Beastly Bones | Book review

Title: Beastly Bones (Jackaby #2)

Author: William Ritter

Published: September 22nd 2015 by Algonquin Young Readers

Goodreads summary: “I’ve found very little about private detective R. F. Jackaby to be standard in the time I’ve known him. Working as his assistant tends to call for a somewhat flexible relationship with reality.”

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer R. F. Jackaby are called upon to investigate the supernatural.

First, a vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens, and a day later, their owner is found murdered with a single mysterious puncture wound. Then in nearby Gad’s Valley, now home to the exiled New Fiddleham police detective Charlie Cane, dinosaur bones from a recent dig mysteriously go missing, and an unidentifiable beast starts attacking animals and people, leaving their mangled bodies behind. Charlie calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer.

REVIEW

I really enjoyed the first book that I found whimsical and peculiar, because of the characters, but also because it was a reimagined Sherlock Holmes’ novel, with paranormal creatures. The second book went to the same way than Jackaby, which was really enjoyable.

The plot focuses on weird shapeshifters that take the form of the creature they are eating.

(and is in fact frowned upon in most societies)

Then, Jackaby and Abigail Rook are investigating missing fossils and a farmer wife’s death in the countryside, where Charlie now lives. The plot was fun to read about and the resolution was amazing, even if I had figured it out at some point *sighs* However, this plot had a hard time grabbing my attention, it was slower toward the middle but it picked right before the end.

New characters were introduced; a trapper and a journalist. The journalist was a very bold women, I was impressed by her character because she wanted to do everything by herself, even if social rules wanted to stop her. Meeting her had a great impact on Abigail, who aspires to be more like her and have control over her life. We didn’t see a lot of character development for the other characters – mainly because Jackaby is so peculiar – I regretted it a little.

There was more romance than in the previous book, but it was still really light, because Abigail didn’t want to need a man, like Nellie said. She took the relationship in her hands and I really enjoyed that about her, even if I don’t know if it’s realistic for that period.

Jenny’s storyline intrigued me and I’m looking forward to learn more about it in the next book. Moreover, the villain Abigail and Jackaby will have to fight against was introduced – I mean we know he exists – which makes me looking forward to read the next book. 

Have you read this book? Are you interested by this series?

An emotional ride with relatable characters | November 9

Title: November 9
Author: Colleen Hoover
Published: November 10th 2015

Goodreads summary: Beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover returns with an unforgettable love story between a writer and his unexpected muse.

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day of her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist. 

REVIEW

The only new adult novels I’ve read were written by Colleen Hoover, so of course I had to read this one! I think of you haven’t ventured into this genre yet, you could start with this one, because we can relate more easily to the characters – considered the story starts when they’re eighteen and ends when they’re twenty-three – and there isn’t a lot of sex. However, be prepared to be involved emotionally, because dang, this book made me cry a river, or so it seems. Reading it after Winter wasn’t such a good idea, ha-ha.

“Meeting up once a year on the same date sounds like a really good basis for a romance novel. If you fictionalized our story, I’d add it to the top of my TBR.”

The premise of this story was so interesting. Our two characters meet on November 9, a painful date to remember for Fallon, because it shattered her whole life. The way they started to interact with each other was really funny, because Ben pretended to be her boyfriend to help her against her father, to make it simple. After that, they couldn’t leave each other and stayed together the whole day. It was so cute and more about their initial attraction. By the way, it was hilarious when Ben said that if instalove was what Fallon disliked the most about a romance novel, they were screwed up already. This idea to meet each other once a year on the same date with no contact in between was pretty romantic – even though so painful, I think I cried at the end of every November 9.

There was a major plot twist toward the end of the book, I wasn't expected it at all, I'm pleased about that. Apparently, there was a cameo from Ugly Love because we saw Miles and Tate, but I haven' read that book yet, anyways.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, what I enjoy a lot in Colleen’s books is that she always put a form of art in her books, here it was writing, so yay! At the end of the book, we got to read Ben’s manuscript; it was really interesting, especially because everything in it was true and not fiction. The fact that Fallon was so aware of books, with notion like TBR, instalove and everything was quite refreshing, because it made me connect to her and it pleased my little booklover’s heart. One of the funniest things of the book was that there was a scale rating for kisses, and Ben was always looking to be more than a ten.

Of course, it is a Colleen Hoover’s book, so there is drama. Some choices the characters made I didn’t completely agree with, even though I understood them, it was pretty realistic. Like when Ben was in a relationship I was like: WHY ON EARTH CAN YOU BE WITH HER? I UNDERSTAND BUT YOU CAN’T DO THAT! And then, Fallon went out with a guy who was wearing whale pants, I didn’t know that was a thing but apparently it is?

