Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher *trigger warnings*

I have been wanting to read this book for a while and this summer when the show premiered on Netflix, the anticipation just kept growing. I had a pile of books that I wanted to read and get out of the way before this one and I finally put it as one of my "priority" reads for this month and OMG, I am so glad I did. I read the first couple chapters one night and then I put it down because I started reading First Year instead. Today's date is 10/26/17. I picked this book back up yesterday and read the majority of it. I flew through this book. it is such a quick read. It was so suspenseful and thrilling. I wanted to know why Clay was on the tapes and Hannah's story connecting all those people was just amazing horrible and sad. I got so angry and so upset reading Hannah's tapes. I teared up reading Clay's tape. My rating for this book is a 4 out of 5. I couldn't give it a 5 because I wish it would have brought the parent's into some way, and it left a lot of questions.

I know this book gets a lot of love and hate and that some consider it triggering and great story telling. If you have never heard of this book or the show, I am about to spoil you right now. I have a good reason to do so if you have these triggers. There are mentions of rape and suicide, and if these terms affect you, then please DO NOT read this book. If you had or are having thoughts of suicide, please go talk to someone. Call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, or come message me in the comments or email. I will lend an ear and I will care.

I know many people who have committed suicide or have attempted it and I wish I could have helped them and wish they came and talked to me.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Call 1-800-273-8255

Top 10 Video

My top 10 TV shows.

Review: First Year by Rachel E. Carter

I had forgotten all about this book, and then as I was scrolling through my favorites list one day trying to clear some of my bookmarks away, I came across the PDF i was sent to review. I read the first chapter and it hooked me. It's about twin brother and sister who has set off to go to this magical school to train for what they want to be. Along the way, the girl Ryiah finds out that she does indeed have magic and she can pain cast which is dangerous.

This reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and Divergent. Harry Potter because it's magic and the castle is a boarding school and it reminded me of Divergent because their chosen study that they want is called factions.

A couple days after I started reading this, I was watching a video from Benjaminoftomes on YouTube and he had the complete series and he was hyping it up. It was very repetitive at times and it had some tropes which I don't particularly like. For example, the main guy has an attitude problem towards our main character the whole time and the behavior between both of them go from friendly to enemy in less than 140 characters.

I am hoping that some of the repetitiveness is gone in the rest of the books. You can only read that she goes to the armory and vomiting so many times before you get bored. I gave this book a three out of 5 for that reason. I love the story line, but I think it could have gone a little differently but with the same outcome.

Freebie Haul 10/16- 10/21

I was contemplating on combining last week and this week together, but I received enough freebies for this post. Sorry that it is late, but I have other priorities and I took a relaxing weekend off from other things except Swagbucks and MyPoints.

Monday: No Freebies

Tuesday: I got another magazine in the mail today and all these good looking recipes are just not right around this time of year with the holidays coming up. I am patiently (not really) waiting for Thanksgiving so I can have another grilled turkey.

November/ December 2017 issue of Weight Watchers

Wednesday: President Snow got some mail today. I always have a hard time choosing which cat gets what treats from the mail, but since he hadn't gotten any treats in a while, I supposed he could have this one. I am not regretting that decision because he is turning into a heffer. He is getting too big and I need to put him on a diet. I also got a product to review

Meow Mix Simple Servings

Test product to review

Thursday: No Freebies

Friday: I finally got my next review copy from Blogging For Books. I am going to start reading this next month because I still have three more books on this month's TBR that I know I won't be getting too.

The Book Of Esther by Emily Barton from Blogging For Books

Saturday: Big magazine day and I got another freebie from Copenhagen. Make sure to look in your magazines for more free samples.

November 2017 issue of Redbook

November 2017 issue of Southern Living

November 2017 issue of Harper's Bazaar

November 2017 issue of Vogue

*Side Note: make sure to look through this carefully because there are two samples inside. One from Chanel and one from Olay!*

Tactical flashlight from Copenhagen

School Week 10 Photos

Another late post but last week was a really busy week. We got a lot done. I love when my planner gets full and it has a full spread for the week. We went the week without ink once again, and that was a major hindrance.

