I'M IN A SLUMP. - Discussion.

Hello!

Today, I thought I would do a little post on the good old slump. It's Monday, it's sunny outside, and I'm meant to be getting ready to go to work. BUT I thought I'd blog for you all instead!

So, good old slumps. Be it reading, filming, movies, gaming, shopping or whatever little hobby you have. A slump, is still a slump. Although I've posted before about reading slumps and some tips, I still find myself stuck in a slump. I'm not sure how it's happened (well, that's not strictly true), but I just dont feel like reading right now, which is a pain when I'm in the middle of x amount of books. No doubt I'll either DNF the reads and start with a clean slate, or pick them up and continue without enjoying them, but, we'll just have to wait and see..


So, how does a slump happen?

Well for me, it just so happens to be because I read a book quite quickly. Last week. Yes, you read that correctly. I managed to read a book quicker than anticipated, and I got all giddy and excited and now I'm sat here wondering what I'm doing wrong with my reading life. Who in their right mind actually finishes a book quickly, resulting in them slumping? Apparently me. Fantastic.

Slumps tend to happen when you go from having all the time in the world to suddenly being busy. At the time of me reading that book in 24 hours last week, I'd had meetings/appointments and then had work a few hours later, and it made more sense to wait around a coffee shop near work rather than go home to just turn around and come back out again for work. So that freed up a lot of my time on that day, and I flew through a good proportion of the book. Due to being so highly invested in the book, I picked it up the next morning and spent an hour finishing it off, collecting my thoughts and posting a blog post for it. I havent touched a book since,

Personally, I believe that slumps come out of over-enjoying or over-indulging on something. For example, I over-indulged on reading that book, something which would have normally taken possibly a week to read, was read in 24 hours. Since that over-indulging, I have yet to enjoy anything I picked up, regardless of it's size or whether it appealed to me at all. For example, I've since tried to pick up two books I really wanted to read, and I've read the first chapter of each and not picked them up since!

What are you going to do about it?

 Well, that's just it, I dont know. I'm currently focusing more on work and writing at the moment, but I don't just want to push reading to one side. I want to be able to read something before I go away (in two weeks), or at least make more progress in my current reading. I really dont want to be in a slump whilst on holiday, as alongside my flight I have extra travelling, meaning extra reading time which I wont want to waste!

My probable plan of action is as follows: try and read more of my current reads and finish at least one before starting anything else (or going on holiday - whichever comes first), make more time for myself to appreciate the books I'm reading right now and not just starting books left right and centre, and also to take a step back from my reading. Yes, this contradicts the other steps, but ultimately, if I feel like something is becoming "too much", it probably is, and I need to learn to take a step back if that happens to avoid any further slumps.


Do you have any tips for reading slumps? Let me know in the comments how you cope with slumps and maybe we can have a chat!

REVIEW || Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

OH MY GOD THIS BOOK.

First of all, thanks so much to Vanessa for giving me this book - I owe you one! Links to her YouTube channel are here, and her blog too!

For those of you who don't know - Don't Look Back is one of those books that gets you so sucked in, so so very quickly, and you can't help but want to know EVERYTHING ten minutes before the main character.

In this book, we follow Samantha, who, at the beginning of the book, is found stumbling out of a forest, a little worse for wear - okay, a lot worse for wear. She's battered and bruised, and has no recollection of what happened. She's gone from someone with the 'perfect life', to somehow having no clue who she is. And things only get worse when she's told her best friend Cassie went missing wit her - and still hasn't been found.

***

I loved this. It's my first ever Jennifer L Armentrout book and oh my goodness. Why haven't I picked her books up before now? This book is one of those un-put-down-able types, I read it over the space of 24 hours - less than that actually! I was so invested in the characters, and felt emotions for each and every single one of them. One moment I was happy, another I was sad, mostly, I was as confused as our lead character Samantha, I mean, who wouldn't be?

***SPOILERS***

One of the things I really didn't like, or rather, was frustrated by, was the lack of important flashbacks. I understand why we, as readers, didn't get those flashbacks, but still, I would have appreciated them more rather than just that final one. Whilst the doctors had said her memory may come back in bits and pieces, I didn't really need to see the drama flashbacks between Del, Samantha and Cassie, when they were a given, particularly with Samantha being such a smart lead character. However, that being said, I absolutely loved the flashback involving Scott, Carson and Samantha. We'd heard of this story prior to the flashback, so it was so heartwarming to see that that memory hadn't been tainted by present day lies.

Can we also just stop and take a moment to appreciate Carson please? Perfect book boyfriend right there.

***SPOILERS END***

Overall, for my first JLA read, it is definitely worth a solid 4 stars, if not somewhere between the 4th and 5th star. This is because the main character was so relateable, we felt everything they felt, went through everything they went through, and I definitely came away from the book feeling like I had a friend in Samantha. Not to mention it made me take a step back and think about my life and how I could make changes to make me a better person.