Ben and Fallon were interesting characters, I’m happy we got to read from their two perspectives, because it made me understand the story as a whole, and well, it felt like there weren’t hole in it. I loved Fallon, because she changed so much throughout the novel, she was so unsure of herself and then gain confidence, mainly because of Ben. I could relate so much to that because being confident is always hard, and I’m not the most confident person in the world, she went through so much and OMG I want to cry while writing this. A lot of readers can also connect to Ben, because let’s face it, a lot of us are writers (#NaNoWriMo). The characters dynamics were great and I was just shipping it during the whole book, I know it’s the point, but Colleen did great.

Final thoughts:

I think this is my favourite novel by Colleen Hoover, I felt so connected to the characters – it wasn’t necessarily the case in her other books. I cried, I laughed, what else can you expect from a book?

Have you read this book? What do you think about Colleen's books in general? Do you like new adult?

I CRIED A THOUSAND TEARS | Winter

Title: Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Published: November 10th 2015 by Feiwel and Friends

Goodreads summary: Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mark her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend, the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afterss? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer's nationally bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.

REVIEW

I read Cress in March 2014 (I preordered, but sometimes Amazon sucks…..) and I have been eagerly anticipating Winter, it was like the book I waited for the most since… Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? However, I was a little nervous, because I had been eagerly anticipating Queen of Shadows, which kind of disappointed me (even if it was still great), but I was wrong, because Winter was FANTABULOUS, I devoured it in three days (homework? What are you talking about?) and it was one of my favourite books of the year. By the way, I didn’t take any notes while reading it because I was too busy loving it. If you want a review in one gif, here you have it:

This review will be spoilery for the first three books and maybe Fairest, idk, so be considered warned. 

A wicked grin pulled at Winter's lips. She stepped away from Jacin, faced the people, and raised her arms to her sides. "People of Luna," she said, echoing the broadcast and pulling the crowd's attention away from the dome, "please give your full attention now to the true heir to the Lunar throne, Princess Selene, live from your very own sector." Her eyes flashed as she swooped an arm toward Cinder. "Our revolution is about to begin."

This book was huge and it was almost intimidating, SO MUCH happened. Of course, there was preparation for Cinder's revolution and we saw the characters doing just that in the Rampion, but after that, everything happened in a few days. I can't say much about the plot obviously, it was very fast-paced and I wasn't bored a single moment. The repartition between the points of view was well handled, because characters who were less important to some parts of the plot weren't really mentionned and then we got them again, etc. 

At first, I thought we weren't getting much of Snow White's fairy tale retelling, because Meyer had a lot of characters to handle and was busy with them. We still got the "big" parts of the story, I was so scared because I didn't want anything to happen to Winter, my precious baby. This Snow White retelling was SO WELL DONE I was just so surprised!

It was so well adapted to this world and I totally respect the "glass coffin" here, it was clever. About that, I shipped Jacin and Winter so much, it was so cute when he was like "Hey, Trouble", so casual and everything.

"I'm such an idiot. You should hate me." "You may be an idiot, but I assure you, you're quite a lovable one." He shook his head. "You're the only person in the galaxy who would ever call me lovable." "I'm the only person in the galaxy crazy enough to believe it. Now tell me what you've done that is worth hating you for."

Let's continue with the romance then why am I starting with that anyway?. Kai and Cinder were as cute as always, and wait for their last scene together. I was just crying and repeating myself hysterically "The wheel has come for circle." It was so cute and every fangirl heart will be pleased with that. I was pretty indifferent to Wolf and Scarlet's romance, though, but to be honest I was pretty indifferent to them during the whole book. Cress and Thorne were really cute, because their relationship took its time, but it was everything. I'm just so happy about the ships I might cry wait I actually did.

I had forgotten how the characters were sarcastic (Iko = Queen of Sarcasm) and hilarious, but they reminded me of it real fast!

Thorne glanced back at the pantry. "Did you see any rice in there? Maybe we could fill Cinder's head with it." Everyone stared at him. "You know, to... absorb the moisture, or something. Isn't that a thing?" "We're not pouring rice in my head."

Thorne was such a quirky and funny character, he was definitely one of my favourite! I grew so fond of Winter in this book, because she was so much more than "the crazy princess", she was clever and really helpful, even if the other characters couldn't see it at first. We saw a lot of developpment in Cinder's character, because she realized that she would really become Queen Selene and that Lunars would consider it this way, it was really interesting. 