Monday: We had an early morning start and we finished read Double Fudge. After we got done reading, we watched some more Bill Nye the Science Guy. After Bill Nye, I had Sammy and Ariana do a writing assignment on their own animal orchestra. Addy worked on Reading Eggs junior and that is a complete disorganized mess.

After I was tired of of going through Reading Eggs junior, I turned on some sing song youtube videos for Addy. When Sammy and Airy were done with their writing, Sammy read to herself and Airy did her reading eggs and Addy wanted to work on her Leapfrog tablet.

Sammy ended her day with reading eggs, Airy ended her day with reading and Addy finished with her Leapfrog tablet.

Tuesday: The girls started school on their own this morning with Magic School Bus Rides Again. I don't like this new updated version. After that, I had Addy watch Super Why while Sammy and Airy worked on Easy Peasy and reading time.

After an hour, they switched and then Addy worked on her kindergarten workbook.

We started reading the last Humphrey book today and we ended the day with watching a YouTube video on the American Revolution.

Wednesday: The girls started the morning off with drawing pictures. Then I had them go do their morning work. I didn't take many pictures today, but the one I did take was of Sammy reading her story that she wrote to me and Adalyn.

We started watching that show called The Liberty Kids based on the American revolution and the events that took place in that time period. They are enjoying it so far.

Thursday: We started the morning with watching a documentary on the Amazonian Manatee, and they drew their own pictures of it after.

After they got their morning work done, they decided to have a pajama day and Sammy started working on her vocab while Ariana read to herself. I had Addy does some Easy peasy lessons without the printouts and it was a little difficult but manageable.

We ended the day with watching another episode of Liberty Kids.

Friday: We spent the day watching The Magic School Bus, reading Spring According To Humphrey and two more episodes of Liberty Kids.

As I am writing this, I have finally gotten ink. I had to go the generic route and it works just as well as that high dollar Canon crap. Highway robbery Canon. wanting 12.99 for a single cartridge when I paid 16.00 for a box of 20 cartridges of the colors I need.

School Week 9 Photos

This is going to be short and sweet. This post is a week late and I have very good excuses. We had a difficult week. I ran out of ink and I had to change around our plans. I had to get ready for a 6 day week for Ariana.

Monday: Late start to the morning. Addy broke her glasses this morning, so she will be without her glasses for a little while. We finished Wildest Latin America and then we watched Bill Nye. After, I had Addy work on her Easy Peasy lessons, and Sammy and Ariana did a free write.

To end the day, we started reading Imagination According To Humphrey.

Tuesday: NO SCHOOL. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIANA!!

Wednesday: Stated the morning with our regular work. I had Addy watch Super Why, Sammy did some reading alone, and I had Ariana work on Easy Peasy.

An hour later, I ran out of ink and that is when the rest of my week went to shit. I can't function without ink, I have realized. I read some more of Humphrey to the girls and they ended the day with Candy Land.

Thursday: Another thing that sucked about the week, we were all getting sick. We all had the sniffles and puffy and teary eyes. We started the day with the magic school bus and then I read the rest of the day which was HELL on my throat.

Friday: We were feeling better this morning. Addy started her day with watching Leapfrog. Ariana did reading time while Sammy worked on Reading Eggs.

Addy did handwriting practice and she is getting much better. The girls worked on spelling, and then we finished the day by finishing Double Fudge by Judy Blume.

Saturday: No Pictures. Ariana had to make up last Friday from when she took her birthday trip with my parents. She worked in her workbook and did some more reading eggs. She had a very short day because I didn't want to cram so much onto her.

Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

I honestly don't know how I feel about this book. It's confusing and also scary to think about. I wanted to enjoy this story and at times I did, but I just didn't like how the main character Offred acted ignorant. She seemed to play the dumb card a lot. Also when it got to really good parts, it would just skip over into past memories. I understand that this is made to read like a diary from her perspective, but it was just clear cut. It made you think and it didn't really describe how everything started and how people actually let this happen.

It also left me with a lot of questions. What happened to her daughter. Why didn't she get to stay with her husband, was it because he was married before? Who decided the classifications? Who exactly were the commanders? Why were some babies called shredder babies? Was Offred pregnant at the end?

This made me very fearful of the future and how current events are leading. I am fearful for my daughters futures. I ask Cayce everytime some horrific happens in the world, I ask him "Why the hell did we bring children into this fucked up world?" I also realized that if this was to happen or something similar, is that I would not survive because of choices I made regarding my reproductive health.

I am hoping that when I watch the show, that I will get a better understanding of this world and it would answer some unanswered questions. Also, I would love to have a sequel or companion from Ofglen's POV or what happened to Offred, when she was taken by the eyes.

Halloween Books For Kids

Freebie Haul 10/2- 10/14

I planned on having these two weeks separate, but I just didn't have the time to go back in and edit last weekend, so I combined this week into this post. I have a lot going on and my blog is taking the back seat again. I ave gotten some great things over these two weeks.

Monday 10/2: Good start to the week. Got some more books and a helpful educational info sheet for the girls.

fold-able fire truck/activity sheet

Kellogg's Family Rewards: Out Of The Dust

October 2017 issue of Travel + Leisure

Tyndale Rewards: Flame Of Resistance

Tuesday 10/3: Got my next review copy from Blogging For Books and Cayce redeemed a Food Lion coupon for these snacks. They were OK. A little hard. Want to try the other two varieties.

How To Behave In A Crowd from Blogging For Books

Vea Thai Coconut snacks

Wednesday 10/4: No Freebies

Thursday 10/5: A lonely magazine graced the mailboxes presence today

October 9, 2017 issue of Sports Illustrated

Friday 10/6: Got some more snacks and a Giveaway win. I was thinking about making a review video on these snacks, but then I was procrastinating and I went ahead and gave them to the girls. They were delicious though.

Pure Growth Organic Crispy Rice Square and Cheddar Monkeys

The Massacre Of Mankind: Goodreads GiveAway Win

Saturday 10/7: Got the best sample pack today from Dunkin Donuts. I had been waiting for this to show up. I saw my friend post about hers on her instagram and I was not patiently waiting for mine.I have already tried the Coconut Caramel and it was OK. This morning I had the Blueberry Pancake and holy hell, it was DELICIOUS!!!

Dunkin' Donuts Bakery Series: Coconut Caramel, Blueberry Pancake, and Dulce de Leche

Kellogg's Family Rewards: Captain Underpants....

November 2017 issue of Food Network magazine

Monday 10/9: No Freebies

Tuesday 10/10: Lonely magazine to start off the freebie week.

November 2017 issue of Cosmopolitan

Wednesday 10/11: Another magazine.

October 13, 2017 issue of Entertainment Weekly

Thursday 10/12: Today was the biggest freebie day of the week.

Goodreads Giveaway Win: The French Girl

November 2017 issue of Glamour magazine

October 16-23, 2017 issue of Sports Illustrated

Free 8X10 print from Walgreens

Friday 10/13: The only thing I got in the mail today was another Goodreads Giveaway win

Goodreads Giveaway win: Eternal Life

Saturday 10/14: Today was another big freebie day. I got a big stack of magazine and another book for the girls and some face cream to put on my face.

Kellogg's Family Rewards: Owl Diaries

L'oreal Paris 14 day Revitalift

October 2017 issue of Vogue

October 20-27, 2017 issue of Entertainment weekly

November 2017 issue of Men's Health

November 2017 issue of Marie Claire

I know this was a super long post. Let me know if ya'll got any cool freebies this week. I would love to know. Come chat to me in the comments and if you haven't already, go check out and subscribe to my YouTube channel.