All in all, a fantastic read, and I highly highly recommend it!!

REVIEW || The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

***please note, this review may not be spoiler free***

The Loney is one of those books that just intrigues you. It's cropped up out of nowhere, and when you read the first few pages, you cant help but wonder if it's for you. Then suddenly, you're halfway through, not knowing how or when this happened, yet still wanting more.

Or at least it was for me.

The Loney is an isolated retreat/shrine that is visited by the same family and some of their fellow worshippers year in, year out. This year is the first year they have visited The Loney with their new priest, Father Bernard. Between the struggles of coming to terms with Father Bernard not being Father Wilfred (the previous priest), and boredom setting in,and tempers fraying, things are not all that they seem.

Years later, Hanny is a grown man who no longer depends on his brother. But then, a child's body is discovered..

I've finally finished this. Yes, it was something that gripped me, and I didn't quite know how, yet it still took me some time to get through. In all honesty, I felt that it took a LOT of time to get to the point.

The book is set out in a reflective manner, which we get to understand as being result of going through Counselling and the discovery of a body on an isolated beach. This isolated beach just happens to be in the same area as the sacred shrine the family would visit year after year. The year we get to hear about however, is the same year where said body gets dumped, with the story being recalled in light of its discovery.

Whilst I enjoyed the final chapter, and sevral chapters here and there, I felt the book was lacking in something. Most likely, it was lacking in pace. There was one chapter which I felt was completely unnecessary toward the end of the book, which I feel could have easily been summarized in a conversation between the main character and the priest or his counsellor. Other than that, the interest in the other characters' perceptions and experiences is really what kept me captivated throughout the book.

The book does have a very religious-heavy theme throughout, which should be a given considering they're visitng a sacred shrine. However, this shouldn't put you off. At times, it did get a little overwhelming, but I personally believe that this is down to where the narrative was going, and was essential for the character development.

Overall, I'm rating this book 3 out of 5 stars. Some parts of it where enjoyable, whereas others bored and frustrated me, making me think 3 out of 5 is a fair decision.

Have you read this book? Let me know in the comments so we can discuss it!

REBECCA RECOMMENDS: eARCS

Everyone who reviews books knows that there are means and methods to reading ARC books. As in, books that are given to reviewers and bloggers before or around publication date in order to boost their profiles on social media. So, how does a blogger get around to gaining eARCS?

There are a number of methods to getting to this point in your blog. Firstly, you need to make sure you have a blog with book content, reviewing or showing hauls. Posting frequently also helps, although this is not completely essential, as in some cases you can post reviews on websites such as Goodreads or NetGalley (a website I'll be telling you about in a moment).

How can a beginner blogger start reviewing unreleased titles?

Your best place to start is most probably going to be NetGalley. This website is a godsend for bloggers and reviewers alike. Signing up is completely free, and although they prefer you to have a blog or somewhere you post reviews, it isn't actually essential, which is a bonus for those just starting out. This is because they ask for your feedback on the book after giving it a rating, as well as asking you to answer a couple of questions before confirming you've read a book and submitting the piece. Once you read and review a book, it gets added to your 'Feedback to Approval Ratio'. This ratio is preferred to be over 85% by those at NetGalley, which means that the more you are approved for, the lower your ratio actually becomes. However, this ratio increases with the more books you read and review, meaning you're also more likely to be approved for books too! If you're reading and reviewing a load of books from NetGalley, and they all just happen to be from a particular publisher, you may be added to an Auto-Approval list, meaning that from that point, if you request a book by that publisher, you will receive that book almost instantly into your downloads.

NetGalley has a range of books for review, so there usually is always something for everyone. Whilst this is just an introduction to NetGalley, Elizabeth over at The Owlery has created a great video guide to getting to know NetGalley a little bit better, which can be found here.

Is there anything other than NetGalley?

Yes. There's other websites available, and sadly, I haven't tried them, due to the fact that I really got on well with NetGalley. One website is Edelweiss, and although I haven't looked at it, I know a few others who have tried this website an do enjoy using it. E;lizabeth has also looked at this in one of her videos, again, really helpful, which can be found here!

Another option is entering giveaways. Authors (particularly on Twitter), often host giveaways to win a copy of their newest releases. Yes it means that you're one of x amount of people entering, but hey ho, it feels great to enter and then even win a competition!

 My final recommendation is following authors or agents on Twitter/Instagram/any social media. This is because they tend to advertise if they are looking for people to review authors work. For example, I was in contact with an agent who supplied me with a synopsis and cover of an upcoming book, and asked if I would be interested in a copy to review. From that, other authors and agents will get in touch with you, particularly if you're also quite active on social media.


So there we go, if you have any questions, or tips yourself, let me know down below!