I was eagerly anticipating seeing Luna in all its glory or not and I wasn't disappointed. Meyer depicted a bipolar world where the courtesans live more than wealthy, whereas regular Lunars are forced to work and live in sectors. It really felt like totalitarism, each sector was named because of what the people were doing in it, for example the L standed for Lumber, and then there was the numbers. Lunars only had artifical days and weather which is horrifying, I'm proud to be an Earthen guys!

The ending was so fast paced and I'm really happy that we got several chapters which were kind of an epilogue. Even if it brought me a lot of tears, we saw where each character is headed for the future, and I'm really pleased about that. It also made me hungry because LEMON CAKE. 

Final Thoughts:

This book was a more than satisfying conclusion to the Lunar Chronicles. I'm sad to let this series go and it will remain one of my favourite, it introduced me to sci-fi and made me learn that I loved spaceships. Meyer knows how to play with our little fangirls hearts with swoony-worthy romances, hilarious characters, fast-paced action and dramatic moments. I'm eagerly anticipating her next book, Heartless, because I REALLY REALLY want to know what she can do now she has finished the Lunar Chronicles.

And one last quote before I'm letting Winter go or at least try to:

"When she catches you," the guard snarled, "my queen will eat your heart with salt and pepper." "Well," said Cinder, unconcerned, "my heart is half synthetic, so it'll probably give her indigestion."

What do you think about this series? Are you a fan of sci-fi? Can you recommend me other books in this genre?

Frozen Tides | Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine in which we discuss our most anticipated upcoming releases.

Title: Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms #4)

Author: Morgan Rhodes

Published: December 15th 2015 by RazorBill

Goodreads summary: Rebels, royals, and monsters wage war over the Mytican throne in the shocking fourth book of the Falling Kingdoms series, from New York Times bestselling author Morgan Rhodes.

CLEO: Reeling after a bloody showdown in Limeros ending with Amara’s abduction of the water crystal, and a vacancy in the Mytican throne, Princess Cleo must cast aside her feelings and look toward her kingdom with the eyes of a Queen.

MAGNUS: With the kingdom in chaos, Princess Lucia still missing and quite possibly in danger, and a shocking realization about Cleo, the steely prince is once again torn between love and duty, leaving him wondering whether he’s strong enough to rule his people.

LUCIA: The young sorcercess has had her vengeance after the cruel death of her first and only love. Heartbroken and unable to trust anyone, she allies with the awoken Fire god, who also seeks revenge.

JONAS: After escaping death by the skin of his teeth, the defeated rebel—along with a mysterious stranger–leader reunites with Princess Cleo, only to find himself a mere pawn in a dangerous hunt for the elusive Kindred.

KING GAIUS: Abandoned by Melenia and betrayed by his own children, Gaius flees Mytica and sails to Kraeshia, where he attempts to ally with the famously brutal emperor across the Silver Sea.

MY THOUGHTS

Have you seen how gorgeous the cover is? *grabby hands*

This series is one of my favourite among YA high fantasy books. It's basically Game of Thrones... But for teens. The world is rich and complex, I love that you get to read the point of view of the "guardians" of Mytica, it's unique, it's like reading from the Fates if we were in a Greek perspective. Of course, I have my favourite characters, but every point of view adds something to the story, because everyone is seeking the Kindred and has a different perspective. Also, I'm a Cleo/Magnus shipper, so I can't wait to see what will happen to them in this book. This is the fourth book so A LOT will happen. I have high hopes for this one, I pray that it won't be a little disappointment like Queen of Shadows, who also was a fourth book. 

An amazing plot with meh characters and romance or how to feel conflicted | Dorothy Must Die

Title: Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1)

Author: Danielle Paige

Published: April 1^st 2014 by HarperCollins

Goodreads summary: I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road - but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm - and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission.

REVIEW

I heard about this book a long time ago, in 2013 I think. I was interested in it, because I’ve never read a YA novel inspired by The Wizard of Oz, but then I read reviews. Either people like it, or hate it. I’m right in the middle, because I think the plot was amazing and kept me entertained during the whole book, but a plot hole, the main character and the romance irritated me.

THE THINGS THAT MADE ME WANT TO RIP OFF MY WINGS OF FLYING MONKEY

1)      Amy’s character.

She has a pretty awful life in her world; I wouldn’t wish that to anybody. But I wasn’t able to pity her, at all. Sorry not sorry. At the same time, she was a special snowflake in Oz. Of course, she has it in her to fight like a badass warrior, even if she never punches anyone even if she’s been accused to but never stood for herself.

“Suddenly I knew exactly when to thrust and when to parry, when to go high and when to go low and when to twist away. I felt like I could do some damage with this thing.”

The way that Amy sometimes reacted reminded me of YA heroines of… five or seven years ago? I found her pretty shallow and couldn’t relate to her at all, because she was irritating.

