Saturday, February 7, 2015

BLOG HOP: 14 Days of Fictional Swooning + GIVEAWAYS!!

Fictional Boy(s) Who Caught Me Off Guard

Hello! Today, I am a part of the 14 Days of Fictional Swooning Blog Hop put together by Fic Fare and Swoony Boys Podcast! Since it is just one week away from Valentines day, I thought it might be appropriate to talk about some of our favorite boys in some of our favorite books.

This blog hop features myself and twenty five other book bloggers/reviewers, and we have all partnered together to bring you the best Valentines/Swooning themed content we can in the days leading up to Valentine's Day. Each of these bloggers has a different topic they are writing about, so be sure to swing on over to their blogs and read their posts!

If that was not incentive enough for you, the 14 Days of Fictional Swooning Blog Hop is also hosting a blog hop-wide giveaway! You can gain entries by following each of our blogs, but there is another way to gain even more entries!

Each participant in the hop has been given part of a popular "swoony" quote to put somewhere within their blog post. The words involved will be marked or colored so that they stand out from the rest of the post. (For example: my words are marked in pink and are in bold!) If you visit all of the blogs, you can unscramble these words to find a popular quote and enter that within the rafflecopter. The blogs that are posting in the first week of February have one quote, and the blogs that are posting in the second week have the other!

AND if that is not enough, I am also hosting my own giveaway for a box of Valentines goodies! (It's possible a book will show up in there too!) All of the ways to enter will be listed in my personal giveaway widget!

That's about enough talking! If you want to see the giveaways, read through the whole post! (You will find the giveaway widgets on the bottom!) 


Fic Fare and Swoony Boys Podcast asked me to write about one fictional boy who caught me off guard. But, I had so much trouble deciding just one, that I had to pick two! 



1. Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins


     

Finnick Odair, from The Hunger Games Series, is definitely one of the fictional boys who caught me off guard. While I can't recall the exact emotions I felt when I was introduced to him for the first time, it is definitely different than how I view him now.

Katniss and Peeta learn about their competitors in Catching Fire; Finnick Odair from District 4 being one of them. At the time of winning his games, Finnick was fourteen years old. Due to his success in the games, Finnick mentored other tributes, until his own name was called in the Third Quarter Quell.


When Finnick first met Katniss, I was not sure how I felt about him. It was quite obvious that he was trying to flirt with her, and that Katniss didn't want any of this. He informs her that, for his "lovers" in the Capitol, he demands secrets, and he wanted to know one of hers. Impressive Move, Finnick.


When I was first introduced to him, I thought he was a little bit arrogant. But as the trilogy goes on, I noticed a change in him. As the games progress, his attitude changes into a more positive one, and Katniss begins to realize that his arrogance is only a mask that he puts on himself. When the rebellion begins, Finnicks vulnerability and true love for Annie is revealed. His arrogance is just an act, a coping mechanism for the terrors he had to face when he was in his own games.


Finnick is one of my favorite characters in the Hunger Games Trilogy due to his character development. He definitely caught me off guard, and I am so happy that he was able to reveal who he truly is to people that he trusts throughout the series. I am so happy to see the character he developed to.


2. Captain Thorne from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer


Pictures from thesilvereye


 


Thorne is one of the characters that I thought I would never like. (Boy, how I hate to admit that now!). From the first moment that Cinder meets him, she is stricken with his boldness and the (sometimes overly inflated) self-esteem and confidence that he has in himself. Let me tell you, Cinder hated it.


"Hi, Cinder. My name is Thorne. I think I know anything and everything about the world. Ask me a question! Let me demonstrate the endless knowledge that I have that you will never be able to achieve. Did I mention that I find you stunning?"


"Of course I know how to fly, Cinder. I have no clue what you are talking about. Or, should I say the most beautiful girl on the planet?"


The quotes in italics are exactly what I pictured Cinder hearing from Thorne for the first time. Although, I can not bear that he would flirt with anyone but Cress! Cinder was not taking any of his bait and I feel like, at more than one point in the series, she found him incompetent of doing many, many things.


I feel absolutely terrible for doubting Thorne and believing Cinder's perception of him without a grain of salt. For a good majority of Scarlet, I thought the same things that Cinder did. But, when the ending of Scarlet came about and Cress was released, my opinion began to change drastically. It is almost the complete opposite now.


