Riot Grrrl Reads

It feels like only yesterday when I was writing about my favourite books of 2015, but here I am, a year later, writing about my favourite books of 2016! Last year I said that I had read all my favourite books in that year, but this year, I don't think the same! I did read some of my favourite books last year, but I read my very favourite this year. Without further ado, here are my favourite books of 2016!

If all else fails, sometimes you’ve just got to wait until it passes and you get your blogging mojo back. You could publish a post telling your followers that you’re taking a break, and then just do something else completely for a couple weeks/months. Sometimes just completely taking it off your mind is the best thing that you could do, so then when you do feel like blogging again, there’s no pressure and you can come back in your own time.

As you may know, as well as blogging, I really love to use Instagram to share pictures the books I'm reading and loving. In almost all of my recent blog posts, I have included some pictures from my Instagram page, because I find my aesthetic there is pretty similar. Today I'm going to share how I edit all my photos for free!

When most people share how they edit their photos, it's systematic, and almost definitely, they use Photoshop. I don't have Photoshop (all of my banners are made using Fotor!), so I edit all my photos on my phone, using free apps. Obviously this is a lot cheaper, but it's also more convenient for Instagram, because I can upload them straight to Instagram from VSCO. You can get VSCO for free on most phones/tablets, but if you're really serious about it, you can pay extra for some filters (which I don't). I think this would be pretty pointless, because the free filters do look stunning!

When I first started using VSCO, I was totally overwhelmed, and so confused by the UI. It's very minimalist, so the icons can be very confusing because they don't look like what they do (in my opinion, anyway!). I upload my pictures to VSCO straight from my camera roll because honestly, I have no idea how to do it from the app.

I always edit the colours/structure of the picture before adding a filter, because then I can get it exactly how I want it.


Some people here would do the edits in a special order, but I just do them in the order of the icons! First I will change the exposure. I usually do +1, and that's what I'm going to do for this picture, because it's a little dark.


Depending on the lighting, I would -1 the contrast if it's a particularly bright day, but I took this photo on an overcast day, so I don't think the contrast needs changing. I then skip a few of the icons until I get to the sharpen tool, which is probably one of my favourites! I take all my photos on my phone, so the quality isn't that great, so the sharpen tool makes them look so much clearer.

I had to reach up high to take this photo, so my phone was probably wobbling around a bit, and it's not the clearest. So for this photo, I've changed the sharpen to +7 to make it seem clearer and to get the full detail of the book! (because come on, this cover is so pretty!)



I then use the saturation tool. Most people hate this, or only use it in negatives, but it's actually one of my favourites for editing photos. You have to be careful how heavily you saturate your pictures, but I find it makes them feel warmer and brighter, if you use the right amount. I use saturation on all my photos!

I find it works best with reds, and this photo has a lot of red in it, so I've used quite a lot: +3.


I then fiddle around a little with the highlights save, and shadows save, I don't really know what they do, just that they change the lighting a little! I find the shadows save tends to make my pictures feel calmer, which I really like, so I usually do +2/+3 of that.



Next I alter the temperature. This is so important, because the saturation makes my photos feel too warm, so I usually make them feel colder. It loses some of the brightness, but the colours still pop, which I really like! The combination of these two tools work really well for me - it's important to find balance because they're so strong, but I love how they work together.



I then use the tint feature. I don't really know what it's actually meant to be used for, except it makes the photo a little more blue-ey. I really like this! I usually do +1 or +2, so my pictures feel a little bit more mellow and calm.


The final things I do are add a filter, and crop my photo! I've tried out all the filters, and my favourite is HB1. I tend to do around +5 on this, so all my pictures match on my feed. I will then crop out the bad bits, so make the book more central!

A Torch Against the Night
By Sabaa Tahir

Elias and Laia are running for their lives.

After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf - the Empire's most secure and dangerous prison - to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars' survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene - Elias's former friend and the Empire's newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus's will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own - one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape... and kill them both.

The Problem With Forever
By Jennifer L. Armentrout

For some people, silence is a weapon. For Mallory “Mouse” Dodge, it’s a shield. Growing up, she learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime.

Now, after years of homeschooling with loving adoptive parents, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at public high school. But of all the terrifying and exhilarating scenarios she’s imagined, there’s one she never dreamed of—that she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day.

It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet the deeper their bond grows, the more it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with the lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory faces a choice between staying silent and speaking out—for the people she loves, the life she wants, and the truths that need to be heard.

• All the Rage (tw rape)
• Asking For It (tw rape) and Only Ever Yours
• Trouble
• Spinster Trilogy (Am I Normal Yet?, How Hard Can Love Be?, What’s A Girl Gotta Do?)
• Needlework (I haven’t read this one yet, but I own it, and it’s meant to be amazing!)
• An Ember in the Ashes (this is fantasy and doesn’t really talk about feminism, but I loved the ideas of gender and women and thought it was so feminist)

• I Call Myself A Feminist (I would recommend this if you are looking for more reasons to be a feminist or a recently one - I rated it not too highly because I found the ideas to not be too progressive, but I think that was just me, because I think I’ve become a lot more used to it, and maybe even a little desensitized with the environment I’ve grown up in and the liberal circles I tend to be more active in)
• Bad Feminist (more on intersectional feminism, and feminism and race)
• Everyday Sexism and Girl Up (I haven’t read these yet but I really want to, and they’ve been recommended to me so many times!)
• We Should All Be Feminists

Tell Us Something True
By Dana Reinhardt

Seventeen-year-old River doesn’t know what to do with himself when Penny, the girl he adores, breaks up with him. He lives in LA, where nobody walks anywhere, and Penny was his ride; he never bothered getting a license. He’s stuck. He’s desperate. Okay . . . he’s got to learn to drive.

But first, he does the unthinkable—he starts walking. He stumbles upon a support group for teens with various addictions. He fakes his way into the meetings, and begins to connect with the other kids, especially an amazing girl. River wants to tell the truth, but he can’t stop lying, and his tangle of deception may unravel before he learns how to handle the most potent drug of all: true love.

Tell Us Something True was an uplifting and fun read, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did! I didn’t love it, but it did hold some important messages and I did think that it was well written, and I cared about the characters too. Here are 3 reasons why I would recommend picking it up today! (which is the day it’s out! it’s almost like i planned this or something...)

1. The characters

The set of characters were what made the book for me, because I cared about each of them so deeply. The protagonist, River, had a really interesting perspective on things, which I found refreshing, and made the book original. I feel like in YA, we don’t really get to read about characters like him, so I found him so much more interesting, because he was so different to me. His story provided the perfect escape.

I loved all the characters, but my favourite was Daphne, one of River’s friends who he meets at the group therapy. She was so strong-willed and determined to get what she wanted, which meant she was so thick skinned and never let people get her down. I admired her courage in tough times and thought some of the things she did were actually pretty inspirational!

2. Important messages

I didn’t go into this book thinking it would teach me anything or change me in any way - I just thought it would be a light, happy book, but nothing special. For the majority of the book, it seemed this way, but the ending was surprisingly emotional! Because I became so invested in the characters and the story, the way everything wrapped up really got to me. I thought the ending was perfect, too!

3. The themes of identity and diversity

These were a little more subtle, but I thought the race of the Mexican characters living in America, was really interesting. River was white, but Daphne was Mexican, and the book explored what life was like for her, and highlighted the obliviousness of River, which I thought was so important! I think it was really well written and even if these themes weren’t always present, I enjoyed reading about it.