2)      The insta-love. I’m so annoyed at the romance it’s crazy. Can a flying monkey be Amy’s love interest instead? Or Toto?

“It made sense that Nox could do this. He was the most coordinated, most physical being I’d ever met. But still, with every step we took in unison, I grew more aware of him. Even if he was annoying, and arrogant, and too serious at the same time, I had to admit it: he was hot.”

“I had never kissed a boy before so I had nothing to compare it to. But I was sure that whatever it was like, kissing Nox had to be different.”

This is one of the stupidest sentences I have ever read.

3)      A major plot hole

Okay, so Dorothy has been back to Oz for a long time right? So the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked exists since then, right? And their plan has been to kill Dorothy all that time, right? From now on, you’re following me. Then, I’m going to ask you something that will destroy everything.

Why would a revolutionary order put the responsibility of killing Dorothy into Amy’s hands, that they don’t know anything about? More importantly, they thought about their plan with the ball for months, so before Amy appeared in Oz, but they were just waiting for a Messiah to pop up and realized it?

It doesn’t make sense. AT ALL.

Okay, so now you’ll think: but Lucie, you basically hated that book, given what you just said. Well, I kind of liked it?

THE THINGS THAT MADE ME WANT TO DO MAGIC WITH GLINDA AND GLAMORA AND HAVE A OZILY EVER AFTER

1)      The plot

I’m easily admitting it: the concept behind this book is unique and makes sense. In the end, what Amy has to do is explained and I felt it was so logical and you should have think about it sooner. It was a fast-paced story with SO MANY different things happening at the same time.

2)      It wasn’t just a retelling, because there was a big twist to it

In this book, Oz isn’t what we saw in the movie, at all. Because of the Happiness Decree, everybody has to be happy, but it’s a little more complicated than that. Some characters use the PermaSmile, a Botox cream or something, to do as if they were happy. It is so messed up.

Our beloved characters, the Tin Man, the Lion and the Scarecrow have problems.

   The Tin Woodman is in love with Dorothy and will obey him forever and ever, no matter what she asks.
The Lion feeds off people’s fire, he’s like the Dementor of this world.
The Scarecrow has problems with his brains, disappears in his laboratory all the time to do messed up experiments. We get to see a few of them and it’s really awful and could keep you up at night.

Also, the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked is in fact Good? Well, the notion of Good/Wicked can be used anymore, which is very interesting. As Amy says sometimes, it’s just that the right thing has to be done.

3)      I didn’t see the plot twists coming

At the end of the book, there are big revelations about the characters and I hadn’t guessed it, at all! It’s always refreshing when you don’t guess the plot twist right away, because that’s what happens most of the time when you’re reading a lot of books.

Overall, I enjoyed the story of this book and devoured it in a few settings. But there were so many elements that made me want to slam the book against the wall… Also, the title of the book was Dorothy must die, but at the end of most chapters, Amy was repeating it, in a form or another, I just wanted her to stop. 

What did you think about of this book? There are so many mixed reviews about this one: is it yay or nay? What do you think of the romance? The world? Amy?

Leigh Bardugo's event in Rotterdam

October 31st, Leigh Bardugo came to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, as part of the #magicandmayhem tour. It was actually the launch party of Six of Crows in Dutch, which is pretty cool. At the beginning, we were given bags with Six of Crows goodies like bookmarks, a poster, that sort of things.

Then Leigh arrived and was interviewed. She said Ketterdam was an analogue for the Netherlands, because both were little countries with a lot of influence. It was her first time on the Netherlands, her hotel was in Utrecht and she thought it looked like a fairy tale. She would have liked to visit this country sooner, but because she had to write a book a year… it wasn’t possible. For the Dutch language part of Six of Crows, her college roommate and best friend helped her (her parents live in Belgium) and so did David J. Peterson, who did the Dothraki for Game of Thrones (how cool is that??).

Her favourite characters in the Grisha trilogy are Genya, Sturmhond and Zenya. It isn’t the same think to love a character and love writing them; it was the case for Matthias, for example. If she had to choose one of her characters to live with on a desert island, it would be Tolya. At first, Nikolai was supposed to die in the book (everyone was shocked in the audience). Which character would die in the books were decided early on, and not “Um, who will die today?”

When she writes, she uses MacFreedom (I’m not familiar with Apple so maybe I wrote it wrong) to turn off the Internet. She usually writes in cafes with other friends and they’re taking each other’s phone to be sure they won’t be distracted. Playing music helps to get in the character’s head, reading also help of course. She started to write a lot of books, but never got to finish them. At first, she thought she wouldn’t be able to write Shadow and Bone. She got a contract in a month and was very lucky.