Thorne does not only develop to be less arrogant, but he also develops to be extremely more romantic. Cress definitely has a good influence on him and his personality (For the record, Cress and Thorne together is my ultimate One-True-Pairing! *swoons*). I am very happy to see Thorne show that he does care for another person enough to risk his life for them. I was so happy that Cinder was proven wrong about him, and even she lightened up a little bit!


Thorne definitely threw me off guard, but I do have to say that I also laughed so hard at all of the other characters trying to put up with his shenanigans. So, maybe not every aspect of the "old" Thorne was so bad to begin with. :)


If ever there is a tomorrow when I have to live without these boys, I don't know what I would do!


As a special treat, I have asked my co-blogger Anna to put together her own list about falling in love. This blog post will go live TOMORROW, so check it out to earn some extra entries within my personal giveaway by recording the "special words" in pink!

My Personal Giveaway
Please view and agree to my "Giveaway Policies" on my blog page before entering this giveaway! As of now, this giveaway is US only! I am so sorry, international people! I am trying to figure out a way to host a giveaway for you all. 



Blog Hop Giveaway



This giveaway is blitz wide. This means I am not responsible for the prizes or running the giveaway solely on my own. If any issues arise, should you win the giveaway, or you have any questions, please contact Fic Fare or Swoony Boys Podcast. If you would like to contact me, I will happily forward your message to where it needs to go!


Here is the rest of the blog-hop schedule so that you can rack-up some more entries on those giveaways! Thank you so much for stopping at my blog on the blog hop! :) 


February 1st- Fiction Fare

February 1st- Swoony Boys Podcast
February 2nd- Literary, etc.
February 3rd- Adventures in YA Publishing
February 3rd- A Soul Unsung: Book Gossip for the Soul
February 4th- Bookish Things & More
February 5th- Books and Swoons
February 5th- Love at First Page
February 6th- Awesome Book Nuts
February 6th- Mainstream Passionista
February 6th- The Book Sphere
February 7th- I Turn the Pages
February 7th- Andi's ABCs
February 8th- Na's Not So Newsworthy Thoughts
February 8th- WhoRUBlog
February 9th- Gun in Act One
February 9th- We So Nerdy
February 10th- What Sarah Read
February 10th- Flutters and Flails
February 11th- The Book Addict's Guide
February 11th- Effortlessly Reading
February 11th- Lostbraincell's Bookish Blog
February 12th- GReads!
February 12th- Books Equal Awesomeness
February 13th- My Friends Are Fiction
February 13th- Lee Kelly: New Write City
February 14th- Fiction Fare
February 14th- Swoony Boys Podcast

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for the giveaway! I love many book boyfriends, Finnick, Wolf from the Lunar Chronicles and so many more. :)

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    1. You are so welcome! :) I love your book boyfriend choices (and it is so hard to just pick one!)

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  2. My favorite swoony books are anything that Jennifer E. Smith writes!

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    1. I have never read any of her books! I will have to check them out! Thank you so much for entering the giveaway!

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    1. Great choice! Thank you so much for entering the giveaway!

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  4. My favorite swoony book is My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. I also agree about those Jennifer E. Books.

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    1. My Life Next Door has just been added to my To-Be-Read list! Thank you so much for sharing your comment and entering the giveaway!

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  5. I love the whole Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi, and anything by Jennifer L. Armentrout has swoony boys!

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    1. I am patiently waiting to get my hands on the Shatter Me series! I have been wanting the series for a while! Thank you so much for entering the giveaway as well! :)

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  6. I love the Bloodlines series!

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    1. Are you talking about the Bloodlines Series by Richelle Mead? All of my book blogging friends on Twitter are talking about this series! What are your thoughts on it?

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  7. I absolutely love me some Thorne! I think as of right now my book boyfriend would have to be Josh Mitchell from I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios. It's definitely a toss up between him and Hysan Dax from Zodiac by Romina Russell!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on our blog posts! I will always try and get back to each and every single one of your comments! Please feel free to leave suggestions for new books to review, as well as comments on the individual reviews themselves. Again, thank you so much for stopping by!