitely has been a huge improvement. I've been using it with Krita and it works so well and the work is so smooth. The link to it is here, if you'd like to check it out!

That was my week. Here's looking up!




Always, Raineedayze

June TBR

I've never been one for TBR lists, but since I started using my planner again, I've been a huge fan of creating them. It's been helping me organize my books that I have on my shelves left unread, and also solving my constant dilemma of never knowing what to check out from the library. 

My TBR is more of a goal list, as I tend to stray from it quite a bit, but here's the rough TBR for the month of June.

1. Ship It by Britta Lundin

I just started this book and I'm loving it so far. This book is told in a dual perspective, following ultimate fangirl Claire and Forest, the actor in Claire's favorite show. The show in question gives me hardcore Supernatural vibes, especially as Claire is a slash-fic writer, and I am a huge Destiel fangirl. Overall, I'm super excited to read more of it this month. 

Oh and can we talk about this GORGEOUS cover?!?!





 


2. Legendary by Stephanie Garber

This is the sequel to Caraval, which is one of my absolute favorite reads. Caraval ended on a huge cliffhanger, so I've been dying to find out what comes next for the characters. This book came out at the end of May, but I'm waiting for a library copy, so hopefully I can get it soon!


 








3. Save the Date by Morgan Matson

I am a huge Morgan Matson fan and I've been waiting for what feels like FOREVER for her new book. I pre-ordered this book with the special edition notebook and stickers and I am so stoked to finally get it! This book comes out June 5th, so it will probably be one of the first reads of the month.





 



 4. Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett

I got this book as a gift from my mom and I've been pretty excited to check it out. I'm not exactly sure what it's about but the cover evokes summer night vibes and I'm super stoked to check it out. I read Alex, Approximately last year and thought it was a cute read so I'm excited to see how this compares.










5. Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

I actually just heard about this book on booktube and it sounds super incredible. This book involves a mysterious death and the main character hunting for answers. That's all I know about it, but it sounds super spooky and amazing. 









What books are you reading this month? Let's chat about it!






Always, Raineedayze

June Mini-Goals

                                       


Now that is officially, full fledged SUMMERTIME, it's time to set some goals and make the most of what will probably be my last summer vacation.

I've thought a ton about what I wanted to accomplish this month, and I realized I want to use this free time to do all the things I've been putting off the rest of the year. 

1. Watch more documentaries

We live in an age where knowledge is so easily accessible, and yet I feel I haven't been taking advantage of it. I want to watch more documentaries and learn more about the world. I'm a huge trash tv junkie, and while I will never give up my overly dramatic shows, I should definitely get some quality stuff in my brain too!


2.  Be Active 30 Minutes/Day

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I've actually been doing really well, health-wise and I want to stay on track. Our pool is open and it feels so nice to be out and moving. Plus, my body has never felt so good! I feel stronger and my back is not in so much pain. Also, getting a quick 15-minute workout each morning has really set the mood for my days and motivates me to get out of bed. Let's keep it up in June!


3. Post 3 Book Reviews

I'm loving reviewing books for this blog and I realized I have a huge passion for talking about books. I've been looking into careers where I can put my love for books to use, but for now, I really want to improve my reviewing and talk about books with as many people as possible! It's just so nice to connect with so many cool people who just GET IT. I really want to work more book reviews and bookish things into my life.


4. Take some #SummerVibes pictures

Summer is such a magical time. Everything is a little bit brighter and lot more free. I want to take advantage of this by capturing all the best summery moments to remind myself of how great life can be. I made a list in my planner of a few summer ideas and I can't wait to share some of them this summer.

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5. Hit the Pool!

I love the pool and now that our apartment has it open, and I can visit the college pool as an alumni, I really should take advantage of it. Not only is it an excellent workout, it's so relaxing to be in the water, especially in the Texas heat!!


What are your summer goals for June? Let's chat about it!



Always, Raineedayze