She doesn’t plan to write a book set in Shu Han (inspired by Chinese culture), but will write a book about Nikolai. There is a two years gap between Ruin and Rising and Six of Crows. When she started to write Shadow and Bone, she had a rough idea of how the world worked and then put it all together in the draft. Apparently, the food hotspot mentioned in Six of Crows is disgusting (that’s what the Dutch said^^). Sometimes, when she drafts, she writes “Write something profound” and then has to find out what to write when she edits.

If she was a Grisha, she would want to be a Heartrender. According the quizzes on her website, she would be Nina. Wylan doesn’t have a point of view in Six of Crows because it didn’t fit in the story, but we’ll hear from him in Crooked Kingdom.

Leigh is an only child and talked to herself while walking in circle in her backyard, telling herself stories. At 11-12, she was more into stories because she started at a new school. Sometimes she goes on the street, put her earphones and does the dialogue, this way people won’t think she’s crazy when she talks all alone.

She plans to write an urban fantasy next and will have a short story in Stephanie Perkins’ upcoming anthology, Summer days and summer nights.

After that, there was a lottery and my boyfriend won a hardcover copy pf Six of Crows (I wrote it right this time, V). Then games were organized, Leigh and two other fans got to compete. The question had to do with:

1)      YA in the Netherlands

2)      Leigh

3)      The Grisha Trilogy

Then there was cake and it was the coolest I have ever seen!

After that, we got to sign our books and take pictures with Leigh.

It was an amazing night and I’m glad I got to meet her; it was my first book event ever!

Have you ever been to a book event? Have you seen Leigh for the #magicandmayhem tour? Let me know ;)

A Darkness Strange and Lovely | Book review

Title: A Darkness Strange and Lovely (Something Strange and Deadly #2)

Author: Susan Dennard

Published: July 23rd 2013 by HarperTeen

Goodreads summary: With her brother dead and her mother on the verge of insanity, Eleanor Fitt is utterly alone. Even the Spirit-Hunters - Joseph, Jie and the handsome, enigmatic Daniel - have fled to Paris. So when Eleanor begins to hear the vicious barking of hounds and see images of haunting yellow eyes, she fears the worst - that the Dead, and the necromancer Marcus, are coming for her.

To escape and search out the Spirit-Hunters, Eleanor boards a steamer bound for France. There she meets Oliver, a young man who claims to have known her brother. Though friendly, Oliver entices Eleanor with necromancy and black magic, yet as long as she can resist his powerful temptation, she'll be fine. But when she arrives in Paris, she finds that the Dead have taken over the city...and there's a whole new evil lurking. With the body count rising, Eleanor is forced to make a deadly decision that will go against everything the Spirit-Hunters stand for.

In Paris, there's a price for this darkness strange and lovely...and it may have Eleanor paying with her life.

REVIEW

This book had the same tropes that usual second books in trilogy, but it was done beautifully. I wasn’t bored a single moment, because the author took us to other parts of the world, we didn’t stay in Philadelphia. At the beginning of the book, Eleanor is truly a misfit (lol), she’s all alone because her mother is an asylum, her friends turned on her, the Spirit-Hunters have left and of course, there is the matter of her hand.

Eleanor is forced to leave town when Marcus comes after her and sail on a boat to France, because the Spirit Hunters are now in Paris. There, she meets new friends like Laure and form new alliances with the mysterious Oliver, who knows a lot more about her brother than he let on. Moreover, Eleanor is hunted down by creatures of the underworld, the Hell Hounds. I loved that Eleanor was on the ship, because it’s one of my favourite tropes in books. There was a scene of dream on the boat that was such like in Anastasia.

France was an amazing setting, because for once, I actually felt that the author did her research right. I live in Paris, so I get mad easily about French settings, haha. There was only one grammatical error in Susan Dennard’s French: it’s not “Le Cupidon Belle” but “Le Beau Cupidon”. Anyways, the French was correct for the rest of the book, and there was a lot of research about Paris, because the author mentioned Haussmann. Moreover, other cities were mentioned, like Le Havre where Americans sailed, or Marseille, from where Laure came from.

This book was a moment of deceptions for Eleanor, because a lot of people she considered friends turned their back to her. The author explained a lot more of the necromancy, because of the plot. Demons were also introduced, I really enjoyed that aspect. However, I had figured out who the bad guy was really early in the book. I noticed that the author doesn’t flinch when she has to wound a beloved character.

I enjoyed this book slightly less than the first one, but it was already SO GOOD. The next one seems full of promises; I’m really looking forward to it.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?